What I’m Watching March ’24 Part I

Manhunt (Apple)-First Four Episodes-Living in DC, it’s extremely exciting to see this story dramatized as I’ve interacted with Ford’s Theater and landmarks involving Samuel Mudd, Mary Surratt, and John Wilkes Booth. It’s very much living history here as park rangers at Ford’s Theater have held opposing views on different tours I’ve been on as to the guilt of Samuel Mudd. Through two episodes, it’s solid although a little crusty like a standard period piece. The ensemble might be a little too overloaded with parts for clarity and it’s a disservice to the story that Seward’s assassination attempt is given such short shrift. Also, Patton Oswalt is so goddamn funny in everything that it’s hard to take him in a serious role.

Like many prestige dramas, the action intercuts between storylines to keep things from dragging: We have Doctor Samuel Mudd abetting John Wilkes Booth; the famous assassin himself wandering the woods of Maryland waiting to cross the Potomac; and the bigwigs in Washington trying to deal with the aftermath of the Civil War. This isn’t just a look at the man hunt for Booth but a nuanced take on the challenges facing America as it moves towards Reconstruction.

The Tourist (Netflix)-A version of Memento set in the Australian outback with an Irishman (Jamie Doorman) who awakens in an Australian hospital without his memory, an eager-beaver cop lady on the bottom of the totem pool, a steamy former lover as a sidekick, and a wonderfully idiosyncratic hitman (Olaffur Dari Olaffson, an Icelandic icon). It’s set up to be…