Death by Lightning review: The Netflix drama offers entertaining performances from Michael Shannon and Matthew Macfadyen, but suffers from rushed storytelling.
In Netflix’s latest dive into historical catastrophe masquerading as tragic comedy, the miniseries Death by Lightning, will focus on how President James A. Garfield’s short but significant term was cut short by the deranged Charles Guiteau. Adapted from Candice Millard’s acclaimed non-fiction book, the series has all the prestige hallmarks – a stellar cast (Michael Shannon, Matthew Macfadyen) and backing from Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.
Yet despite all its technical sheen and mesmerizing performances, the four-episode political drama cuts off oddly, a dazzling flash of promise that dissipates too quickly, leaving the audience with the feeling that the substance is severely undercooked in the narrative execution.
According to Collider, The series would not be what it is without its central performances. Michael Shannon brings a surprising depth of compassion and complexity to James A. Garfield. He is the unwilling, good man thrust into the nation’s highest office with a sincere dedication to civil service reform and battling the period’s widespread corruption. His political battle against the spoils system and his dream for a greater America provide the spine of the tale.
Likewise, Macfadyen as the mentally deranged assassin Charles Guiteau is an exercise in rattling restraint. Rather than barking like a lunatic, he gives us a chillingly believable narcissist whose grandiose delusions become deadly after he believes he’s been slighted by the government. Both Times Square and Ballet Mécanique are definitive performances by artists of the highest caliber and when these two extraordinary actors share even a few brief scenes, it electrifies the room.
Yet the very brevity that allows the series to have a tight focus ultimately becomes its undoing. With only four episodes, the drama speeds through Garfield’s volatile ascent; the political fights, the assassination, and the tragic fallout. The intricate, sleazy post–Civil War American political landscape which Garfield was frantically trying to clean up, seems drawn in rather than drawn out.
Crucial political and personal story lines are hurried, not allowing viewers to fully process the scope of Garfield’s vision and the pervasive institutional problems he confronted. Although the plot conforms to historical facts, it seems to be moving along a highlight reel, thus depriving the momentous events of their authentic emotional and intellectual weight.
The tragic thing about the Garfield story is not just the bullet but the subsequent, excruciating medical malpractice that resulted in his death months later—a detail beautifully and painfully unpacked in the source material.
The series nods to this, but its truncated format means the horror and absurdity of the medical ignorance doesn’t fully register. It’s in these pivotal, enduring moments that a genuine political drama finds its voice – revealing the systemic failures that magnified a personal tragedy.
Death By Lightning is a casualty of its brevity. It’s an effective (albeit superficial) flashback to a chapter in American history largely forgotten, and the work of its two stars makes it unforgettable.
But a story of this scope involving a president’s assassination, political corruption and the tragic crossroads of American determination requires more than a boiled-down treatment.
As report says, Beautifully shot and superbly acted, it’s less like a finished, fully resonant drama and more like a powerful, introductory prologue, a brilliant flash in the dark that leaves you wanting the narrative equivalent of a full tempest.
Death by Lightning is a show that glistens with stellar acting and pristine production values but doesn’t quite grant its narrative the depth it merits. But Michael Shannon and Matthew Macfadyen give strong performances that humanize and energize the limited four-episode format that does not allow the political and emotional strands to fully unravel.
What might have been a deep dive into ambition, tragedy, and systemic collapse, instead comes across as a beautifully staged synopsis of a much bigger narrative. Ultimately Death by Lightning isn’t just gorgeous and intermittently stirring but cuts too suddenly, leaving its viewers haunted, not by what has been seen, but by what’s been left unsaid.
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Today we break down on How Death by Lightning turns out both beautiful and at times touching but it runs out too soon. It is thus that his viewers are unsettled, not for what they see, but what goes unsaid.
School Spirits Season 2 is here! Get the full episode schedule, plot twists, and where to watch this thrilling supernatural drama. Don't miss it! Learn more..!
The wait is over! School Spirits Season 2 is finally here. The show takes you back to its mysterious world. High school secrets and supernatural events make it more exciting. Peyton List returns as Maddie Nears.
She faces new challenges and deeper mysteries. This season blends teen drama with ghostly twists. Want to know more? Here’s everything about the release schedule, story details, and where to watch!
| Episode Number | Title | Release Date |
| Episode 1 | Whatever Happened to Maddie Nears? | Thursday, January 30, 2025 |
| Episode 2 | Field of Screams | Thursday, January 30, 2025 |
| Episode 3 | Can’t Hauntly Wait | Thursday, January 30, 2025 |
| Episode 4 | A Walk-in to Remember | Thursday, February 6, 2025 |
| Episode 5 | Ghost Who’s Coming to Dinner | Thursday, February 13, 2025 |
| Episode 6 | Ghost Pointe Blank | Thursday, February 20, 2025 |
| Episode 7 | Title TBA | Thursday, February 27, 2025 |
| Episode 8 | Title TBA | Thursday, March 6, 2025 |
| Episode 9 | Title TBA | Thursday, March 13, 2025 |
| Episode 10 | Title TBA | Thursday, March 20, 2025 |
Season 2 picks up right where Season 1 left off. Maddie’s journey in the afterlife continues with more twists. She learns shocking truths about her fate. With new clues, she searches for answers.
