Such is the case of Watergate, the historical background of Starz's new series, Gaslit.

With an award-winning cast scraping the barrel of some of political history's most outrageous characters, Gaslit Season 1 Episode 1 proves that we won't be able to take our eyes off of this one.

Gaslit is telling Martha Mitchell's (Julia Roberts) story. However, the premiere suggests a more rounded approach to Martha's herstory (I kind of like that word, and it really fits here, so I'm going to use it.) with the Watergate men getting lots of attention.

From the opening scene, featuring Shea Whigham as crazy man G. Gordon Liddy, the mastermind behind the Watergate schemes, you can smell the stink of desperation to secure an election that seemingly would be a landslide victory for President Richard Nixon anyway.

With some of the most notable government officials today skirting 100, refusing to clear a path for new ideas, it's not surprising to imagine that the powerful will take extraordinary measures to stay there even when a win seems in the bag.And, frankly, thank God for that.

Something was amiss in the White House from the get-go as John Mitchell (Sean Penn) ran Nixon's reelection campaign.

Jeb Magruder (a peevish Hamish Linklater) and Mitchell lured John Dean (an almost unrecognizable pinch-faced Dan Stevens) to Mitchell's office under the guise of being recommended by someone Dean respected to help with the reelection campaign.

John Dean [to himself]: You are wanted. You are essential. You cannot be fired.

_{🔗 permalink: You are wanted. You are essential. You cannot be fired.}

How and why Dean thought to wrangle Liddy to help with the already crazy ideas on the table is unclear, but we can surmise that he wanted to look well connected and appear competent when he was really more ego than effectiveness.

Mitchell is a foul-mouthed talker, but even he wasn't prepared for the lunacy that started pouring out of Liddy's mouth when Liddy began his Operation Gemstone presentation.

The gist of Gemstone was to kidnap the democrat party's most essential and influential member, skirting them to Mexico in an attempt to throw the party into chaos.

The second phase would be to entrap other party members with hookers, blackmailing them into… what, I'm not entirely sure. — stepping back, maybe?

Liddy: Operation Quartz. A covert manipulation of the democrats’ outer circle. We will round up their fringe activist leaders and export them to black sites deep in the heart of Mexico. Each capture will slice a viper from Medusa’s crown. Their leaderless ranks will wither away.

Magruder: Is that export as in kidnap?

Liddy: Forced rendition is the optimal descriptor.

_{🔗 permalink: Forced rendition is the optimal descriptor.}

These plans were crazy pants. Liddy, who reveres Adolph Hitler (no, really, he said as much in his autobiography, Will, after which the episode is titled) and tests his reserve repeatedly by burning his hand with a candle, should have scared the pants off of those in the room.

Liddy: You’ve never tasted your own blood.

Magruder: Pardon me?

_{🔗 permalink: Pardon me?}

But nope, he was onboarded as if they thought they might temper him and put him to good use anyway. Well, he might not have kidnapped party members, but after Watergate's debacle, they did as much to Martha, who ultimately became Nixon's patsy for all that went wrong.

Julia Roberts nails many aspects of Martha's personality in the premiere, teetering on edge without revealing too little or too much.

Martha was no shrinking violet. Other politicians' wives might have been happy to sit behind their men, holding no sway while propping up their husbands, but that wasn't Martha.

Mitchell: The election is in eight fuckin’ months, Martha. If you can just keep your mouth shut for eight months, we’ll be fine.

Martha: Get another wife if you want a silent one, or marry that portrait I made you that you never thanked me for, by the way.

Mitchell: You wanna know the truth, Martha? There’s no conspiracy against you. There’s no collusion hiding in the shadows. People just don’t like you. That’s why we can’t fly on Airforce One. All those journalists that you call in the middle of the night? They’re not your friends. They just can’t take their eyes off a good show.

_{🔗 permalink: You wanna know the truth, Martha? There’s no conspiracy against you. There’s no collusion…}

She goes toe-to-toe with Mitchell (because there are two Johns, all men are called by their last name for my purposes), and although he's still gruff, Martha knows how to play him like a fiddle.

