A newly "retired" Hodiak hunts for the serial killer who's been tormenting him. Charlie sends Tex, Sadie, Emma and Patty on a mission.
Hodiak gets into trouble again with Internal Affairs, which changes his position in the precinct. Things are looking up for The Family when a music producer arrives to record Charlie's music.
The Manson family feels Emma's absence as they make a documentary.
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Title: Aquarius (2015–2016)
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Los Angeles, 1967. Welcome to the Summer of Love. Aquarius stars David Duchovny as Sam Hodiak, a seasoned homicide detective whose investigations dovetail with the activities of real life cult leader Charles Manson in the years before he masterminded the most notorious killings of a generation, the Tate-LaBianca murders. A small time but charismatic leader with big plans, Manson has begun to build up his "family", recruiting vulnerable young men and women to join his cause. Teaming up with a young cop who will help him infiltrate Manson's circle, Hodiak is forced to see things through the questioning eyes of someone who came of age amongst the current anti-establishment counterculture. Edgy, addictive and visually stunning, the Age of Aquarius is here.
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Aquarius has good foundations for a drama thriller with its time period and decent cast. That being said, it doesn't really excite. The atmosphere is drab, not in intentionally classic manner, and the plot isn't audience friendly due to the vague script. The most it can offer is buddy cop mystery or the chase of an enigmatic villain, which is actually decent. However, as audiences have known better mystery show like True Detective or even The Following which has remarkably similar concept, Aquarius might not reach the iconic stature of its original source.
The show opens with a missing girl. Sam (David Duchovny) is called by his associates to look for the girl, who unfortunately has record of misbehavior. Then he embarks on the investigation, meeting potential suspect and hardheaded colleagues as the show frequently switches to the antagonist's point of view. It tries to give perspective of both sides in parallel.
It's properly made with sandy visual flair and hefty influence of the era like the baggy costume or old-fashioned tune. However, the introductions of the characters are bland. They are not memorable, even the role of Charles Manson is overly cryptic. It gets the story going, but doubtfully captives the audience. The songs and gimmick feel cosmetic, they don't emphasis much on the time except occasional reminders of trivial hippie style.
David Duchovny also isn't that engaging as the lead. He seems flat and is an uninteresting reminiscence of cop stereotype. Gethin Anthony as Charles Manson does a decent role of creepy yet alluring mysterious man, although he might not be that psychologically menacing. The script could've done a better job on setting the era or the character, but as much of the dialogues feel forced in hope to be edgy but ends up unrelatable.
Aquarius doesn't have glaring flaws, it doesn't possess clever hook or identifiable characters either. It's an average mystery drama with all of its aspects intact, but it is not as exalted as the real life source.