Aquarius; which debuted last night on NBC, seemed in the promos to be a true crimes answer to Hannibal: the series, with David Duchovny as Detective Hodiak, who's investigating Charlie Manson two years before the Tate-LaBianca murders in 1969. Unfortunately the show itself, while so successfully recreate 60's style TV credits that you'd swear you were watching a Quinn Martin production, flounders soon afterward in a mishmash of flower power clichés which often seem more at war with each other, then the real-life hippies/panthers/anarchists did with the police/the pigs/The Man.

Pardon my non-PC here, but a relentless parade of Freaks and Fags and political fascists does not necessarily an era make. As a couple other reviews pointed out; beneath all that was a plot easily transplanted to any current crime show without having to miss a beat. So what is the plot?

In LA, circa 1967, Hodiak; a down in the dumps pre Miranda Rights cop, is enlisted by his ex girlfriend to find the whereabouts of her missing 16 year old daughter. The father, a tight ass conservative lawyer, would like the investigation to stay off the registers as it's a political year and the PR would be bad for several of his clients. It's after a failed attempt to uncover any useful leads within the establishment leery counterculture, that Hodiak recruits a young undercover narc to use his drug contacts to help find the girl.

Actually, this all sounded pretty good, if left alone, but now the producers needed to let us know at every turn; just where and when we are, turning practically every extra into a brilliant icon of the period. As a kid during these times(although granted not in a hotspot like LA, but we did live in Alabama when the freedom riders were doing their thing) issues for our family were as much about quiet murmurs or dinner conversation as blaring headlines. Understand that all this stuff on the show takes place within the two hour premiere, so how will Aquarius make it to episode 13?

But all that distraction aside, we actually do get a better vibe on Manson in Gethin Anthony's eclectic performance; unlike the usual perpetual manic depiction in other films and TV shows. Charlie does indeed play a more chill con man; which answers the question of how he got all these gals to follow him. Of course in Aquarius, this is before any of his more famous killings, right in the middle of his equally aggressive pursuit of a music career( though likely just before he met Brian Wilson and Terry Melcher ) which is the main thrust of the show. And make no mistake, Manson still goes balls to the wall ballistic when challenged, so we won't mistake him for anything other than the psychopath out for fame by any means possible.

All this being said, I'm way on the fence about this show, but will have to see if future episodes make me a follower. Now excuse me while I revisit the 70's TV movie, Helter Skelter.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3768572/