Aquarius

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!

I'm halfway through the first season of Aquarius and am thoroughly enjoying it. The acting is superb and the sets from the 60's are remarkable. Duchovny, Grey Damon and Gethin Anthony all hit home runs with their characters. NBC took a gigantic gamble by making the entire season available online once the premier episode aired. I respect and appreciate that decision because this show is a great one to binge on. Making such a bold move seems to have pushed expectations to unattainable heights based on some of the reviews I've seen. This is a good series. Anyone rating it or any of the episodes 1/10 should be ignored. I just hope the opinions of "haters" don't cause a show as entertaining as this to be canceled.

...and that's okay! There's a serial-killer cult-leader who has dirt on various officials, a follower who has reservations, a down-and-dirty ethically-challenged cop teamed with an idealistic partner with a scandalous (for the time period) secret, all mixed with classic music and drenched in sepia.

The acting is reasonable (not great, but not horrible... especially for network television) with some good portrayals by serial-killer Manson (Gethin Anthony) and good-cop Damon (Brian Shafe), and the sub-plots give a good sense of place (civil rights issues, drugs, sexuality).

The beginning is a bit slow, but you would expect that (it's not the type of show where you'd jump straight into a manhunt or anything). It's probably a bit more on the character drama- side than the action-side, so keep that in mind.

In the continuum of shows out there I'd rather watch this than The Americans, but I'd throw Aquarius under the bus for Hell on Wheels.

I'm hearing a lot of negative comments in reference to this show and its realism especially as to the actor portraying Manson, I don't think that they got the info that the year this show is portraying is 1967, not 1969 when Mansons family did the killings and Manson was clearly then a madman.. I think the show is probably building up to it if the show last that long I personally think that the madness the actor is building up in his Manson character is exceptional, though this is my opinion and we all have one.

I find this series quite fascinating, it was a bit slow in the beginning but most new shows are. I found this show is different than all of the current cop shows on TV and I find it very entertaining. I was always a David Duchovny fan and I just discovered this show on demand over a weekend and spent the whole day watching all 12 episodes. The characters, to me, are mesmerizing, especially the guy who plays Manson (Genthon Anthony plays freaky amazingly well). I was never really into the whole Charlie Manson thing but my friend forced me to watch and I was hooked, in the beginning I thought that the plot would be the whole story line on Charlie Manson but there are other issues inter-weaved with the Charles Manson story not too mention the whole 60's era including the fashion, music, the attitude of the era between the hippy community and the so-called, overdrinking, straight laced adults which I really am enjoying. I'm hoping the show last a while.

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.