Death by Lightning Series-Finale Recap: A Minor Footnote

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Candice Millard’s approach to writing Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President was unusual, which suits the story of James Garfield, a president often overlooked in history. Millard was initially intrigued by a biography of Alexander Graham Bell, learning that Bell devoted significant effort to creating a metal detector to find the bullet in Garfield’s body. After just a few days of research, Millard realized Garfield wasn’t just a tragic figure, but an exceptionally remarkable president. This discovery ultimately became the central focus of her book.

Millard dedicates a significant portion of her book to Alexander Graham Bell, detailing his frustrating inability to use his invention to help President Garfield. She spends even more time exploring the outdated beliefs and excessive pride of Dr. Willard Bliss, arguing that his disregard for basic antiseptic practices played a larger role in Garfield’s death than the assassin’s bullets. A key element of the tragedy, as presented in Destiny of the Republic, is that the assassination occurred right before improvements in medicine, technology, and security could have potentially saved the president’s life. The book’s length allowed Millard to include all these crucial details and context.

As with any adaptation, especially one as long as four hours, Death by Lightning has to make difficult decisions. Creator Mike Makowsky, known for the enjoyable HBO comedy Bad Education, gives less focus to the characters of Bell and Bliss. Surprisingly, considering President Garfield spent 80 of his 200 days in office recovering from his injuries, the shooting doesn’t happen until 25 minutes into the final hour-long episode. This highlights the show’s main focus: the historical connection between Garfield and his assassin, Guiteau, rather than the interesting side stories. Overall, this approach proves to be a good one.

A key point of the series, particularly the finale, is that assassinations don’t happen in a vacuum – they’re rooted in the political environment that allows them to occur. While the villain, Roscoe Conkling, isn’t directly involved with the assassin, Guiteau, he fuels the internal conflict within the Republican Party, distracting Garfield during his presidency. The show smartly leaves Guiteau’s motivations somewhat ambiguous – allowing for the possibility of mental illness, which Macfadyen portrays brilliantly through his character’s inflated sense of self-importance. Guiteau recognizes Garfield’s struggles early on and anticipates the political shift. He believes that if Conkling succeeds in blocking Garfield’s plans and paving the way for Chester Arthur, they will both benefit, and he sees himself as Arthur’s ally in this scheme. In Guiteau’s mind, killing Garfield would ultimately help both of them.

The series leading up to the assassination focuses on the intense conflict between James Garfield and Roscoe Conkling, and what that meant for the Republican Party and American democracy. It highlights the danger of a political system that’s only accessible to the wealthiest citizens. Conkling used intimidation and threats to get what he wanted, while Garfield appealed to the sense of right and wrong in others. Surprisingly, Garfield not only won this battle, but also managed to pull Chester Arthur away from Conkling’s influence. Garfield’s belief in Arthur’s hidden integrity proved correct, and it would be valuable later when Arthur unexpectedly found himself in a position he wasn’t prepared for.

The funny moment when Arthur tries to resign as Vice President to Garfield perfectly captures the show’s unique blend of humor and historical insight. Arthur’s decision to publicly criticize Garfield and refuse to stay anonymous is reminiscent of George Costanza’s desperate attempt to get fired in a Seinfeld episode – he famously paraded a World Series trophy around a parking lot hoping to be dismissed. Arthur even directly tells Garfield, “I feel it my duty to explain to you that you really ought to fire me,” and insists he’s a terrible Vice President. Surprisingly, Garfield’s biggest reaction is simply asking Arthur to discuss his concerns privately first.

The scene of the shooting at the train station, where Guiteau shoots President Garfield, is well-done and confusing enough that no one thinks to take the gun until Guiteau willingly hands it over. The show also expertly portrays what happens after Guiteau is arrested. He genuinely believed he was saving the country, so he expected to be treated like a hero – perhaps a short stay in jail with a good view before being appointed to a position in the new Arthur administration. However, his delusions slowly crumble as he faces an angry crowd, his sister’s disappointment, and a difficult conversation with Lucretia after Garfield dies. But it isn’t until he’s on the gallows, realizing the onlookers are completely unaffected by his words, that his illusions finally vanish. Macfadyen portrays him as a pathetic, yet tragic, figure throughout, even until the very end.

Okay, so seeing Michael Shannon as the dignified James Garfield was… unexpected, honestly. He usually plays these intense, unpredictable characters, but he did bring this incredible power to the scenes where Garfield tries to fight back against Conkling. But then, the last part of the episode… wow. It mostly just showed Garfield in pain, barely able to groan as this doctor, Bliss, basically tortured him – seriously, Bliss just casually says, “Loss of consciousness is to be expected” while sticking needles into his spine! It’s frustrating because the episode didn’t really explain how awful Bliss’s methods were, but one quick shot of him with a bloody scalpel in his teeth, digging into a wound with his bare hands, was enough to get the point across. It really struck me that throughout everything, Garfield took a lot more punishment than anyone could imagine, and he handled it with a surprising amount of strength.

The story builds to a tense encounter between Guiteau and Lucretia in prison, a scene that feels a bit on-the-nose but gives actress Betty Gilpin a great moment to shine. Lucretia admits to Guiteau that she falsely promised her husband would be remembered favorably by history. She tells him bluntly that he’ll be forgotten – a minor, insignificant detail, like an obscure historical footnote. She asks if anyone remembers the president who was shot just months into his term. Lucretia’s only solace comes from denying Guiteau the fame he craves, primarily by making sure his book never sees the light of day. This explains why, in the series’ opening scene, people in 1969 are asking who Charles Guiteau even is – at least they’ll remember that Garfield was president, even if that’s all they know.

I keep hearing the argument that this series, like Millard’s book before it, inadvertently gives a platform to the warped beliefs of Guiteau. But honestly, that implies those beliefs even make sense, which I don’t think they do. What really resonates with Death by Lightning is its focus on Garfield himself – a truly good man whose potential was tragically cut short, a story we’ve seen repeated throughout history with other fallen leaders. But beyond the biography, the series brilliantly exposes a disturbing pattern in American politics: how easily progress can be derailed by hateful rhetoric and outright violence. Guiteau might fade into obscurity, but the show wisely reminds us that there will always be people like him lurking in the shadows.

Conklings:

The episode opens with a dramatic statement about a crisis facing America, calling on true patriots to act and promising a reckoning for the problems in Washington. This call to action immediately places a lot of responsibility for Garfield’s future on the character of Conkling.

Interestingly, Chauncey Depew, the politician who outmaneuvered Conkling in New York, was a big supporter of using pneumatic tubes to deliver the mail. That’s quite a quirky idea, Chauncey!

You know, Dr. Bliss calling germs “invisible monsters”? That’s just a small part of how people back then really doubted the whole antiseptic thing. Honestly, I’d love to see a whole miniseries dedicated to this – it’s a fascinating piece of history and the skepticism is wild!

I was really struck by how much the show tried to capture just how sweltering Washington D.C. was back then – those ice deliveries to the White House and Arthur dramatically leaving Conkling’s carriage really painted a picture. It made me realize that the heat wasn’t just background detail; it genuinely made Garfield feel awful and played a big part in the decision to move him to the coast, where he sadly spent his final days.

It feels strange that Guiteau would announce his diary will be “available wherever books are sold” – it sounds too contemporary. At least he didn’t try to promote a vintage audiobook, though!

Macfadyen delivers a hilarious moment near the end of the show, playfully bumping his toe—a surprisingly funny bit of physical comedy. It perfectly captures that even with everything that’s happened, Tom Wambsgans remains authentically, well, Tom Wambsgans.

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2025-11-07 00:56