With the surprise turn of events at the end of the Death By Lightning series premiere, the second episode jumps into the aftermath. Of course, Conklin wants to take Garfield down, but it’s going to be hard when he loses support from his own friend.
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS from Death By Lightning season 1 episode 2.
While we start with Conklin and Arthur planning the downfall of Garfield, we also head to Garfield’s home, where his wife learns that he is now running to be the next President of the United States. This isn’t something she wanted, and she’s worried, as they had problems the last time Garfield went to New York for a long period of time.
That’s not going to happen here, though. Garfield promises that he will run this from home. Does he want the position or not?
Chester Arthur is named VP in Death By Lightning
Meanwhile, the Republicans need a running mate, and they need someone strategic who can bring in the big donors and the big names. That means they need to turn to New York, but nobody wants Conklin to get the position. They need someone who understands the underground networks and the people, and that’s Chester Arthur.
Of course, he steps up to the job, much to Conklin’s chagrin. It doesn’t help much in terms of money, though, and that could be where Charles Guiteau comes in.
After initially meeting Blaine in the stairwell, Guiteau walks into the office while Blaine and Arthur meet to talk money. Guiteau does have a genuine idea in that they could get the everyday people to donate just a small amount. This would help to boost the financial support in the way they need, and it would make people feel like they were part of the whole thing.
Nobody really wants to listen to him, though. However, he certainly makes an impression.
Arthur needs to work out the situation with Conklin
Arthur runs into Guiteau in a pub, while Guiteau is on the run from the cops that are after him due to stealing money from his brother-in-law. Something in Guiteau’s way of coming into the office made an impression on Arthur, as he saw a bit of himself in there. As Guiteau offers some words of advice about fighting for what he wants, Arthur also agrees to let Guiteau do a speech at the conference.
After the Republicans lose Maine, much to Blaine’s surprise and disappointment, Arthur decides to speak with Conklin to get him back on side. Arthur makes it clear that he can definitely still kill for Conklin and do his bidding, and they can have a major benefit with him as VP. On top of that, it means not having to sit with the Democratic nominee, Hancock, for four years. It’s just what Conklin needs to step up to offer his support to make sure Garfield and Arthur are elected.
This does mean that Garfield needs to get back from his farm. It’s time for him to meet his people, and part of that is giving a speech to the Black voters.
Garfield has to face his past
There’s just a huge issue right now. There’s a claim that Garfield wrote a letter to support Chinese workers coming in to take jobs from American workers. We know that his daughter had done something under the cover of darkness, and it looks like it could have been this, not realizing what it would do. Could this be an attempt to support the Chinese workers who have come for a better life? If you’ve seen Warrior, you’ll know of the discrimination the Chinese people faced when they came over, and we could see how some of that plays out.
His daughter has also learned that Garfield didn’t just spend two years in a tent managing correspondence during the Civil War. There was something much bigger in his role to play, and she’s annoyed that he would lie about that. To be honest, not all children get to know what their parents did before they were born, and this is probably one of those things.
With that, it’s Election Day. People head to the polls as they determine the next President of the United States, and we see how everyone sticks with their support systems heading the news. Sitting through any election results, you know how it feels not knowing if a state is going to swing your way or not, and we can sense the tension in the air everywhere.
In the end, Garfield wins, which brings the celebrations for the Republicans. That is, except for Garfield, who seems to stand outside and wonder if this is the right thing for him. Little does he know that it is what leads to his death in a few short years.
Death By Lightning is available to stream on Netflix.