WASHINGTON — From “The X-Files” (1993-2014) to “Californication” (2007-2014), David Duchovny has ingrained himself into the annals of TV history.
His latest project, NBC’s gritty period crime-drama “Aquarius,” kicks off Season 2 with a special two-hour premiere starting at 9 p.m. Thursday night.
Set in 1967 Los Angeles, the show follows L.A.P.D. Detective Sam Hodiak (Duchovny), who goes undercover to track Charles Manson and the Manson Family before their infamous murder spree.
“He’s going through his own crisis,” Duchovny told WTOP. “At work, he’s being sent these pictures of women bound up and tortured, and I’m supposed to figure out what’s going on, who these women are and who’s doing this. All of this is happening with the backdrop of the Manson stuff really picking up.”
“The reason my character gets pulled into Manson’s orbit is because the love of my life, a woman that got away from me and married another man and had a child with him, her teenage daughter has run away,” he said. “She comes to me to find her. I track her down to this cult commune in the desert, which is being run by this dude named Charlie Manson, which doesn’t ring any bells at the time.”
The Manson Family has become increasing fodder for our current Golden Age of Television.
During “Mad Men,” many bloggers craved the Manson Family storyline as creator Matthew Weiner trolled viewers with Sharon Tate breadcrumbs, many of which turned out to be red herrings.
“Aquarius,” on the other hand, isn’t afraid to go there. In fact, it’s the driving force of the show.
“What our show is really about is two parallel worlds,” Duchovny said. “One where the ’60s are happening and I’m playing this very straight-laced, Joe Friday cop. … On the other hand, you’ve got Manson coming toward his horrible destiny and the ’60s really coming to an end with those murders.”
Here, Manson is played by Gethin Anthony, aka Renly Baratheon from HBO’s “Game of Thrones.”
“At that time, he was really just a two-bit con man, pimp, cult leader,” Duchovny said. “There was no way for a cop at that time to know Manson was going to become Manson … It doesn’t make sense for my character to be investigating Manson [yet]. … These murders came out of the blue.”
Season 2 finds Manson still pursuing his dream of becoming a rock star.
“He did have some pretty good contacts in Terry Melcher, who was a strong producer, and Dennis Wilson, who of course was with The Beach Boys,” Duchovny said. “This year is really about Manson getting close to that dream and what happens when that slips away. We all know what happened.”
Indeed, Helter Skelter arrives in Season 2.
“This year, the murders happen,” Duchovny said. “We’ve sped up [the timeline], so in fact, the beginning of this year, you’re going to see clips, little images of that fateful night. It’s kind of jumping backwards and forwards, but it’s safe to say the season begins and ends on that night.”
Beyond the historic antagonist, Duchovny loves the complexities of his detective protagonist.
“What I love about the character is, you think ’60s and you think free love and the music and the hippie revolution, but my guy is a man of the ’20s and ’30s living through the ’60s,” Duchovny said. “You see this crazy time in American history through the eyes of a guy who fought in World War II.”
Like all the best roles, Duchovny is fascinated by his character’s flaws.
“He’s a difficult cop,” Duchovny said. “He’s a cop who bends the system. He’s a cop that does what he needs to do to dispense justice. He thinks he dispenses justice, whether or not you can do that within the system. So he’s a flawed, flawed hero, which I enjoy.”
If anyone knows flawed heroes, it’s Duchovny, whose Golden Globe-winning role as sex addict Hank Moody in “Californication” coincided with his real-life divorce from Téa Leoni in 2014.
Yet we keep rooting for his characters, seeing the strengths beyond the flaws.
The truth is out there — even when it’s messy.
Which brings the all-important question — will “The X-Files” return for Season 11?
“There’s nothing specific. I would tell you if there was,” Duchovny told WTOP. “But everybody involved is interested in doing more — FOX, Chris [Carter], Gillian [Anderson] and me — so I would bet on it happening, I just don’t know when and I just don’t know where, and I just don’t know how.”
Anderson had a similar reaction when we spoke with her back in April.
“I want to for the sake of the fandom out there,” Anderson said. “On the other hand, my old butt just wants to take it easy. I’ve got three kids, I live in London and I’ve got a lot of other commitments.”
Either way, Mulder & Scully will forever remain one of the best buddy teams in TV history.
“It’s wild … that it’s been yanked back into the current conversation and that we still get to be those buddies,” Anderson said in April. “It’s one thing to go, ‘Aww, weren’t we lucky,’ but then to get to jump back in those shoes again and play on what makes their dynamic so appealing was quite fun.”
“It’s nice,” Duchovny added this week. “It’s nice to have created and to be part of a duo like that. It’s always been an interesting relationship to me, what they had, kind of completing one another.”
Listen to the full conversation with David Duchovny below:
