Told in a mere seven hourlong installments and focusing primarily on the handful of days between President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination and the locating of his killer, John Wilkes Booth, “Manhunt” impressively paints a more sprawling portrait of a time in our country’s history.
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The highly compelling limited series, debuting this week on Apple TV+ with its first two episodes, is based on the 2006 bestselling and Edgar Award-winning nonfiction book from historian James L. Swanson, “Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer.” Making liberal use of flashbacks and no doubt taking some liberties while filling in the blanks, the adaptation offers a window into the days and even years leading up to the murder of the legendary figure and extends through to the trial in which the government attempted to prove that a conspiracy involving several people was behind it.
The show is the creation of showrunner Monica Beletsky, who wrote or co-wrote each episode, lending the consistency you’re looking for with such a series even as its directorial duties have been divided up among three: Carl Franklin, John Dahl and Eva Sorhaug.
“Manhunt” is told largely from the perspectives of two men: Booth (Anthony Boyle), an actor who aspires for what he sees as a level of greatness the stage can’t offer him; and his hunter, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton (Tobias Menzies), a close Lincoln confidant during the president’s final years who operates with purpose and determination.
We are introduced to both of them on April 15, 1865, just hours before the moment Booth will shoot the president from behind in a box at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., where Lincoln (Hamish Linklater) and his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln (Lili Taylor), are taking in a play.
On this day, men exchange whispers — and a handgun — and an attempt also is made on the life of Secretary of State William H. Seward (Larry Pine) in his home in a related attack.
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“Manhunt” soon moves us back a few days, to Lincoln and Stanton receiving the greatly awaited news that the Civil War is ending with the surrender of the forces of the Confederate States of America to its Union counterparts.
“The Confederacy is dead,” Stanton declares, dictating a message to the press. “The Union is saved.”
During this time, Booth talks to a man in a bar who has trouble hearing what Booth is saying due to the revelry around them.
“Ahhh, let them celebrate,” Booth says. “They’ll be sorry next Easter when they realize they’ve given away their whole country to (racial slur) thanks to Lincoln.”
As the viewer will come to understand, Booth expects to soon be more famous than other members of his family who make their livings acting, including the father he could never impress.
After that night in the theater — during which, after completing the heinous act and declaring “Freedom for the South!,” he injures his leg jumping down to the stage but still manages to get away — he certainly has a well-known name.
It is the name constantly on the mind of Stanton, who organizes the search for him. This displeases his wife, Ellen (Anne Dudek), who sees him as unable to delegate and who worries, understandably, about his asthma — a condition worsened by stress and one on the verge of causing him serious problems. However, his son, Eddie Stanton Jr. (Brandon Flynn), works with him to find and bring to justice Booth.
The trail quickly leads to a physician, Samuel Mudd (Matt Walsh), who shares a set of beliefs with Booth and the Confederates and who treated Booth’s leg before sending him on his way to Virginia with pal — and “lackey,” as he later will be called — David Herold (Will Harrison).
Anthony Boyle, left, and Will Harrison, as John Wilkes Booth and David Herold, respectively, appear in a scene from “Manhunt.” (Courtesy of Apple TV+)
The magnetic performances of Boyle, seen recently in another strong Apple TV+ limited series, “Masters of the Air,” and, especially, Menzies (“Game of Thrones,” “The Crown”) anchor “Manhunt.” Each actor demands your attention every moment he is on screen.
And as a key supporting play, Linklater (“Gaslit”) grows on you in scenes where he navigates the pressing issues of his nation with Stanton as well as those of his family with his wife. Daniel Day-Lewis he’s not, but his work contributes to “Manhunt” significantly as it moves forward.
Hamish Linklater portrays President Abraham Lincoln in the new Apple TV+ limited series “Manhunt.” (Courtesy of Apple TV+)
“Manhunt” makes some time for Mary Simms (Lovie Simone of “Power Book III: Raising Kanan”), a slave-turned-servant working as Mudd’s housekeeper. A little-known person from history, she serves here as the embodiment of the plight of the Blacks at the time.
Even though Simone gets third billing in the series, “Manhunt” may have benefited from even more time spent on the character. It is, of course, understandable that we bear witness to myriad interactions of white men on both sides of the ideological wall, but the proceedings occasionally can be just a little confusing as the series jumps forward and backward in time and presents us with so many characters. To her credit, Beletsky ensures we always know when and where we are via on-screen text.
Lovie Simone and Antonio Bell appear in an episode of “Manhunt.” (Courtesy of Apple TV+)
Overall, this is highly commendable work from Beletsky, who has spent time as a writer and producer on excellent TV series in “Friday Night Lights,” “Parenthood,” “The Leftovers” and “Fargo” at various points. Seeking here to blend true-crime flavorings with historical fiction, she shows great promise as a showrunner.
On more than one occasion, Beletsky and her co-writers seem to draw parallels between what was happening in the country and today’s political climate, which is effective. Mostly, though, it succeeds as a powerful reminder of just how fragile the war-torn nation was at the time.
Consider when Stanton is asked, before the credits roll at the close of the first episode, what it means if a conspiracy is found to be behind the assassination.
“Might have to start another war,” he says.
‘Manhunt’
What: Seven-episode limited series of hourlong drama.
When: First two episodes debut March 15 with subsequent installments arriving on Fridays.
Rated: TV-MA (for mature audiences).
Stars (of four): 3.