Summary

• Despite high hopes and innovative storytelling, Aquarius was canceled due to declining ratings and network confidence.
• Showrunner John McNamara planned an intricate six-season narrative arc delving into Manson's life and the era.
• Aquarius aimed to blend historical events with fictionalized elements to explore Manson's psyche and the turmoil of the 1960s.

American period crime drama The X-Files' David Duchovny as a Los Angeles police sergeant navigating the tumultuous late 1960s, the show delved into the complex era marked by civil unrest, the Vietnam War, and the rise of the hippie movement. Its narrative was further enriched by the infamous Charles Manson and his cult's dark undertakings, blending historical events with fictionalized elements to capture a pivotal moment in American history.

The John McNamara-created series aimed to offer a unique blend of crime-solving and deep historical immersion, setting it apart from conventional crime dramas. As Aquarius season 2 drew to a close, viewers were left with unresolved storylines and characters at a crossroads, hinting at a broader narrative arc yet to unfold. The season finale seemed to set the stage for further exploration of Manson's descent into infamy and the societal upheavals of the era. However, despite the setup and the creators' ambitious plans for the future, Aquarius season 3 never happened, leaving fans wondering what led to its premature conclusion.

Aquarius Season 3 Was Likely Canceled Due To Low Ratings

The Ad-Free Season 2 Premiere Did Little To Help Boost Viewership

Despite the initial excitement and the show's innovative release strategy, Aquarius struggled to maintain a strong viewership (via THR). After a promising start, ratings began to decline, leading NBC to shuffle the show from its prime Thursday slot to Saturdays, a move often indicative of dwindling network confidence. The attempt to boost interest with an ad-free premiere for season 2 did little to improve its fortunes, as the ratings continued to falter, with the season 2 opener attracting only 2.7 million viewers and a modest 0.4 rating among adults 18-49.

This downward trend persisted, prompting NBC to halt the show for the Olympics and then resume on Saturdays, further diminishing its visibility and audience engagement. NBC Entertainment president Jennifer Salke expressed the network's dim view on the show's renewal prospects during the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour, citing the challenging ratings landscape. The network's decision to cancel Aquarius was not taken lightly, especially considering the show's imaginative approach to storytelling. However, the harsh reality of television economics, where ratings play a crucial role in determining a show's fate, ultimately led to its undoing.

The news of Aquarius' cancellation emerged amidst a successful week for NBC, marked by the strong performances of new series like The Good Place and This Is Us. While the network has found success with unscripted summer programming, its struggle to replicate that success with scripted series like Aquarius underscores the unpredictable nature of television success and the importance of ratings in sustaining a show.

Aquarius Showrunner Planned Six Seasons Of The Show

Each Season Would Have Spanned Six Months & Chronicled Charles Manson's Rise & Fall

John McNamara's ambitious vision for Aquarius was to create a comprehensive narrative arc spanning six seasons, with each season encapsulating approximately six months of storytime (via Charles Manson's (Gethin Anthony) journey from an aspiring musician to the leader of one of America's most notorious cults. McNamara likened the storytelling approach to watching the early years of a well-known figure, in this case, Manson, drawing parallels to the detailed character development seen in stories like Casino Royale with James Bond. McNamrar explained:

Figuratively, in a way it’s like watching Casino Royale: you’re watching Bond before Bond. You’re watching before License to Kill and the first girl he meets and on. So with Manson, you’re watching this man trying to escape a web, but it just keeps getting tighter, and by the way, he’s spinning his own web. I planned out the show in of six seasons, and every season is approximately six months, so it’s a lot. If you Wikipedia Manson, he was doing stuff, some of which we portray in the show, and some of which we are making leaps and connecting dots ourselves. He was not inactive. He’s a psychopath and we do not shy away from that. I don’t believe you’re going to finish watching episode 13 and say, “Wow, that was a big jerk off; he didn’t do anything!” He goes there. It’s not going to have a happy ending; we all know that, but that actually informs the suspense nicely in a way that I feel allowed us occasionally to slow down the storytelling a little bit.

The showrunner's plans for Aquarius involved not only depicting historical events but also weaving in speculative elements to fill in the gaps in Manson's life, offering viewers a complex portrait of a man spinning a web of manipulation and violence. The narrative aimed to slow down at times, allowing for a deeper exploration of characters and themes, a luxury that the six-season framework would have afforded. This approach promised to transform Manson's well-documented descent into criminality into a suspenseful, nuanced narrative, shedding light on the myriad factors that contributed to his infamy.

Had Aquarius continued, audiences might have witnessed a more intricate unfolding of Manson's psyche and the socio-political dynamics of the 1960s. After season 2 ended with the famous 10050 Cielo Drive crime scene, where Sharon Tate was murdered, Aquarius season 3 would likely have focused on the fall of the hippie movement and the cultural upheaval. Following that, the subsequent seasons would probably have followed Manson in prison and his acceptance into the Aryan Brotherhood. This ambition offered an opportunity to examine one of America's most turbulent periods through the lens of one of its most enigmatic figures.

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Sources: THR, THR