Manhunt

In the chaotic wake of Abraham Lincoln's assassination, Manhunt follows the urgent effort to track down John Wilkes Booth while the country teeters on the brink. The story centers on Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, played by Tobias Menzies, who mobilizes soldiers, detectives, and networks of informants to pursue a fugitive whose capture could shape the republic's future. Anthony Boyle portrays Booth, seen through moments of desperation and brittle charisma, while Lovie Simone, Will Harrison, and Brandon Flynn populate the tangled civilian and military worlds pulled into the search. Episodes shift between field pursuits, courthouse pressure, and private grief, showing how law, politics, and personal loyalties collide without revealing later twists or the final outcome, and the fragile civic order.

Manhunt premiered in 2024, created by Monica Beletsky, James L. Swanson, and Tim Brittain. Drawing on historical research and period consultants, the series recreates 1860s America and stars Tobias Menzies, Anthony Boyle, Lovie Simone, Will Harrison, and Brandon Flynn.

As of its initial run the series had not earned major award nominations, though reviewers singled out performances by Tobias Menzies, Anthony Boyle, Lovie Simone, and Brandon Flynn. Industry commentators noted the show's period detail and its potential for awards consideration in acting and design categories, especially costumes.

Manhunt prompted renewed interest in the Lincoln assassination among viewers and history podcasts on streaming platforms, encouraging conversations about memory, the politics of reconstruction, and how dramatizations balance fact and fiction, especially around civil liberties, national trauma, and postwar governance, in classrooms and public forums.

Critics have been mixed, the show holds about a 6.7/10 audience score based on 80 votes. Reviewers praised its attention to period detail, performances, and tense procedural scenes, while some found pacing uneven and tone weighed down by political and moral tension around justice, power, and national healing.