Aquarius

I would like to know the shows the rest of the reviewers are watching that are so entertaining. I was impressed with how well Aquarius held my attention. Its not a documentary or biopic. If it was it wouldn't last beyond an hour long episode. Instead, Aquarius adds creative twists that make the show worth watching. I've never been interested in crime shows and I have a very short attention span. I had no problem making it through the first season of Aquarius and enjoyed every episode. I can't trust the snob reviews people post on here. This isn't the best show ever but it's certainly not bad. Duchovny does a great job as well as the rest of the cast. Gethin Anthony plays a great bad guy. His face makes me mad now. Sorry Gethin, but great job buddy!

Californication is one of my favorite shows from all times. When I started Aquarius I thought that I was going to see Hank Moody resolving crimes in the early 60s but the Duchovny acting as Samson was so convincing that not for a single moment I thought about Californication. The same occurs when you watch the X files: another character very well formed but completely different from the other Duchovny's roles . That's good acting. The show is convincing, realistic and has a great soundtrack. If it weren't for the brownish filter that they put in every single episode with the purpose of letting you know that the events take place in the 60s the show will be great.

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.

...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.