Aquarius

Anyone that has done some research on Manson, the family and all circumstances that surrounded them before during and after the horrific countless murders that climaxed with the Tate La Bianca ones and the three ring circus that was the trial, knows that there was no need for writers and producers to embellish or go off book. Fact is stranger than fiction, especially in this story, you can't make this stuff up. The cast of characters, hippies, ranchers, runaways, satanic cultists, vindictive hells angels, black militants they re all there along with riff raff of all kind. Just read Ed Sanders The Family and Helter Skelter. There was no need to embellish, and the kids are way to contemporary. Some of the girls sound like jappy valley girls.

I have to be honest; this was initially hard to get into. This was due, in my case, to the fact that I wasn't sure what this show was originally supposed to be focused on. During the initial launch, it seemed to be tied more into Charles Manson and the Tate-LaBianca murders and I thought that the series would be focused on the officers and detectives that caught the case. Not true. THis was a gritty, film noirish, slice of sixties life, after the "summer of love" and touches on politics, family, dissolution with the Vietnam war, communes, race relations, the good and bad of police forces and their employees, women in the workforce, crimes unrelated to the Manson murders and many other issues of the time.

The scripts were well written and casting was excellent. You will see many familiar faces and of the new ones, many that you should see again. I especially enjoyed the work of David Duchovny and Grey Damon, who played the two detective leads. Also very good were Gethin Anthony (Manson), Claire Holt and Michaela McManus. But honestly, I found most of the characters realistic and the roles well acted.

During the two seasons, the creative team covered a lot of varied stories and they provided a satisfying ending to the series. I am not sure that it is necessary for this show to return for a third season, but if it does, I will definitely tune in.

Hope you give this series a chance as it is worth it!

What could go wrong? A new series with David Duchovny playing a detective. An interesting period like the sixties. Bigger than life villains like Manson. Check, check, check... it had all the elements to succeed. And I guess it didn't really fail for me, it just fell so far short of what I had hoped for. Regular old TV instead of something special. Too many clichés, unoriginal plot devices and 2 dimensional characters. And Manson... I usually don't mind an artistic license but his story is so well known. I felt like some kind of line was crossed with his character. The way race was introduced felt too abrupt and crude too. I wouldn't say "don't watch this" but... I wouldn't want you to expect something special or memorable. It's just a TV show, average or slightly below.

From time to time, a jewel is created and Aquarius is one of those.

A mixture of fiction and reality alike, based on true events of the 1967-1969 period.

• Superb script and storylines with correct development. Some fillers were there, story and character-wise.
• Brilliant depiction of that period in all scenes.
• Superb and believable acting by all of the cast. They all shone unequivocally.
• Stellar accompanying music and sountrack.

I won't be repeating in details what some reviewers hinted regarding the brilliant cast. Nobody here was above the other. Everybody did his job correctly and awesomly and was part of the big picture. As always, David Duchovny enthralled with his ever-present charisma.

A pity that unknown events led to the cancellation of this shiny series, with only sadness and disappointment remaining...

After about 4 or 5 episodes I find myself waiting for Duchovny to come back into a scene, he makes this whole show go forward; otherwise, a bit plodding in terms of story and script. The Manson actor good but in a scene with Duchovny, no contest who makes the scene memorable. Without Duchovny, a plodding script with pretty boy, pretty girl actors whom you want to be forgiving towards as it is obvious they are trying their best and good at it, but the script will not let you do it.

The show does a pretty good job of showing the times for what they were in terms of dress, cars, music and the like but at times, it gets in the way of the show. For example, the Duchovny characters son shows up having fled the war as an enlisted soldier appalled that he was in Cambodia fighting what he believed was an illegal war. Accurate but really off topic and this character is a diversion to the plot and unnecessary to illustrate the times. It is unlikely Manson did what he did because of this, so why throw this in the script (including the Black Panther movement angle)?

If the writers had stuck to the crime drama, dress, music, cars of the period it would have been a great series. Too many plot diversions that are unnecessary and make the script plodding.

BTW, David looks great for his age and his acting accomplished. He makes the pretty boy actors in the show look just that, boys and not men. Why I gave the show an 8/10. Without him in this show, try 6/10 at best.