David Duchovny stars as a Los Angeles police sergeant investigating a missing person case in 1967 in NBC’s limited series “Aquarius.” But it’s who’s holding the girl that’s the big draw: Charles Manson.
“Game of Thrones” alum Gethin Anthony plays the iconic criminal in his early days of raising his flock, with piercing glances and a sense of something isn’t quite right menace. The British actor discusses the links between “Mad Men” and “Thrones,” as well as his role as America’s most notorious cult leader.
“Aquarius” begins on NBC at 9 p.m. on Thursday. The episodes will then be available on VOD in their entirety.
I was familiar with a number of well-known crimes. They had a mystique over the media, I knew. And I was conscious that there was something intriguing about how things occurred, and that he wasn’t actually present; that he had been involved in enlisting the help of others to commit the murders. I now know more about him as a result of the research.
In This Article...
What caused Aquarius to be canceled?
Aquarius will not be renewed for a third season, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The drama was picked up for a full season straight away and broadcast in the summer of 2015. Following the premiere of the first episode, NBC opted to make the full 12-episode season available for streaming for four weeks. Aquarius was the first broadcast show in television history to employ this novel marketing tactic. At the time, the unusual move was viewed as an experiment, but it now appears to be the first step toward the show’s demise.
Aquarius was never able to garner big ratings or buzz, which is most likely why it was canceled. Season 1 had a terrible 1.05 rating among adults 18-49, though that number rose slightly when delayed viewings were taken into account. NBC unexpectedly renewed the sitcom for Season 2 despite the low numbers. The second season began in June 2016 with a two-hour episode on Thursday. Surprisingly, NBC broadcasted this two-hour block ad-free, yet it only received a 0.4 rating. The show’s fate was sealed when it was relocated to Saturdaythe TV graveyardas the ratings plummeted throughout the weeks. The series finale aired on September 10 and had a 0.2 rating.
Who is Gethin Anthony, and where did he come from?
Gethin David L. Anthony (born 9 October 1983) is an English actor best known for playing Renly Baratheon on Game of Thrones from 2011 to 2012.
Is the book Aquarius based on a true story?
We’re all enamored with true crime stories, from Serial to Law & Order. Fortunately, the David Duchovny-led drama Aquarius, which premieres on NBC on May 28 and is set in the 1960s, is all about crime. Sam Hodiak, played by David Duchovny, is a homicide detective who is investigating the disappearance of an old girlfriend’s daughter. But how genuine is this new show? Is Aquarius based on a true story, a novel, a play, or a film?
No, not at all. The story for Aquarius comes from from creator John McNamara’s mind. In an interview with Deadline, McNamara remarked, “I thought of this idea of an older cop from the 1960s and how a 45-year old might observe hippies.” “What if he was coupled with a 22-year-old narc?” “It took me three years to think about it.”
According to Deadline, McNamara first pitched the plot as a series of novels, but producer Marty Adelstein told him he’d miss out on all of the groovy ’60s music if he did. However, just because Aquarius isn’t based on a true story doesn’t mean it isn’t filled with real-life themes. Here are six examples of how Aquarius combines fantasy with reality.
What is the significance of the name Aquarius for the show?
McNamara refers to his show as “historical fiction” because it is based on Manson but is not factually accurate. This is also reflected in the opening slate of the episodes. It also includes entirely fictitious narratives set in a historical context, as well as actual events, politics, music, and social themes of the time. To add background, NBC has provided a blog of events from 1967.
The music on the soundtrack is from the 1960s. The names of renowned songs or Manson Family songs appear in the episode titles. These songs can be found in the episode. The series’ title is taken from a 1967 song (from the cult musical Hair), which also serves as the inspiration for the era in which it is set. The names of Beatles songs are used as episode titles in Season 2.
TV-14 is the name of the NBC programme. In other markets, an unrated version was planned to be released. The DVD, which was released in September 2015, has nuance and language that were removed from the broadcast version in order to keep the TV-14 rating.
The show was originally planned to last for six seasons. On June 25, 2015, NBC announced that Aquarius had been renewed for a second season.
Was Sam Hodiak a real person or a fictional character?
Have you finished watching the NBC series Aquarius yet? Despite the unusual new technique of airing the episodes (the first two were broadcast live on NBC and the rest were instantly made accessible to stream online), the program has a fantastic hook. While I never imagined the Charles Manson narrative as something that needed embellishing, Aquarius managed to transform it into a pulpy crime drama. Is Charles Manson, however, the only figure based on a factual story, or is investigator Sam Hodiak also based on a real person? Hodiak, also known as the clear lead and lifelong heartthrob, is played by David Duchovny, a gruff and witty character. (Sorry, Gray Damon and Gethin Anthony.) And, while Hodiak is surrounded by individuals who are based on real persons (Charles Manson, Bunchy Carter, Mary Brunner), he is entirely imaginary.
The perfect uptight man to juxtapose all of the chaos that goes on in the 1960s is this not-quite-by-the-books archetypal cop. Even though he appears to be a fairly realistic rendition of a member of The Greatest Generation, returning from war and unsure of what America has become in his absence, he isn’t based on anyone in particular. “I thought of this idea of an older cop during the 1960s and how a 45-year old might see hippies,” series creator John McNamara told Deadline about his inspiration for both Hodiak and the show.
Was there a woman named Emma in the Manson clan?
In Aquarius, Manson had a few devoted male followers, but the show’s focus on Manson’s ability to pull women into his manipulative web and use them for his own ends is alarmingly realistic, as the murders that eventually led him and many of his followers to jail later demonstrated. Despite the fact that Emma Karn appears to be wholly made up for the show’s plot, it has been suggested that Katie and Sadie, the two ladies who take her under their wing, are based on Patricia Krenwinkel and Susan Atkins. Within the Manson Family, they were known as “Katie” and “Sadie,” and were eventually condemned to life in prison for their roles in the Tate-LaBianca murders, which took place in 1969 and left seven people dead. Manson employed the many women who fell under his spell as acolytes, dispatching them to carry out his orders, which included murder and maiming.
Emma is a fictitious character who is based on the many young women who were pulled in by Manson. Still, I believe Emma is based on Linda Kasabian, the young woman who served as the getaway driver during the killings but was so shaken by the events that she turned herself in and became the prosecution’s star witness during the murder trial. Emma begins to be put off by Manson’s true character toward the end of Aquarius, and she unwillingly goes along with what her sisters are eager to do. Whether or not my theory is correct, one thing is certain: Manson’s female followers were very real, and Emma is a fantastic example of how easy it was to get drawn in.
Is Netflix’s Aquarius any good?
Aquarius has terrific music and beautiful cinematography, and with Duchovny deadpanning his way through the proceedings, the new series from John McNamara (Profit) has a lot of ominously intriguing potential. The utilization of the plot in the series is both exploitative and ineffective.
Is there a conclusion to the Aquarius TV show?
He predicted the show would last six seasons before it premiered on television. “I planned the show in six seasons, with each season lasting about six months,” he explained. “If you go up Charles Manson on Wikipedia, you’ll see that he did a lot of things, some of which we portray in the program and others of which we’re making leaps and connecting dots for ourselves. He wasn’t dormant. We don’t hide the fact that he’s a psychopath. ‘Wow, that was a massive jerk-off he didn’t do anything!’ I don’t think you’ll say after viewing episode 13 that. He travels to that location. We all know it’s not going to be a happy ending, but that actually adds to the suspense in a manner that I think allowed us to slow down the storytelling a little bit.”