Aquarius

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.

...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 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!

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.

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.