A miniseries about a Los Angeles cop who finds himself following the activities of Charles Manson two years before Manson achieved peak infamy, “Aquarius” comes to us from John McNamera, who also created ABC’s excellent but short-lived high-end private-detective hourlong “Eyes.”
“X-Files” vet David Duchovny plays the LAPD detective lured by an ex-girlfriend into looking into this Manson character, who has begun hanging out with the ex-girlfriend’s pretty 16-year-old daughter.
Duchovny’s character has a few slightly interesting things going on in his life outside of his pursuit of Manson. But as portrayed in the mini by pretty-boy Gethin Anthony (once Renly Baratheon on “Game of Thrones”), Manson himself is a pretty tedious character when he’s not perpetrating violence. But he eventually comes to perpetrate plenty.
On the date of its Thursday premiere, NBC is making available to the public all 13 episodes of the miniseries online. It’s kind of what Netflix does, except Netflix doesn’t force you to watch a bunch of commercials while you’re trying to binge.
I’d love to hear about the music budget on this series, which features in its first two episodes big 1960s hits performed by The Rolling Stones, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, Credence Clearwater Revival, The Monkees and others.
... The generation gap on the show is pretty stock stuff, unfortunately. … "Aquarius," unfortunately, is stuck too much in the past to offer much in the way of valuable information. …
... All in all, the show's middling execution hobbles this plodding drama, especially when Mulder is not around. …
... blends contemporary mores with 1940s movie mystique to paint a disturbing — and compelling — portrait of the peace and love generation. …
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
... Somewhere within the mess that is “Aquarius” is an unoriginal but passable police procedural struggling to get out but often failing against the insurmountable force of overthought mediocrity. … Another problem is that McNamara says, “Look at that” but never goes deeper or connects the dots in a revelatory way. …
... pulpy but certainly engaging … (Do note the record exec who comes out to hear Manson’s caterwauling: Why, it’s none other than the very same guy — Evan Arnold — who played Leonard in the penultimate group-therapy scene of “Mad Men!” That’s weird, man.)
Aquarius, alas, doesn't hold water. That's a particular shame, because so many things about this NBC summer series (**½ out of four) might lead you to expect better. … While some attempts to recall the tenor of the times feel strained, there are intriguing moments in the generational, racial and sexual clashes swirling around the central story. Unfortunately, whenever the show meanders its way back to that central story of Manson and Emma and their newly formed family, momentum stalls and interest drains.
... tests the limits of Ducovny's allure, raising the question of just how many hours his performance alone can keep us interested? …
... the series generally conjures an atmosphere that should draw viewers in, as if getting to see the side of “Dragnet” that wasn’t approved by the LAPD. …
9 p.m. Thursday. NBC.
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