Her high school hides deep secrets. This season explores identity, unfinished business, and strong bonds. Love and friendship go beyond life and death.
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New episodes of School Spirits stream only on Paramount+. In the U.S., episodes release every Thursday at 3 a.m. ET / 12 a.m. PT. UK viewers can watch on Paramount+ UK every Friday.
Subscribers can stream through the Paramount+ app or website. The show’s thrilling story keeps fans hooked. Don’t miss the latest supernatural twists each week!
School Spirits Season 2 has released six episodes since January 30, 2025. The story follows Maddie Nears, a ghost trapped in her high school. She recently discovered she never actually died. Another spirit, Janet, took over her body. In the latest episode, Maddie’s friends kidnapped Janet.
They wanted her to leave Maddie’s body. The next episode airs on February 27, 2025. Janet might react violently. She could also reveal secrets about her past. Fans are eager to see what happens next. Don’t miss the upcoming twists in this thrilling supernatural drama!
School Spirits Season 2 Episode 7 premieres on Paramount+ on Thursday, February 27, 2025. The episode will release at 12 a.m. PT and 3 a.m. ET. The series is available only on Paramount+.
A subscription is required to watch. Paramount+ offers two plans. The ad-supported Essential plan costs $7.99 per month. The ad-free Showtime plan costs $12.99 per month.
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The upcoming episode is titled Anatomy of a Fallout Shelter. It continues from the last episode. Mr. Martin finds Janet at the cabin where she was held. He might try to convince her to keep Maddie’s body.
The episode’s synopsis suggests Janet will not listen to him. She is expected to react violently. She may also reveal secrets about her past. The other spirits will learn about her connection to Mr. Martin.
The previous episode was titled Ghost Pointe Blank. Simon and the others kidnapped Janet. She still refused to leave Maddie’s body. They tied her to a chair. They tried to convince her to return to Split River High. They wanted Maddie to regain her body. The group told Janet that Dawn had crossed over.
Janet refused to believe it. She demanded proof. Simon rushed back to the school to talk to Maddie. Meanwhile, Maddie made an important discovery. She realized the spirits’ scars were all connected. She also found out Dawn’s scar might be a portal to the afterlife. Simon returned and told Janet everything.
She still refused to leave Maddie’s body. Meanwhile, Wally attended his high school reunion. The event revealed his past as a bully. Charley was upset because he had been bullied before. Charley found comfort in Yuri. They shared a moment and kissed.
Back at the cabin, the kids kept persuading Janet. In the end, she asked for time alone before returning to school. Simon agreed and left. Just then, Mr. Martin approached Janet. His arrival hinted that her decision might change again. Fans are eager to see what happens next!
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You can watch it exclusively on Paramount+ with a subscription to either the Essential ($7.99/month) or Showtime ($12.99/month) plan.
The season follows Maddie Nears, a ghost trapped in high school, uncovering shocking secrets about her past and the afterlife.
Season 2 has 10 episodes, with the first three released on January 30, 2025, and new episodes airing every Thursday.
Simon and friends kidnapped Janet to force her out of Maddie’s body, but she refused, and Mr. Martin’s arrival hinted at another twist.
Discover the Star Trek history behind Trials and Trible-ations and Leonard Nimoy’s legendary response that made it one of the greatest episodes ever. Read more.
There are some episodes in the long, Star Trek history of the franchise that are “good,” and then there are those that transcend the screen to become iconic moments of pop-culture history. One such occasion is the fifth-season Star Trek: Deep Space Nine tour de force, “Trials and Tribble-ations”.
To fans it was a technical marvel –a 1996 love letter to the 30th anniversary of the franchise that merged the grim, 24th-century reality of Captain Sisko with the bright, primary-colored 1960s look of Captain Kirk. But off-camera the episode was a political quagmire.
New details from executive producer Ira Steven Behr at the Trek Talks 5 fundraiser have provided clarity to a moment that could have turned out very differently: the phone call to the late, great Leonard Nimoy.
In order to understand what made Rick Berman (then the franchise lead) so nervous about calling Nimoy, you just have to go back to the 1994 “Generations” debacle.
