Manhunt – The Final Act

Three years prior to Lincoln’s (Hamish Linklater), Edwin Stanton (Tobias Menzies) arrives at the White House at the request of the President. Miss Keckley (Betty Gabriel) greets him at the door and informs Stanton of Willie Lincoln’s (Van Kelly Clark) condition. Stanton is hesitant to go upstairs, but Keckley assures him his presence would be welcome. Upstairs, Willie’s doctor (Justin Matthew Smith) tries to assure Mrs. Lincoln (Lili Taylor) that her son will be fine, and she should go back downstairs to her party that is currently in progress. Mary heads downstairs and Abe asks for the truth about Willie’s condition: that he only has days to live.

When Stanton enters the room, Lincoln is reading to Willie. As Lincoln allows Willie to rest and they leave the room, Lincoln is pleased that Stanton has accepted the position as Secretary of War….his Mars. To start the process towards winning the war and Reconstruction, Stanton recommends getting control of the telegraph system and utilizing that in their fight to end the war.

In the present day, Stanton addresses the crowds outside that are waiting for the trial to begin. Inside, Judge Joseph Holt (John Billingsley) begins opening remarks for the tribunal. With Lewis Powell (Spencer Treat Clark), Dr. Samuel Mudd (Matt Walsh), Edward Spangler (Walker Babington), George Atzerodt (Tommie Turvey), Mary Surratt (Carrie Lazar), and David Herold (Will Harrison) accused of conspiracy, Holt adds John Surratt Jr. (Joshua Mikel), George Sanders (Anthony Marble), and Jefferson Davis (Craig Nigh) for their involvement in Lincoln’s assassination.

As the tribunal is in an uproar, Stanton is eager find the connection from Jefferson Davis and his involvement in Lincoln’s death. While Davis will not relent on his story, Detective Baker (Patton Oswalt) tells Stanton and Holt about Conover’s (Josh Stewart) involvement with Sanders and the information that he has received from him. While Conover has been two-timing Baker and secretly working for the Confederate Secret Service, he now wants to come forward with information to help Stanton’s case. Meanwhile, Mary Simms (Lovie Simone) is being prepped by Stanton and Holt for trial. Knowing that the defense will attack her lack of education and discredit her to no end.

The trial begins and the prosecution starts off strongly. As the evidence mounts against the defense from William Bell (Carlos Luckie Jr.), Joseph Peanuts Burroughs (Daniel Croix), and Thomas Eckert (Damian O’Hare), Mudd’s supporters then come out and begin to paint a different picture. As one of them is a fellow servant who was paid by Mudd’s friends to lie and make Mary look less than credible, Mary advises Stanton that they will need her brother Milo (Antonio J. Bell) to strengthen their case. Realizing that the testimonies of two former slaves may face scrutiny, Mary also asks Louis Weichmann (C.J. Hoff) to testify as he stayed at Surratt’s Boarding House.

Next day, Mary takes the stand and is immediately under fire from the defense for her lack of education. But true to his word, Weichmann takes the stand and provides the credibility to Mary’s allegations about the conspirators. While Weichmann initially supported John Surratt, he tells Mary that he believes her before leaving the stand. As Conover begins his testimony, he begins to create the narrative that Booth (Anthony Boyle) was considered the “pet” of Jefferson Davis. While at first his story is strong, the defense immediately begins to discredit Conover as a conman and he is seen as less than credible. Later, Stanton deduces that Sanders had gotten to Conover and had him tarnish his own testimony.

Nevertheless, the tribunal reaches a verdict. While Davis is as guilty as Booth, the tainted evidence makes that verdict a moot point. But for the conspirators in the room, they are guilty and receive punishment for their crimes. Mary Surratt, David Herold, Lewis Powell, and George Atzerodt are sentenced to death, while Spangler and Mudd receive prison sentences….Mudd’s sentence the harshest with life in prison.

Later as Stanton is cleaning up his board in his office, Eckert notes that 18 pages of Booth’s diary was missing. While Stanton claims to ask Baker, Eckert notes that he had the fireplace cleaned…clearly knowing that it was his friend that burned the evidence.

To go forth with assisting freed slaves, Stanton attends an event for Miss Keckley and the release of her new book. As proceeds will help to provide freedmen with supplies, Stanton advises the group to donate generously. However, the happiness is short lived as President Johnson (Glenn Morshower) and Lorenzo Thomas (Robert C. Treveiler) arrive. Johnson pulls Stanton aside and advises him he will be pulling troops from the South and that Thomas will be the new Secretary of War. Stanton is incensed, knowing that Congress will seek impeachment for Johnson’s violation of the law. However, Stanton agrees to give Thomas a tour.

In another flashback to the day before the assassination, Stanton goes to visit Lincoln.  At first Stanton goes to tell Lincoln he will need to resign, but Lincoln refuses to accept it. Instead, he asks for help with Reconstruction and recommends a vacation rather than a resignation. Reconstruction will take much more than war and Lincoln tells Stanton that they will need to see them through the final act. Back in the present, Stanton tells Thomas to go fetch a 30-year scotch from the cabinet as he begins to lock the office doors and bar Thomas from his office. Stanton will not let Reconstruction go without a fight and barred himself in his office for 3 months, sending messages to the front not to withdraw men.

As the fate of conspirators and those who testified are revealed, there is a flash forward to four years after the assassination. Eddie (Brandon Flynn) brings his father a letter, showing that he has been nominated as a Supreme Court Justice. Although Stanton is ailing, he is pleased that he will now be able to finish Abe’s vision for the country. As Eddie heads downstairs to share the good news, Stanton goes to stand up and struggles….falling back and dying in his chair. Two months after Stanton’s death, the 15th Amendment was ratified…guaranteeing black men the right to vote. It was the last of Lincoln’s Amendments for Reconstruction.