David Duchovny
Grey Damon
Gethin Anthony
Emma Dumont
Claire Holt
Michaela McManus
Brían F. O’Byrne

Created by:
John McNamara

Crime, Drama, History
2015-
NBC

TV-14

NBC’s “Aquarius” is a summer thriller (I guess) that is, in a way, a response to “Mad Men”: It offers the darker side of the 1960s, starting in 1967. Charles Manson is one of the major focuses of this new series, and Gethin Anthony does a good job of conveying Manson’s persuasive abilities. But the show itself doesn’t support his efforts enough. I just don’t buy it.

During the first two hours of the show, the visuals and the soundtrack overshadow the writing and the acting. Actually, the writing and acting might benefit from that – if you pay close attention, you’ll find that both are lacking, especially the former. Until the end of those two hours, “Aquarius” serves up bland upon bland upon bland.

David Duchovny, the star of the show, plays Sam Hodiak, a detective with problems. (Shocker!) He represents the WWII generation’s disdain for hippie culture. Grey Damon plays Sam’s undercover cop partner, Brian Shafe, who is of that culture. Of course, that leads to conflicts between the two – conflicts that aren’t compelling. Sam and Brian search for Manson, who’s merely a career criminal with a growing group of sycophants at this point. The reason for their search is the result of other story lines that the show explores.

By the end of the first two hours, there seems to be a bit (just a bit) of a spark. There are a few twists thrown in. The question is: Is that enough to keep watching? Those twists didn’t give me enough to want to keep watching. I might give the show another look, but I don’t think that I’ll be watching for much longer. I’m having a hard time detecting this show’s pulse. … By the way, I did watch another episode. I’m done.

Verdict: OKish

About: (Source: aquarius)

Los Angeles. 1967.

Sam Hodiak (David Duchovny, “Californication,” “The X-Files”), a decorated World War II vet and homicide detective, barely recognizes the city he’s now policing. Long hair, cheap drugs, rising crime, protests, free love, police brutality, Black Power and the Vietnam War are radically remaking the world he and the Greatest Generation saved from fascism 20 years ago.
So when Emma Karn (Emma Dumont, “Salvation,” “Bunheads”), the 16-year-old daughter of an old girlfriend, goes missing in a sea of hippies and Hodiak agrees to find her, he faces only hostility, distrust and silence. He enlists the help of Brian Shafe (Grey Damon, “True Blood,” “Friday Night Lights”) – a young, idealistic undercover vice cop who’s been allowed to grow his hair out – to infiltrate this new counterculture and find her.

The generational conflict between the two is immediate and heated, yet they’re both dedicated officers and soon realize the need to bring Emma home is more urgent than they foresaw. The immediacy arises because she has joined a small but growing band of drifters under the sway of a career criminal who now dreams of being a rock star: Charles Manson (Gethin Anthony, “Game of Thrones”).

Ringing with the unparalleled music of the era, “Aquarius” is a sprawling work of historical fiction that begins two years before the 1969 Tate-LaBianca murders. It’s a shocking thriller, a nuanced character drama and, in the end, the story of how we became who we are today.