Written by Aaron Sarnecky
AQUARIUS SERIES PREMIERE PLOT SUMMARY:
In this event series set in 1967 Los Angeles, Sergeant Sam Hodiak (David Duchovny) and undercover officer Brian Shafe (Grey Damon) investigate the disappearance of a teenager, Emma Karn (Emma Dumont), who was last seen with cult leader Charles Manson (Gethin Anthony). Later the duo also looks into the murder of an elderly white woman in a black neighborhood.
Apparently NBC wasn’t satisfied with having one mini-series this summer, so in addition to American Odyssey (the producers might be hoping it’ll get a season 2, but let’s be real), the execs decided to air Aquarius. And let us not forget that A.D. has two more episodes to go, and that NBC also aired The Slap earlier this year. It seems like every major broadcast network has had at least one mini-series in the past year. It’s almost maddening, the sheer number of them. And let us not forget that Heroes Reborn is coming to NBC this fall. I mean, come on!
Sorry about that. I just needed to let off some steam. It’s just baffling how many mini-series or “event series” there are these days. And many of them are 10 to 13 episodes long. A mini-series should only be as long as it needs to tell the story, or at least it should be, which brings me to Aquarius.
Now, admittedly, I don’t know how this show is going to use all of its 13 episodes, but I already have my doubts about the show based on the premiere. Not because the premiere is a terrible experience from start to finish. In fact, the first episode is pretty decent. No, most of my doubts stem from the second hour. But before I talk what’s wrong with that episode, I should explain what the first episode does, for the most part, right.
The first episode makes it clear from the get-go that Charles “Charlie” Manson, the famous mastermind behind numerous murders, is its main focus. We learn about his ambitions to break free of what he views as an oppressive society and to even make it big in the music industry. He’s kind of your stereotypical creepy yet seemingly enlightened cult leader, though I suppose you could argue that those stereotypes are based on what people learned about him following his arrest in 1969.
It’s not too hard to believe that people would want to follow someone like Manson. As shown in the show, the ‘60s were a tumultuous time and the youth of America was in search of itself. Many young adults found what they believed to be enlightenment through protests, drugs, and sexual liberation. Why wouldn’t they want to follow a guy who seemed like he had all the answers? These themes create an uneasy atmosphere that reminds us of the dark side of the ‘60s.
However, the ‘60s is first and foremost the setting of the show, something that second episode seems to forget. While the first episode isn’t really that exciting, it feels like it’s building up to the something in the following hour, because Hodiak discovers that Manson is behind things rather quickly. So it’s really frustrating when the second hour focuses on how Hodiak and Shafe solve an unrelated murder. The point is to show how Hodiak bends the rules, but this could have been shown another way. And even though the Manson Family carried out their murders to help precipitate some sort of race war, we don’t need a whole episode dealing on race; racial tensions need only be mentioned and shown in the background, like the curfew protests are in the first episode. Besides, most people watching this show probably know race relations were at a boiling point in the 1960s. And don’t get me started on the subplot about Hodiak’s son in the military going AWOL. It’s pointless.
I honestly do not know that much about Charles Manson but if he wasn’t caught until 1969 the show shouldn’t have much difficultly filling in the time, unless of course the producers really want to make this event series into a full series. It’s hard to tell, considering all 13 episodes are now on demand for the next four weeks, even though the show will be airing weekly. I guess the only real way to know is to watch them all. It’s really a toss-up if it’s worth it or not, because while Hodiak chasing Manson is fairly entertaining, the subplots are unbearable; and it seems like there’s more of them to come. I advise watching the episodes on demand, if you can stand them, because I sense a slow journey with many detours ahead.
Rating: 6 out of 10 (Average)
AQUARIUS AIRS THURSDAYS AT 9PM ON NBC; ALL 13 EPISODES WILL BE ON DEMAND FOR THE NEXT FOUR WEEKS.
You can now watch episodes of Aquarius, Season 1 on iTunes
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I couldn’t agree more with this review. It felt as though they told the story out of sequence. I felt we needed a little more time learning about the cops in the first episode, then the chase for Manson begins. The subplot of the race riots and the AWOL son, unless they tie into the Manson plot, are unnecessary.