Good news for Ken Karn (Brían F. O'Byrne)! On last night's episode of the 60's crime drama Aquarius, "Sick City," his character becomes the California Campaign Finance Chair for Richard Nixon. The bad news is, this means that Nixon's people are going to look into him. If they do their job, they will find out what the rest of us know from watching the show: that his 16 year-old daughter ran away from home to live in a hippie enclave with Charles Manson, he had/has a gay love affair with Manson, he used Manson to hook himself and his powerful RNC friends up with prostitutes, and he helped cover it up when one of the girls went missing.
Meanwhile, his partner Hal Banyin was revealed in an earlier episode to have some sort of sick fetish where he had Manson send him prostitutes to beat up. These are two dark and evil characters. So, of course, they're Republicans!
The clip below begins with Hal mentioning J. William Middendorf, who was the Republican National Committee treasurer during the time period the show takes place. How lovely for them to drag him into this fictional mess.
-I was on the phone with Middendorf.
-Oh? What'd he have to say?
-We were talking about the direct-mail program. Oh, yes, hi. It's me.
-What'd he have to say about the direct-mail?
-Well, you were right to keep it going. It's raising enough by itself now to cover operating costs for the national committee.
-That's fantastic. Isn't it?
Yes. Yes, it is. That's why it's you.
-What is? California campaign finance chair...for Nixon. It's you, pal.
-My God, I don't even know what to--
-Yes, you say yes. And I say congratulations.
-So why was it rough this morning then?
-'Cause I wanted it to be me. And... 'Cause of what's coming next. They're gonna need to look into us. Nixon's people. They're gonna go deep. Into both of us. Into the firm, the whole damn thing, but...once you told me Manson was out, I padded the paychecks of a couple slobs at Missing Persons to call me in case anyone asked about that poor girl's file. This morning, someone did.
Later, Karn tells his wife the news, including his impassioned support of a President Nixon cleaning up the country's "political, moral, hippie-coddling, war-torn quagmire." (I see what you did there, writers, having the morally corrupt, hippie-using character hypocritically deliver those lines!)
-...For all of California? That's incredible, my God.
-Which is why we need to settle some things right now.
-What things?
-Dick Nixon is the only hope this country has to rise up out of the--the political, moral, hippie-coddling, war-torn quagmire it's in. He will vet me right down to the nails in my shoes. And Hal. And you. And our daughter. I will do whatever it takes, whether you like it or not, to see that Richard Nixon is our next president. So here's what I'm gonna do-- And when I'm through telling you, I only want to hear two words.
-Yes, dear.
After that, Karn pretty much disowns his daughter and the episode concludes with him digging up a body, presumably that of the aforementioned missing prostitute, perfectly solidifying the overall show theme that Republicans are evil.