That ability allows her to make "friends" with reporters, whom she regularly calls, often in the middle of the night, to plant seeds for articles that place her and her husband in the media's sweet spot.

Martha: We are empathetic creatures. Now, some people see that as a weakness. But I decided long ago that I will say how I feel, and if that does not conform to the president’s message, so be it. If that gets me banned off of Airforce One, I will fly commercial.

Winnie: So, you were banned from Airforce One.

_{🔗 permalink: So, you were banned from Airforce One.}

Supposedly, Martha's early aspirations were to be an actress, but her family disapproved. Her eagerness to claim and stay in the spotlight makes sense in that regard. And in a city of political elites, being one of the movers and shakers would be right in her wheelhouse.

The premiere shows that Martha likes pleasing her husband and that even the power she has isn't enough, as demonstrated through her feelings about First Lady Pat Nixon.

The First Lady must have felt the envious eyes on her back, or she wouldn't have planned an event on the same night as Martha's fundraiser or placed her in the rear of the room of her own.

The things that thrust Martha into the spotlight are also signs of her fragility.

Matha has no friends to speak of, which makes her phone calls to reporters sad. Mitchell even tosses that into her face during an argument, cutting her to the quick.

Her connection to her husband is also sad when it comes to smoothing the waters of her impressive phone bill to those non-friends and her feud with the First Lady because Matha used sex to temper discussion about those topics.

Martha is loud and brash, nicknamed the Martha the Mouth or Mouth of the South, but those traits mask a lonely existence and a desire to contribute.

Although she didn't pursue acting, she did get a degree in history, a perfect companion to politics. Had the times been different, Martha could have been the woman in office instead of trying to make waves from her husband's coattails.

From the opening scene on, Gaslit seems like fiction. When you learn how much of it is true, it is, in fact, mind-boggling.

Times change, and so do scandals, but I'm willing to bet that as we've gotten more sophisticated, so too have the political machinations and shenanigans used by the powerful elite to manipulate the American government and its people to their own ends.

Perhaps, when scandals of the past are almost long forgotten, Gaslit will serve as a cautionary tale for anyone who takes Washington too seriously.

Nothing that we'll see Martha suffer during Gaslit will be funny, but with the players involved, there's no other way to treat this history than with dark humor.

Taking it seriously and giving it the weight it deserves could prove too frightening of a consideration.

The post Gaslit Season 1 Episode 1 Review: Will appeared first on TV Fanatic.

January 1972: Five months before the break-in

Martha Mitchell is on To Tell the Truth. A naked young woman, really young, is watching the show in John Dean’s hotel room.

Once she realizes who he works for, she rattles off a lot of names. It’s her job to network. She’s a hooker.

John Dean is racing through the streets in his Porche, and he speeds past a bum shitting in the street.

There are protestors everywhere, and when he’s dissed by a couple of girls in a nearby car, he jams his foot on the gas and skips the light.

John Mitchell is angry, complaining to Jeb Magruder that Martha made a $52 phone call as he was adamant no interviews leading up to the election. John Dean waits in the wings.

Mitchell has no idea what the hell is going on when Dean begins selling himself. Magruder fills in Mitchell — Dean thinks he’s being housecleaned.

Not so much. They want to set up an espionage unit to gather info on the dems. Or, an intelligence gathering unit. Dean isn’t thrilled on the idea and turns down the offer after Mitchell uses swollen wet vaginas in his speech. But then Dean learns that it was Nixon who asked for him specifically to charm the snake.

Dean then suggests G. Gordon Liddy. He’s a mensa type. Dean would be happy to get Gordon filled in and show him the ropes.

Martha calls, so Mitchell shoves everyone out of the room and begins screaming into the phone.

Martha is with Winnie McLendon, trying to get her to accept a martini. Winnie isn’t interested. But when Martha talks trust, Winnie places an order.

Martha has 76% name recognition with US households.

Winnie is with the Ladies’ Home Journal, and she’s trying to hold a serious interview. She thinks Martha isn’t treating it as such.

