As someone whose educational blindspot is American history, I am always seeking out easier ways to learn about our country’s past than having to sit down and read sizable textbooks and, thankfully, Hollywood has helped me out on more than one occasion. This week, Netflix has dropped a four-episode limited series about a pivotal moment in United States history that deserves to be more than the footnote that it has turned out to be: the assassination of President James Garfield by Charles Guiteau.
Never heard of Guiteau? Forgot all about Garfield? You’re likely not the only one. Death by 
Lightning is a historical drama that is all at once dramatic, educational, hilarious, illuminating, moving, inspiring, tragic and utterly absurd that is delivered via four powerhouse performances in four episodes that will not only make you want to learn more about James Garfield, but just may help you understand a little better who we are and how we got to this place we are now.
Based on Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President, a 2011 nonfiction book by Candice Millard, Death by Lightning, created and written by Mike Makowsky and directed by Matt Ross, stars Michael Shannon as Garfield and Matthew Macfadyen as Guiteau, with Nick Offerman as Garfield’s Vice President Chester Arthur, and Betty Gilpin as Garfield’s wife, Lucretia. There are tremendous supporting performances from Bradley Whitford (who is made for period pieces) and Shea Whigham, each who make a meal of every scene they are in.
But there has never seemingly been a more perfect marriage of actor to part than Macfadyen and Guiteau, at least in the way Makowsky and Ross have chosen to portray him. History may choose to see Guiteau as a much more psychotic, dangerous and mean-spirited man than is portrayed here by Macfadyen, who chooses to infect the character with every bit of crazy, but, much like his multiple Emmy-winning role of Tom Wambsgans in Succession, he chooses to mix a bit of adorable inanity in with the trouble-making spirit, daring the audience to love him juuuust a little too much.
To say Macfadyen is the best thing in Death by Lightning is harsh indeed, considering how absolutely excellent everyone else is, especially Michael Shannon, whose Garfield is quiet, dignified and powerful and Offerman, whose bombastic, pitiful Chester Arthur finds a way to be a hero and Betty Gilpin, who manages to take the fawning wife character and make it her own.
But let’s be clear here: Matthew Macfadyen makes an absolute meal of Death by Lightning. It’s the role he was meant to play. Despite the serious moodiness that he mined in his dreamy portrayal of Mr. Darcy opposite Keira Knightly in Pride and Prejudice and the saucy and unscrupulous machinations that made him the winner of the game of succession in that titular Emmy-winning series, those who have followed Macfadyen’s career more closely know that what he is most gifted at is being goofy. His recent performances in the television series Quiz and Stonehouse, where he plays a man who cheated on a game show and a politician who faked his own death to avoid facing a scandal, respectively, are both roles where he had to find levels of dorkiness and uncool that he was never allowed to mine in Succession, but is surprisingly deft at. As an actor, it seems he relishes playing against his type, as he is tall, handsome, deep-voiced (he is the voice of Harrod’s, after all), a perfect fit for Bond (see where he played a spy in the series Spooks) even. So, as any actor would, he perfects the art of going against what’s expected, and he has completely mastered the art of being a buffoon dressed in a tailored suit. Nobody would ever see him coming—and that’s just the point of Death by Lightning.
Macfadyen embodies the utterly insane Charles Guiteau with a giddiness, a genuine glee that sallies forth in every moment, yet the underlying terror that we should be feeling is real, for Guiteau represents something genuine in history, something genuine in our society, then and still today.
What makes Death by Lightning so truly effective is it tells more than one story. More than focusing just on one insane man, it tells the story of the country and the moment in history that Guiteau is about to walk into. We see Garfield’s ascent to the presidency, all the political maneuverings behind the scenes, all the backstabbing and game-playing, basically all the the-more-things-change-the-more-they-stay-the-same elements of national politics. Against the backdrop of this political upheaval is played out a contrast of two men, Garfield and Guiteau, men driven by opposite passions, set on a collision course of history. And yet, in a final twist of fate, their course could have been altered, if it hadn’t been for yet another final, cruelly fateful element.
There are moments of true absurdity in Death by Lightning—feel free to laugh out loud—and there are moments that will make your stomach truly hurt. But, in its totality, these four episodes are a glimpse of this nation’s past that epitomize who we are, in every way. Every irony, every bitter defeat, every glorious triumph, every stupid mistake, every inspirational achievement, every feat of human compassion, and every dark stain on human existence that America has been, is and will continue to be, is reflected in our history. And perhaps no period of time more encapsulates it better than the rise to the presidency and the brief time in office of James Garfield and the man whose bullet felled him. Their parallel stories are magnificently told in Death by Lightning, a series I couldn’t recommend more, if you love history, if you love great acting, if you love America.