Death By Lightning Review: Solid Historical Drama, Stellar Cast

Netflix remembers a mostly forgotten U.S .President in its new limited series, Death By Lightning.

Based on the book Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard, Death By Lightning tells the improbable story of James Garfield’s ascent to the Presidency and his assassination mere months later. 

The series alternates between telling the story of Garfield and the political machine that dominated American politics in the late 19th century, and the story of Charles Guiteau, the Garfield supporter who would eventually become his assassin.

One, a leader thrust into a role he never sought, the other a gadfly believing he was destined for greatness.

If that sounds like a compelling story, it is, and Death By Lightning does a good job of bringing it to life.

The series hits all its requisite marks. It is well crafted and well written with a steady pace that keeps the story moving along nicely. There are a few moments here and there that lag. Still, it’s nothing so significant that it risks losing the viewer’s focus. 

The source material and the craftsmanship alone are enough to put Death By Lightning in the category of shows worth your time. But what really elevates the series from a solid historical drama to something more memorable than that is the cast.

The cast of Death By Lightning is fantastic across the board. There is not a single weak link among them.

In a cast this good, it’s hard to pick a standout. Everyone has their moment to shine. Everyone has that scene that demands your attention. Betty Gilpin has one of the most memorable scenes during the final episode, which articulates and humanizes many themes and ideas explored throughout the series. 

Meanwhile, Matthew Macfadyen does an excellent job of infusing Guiteau with an energy that can be charming but is always unsettling. It’s a delicate balance that gives the series a sense of foreboding and anxiety whenever he is onscreen.

The counter to Macfadyen’s uneasy onscreen energy is the steady presence of Michael Shannon. He anchors this all-star cast and provides a moral through line for viewers. 

More importantly, he brings a sensitivity and, at times, vulnerability to Garfield that humanizes this figure that, for most people, is a flat historical footnote. The admiration that viewers will feel for Garfield by the end of the series goes beyond just his political achievements.

It goes to his character and who he was as a man. That is obviously one of the goals of the creators. However, it can’t succeed in that goal without Shannon striking exactly the right note.

I said it’s hard to pick a standout in this cast, and it is. We haven’t even touched on Bradley Whitford or Shea Whigham. They are also every bit as good as you would expect them to be.

However, hard doesn’t mean impossible. There is a standout even amongst this cast overflowing with talent, and that is Nick Offerman. 

Offerman plays Chester B. Arthur. Arthur is a political adversary of Garfield, who is chosen to be Vice President and eventually succeeds him as President.

Much like Garfield, Arthur is one of those “What’s his name, again?” type of historical figures. He is perhaps even less remembered than Garfield. And, like Shannon, Offerman does a fantastic job of humanizing him. 

He makes viewers want to learn more about this character, who, on paper, was pretty unremarkable. Anytime Offerman is in a scene, it becomes more delightful, more moving, or more compelling. Sometimes all three at once.

I wouldn’t be surprised if viewers are left hoping for a follow-up series focusing on Arthur if only for the chance to see Offerman play him again.

Unlike some other historical dramas, particularly historical political dramas, Death By Lightning doesn’t seem to be trying to make any grand point about current times by looking to history.

There are, of course, always some parallels to draw. History does love to rhyme. However, the story of Garfield’s Presidency and his assassination feels too singular to draw big political lessons from. 

What it does do is give viewers a new figure in US history to admire at a time when examples of leaders with conviction and integrity are sorely needed.

I do not doubt that the version of Garfield that Death By Lightning depicts is an overly positive one. No real politician is that perfect. Still, from the cursory research I did while watching the series, it seems to get things generally right. 

He might not have been the real-life Jed Bartlett he is depicted as in the series, but he was a good man who pushed this country to be better, even in his short time in office.

Watching this series, you can’t help but wonder what if. What if he had been able to finish his time in office? How might US history have been different?

We’ll never be able to answer those questions, but the fact that I was even asking them speaks to the series’s success in telling this story and making Garfield more than a historical footnote.

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Death By Lightning is currently streaming on Netflix.

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