-Muggle Television Series Reviews-

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Aquarius - My rating: ★★★★½ (4.5/5 stars)

Los Angeles, 1967. America is in turmoil. The hippie movement flies in the face of tradition and attracts the younger generation. The war in Vietnam drags on with no end in sight. The civil rights movement continues to demand change and equal treatment for African-Americans. This is the backdrop for Aquarius - a scene that fifty years later is still all-too-familiar.

Aquarius focuses on veteran homicide detective Sam Hodiak, and his younger partner Brian Shafe, as they hunt down a missing teenager who was lured away by Charles Manson. The missing girl is a case to be worked off the books, though, and their other official cases - both homicides and an undercover narcotics investigation - deal with some of the societal problems of the day. Hodiak and Shafe also have to handle personal problems - Hodiak's boy goes AWOL, Shafe's family is targeted by racists, and both of them have to face their own inner demons.

The cast of the show is phenomenal, especially David Duchovny as Hodiak. Aquarius also isn't afraid to address social issues, while staying true to the history of its period setting. It's a show that's intended to make you think, and its gritty approach serves it well.

The first 13-episode season of this show aired last summer on NBC, and Aquarius is set to return on June 16 of this year, with a two-hour, commercial-free season premiere. I would highly recommend this show, based on the quality of the writing and the outstanding performances by the cast. It's much more than just another police procedural - it's a show that everyone should be watching.

(For those of you who are younger, please be aware that most episodes of Aquarius are rated TV-14, but there are a couple episodes which are rated TV-MA. Personally, I think anyone who is mature enough to watch the nastier stuff on the evening news is mature enough to handle this show, but I want to make sure no one is surprised.)

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Constantine - My rating: ★★★★ (4/5 stars)

Based on the Hellblazer comics, this show follows John Constantine as he hunts down and deals

with supernatural threats to humankind. His business card says "Exorcist, Demonologist, and Master of the Dark Arts," but he's much more than that. Over the course of the series, we learn about the darkness in his past that drives him, and even though he's not always a good guy, you can't help liking him.

Throughout the series, Constantine is aided by his old friend Chas, who isn't quite your average human being, and by a mysterious young woman named Zed, who has psychic visions and some big secrets in her past. The show combines a case-of-the-week format with an overarching mytharc, although because it got canceled after a single season, the mytharc ends with a major unresolved plot twist. The bad guys are creepy as hell (oftentimes literally), Constantine is sarcastic and jaded (just how I like my protagonists), and the show is dark without being depressing (which is a rarity).

The full run of Constantine can be purchased via most of the major video streaming platforms (although Amazon is missing some of the episodes). Unfortunately, this series was canceled after just one season, but Constantine did make a guest appearance on Arrow this past fall, and of course there's always the comic realm if you're looking for more. For those looking for the original, check out the Hellblazer comics (Vertigo), or, if you prefer a more modern comic style, the Justice League Dark and Constantine comics (DC).

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-Reviewed by Kris Shah