Her hair was massive, and the secrets she held underneath her platinum blonde curls helped bring down the American president. We are, of course, talking about Martha Mitchell, but you’ve probably never heard of her. You also probably skimmed over the explosive, fantastic Starz series that details how she was one of the initial whistleblowers in exposing President Nixon’s direct involvement in the Watergate political scandal. StarringJulia Robertsas the woman of the hour, Martha Mitchell,Gaslitis a tour-de-force that shapeshifts between political satire, thriller, and domestic drama.It’s a candy-coated 1970s dream, and it is one of television’s greatest 20th-century period pieces sinceMad Men. It evokes one of the most turbulent moments in American history, and its attention to detail from what’s playing on the television to how people light their cigarettes makes you feel like you’re there, living with the crooks and dreamers polluting Washington D.C.
Unfortunately, not many people got to experience that, asGaslitwas buried within the 2022 television season. As it tells the forgotten story of one of America’s most important female historical figures, it seems only fitting that the series was destined for the same fate. Executive produced bySam Esmailand Roberts, it’s never too late to dust off the history book, or the play button on the fantastic Starz series.
Alongside Roberts,Sean Penn,Dan Stevens,Betty Gilpin,Shea Whigham,Hamish Linklater, andChris Messinastar inGaslit. If you’re really scratching your head now, wondering how you missed the series and all the star power, you are not alone. Starz competes with other cable monsters like HBO Max and Showtime, along with all the other streamers now, and at the end of the day, a series about the Watergate scandal centered on an unknown woman who was a key factor in the breaking of the story proved to be unsuccessful among the masses.But it does not change thatGaslitis an excellent limited series andone of the greatest depictions of the Watergate scandal on film and television.
Instead of focusing on President Nixon, the well-known journalists who broke the story, or all the other heroes we’ve come to know in the years since, thanks to our history books, the series focuses on the underdogs. History is all about the details, andGaslitis well aware of that as it tells stories of the forgotten wives, security guards, and small-time reporters who were the real heroes behind breaking the story.A slept-on series that is worth watching every minute of,here’s whyGaslitshould be your next binge-watch.
A modern take on the 1970s political Watergate scandal centering on untold stories and forgotten characters of the time.
Julia Roberts Gives a Voice to Martha Mitchell in ‘Gaslit’
If Martha Mitchell sounds vaguely familiar, it might be because her husband was the U.S. Attorney General under President Richard Nixon. While many remember John Mitchell for his role in the Watergate scandal, many forget the shocking fact that his wife Martha is part of the reason why he was not only criminally charged but why the President himself was impeached.Roberts is known for her radiant smile, demure figure, and charismatic charm, and inGaslitshe completely transforms into a past-her-prime southern bell, who is fighting for some redemption in a corrupt world.In the 70s, Martha was one of the most famous people in Washington D.C., as she was known to call up journalists after a few cocktails at night and provide them with gossip she had heard through her husband and his phone calls. Also appearing on various late-night talk shows, she was always the talk of the town, and wasn’t afraid to tell it like it is.
All the innocent gossip turned into a matter of life and death when her husband took drastic measures in the aftermath of the Watergate break-in. Worried she would call up journalists after piecing together what was going on, he had her kidnapped, bound, and drugged.Roberts is riveting as Martha finds herself a prisoner in her own home, and while she is beloved for romantic comedies and her million-dollar smile, her performance is chilling here. The physical performance she gives as she attempts to escape the clutches of the men her husband employed, including falling on a glass table that shattered, is more thrilling than anyTom Cruiseaction sequence.
Roberts goes through a great transformation as Martha, and as Martha is continuously gaslit that she is making up everything in her own head, she gets fed drugs and lies from her husband and the men working for Nixon.Refusing to be silenced, she tries to tell journalists and others the truth about Watergate and the President’s involvement, even while living under the same roof as the enemy.Penn also goes through an incredible transformation as John Mitchell, and is nearly unrecognizable as he wears a bodysuit, bald cap, and is constantly engulfed in cigar smoke. As the series continues and depicts the fall-out of an empire and the consequences of Watergate, Martha continuously falls into a pit of paranoia and pills, and gets no recognition for what she helped uncover. Roberts is the only person who could possibly play all the shades of Martha, as she goes from a respected celebrity in D.C., to a washed-up, jaded nobody who everyone discounts. Originallybased upon the fantasticSlow Burnpodcast from Slate Media, Roberts builds upon the worldSlow Burncreated and gives honor to one of history’s forgotten heroes.
