The Apple TV Plus platform has strong doses of sci-fi and in 2024 it will include period content, transforming important periods in American History into thrillers, a new feature that can be seen in Manhunt and Franklin, the two series that are standing out in the collection, but with lukewarm results.

In such turbulent times in the world, looking back based on what is known today is an obvious option in the platform’s programming. With expensive productions that recreate important eras, Apple TV Plus brings a curious study of the origins of many conflicts. Why wasn’t it more successful?

Manhunt turns the Civil War into a thriller

The release order was not chronological. Manhunt portrays the end of the American Civil War when slavery ended and the country was divided. An adaptation of the book by James L. Swanson, the plot focuses on the 12 days in which Abraham Lincoln‘s assassin was on the run and the hunt for his arrest shook political scenes without their leader.

For non-Americans and those who forget history, the assassin of the American president was a well-known actor at the time, John Wilkes Booth, who, with the support of other Conspirators, refused to settle the end of the conflict and the defeat of the South. Who led his arrest was the Secretary of War and friend of Lincoln, Edwin Stanton (Tobias Menzies), whose investigations proved that Booth pulled the trigger, but that the attack was orchestrated by “Wall Street”, in other words, the rich farmers who became so rich with speculation as with slavery.

Turning the two-week quest into a thriller is an interesting option, even more so to confirm that nothing has changed. In fact, this is the subliminal objective of the series: to study the intolerance and economic manipulation behind all political conflicts.

Tobias Menzies as Edwin Stanton, and Harry Crosby as Booth, give great performances but do not engage a wider audience abroad.

Franklin promises to pay praise to Michael Douglas

Having Michael Douglas as Benjamin Franklin is still a curious choice, given that he is far from the physical size of the American diplomat, inventor, and journalist, but Franklin has, precisely because of his presence in the cast, greater worldwide appeal.

Also, an adaptation of a Pulitzer-winning book, A Grand Improvisation: Franklin, France and the Birth of America, written by Stacy Schiff, the series premiered in mid-April 2024, releasing the first three episodes and the plot is about the journey from Franklin to France, to gain financial and political support for American Independence

Just like Manhunt, Franklin works against the fact that we know the outcome, transforming the years the protagonist spent in Paris into a drama with hints of suspense. There are no great explanations of who is who, you need to Google it or have been a great student of History, but, as Douglas exudes charisma, he gets us involved more quickly.

Critics did not praise the production profusely, although it has great production and photography quality, but they like the originality of the story after all few references in cinema or TV (there are plays and musicals in the theater) remind us of the four years in which politics international decision decided the fate of the United States.

Just as Manhunt explores the fragility and political instability of secession, Franklin recalls that months after the signing of the Declaration of Independence there was still a great risk that democracy would be nothing more than a flash in the pan. There was a lack of money, weapons, and men to resist the British forces, and Franklin (Michael Douglas) had the mission to reverse the situation. These are little-known and less-explored aspects of the American Revolution or even Franklin’s life, which is why they are interesting.

One of the complaints that has a point, for both series, is the pacing, giving too many details to the subplots that stretch the action and don’t sustain much curiosity. In Franklin’s case, it is still too early to say that. In the first three episodes, the narrative is engaging enough and there are still five more to confirm its quality. At the very least, it makes us more cultured.

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