Manhunt Season 1 Episode 4, “The Secret Line,” takes a necessary but circuitous detour through the 1865’s version of dark money and uncovers so much more.

And in yet another echo from our present-day, Stanton (Tobias Menzies) must also battle the Confederate-leaning press as Sanders (Anthony Marble) uses his paper to steer the public’s eye to past scandals.

George Sanders sits back in his chair, a curtained daylit window and large green house plant in the background. He is dressed in a paisley patterned smoking jacket with a black silk scarf pinned beneath his chin.

Manhunt Season 1 — Photo credit: Apple TV+.

Kill Orders

The full front page image Sanders ran in The Manhattan Weekly in Manhunt Season 1 Episode 3, “Let the Sheep Flee,” depicted a devil-like Stanton hanging over the shoulder of John Wilkes Booth (Anthony Boyle). In the cartoon Stanton’s hand, he holds a document titled the “Dahlgren Papers.”

A brief history lesson: The Dahlgren Affair was a real controversy that plagued Stanton and Lincoln. A Union attack on Richmond, Virginia, in March 1964 ended with Colonel Ulric Dahlgren killed in the retreat. Papers found on his body and published by Confederate papers indicated he had orders to assassinate the Confederate president, Jefferson Davis.

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Sanders’s cartoon implies that Stanton’s kill order for Davis inspired Booth’s actions. Is it any wonder that Baker (Patton Oswalt) insists that Stanton get a better story out to overshadow Sanders’s efforts? Even in 1865, the news cycle was influential. Can they win the war of public opinion?

Baker looks to his right, wearing full uniform and a wide brimmed hat. Behind him, an officer holds a pistol while another searches the room.

Manhunt Season 1 — Photo credit: Apple TV+.

If Sanders is bankrolling Booth and the Confederate Secret Service, how can Stanton and Baker wrangle this monetary Hydra that seeks to poison the stability of the Union and the country’s hard-won peace?

And if Sanders isn’t the sole financier of the rebel cause, how many other robber barons must fall? Johnson has made it clear that his focus is the economy. How long will he support the search for Booth if it starts to affect the dollar?

Still Heading South

Meanwhile, Booth and Herold (Will Harrison) are still cooling their heels in that pine thicket, waiting for the River Ghost (Keith Brooks) to give them the all-clear to head down the river.

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Will Herold stick it out with Booth after his horse-killing psychotic break? How far could Booth make it without him? History being what it is, we all know where this is heading, but Manhunt certainly does a great job of asking, “What if?”

Herold sits on the ground, knees up, in a brown waistcoat and slacks and white shirt. He looks towards Booth, his arms balanced on his knees. A lantern rests near his right foot. Booth's back is to the camera. He holds a book in his hands.

Manhunt Season 1 — Photo credit: Apple TV+.

What if Booth hadn’t broken his leg? What if he had headed north instead of south? Would the hunt have still been successful? Or would he have been allowed to run away into obscurity, as Johnson proposed?

Yeah, right, as if Booth would ever live in obscurity. If anyone, anywhere was ever going out in a blaze of glory, it’s JWB.

New Beginnings

Now that Mary Simms (Lovie Simone) has her land grant, what’s her next move? She isn’t paid for work for Dr. Mudd (Matt Walsh), so how will she build her homestead? Will the doctor even let her go? 

RELATED: Read all our Manhunt recaps!

Manhunt drops new episodes every Friday on Apple TV+. 

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