Martha charms Winnie just in time for Mitchell to come home swearing about her interviews. He knows she’s trying to steal the spotlight from Pat Nixon. Pat chose a conflicting date for an event, and it annoyed Martha. Mitchell is angry, and Martha offers to blow him to make things better. He sends security out of the room, and Martha straddles him.

Dean and Liddy present Operation Gemstone to Mitchell and Magruder. When Liddy reveals the first step to be Operation Quartz, Magruder points out that quartz is a mineral.

Liddy is a freakin’ nut job. He first wants to kidnap democrats, and then he wants to film democratic officials on a boat with hookers. Eyerolls abound, but somehow, they let him continue.

Liddy explodes after the presentation, and Dean is stuck listening to his tirade.

He’s a tiny man who needs an impressive amount of ass kissing to feel good. All Dean can get out is that he liked the font Liddy used in the presentation before he suggests they never talk about it again.

The Mitchells are preparing for a night out on the town. They’re quite frisky together. She’s irate to discover that Pat seated them in the back where they can’t see anything.

The Ray Coniff Singers are the entertainment, and the singers have a sign and a message. Let’s stop the killing and stop the war. One of the girls is dragged off of the stage with a look at Martha along the way.

Dean is meeting a woman named Maureen aka Mo for drinks. They’ve met through a dating service. He does Three Stooges Mo for her, and it’s awkward.

There are stories and laughter, and they seem to be getting along swimmingly. She reveals that he doesn’t make the best first impression and she thought he’d be a huge piece of shit.

Her dates are research. She wants to write romantic novels. She likes DC because people go there to make a difference in the world.

She wonders how awful it must be for him to work for Nixon. They have dramatically opposing viewpoints. He insults her about finding a guy with enough bread to pick up the check.

The Mitchells talk about the past, reliving sweet memories. Martha suggests jumping on a flight and leaving it all behind for a while, but he poo poos the idea. Nixon needs him and will fall apart without him.

Martha calls Winnie when the night is over. She really wants Winnie to catch onto what she’s saying without being overt. Winnie takes the Henry Kissinger bait.

Liddy has a portrait of Hitler on his wall. His son calls him “father” and has had a nightmare. Liddy says everyone laughed at him today because he made an oopsie. Mrs. Liddy tells Raymond to build friendships with those who make fun of him with a ships metaphor.

Dean asks his secretary to track down Mo before learning that Liddy is already in Mitchell’s office. Dean wonders if they should be casually discussing illegal activity in his office.

Mitchell invites Dean to the fundraiser next weekend, including a date that’s nice on they eyes. So, he stalks the escalator at the airport to find Mo. She wonders where his ticket is and calls him a psychopath for calling the FAA to get her flight schedule.

It’s a pilot trick that has never seemed quite so pathetic as it does now. She’s looking for a man, not a boy. She laughs when he says he wants to take her to a republican fundraiser. She perks up at Martha Mitchell, who she considers completely insane. She loves her.

Liddy sneaks up on Magruder, sticking his finger in his ass, so to speak. Liddy is talking cash, and Magruder informs him that he holds the purse strings, not Liddy.

Liddy is a total freak, saying Magruder has never tasted his own blood. Magruder doesn’t appreciate his tone, and Liddy grabs him by the throat and tosses him up against the world. NOW he tastes his blood. Magruder leaves, and Liddy kicks the shit out of the snack area as James McCord wanders in They talk CIA and FBI.

Dean gathers Mo for the fundraiser.

She says hello to people with afterthoughts like “you have blood on your hands.” They walk right over to Martha, and Mo gets tonguetied.

Now, Mo seems impressed with Dean, especially since Martha said they make a striking couple.

Mo wanders off through the room talking to people, interjecting herself into conversations, the first with Bob Haldeman. Dean thanks him for the recommendention to Mitchell, when he discovers that wasn’t true aas Haldeman says to learn to spot a snake in the grass.

Mitchell is angry with Martha again.

Dean finds their daughter, Marty, hiding in the coat closet. She offers him a cigarette.

