The Hunt Is... A Bit Off

As often as I gush about the quality of the shows on Apple TV+ (and yes, I do that often), not every show on there is amazing. I recently finished one that was much more average-at-best... but I think still worth talking about.

Manhunt is a 7-episode mini-series chronicling the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Adapted largely from a book by historian James L. Swanson, the show follows the flight and pursuit of Lincoln's killer, John Wilkes Booth.

I was warned in advance by a friend that this series was a disappointment. And while that put me off it for a couple of months, I ultimately couldn't not watch it. This was covering a bit of history I found particularly interesting, and the show featured a number of actors I quite enjoy. In the end, those very elements are probably what makes Manhunt feel like more of a letdown that it would otherwise be -- there's the sense that some great potential is going unrealized here.

The story is fascinating, and that's what kept me watching through all 7 episodes even after I'd concluded, "there are many shows I watch (and should be watching) that are better than this." In hindsight, what I probably should have done was read Swanson's original book. But in either form, you're experiencing more of the history that doesn't feel as vital as in, say, a Wikipedia article. You see just how fraught the end of the Civil War really was. You see what a turning point Lincoln's death really was, for how sharply his successor Andrew Johnson turned the country in the wrong direction. You appreciate how wild it is that the lesser-regarded actor brother of a super-well-known actor became an assassin. (It would be like if Liam Hemsworth assassinated the current president or something.)

All of that still comes through... but as a TV series, Manhunt doesn't give it to you in the best way. The writing is pretty rough. Ham-handed dialogue very often gilds the lily. The degree to which said dialogue tries to be period accurate (versus lapsing into something that sounds more colloquially modern) is frustrating. And all of that dialogue is in service of an unnecessarily complicated narrative structure: each episode jumps around in time more than an episode of Lost (and without the same thematic resonance), with on-screen captions informing us that we're "24 Hours Before the Assassination" or "3 Years Before the Assassination" and so forth. The gymnastics don't feel like they amount to much to me.

But the actors sure try their best. Like I said, many of them are another reason I wanted to watch the series in the first place. Tobias Menzies has been great in Rome, The Crown, Game of Thrones, and more. But here he's finally in the lead role, as Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. Anthony Boyle, whose grounded performance and effective narration guided viewers through the compelling Masters of the Air, here twists his skills to play the depraved John Wilkes Booth. Perennial "that guy" Glenn Morshower (who 24 fans will certainly recognize) gives a great turn as Andrew Johnson. Patton Oswalt and Matt Walsh are cast wonderfully against their comedic personas in a pair of dramatic roles. Lovie Simone is part of the most emotional story arc of the series, as Mary Simms.

...but all of them are having to wrestle with that unpolished dialogue I mentioned, having to rise above the oddball non-linear narrative. They all give good performances that might otherwise have been great performances.

I'd say Manhunt still manages to reach something like a B- overall. But that's less than I would have hoped for -- and, like I said, less than a dozen other shows I could rattle off the top of my head without pausing for a breath. Still, if you're interested in the chapter of American history, there might be something here for you?