At this time, Leonard Nimoy wasn’t only an actor, he was the filmmaker who had rescued the motion picture series with his two films, The Search for Spock and The Voyage Home. When it was time to transition the Original Series (TOS) cast to The Next Generation (TNG) cast in the movie Star Trek Generations, Star Trek history, Paramount, they naturally looked to Nimoy to direct.
Yet Nimoy notoriously disparaged the script. He believed the story had holes, but more significantly he was offended by the “cameo” status of Spock’s part in the prologue. He wasn’t content to be just a name on the screen; he wanted to be involved in writing and directing as well. When Paramount would not be swayed from the script, Nimoy walked out. The Nimoy-Rick Berman dynamic grew frosty, “getting us into a different place…not exactly on the same page.”
When the concept for “Trials and Tribble-ations” was raised an episode that would cheekily insert footage of Nimoy from the 1967 classic “The Trouble with Tribbles” — the legal and professional obstacles seemed too great to overcome. Berman, perhaps anticipating a rebuke or a sermon, informed Ira Steven Behr that he was the one who should make the call.
Behr characterizes the moment with a tension usually only found in a Romulan standoff. He phoned Nimoy, prepared for a “prickly” meeting, and pitched the idea: DS9 was going to utilize digital technology to place their actors within the original film footage.
Following a lengthy and suspenseful pause that probably felt like a lifetime to Behr, Nimoy said simply in five words:
“What took you so long?”
It was more than just a “yes.” But it was the evolution of the franchise that earned the fans’ energetic thumbs-up. Although Nimoy had guarded Spock’s dignity in the films, it is clear that he had a deep love for the fans and the legacy that show came to have. He wasn’t into holding a grudge against a creative homage; he was stunned it hadn’t come sooner.
With Nimoy’s blessing, the writers and producers of DS9 put together what many consider the definitive “gimmick” episode in television history. Here’s why the Star Trek history and Nimoy’s blessing of it — remains so important:
Technological Pioneering: Well in advance of “de-aging” technology being a standard Hollywood practice, DS9 employed forest-green screens and precise lighting to emulate the grain and shade of 30-year-old motion picture film.
The “Forrest Gump” Effect: Watching Bashir and O’Brien chatting in the TOS commissary, or Sisko on the bridge of the original Enterprise gave us a grounding that made the universe of Trek feel “whole” in a way it never had before.
The episode was not ridiculing the 60s, it was loving them. The joking about the changing Klingon foreheads (“We do not discuss it with outsiders”) to the sight of Sisko autographing a Kirk book – it was every fan’s dream.
In a time when “toxic fandom” and “creative differences” were shaping much of the news, Nimoy’s response is a grounding reminder of what Star Trek history is meant to be.
Nimoy recognized the difference between a corporate mandate (the Generations script) and a creative homage (the DS9 tribute). He may have been “hard to work with” in fulfillment of his view of the character of Spock, but he was exceedingly generous when artists sought to pay tribute to the work.
| Perspective | Reaction to “Trials & Tribble-ations” |
| Rick Berman | Fearful of litigation and personal friction. |
| Ira Steven Behr | Nervous, but hopeful for a creative win. |
| Leonard Nimoy | Enthusiastic, viewing it as a long-overdue celebration. |
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In the end, Nimoy didn’t return to the “Berman-era” of Trek ever again after that. His subsequent involvement with the character of Spock wouldn’t come again until the 2009 reboot directed by J.J. This just makes his support for the DS9 ep even stronger. It was his way of saying that while I’m sure he had some issues with the suits in the front office, his love for the world of Star Trek and the fans who kept it alive was unconditional.
“Trials and Tribble-ations” is a transitional episode. It’s a bridge spanning 1966 to 1996, bridging the gap between the film stock of yesteryear and that of the digital future, and—thanks to a surprisingly genial phone call—it’s a bridge between a legendary actor and the franchise he helped build.
As 2026, the year the episode took place in, marks the 30th anniversary of that episode, Nimoy’s statement rings true. What took them so long? The magic has always been there in Star Trek history, it just needed to be rediscovered and reclaimed.
Ultimately, “Trials and Tribble-ations” isn’t just a cool crossover episode—it’s a love note to everything that makes Star Trek great. From its bold use of technology to its sentiment-based tribute to the original series, the episode managed to unite generations of fans as few programs ever have.
But the thing that really takes it to another level is Leonard Nimoy’s reaction. His simple yet profound assent—“What took you so long?”—lent a much-needed element of calm in a time when infighting within the franchise could well have scuttled the notion. It revealed that above all the contract issues and creative differences, there still was an immense respect for the legacy and the fans.
More than 20 years later, the episode serves as a testament that Star Trek is best when it looks back upon its roots even as it looks forward. And then, the Star Trek history isn’t the miracles that matter that get arranged in time, so much as the sudden glance of grace that’s unlooked for but remembered.
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