Martha and Mitchell fight like cats and dogs. Marty remember when they were happy. She hates parties.

After the dust settles on their fight, all that’s left are biting words. Mitchell finishes by telling Martha nobody likeds her. They just hang around because they like the show.

James McCord goes out for a smoke, and Martha begins speaking. Mo and Dean reminded her of her and Mitchell when they were just beginning. James read her Ladies Home Journal interview, and he believes she’s one of the last remaing honest people in DC. She thanks him.

At breakfast, Mitchell asks Martha to fetch the sugar. Annoyed, she gets up only to find plane tickets and a bottle of elderberry wine in the cupboard. They’re for California, but he thought the trip would give her a chance to try out her new swimsuits. She doesn’t think they’re appropriate for a public beach, and he says maybe they can find someplace more secluded.

Mo tells Dean that whatever they’re making him do, he has a choice and can choose a different direction. After typing up his resignation letter, he discovers that Mitchell is out of the office for the day. On his desk is a message that Nixon is very pleased with John Dean, and he’d like to meet him.

Dean pulls back the letter and leaves.

There’s a host of men in a van. Liddy takes them to a bridge, showing them their destiny. Watergate.

In bed, Martha spots some of the plan on Mitchell’s bedside table.

Dean tries his hand at Liddy’s candle trick. He doesn’t have the stamina for it.

The post Gaslit Season 1 Episode 1 Recap: Will appeared first on TV Fanatic.

Let's prep for a very exciting awards season with Starz's Gaslit looking to be quite the thrill ride with a cast that makes your hair stand on end.

Sean Penn may be in Ukraine filming the atrocities occurring there, but you'll soon see him supporting leading lady Julia Roberts as the two play married couple, John and Martha Mitchell, and it looks like they'll knock it out of the park!

The series is a modern take on Watergate, focusing on the scandal's untold stories and forgotten characters — from Nixon's bumbling and opportunistic subordinates to the deranged zealots aiding and abetting their crimes to the tragic whistleblowers.

They would eventually bring the whole rotten enterprise crashing down.

The story will center on Martha Mitchell, played by Roberts, a big personality with an even bigger mouth. Martha is a celebrity Arkansan socialite and wife to Nixon's loyal Attorney General, John Mitchell, played by Penn.

Despite her party affiliation, she's the first person to publicly sound the alarm on Nixon's involvement in Watergate, causing both the Presidency and her personal life to unravel.

As Attorney General, John Mitchell is Nixon's most trusted advisor and best friend.

Temperamental, foul-mouthed, and ruthless — yet hopelessly in love with his famously outspoken wife — he'll be forced to choose between Martha and the President.

Gaslit also stars Dan Stevens as John Dean, Betty Gilpin as Mo Dean, Shea Whigham as G. Gordon Liddy, and Darby Camp as Marty Mitchell.

That cast is enough to give you goosebumps!

Gaslit is based on the first season of the critically acclaimed Slow Burn podcast.

It was created and executive produced by Robbie Pickering, who also serves as showrunner.

Matt Ross directed and executive produced.

Sam Esmail, via his overall deal with UCP and Chad Hamilton, served as executive producers under their production banner Esmail Corp.

Roberts executive produced under her banner Red Om Films, along with co-executive producers Lisa Gillan and Marisa Yeres Gill.

Anonymous Content and Slate's Gabriel Roth and Josh Levin also executive produced. Leon Neyfakh, who created the podcast, consulted on the project.

Gaslit is produced by UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group, for STARZ.

If the series proper hits the same notes as the trailer, we're in for quite a treat.

Politics is always explosive, but when stories contain massive personalities like Martha Mitchell, they're undeniably impossible to overlook.

Everything so far says that Starz has a massive hit on its hands and a potential awards darling!

Will you be watching Gaslit? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

And if you're leery, check out this trailer. It's a winner!

The post Gaslit Trailer: Julia Roberts Embodies Larger-Than-Life Martha Mitchell in Starz Series appeared first on TV Fanatic.