July 1, 2017 - I've been watching Aquarius on Netflix the last few days. It's an enjoyable cop show starring David Duchovny set in the months leading up to the Manson Family murders. In addition to a good cast and some solid stories, the series does something I love; integrating historical characters and events into a narrative. As fan - and writer - of alternate histories, artfully weaving fictionalized reality into a story is tricky. This is particularly true when, as in the case of Aquarius, a fictionalized historical figure is a main character. Charles Manson (played by Gethin Anthony) is the show's antagonist. While elements of his story are true, the show's creative team takes liberties in order to tell their stories with fictional characters and events integrated into the Manson narrative. Of course, when it is poorly done, this can come across as name dropping. Like any other narrative device, you have to be judicious in how you use it. In the case of Aquarius it's well done and lends verisimilitude to the series.