User Reviews

Manhunt Episode 1 begins with a man named Powell breaking into Secretary Seward's house, stabbed in the face, and fleeing the scene covered in blood. Edwin Stanton visits Seward's house, who survived the stabbing due to his braces. Five days before Lincoln's murder, Robert E. Lee and his army surrendered to the Union Army, marking the end of the battle between the Union and the Confederacy. Stanton invited Seward to celebrate the surrender, but Seward advised him to refrain until it was clear to every Confederate officer that the war was over. John Wilkes Booth, a theatre actor known for supporting roles and stunts, decided to become a national hero by murdering Lincoln. He met Lincoln's guard, Parker, in a bar and discovered that Lincoln would be left unguarded once seated. Booth entered the theatre with a gun and a dagger in his pocket, waiting at the back of the theatre to shoot Lincoln in the head. After the assassination, Booth heads to Virginia but is stopped at the Navy Bridge. His fame as a theatre actor helps convince the guard to let him in. He meets David Herold on the way to Charles County, Maryland, and they head to Samuel Mudd's place to treat Booth's broken leg. Booth reads the morning newspaper and is proud to be called the symbol of the cause, believing he has succeeded in becoming the most famous person in the world. Stanton investigates the murder of Abraham Lincoln at Seward's residence and discovers that he was in a coma. He learns that Mrs. Mary Lincoln blames Parker for the incident and that Booth planned to attack three significant figures simultaneously to dismantle the Union. Lincoln's death is announced on April 15th at 7.22 a.m. Stanton regrets not being by Lincoln's side that night, knowing he might have prevented the assassination. Stanton investigates the crime scene and finds the gun used to kill Lincoln on the ground in the theatre box. He interviews the theatre staff and discovers that Booth was in Maryland. Stanton decides to ban horse feed in Maryland until Booth is found and arrests Ned Spangler for his involvement in the assassination. Lincoln's death leads to rumors about the downfall of democracy in America, but Stanton reassures the media that the laws and institutions in the United States were designed to protect democracy. He uses the media attention to get sympathy from Lincoln's supporters for the crimes committed and photographs his blood-soaked pillows and sheets for the front page. In the end, Stanton discovers a coded message in Booth's hotel room, suggesting that Booth could have been a Confederate spy. He also discovers that Booth had deposited money in the same account used by the Confederate Secret Service to launder money, suggesting that the assassination was a planned one by the Confederacy.

I read this fantastic n book in three sittings. Compelling, real, accurately structured.

I watched the first 20 minutes of the first episode and rolled my eyes four times.

For some reason, the writer thought we needed to see each assassin examine their gun on camera when we first meet them. The telegraph office didn't have a separate office for the Secretary of War with Lincoln sitting in the outer telegraph room. Having Lewis Powell not know why he was killing the Secretary of State was ridiculous. They'd been plotting and meeting for weeks. Then they felt the need to illustrate his boorish stupidity by asking David Herold "which state?" Just terrible writing. Finally, they went to the trouble to have a pretty good representation of Seward's wounds and Lincoln is in a reasonably accurate beard and high pitched voice. But if Tobias Menzies was going to refuse to wear a beard and a stomach pack to attempt to resemble Stanton, they should have cast someone else. I was looking forward to this series. I turned it off after 20 minutes, I may go back, but I'm not in any hurry about it.

The show's representation of the events surrounding the search for a criminal lacks depth and fails to provide meaningful insights into the involved individuals. The character development is superficial, and the dialogue often feels trite and cliché. The pacing of the story is inconsistent, leading to a lack of suspense and engagement. Additionally, the series' attempt to sensationalize the true events comes off as exploitative and undermines the gravity of the subject matter. Overall, the new Manhunt series misses the mark in delivering a compelling and thought-provoking narrative, leaving audiences wanting more substance and authenticity.