“Death by Lightning” Review: A Gripping, Humane Look at Power, Fate, and the Fragility of a Presidency

Death by Lightning has landed with the authority of a prestige event, transforming a little-studied chapter of American history into a taut, emotionally intelligent four-part drama. Anchored by towering performances from Michael Shannon as President James A. Garfield and Matthew Macfadyen as Charles J. Guiteau, the limited series treats a well-known outcome as an open question: not whether tragedy will strike, but why it feels so devastatingly avoidable.

What is “Death by Lightning” about?

The series tracks Garfield’s improbable ascent to the White House and the political knife fights that greeted him there, while following Guiteau’s lonely drift toward infamy. Rather than lean on sepia-toned reenactment, the show treats 1881 as a living world: smoky corridors where party bosses bargain, sunlit train platforms buzzing with optimism, and medical theaters where the era’s confidence collides with its limits. The core question isn’t simply who pulled the trigger — it’s how a democratic system, a fractured party machine, and a misguided sense of destiny converged on the same narrow timeline.

Release date, episodes, and where to watch

• Premiere: November 6, 2025

• Format: Limited series (4 episodes)

• Availability: Streaming now worldwide

• Typical drop times: New titles generally appear 12:00 a.m. ET (often visible the prior evening around 9:00 p.m. ET) and Friday mornings in the UK. Schedules can vary by region.

If you’re planning a weekend watch, the four-hour total plays like an epic film in chapters — equally friendly to a single-sitting binge or a night-by-night rotation.

Cast and creative team

• Michael Shannon — James A. Garfield

• Matthew Macfadyen — Charles J. Guiteau

• Betty Gilpin — Lucretia Garfield

• Nick Offerman — Chester A. Arthur

• Shea Whigham, Bradley Whitford, and more round out a deep bench.

Created by Mike Makowsky and directed by Matt Ross, the series benefits from meticulous production design, grounded writing, and a score that favors restrained tension over bombast.

“Death by Lightning” review: the verdict

This is a show about people, not just the bullet that binds them. Shannon’s Garfield is principled without sanctimony, a teacher-politician who seems to expand the room simply by listening. Macfadyen’s Guiteau is a study in delusion and desperation — not caricatured, but heartbreakingly human in his convictions. When their trajectories intersect, the series resists true-crime sensationalism and instead examines the rickety scaffolding of power: the patronage habits that choked reform, the media whirl that minted minor celebrities, and the medical practices that turned misfortune into catastrophe.

What works especially well

• Performance pairings: Every Garfield scene glows with moral clarity; every Guiteau beat hums with unsettling logic. Together they create a tragic duet.

• Political texture: Party infighting and civil-service reform aren’t homework here; they’re stakes that explain how history bent the way it did.

• Craft: Costumes, lighting, and sound are confident without calling attention to themselves. The period feels tactile and lived-in.

• Pacing: Four parts keep the story lean. Quiet scenes breathe; momentum never sags.

Where it may split opinion

• Emotional proximity: By drawing Guiteau in such intimate detail, the series risks discomfort — which is precisely its point. Some viewers may prefer greater distance from the assassin’s inner life.

• Medical sequences: The clinical realism is riveting and excruciating; squeamish viewers, be warned.

Why this story feels urgent now

Beyond the history lesson lies a modern echo: how systems amplify the wrong incentives, how personal grievance masquerades as destiny, and how a nation’s trajectory can hinge on small decisions made in crowded rooms. The title suggests divine randomness; the show suggests human structure — the kind that can be reformed, or ignored at great cost.

Should you watch “Death by Lightning”?

Absolutely. If you appreciate performance-driven drama with a moral spine — the kind that trusts viewers to hold complexity — this is essential viewing. It’s brisk enough for a one-weekend commitment yet rich enough to reward a rewatch. Come for the headline names; stay for the way the series reframes a footnote presidency as a haunting what-if.

Death by Lightning is less about an ending than about the fragile chain of choices that led there. It’s one of the season’s most affecting limited series — smart, humane, and quietly devastating.