‘Gaslit’ Features a Phenomenal Ensemble Cast Led by Shea Whigham
It’s so hard to fathom howGaslitis continuously slept on when it features some of Hollywood’s best and brightest. First and foremost a political thriller that has paranoia seeping into every corner and opening door,Gaslitcaptures lightning in a bottle as it transports us to one of the times when America was experiencing the most political unrest. For any historical buff, it not only finally tells the story of Martha Mitchell, it also checks off all the boxes of every single thing that happened leading up to, during, and after the Watergate scandal. It depicts how the likes of G. Gordon Liddy (Shea Whigham), John Dean (Dan Stevens), Jeb Magruder (Hamish Linklater), and the rest construct the break-in, and goes on to dedicate a whole episode that follows the actual catastrophic break-in with hilarious, slapstick finesse.
Every crucial historical figure from the scandal is covered, from the detectives who interrogated Nixon’s team, to another unsung hero, Frank Willis. Portrayed by a fantasticPatrick Walker, Willis was the security guard at Watergate who was the one who discovered there was a break-in.While he is often omitted when discussing the scandal, one ofGaslit’s best episodes is purely dedicated to telling his story.
The rest ofGaslit’s cast is full of comedians and character actors,perfect for the larger-than-life characters they’re portraying.Whigham gives an unhinged, eccentric performance as the paranoid Liddy, and steals every scene he is in.Patton Oswaltis also particularly memorable as Charles Colson, and the series also features various other comedians as the Republican figures coming to Nixon’s aid. The whole thing, construed by the disillusioned and unstable Gordon Liddy, was absurd, and the series finds comedic absurdity in every episode, making it just as much a satire as a thriller.It’s laugh-out-loud funny as the men behind the Watergate scandal flounder and sink, and it truly is a remarkable thing to witness.
‘Gaslit’ Should Be Your Next Binge Watch
Gaslitsucceeds whereso many other historical political thrillers fail due to many reasons, starting with its star power and writing. When you’ve got Oscar-winning titans like Roberts and Penn going head-to-head as a political power couple who find themselves on opposing sides, it’s Shakespearean drama and comedic jabbing all at once. Mitchell is the forgotten figure who was the first one to tell the press that President Nixon was part of the Watergate scandal himself, and it grows more frustrating as the episode passes by to witness what she went through, just to be discarded by history.
Stevens is also fantastic as John Dean, who became a beloved public figure thanks to his good looks, and how the series portrays him as a pretty face with not much substance is one of its many comedic throughlines.As Dean and the various men mess up each step of trying to destroy evidence, whether it be trying to burn papers in a farm field or lie under oath, it avoids becoming a caricature of itself.Its writing is sharp and hilarious, and finds the humor in the whole scandal, even in dark moments. It channelsQuentin Tarantino,Wes Anderson, andThe Coen Brothersall at once as a sharply styled, cutting-edge thriller with violent sequences accompanied by pop standards, reminding us of the ugliness everyone is capable of, all the while still looking beautiful.
At the timeGaslitwas released in 2022, it unfortunately was competing with the buzz surrounding the bigger, more broadly marketed HBO seriesWhite House Plumbers. But whereWhite House Plumbersfails,Gaslittriumphs. It’s everything the Max series wishes it could be, and even though it arrived first, the hype around the HBO Max series won out. WhereWhite House Plumbers tries to be clever as a political satire, it winds up becoming an over-the-top farce with caricature-like renditions of Liddy, Hunt, and more.Gaslitnever forgets that these people were terrifyingly real, and finds humanity in each of them, whether they’re good or evil.
In the decades since, the scandal has taken on a mythic quality, and it’s hard not to see all the people involved as more than just pawns within a game, butGaslitdives deep beneath the surface to comment on who gets remembered, and why. Perhaps it’s because the series is about a woman who refuses to be silenced, doesn’t care if she is well-liked, and only cares for the truth, which is why it missed the mark with audiences. Often times hilarious, thanks to excellent writing and fantastic performances,Gaslitfinds the absurdity in the Watergate scandal while offering something concrete and true to say about the heart of America, and how misrepresenting history, or omitting key figures like Martha Mitchell, is a deadly mistake that ensures history will repeat itself.
