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When season 2 of Aquarius FINALLY came out on DVD, I was ecstatic. I was wondering how they were going to include the Tate-LaBianca murders that Charles Manson and his followers were ultimately convicted for. The first season gave a taste of Manson gathering his "Family" but played fast and loose with some of the historical events, and some of the real life people had been condensed into amalgams - most notably Linda Kasabian and Ruth Morehouse were combined into the invented character Emma. I know one of the problems the producers of Aquarius faced was the rights to Vincent Bugliosi's book, Helter Skelter, which I believe Warner Bros still has the movie/TV rights to (and had produced two mini-series based on Helter Skelter). John McNamara who created and executive-produced this show had to use alternate sources such as Ed Sanders's intense book The Family, and Jeff Guinn's recent biography of Manson. In addition, McNamara had created the totally fictional lead police detectives Sam Hodiak (David Duchovny) and Brian Shafe (Gray Damon), which appear to not be based on any real members of the LAPD during that era. Not saying that the oppressive and downright fascist (at times) attitudes that Hodiak and his generation of cops weren't prevalent; in fact, their worldviews are spot-on with the way the establishment at the time viewed hippies, criminals, minorities, and women. Real life events such as MLK's and RFK's assassinations and the moon landing set the tone and influence what the ficitional characters are doing and how King's assassination triggered large-scale riots in the inner cities across America, combined with the escalating disapproval of the Vietnam war, the rise of student protest groups and organizations, the rise of the Black Panther Party, and the machinations of the major political parties in trying to win an election all give the series a feel for what the late sixties were really like. Fifty years on, we tend to romanticize the Summer of Love, but forget a year later cities burned, students and police clashed violently, and the general mood was anything but romantic. Add to this a group of disaffected teenagers/young adults who were adrift and seeking guidance, and unfortunately, found that guidance in a career criminal whose charisma and cult-like programming techniques (learned or polished from taking a Dale Carnegie sales course in prison), and whose absolutely bizarre theories/visions of an impending race war and his role in it, encoded in secret messages in the Beatles White Album no less, would set off the crime that would effectively end the 60's (along with the disastrous Rolling Stones concert at Altamont Speedway later in 1969).
Aquarius attempts to tell a familiar story in a new way and for the most succeeds. The new season opens with brief flashes/glimpses of the Sharon Tate murders on Cielo Drive. We know what is going to happen, but how are we going to get there? At the end of season 1, the Manson family was celebrating the "birth" of Charlie's son to Mary Bruner (in this version, Susan Atkins posed as a candy-striper and abducted a baby from a hospital nursery - apparently one being given up for adoption but maybe not). Hodiak's son was being sent to Leavenworth for treason (as an Army GI speaking out against the war), and Shafe and proto-"Police Woman" Charmain (Claire Holt) were going undercover to take down drug dealers.
After the future flashforward in black & white, the scene switches to color and "18 months ago" and we're back in 1968. Charlie has befriended Beach Boy Dennis Wilson and moved his rag-tag family into Wilson's house on the premise/promise that Wilson will use his connections to get Charlie a recording deal. This is accurate. For all his schemes and grifts, Manson did consider himself a singer-songwriter (I've got a copy of the CD of his recordings - nothing special, but not altogether horrible either) and wanted to be famous. Hodiak has started receiving envelopes of young women being tied up and murdered with taunting letters - so he's dealing with a real serial killer. Shafe is having marital problems with his African-American wife, Kristen, many of which center on her working for the Black Panthers at their HQ. He also in a few episodes, gets hooked on heroin by the dealer he has gone undercover to catch. These will be the ficitional storylines moving forward, along with aforesaid Emma's parents working for the Nixon campaign. Those who watched the first season know that Emma's father Ken, has had ongoing homosexual hookups with other men, including a long-time affair with Charlie (partly fictional - the real Manson admitted he was bisexual and having spent half of his life in prison/reformatory, casually admits it), and this will come back to bite the Karn family. So over the course of 13 episodes, we pretty much have the storyline laid out for us, or so we think. Along the way, Charlie meets up with Charles "Tex" Watson - best lines ever (Tex: "My name is Charles. Charles Watson." Charlie: "Oooh, that ain't gonna do. I'm a call you Tex.") and Patty (I assume Patricia Krenwinkel). Again, the real life Linda Kasabian, who turned states witness against Manson and the others at their trial, is subsumed into the "Emma" character. So the players in the crime are all introduced by now. Other associates like Bobby Beausoleil and victims like Gary Hinman, eventually make their appearance, as does the doomed Sharon Tate, and Dennis's buddy (and son of Doris Day), Terry Melcher - a well-known record producer who Charlie coerced into recording his demos. There are some who say Melcher's subsequent dismissal of Charlie was the real motive behind the Tate murders (and that is strongly supported here) as Melcher used to live at the house where Sharon Tate and her husband Roman Polanski later moved into (and where she and 4 others were savagely murdered by the Manson family). Other well-known Manson family figures such as Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, Leslie van Houten, Bruce Davis, and Steve "Clem" Grogan are nowhere to be found in this version of the story. Perhaps they didn't give permission to be portrayed, since, as far as I know, they're still living. Atkins died in 2008 in prison, and Manson died in Nov 2017. Also Van Houten and Grogan figured into the LaBianca slayings which happen a night after Season 2 ends.
So while it's not completely accurate from a historical perspective, this is actually a cohesive account of the events leading up to the Tate murders. I find it odd that the creators have Charlie interacting with detectives Hodiak and Shafe (and Shafe plays a crucial role in the final episode that should connect Manson and family to the murders immediately), but I guess that's where you have to have a little artistic license. Perhaps had there been a season 3 (which would have covered the LaBianca killings, the arrests, and subsequent trials), this may have been explained away. Either way, this is still a fairly riveting narrative and the acting is top-notch, particular Duchovny who comes across a bit warmer than his trademark Mulder monotone here, and Gethin Anthony finally gets to show off "Crazy" Charlie in a jail cell scene that has to be seen (no pun intended) to appreciate. I thought he was bit miscast while watching the first season (as well as bit too handsome for Charlie who wasn't exactly a "catch"), but here he gets to shine, and by the end, while it's not Steve Railsback - or even Jeremy Davies - he is delivering Manson's lines with just the right bit of menace and lunacy that one feels he's actually channelling Charlie. Otherwise, I thought the actors playing Atkins, Krenwinkel and Watson were a bit dull, though they also seem to come alive during the murder re-enactments. And Andy Favreau is spot-on as Dennis Wilson.
This isn't the definitive version of the Manson (and Family) story. I think it could be done for Television - perhaps as a serialization under the American Crime Story brand - but to be definitive needs to have all the characters in place and very ficitional constructs as possible. Maybe in another couple years as we approach the 60th anniversary of Tate-LaBianca.
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Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2018
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Top reviews from other countries
Tyggerlily
Great performances and interesting 60's storyline
Reviewed in Canada on February 13, 2018Peter
A great dramatization of a very dark of the Love Generation.
Reviewed in Canada on May 4, 2019
