‘Death by Lightning’: Matthew Macfadyen & Michael Shannon Break Down the ‘Timely and Timeless’ Story of Garfield & Guiteau

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Death by Lightning,  Episodes 1-4.]

Death by Lightning has landed on Netflix, bringing to screen the story of ill-fated president James Garfield (Michael Shannon), and his assassin, Charles Guiteau (Matthew Macfadyen).

Based on Candice Millard’s 2011 book, Destiny of the Republic, showrunner Mike Makowsky brings together a strong ensemble of performers to portray the historical figures in this four-part limited series. “I have to confess I knew almost nothing about Garfield,” Makowsky tells TV Insider about what drew him to adapt Millard’s book. “I was really just blown away by the quality of her writing and the story itself.”

As Makowsky puts it, “I found [the book] at the buy-two-get-one-free table at my local Barnes and Noble, and I needed a third book and I picked it up… I ended up reading the book in one sitting.” And that’s the effect the TV show has, making it a bingeable experience across four fast episodes.

Larry Horricks / Netflix

The series introduces Garfield as a humble supporter of another politician, but when he gives a rousing speech at the 1880 Republican National Convention, he earns the votes to become the party’s nominee. “It’s one of the most eloquent speeches in the history of American oratory, I feel. I didn’t really have to do much other than say it out loud,” Shannon tells TV Insider.” Garfield’s unexpected nomination sees him paired up with Nick Offerman‘s Chester A. Arthur, whose hedonistic extracurriculars differ quite a bit from the family man’s.

Meanwhile, Guiteau is in and out of jail, conning his way about the country and sharing grand plans for his future in letters to his sister Franny (Paula Malcomson). He comes to believe that his great ambition in life is to get Garfield elected president, and goes to extreme lengths to get close to him. Guiteau’s mental health plays a big role in his actions, and when he feels slighted by Garfield’s administration, he decides to do the unimaginable.

 

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But amid the country’s current political climate, what makes now the perfect time for this little-known story about the 2oth president of the United States? “For better or worse, it deals with a lot of issues that we’re currently seeing today,” Makowsky says. “There are a lot of bizarre modern parallels. I think we’re still facing the same existential questions around the role of our civil service and corruption in our institutions, obviously, the recent epidemic of political violence.”

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Macfadyen echoes Makowsky’s sentiments, saying, “I think it’s a really timely and timeless story. We were struck by how modern it felt when we were doing it, especially with what was happening at the time when we were shooting. I don’t think human behavior changes that much… It’s a story about ambition and accession and politics, not just in America… It’s also about mental illness,” Macfadyen adds, acknowledging his character’s arc. “I think today he would have been diagnosed with various mental conditions and given help, so I couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for him.”

While neither man makes it out of the series alive, their fates determined by history, Shannon notes the cautionary element of Death by Lightning‘s tale, “There are so many people that are resorting to violence to try and solve their problems, and I think this series is good evidence that it really doesn’t solve anything to pull out a gun and shoot somebody. It doesn’t solve anybody’s problems anytime, anywhere.”

See it unfold onscreen in Death by Lightning, and let us know your thoughts on the series in the comments section below.

Death by Lightning, Streaming now, Netflix