Aquarius Season 1 Blu-Ray Review

Aquarius (2015)
Set during the early 1960s, Aquarius tells two very different stories that intersect when a teenage girl (Emma Dumont) runs away from home. On one side of the show is the police procedural led by Hodiak (David Duchovny) and Shafe (Grey Damon) as they struggle to keep law and order during the cultural revolution. On the other side is Charles Manson (Gethin Anthony) gathering a “family” at his California ranch. When Emma (Dumont) runs away with Manson and his family, Hodiak unofficially investigates for an old flame (Michaela McManus), bringing the two worlds together.

If you’ve been following the 13 episode first season of NBC’s period crime drama, you know that we’ve been reviewing the series episodically. If you want a look at our take on individual episodes, you’ll find those here. The blu-ray release though will give you a slightly different take on each of the episodes - for the better.
The blu-ray release is unrated, which means it’s not constrained by the typical standards and practices of broadcast television. As a result, each of the episodes on the four disc set is a little longer than the versions that aired on television with a few extra pieces of conversation, extended bits of dialogue, and changes to some of the scenes. These changes don’t mean that if you watched the series live as it aired that you missed anything or that some additional mystery will be uncovered as you watch the blu-ray. What it means is that there’s a little bit more of the “free love” going on at Manson’s ranch, with extended sex scenes and more flashes of nudity. It also means that Hodiak’s language is a little more colorful than what you heard on television.

In fact, of the changes that we see on the DVD, it’s Hodiak’s dialogue that is the best. While David Duchovny is still fantastically dry and sarcastic on the broadcast episodes, his liberal dropping of f-bombs throughout the script here actually seems to fit his character even better than the dialogue used for NBC. It makes him seem just a little bit more coarse, a little less controlled in some of his angry exchanges, and the show is better for it. I hope the show does the same for its season two DVD release.

With these episodic changes you won’t find something like deleted scenes amongst the DVD’s special features. Instead, what you’ll find are the collected webisodes NBC put online prior to the show’s premiere as well as the Aquarius: First Look. If you accessed any of NBC’s promotional materials on demand prior to the series premiere, you might have already seen these additions, but having them all conveniently gathered in one place is a nice touch for fans of the show.

The four webisodes are shorter than I’d like (it would have been interesting if there was additional footage for those as well), but if you haven’t seen them, they actually provide valuable insight into the characters for the show. They give you a look at Manson before he was leading a group of mostly women to live life his way on the ranch. The webisodes show his first interactions with Katie (Tara Lynne Barr) and Sadie (Ambyr Childers) and how that affected his relationship with Mary (Abby Miller) long before Emma joins up with them. It provides a great teaser of the relationship dynamics you see unfold on the series. The Aquarius: First Look gives you a glimpse behind the scenes. It isn’t as great as, say, episode commentary by cast and crew, but it does give you the chance to hear what most of the cast members think about the different characters and the time period in which the show is set. It’s a fun extra, but probably not one you’ll be wanting to watch over and over.

If you’ve seen our interview with Emma Dumont, you’ll know that we were both hoping the special features would include a blooper reel when the DVD was announced, but it wasn’t slated for this release. But don’t despair if bloopers are your thing. There’s always next season since the show has been renewed for another batch of episodes. For now, fill the void the show’s left in your life with the blu-ray set. It’s worth it for the extended dialogue alone.

Aquarius hits DVD and blu-ray on September 15. The series will return to NBC for season two in 2016.

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