The Family

The Family is a 2017 horrific drama film and the first big-screen biopic about infamous cult leader, Charlie Manson and his devoted "family" of followers. It will focus on the forming of the Manson family, and unlike other films on the subject, The Family also spends time getting to know the victims. The film stars Christian Bale, Jordan Pressler, Brittany Robertson, Christian Serratos, Emma Roberts, Annalise Basso, Elena Kampouris, Mike Vogel, Matt Bomer, Scout Taylor-Compton, Alyson Hannigan, Bob King, James Marsden, Shia LaBeouf, Rory Culkin, Ellen Wroe, Alexandra Daddario, Sarah Butler, Martha MacIsaac, Maitland McConnell, Johnny Simmons, Sean Faris, Kyle Gallner, Brooke Nevin, Toby Stephens, Katharine Isabelle, James Franco, Connor Price, David Born, Kelly Rutherford, Ian Somerhalder and Chris Sheffield.

Tagline
They started out as a hippie commune, but transformed into a bloodthirsty cult.

Summary
Charlie Manson is a troubled, rebellious convict who is moving into the suburb of Los Angeles, where he encounters the "Love Generation". After smuggling prostitutes across the border and spending half of his life in prison for petty crimes, Charlie has learned how to play the guitar and takes on a career as a musician, singing alongside The Beach Boys. However, the Summer of Love comes to a bloody end when Charlie begins using his prison smarts and charisma to attract a group of young, deprived teenagers and transforms them into Devilish monsters to carry out his deadly vendetta against society. While Charlie and his "family" live life together on a movie set called Spahn Ranch, with nothing but love and acceptance, Charlie begins to listen to songs from singing groups such as The Beatles and begins constructing an apocalyptic race war between the whites and the blacks that he refers to as "Helter Skelter". Soon, these wayward teenagers fall completely under Charlie's spell and become the most notorious American family of the 20th century.

Plot
November 12, 1934, Cincinnati, Ohio, Kathleen Maddox (Emma Roberts) is an unwed, pregnant prostitute living off the streets when she suddenly feels a sharp pain in her stomach, altering her that she's going into labor. At the hospital, Kathleen gives birth to a healthy little boy, whom she doesn't even bother to give a proper name. Going by the unofficial label, "No name" Maddox, Kathleen gives him the last name Manson, named after a man named William Manson she was briefly married to. Eventually, he's given the decent full name, Charles Milles.

In 1947, thirteen year-old Charlie (Jordan Pressler) is without a mother, and being passed around from relative to relative after Kathleen is convicted of Strong Armed Robbery and sentenced to five years in Moundsville State Prison. Charlie has been sent to the Gibault Home for Boys in Terre Haute, Indiana, but he runs away on a stolen bike, before being caught and sent to Father Flanagan's Boys Town. He runs away after 4 days, steals a car and commits several armed robberies.

At the Indiana School for Boys in Plainfield, Indiana, Charlie is visited by his mother. They sit across from one another in a vacant room, where Charlie begs Kathleen to take him home. Cold and heartless, Kathleen tells Charlie she can't take him back because her boyfriend doesn't want him around, and she must remain loyal to him. Charlie tells Kathleen he's been sexually molested by the guards and other inmates, and is scared to stay there, but Kathleen thinks he's making up stories to get pity out of her. Sad and heartbroken, Charlie resorts to tears and pleads with his mom to take him back, but Kathleen says her goodbyes and leaves her son for good.

March 21, 1967, 32 year-old Charlie (Christian Bale) has been staying at Terminal Island serving his last sentence for cashing a stolen check, and in that time, has learned from a cellmate how to play the guitar, connect with people emotionally and inherit the charisma of a lifestyle guru. For the majority of his 32 years, Charlie has been sent to prison and reformatory schools for so long, that jail is now his home. Once the warden informs Charlie he is being set free, he argues with him to let him stay in jail, as the outside world is too scary for someone like him. Against his wishes, Charlie is forced to leave Terminal Island and re-enter the outside world.

With his guitar and philosophies, Charlie takes a bus to San Francisco, where he encounters a new movement dominated by young people preaching the values of love and peace. This new era is called the "Love Generation", and it's all bout rebelling against the establishment and surrendering one's self to their own rules. Charlie digs this countercultural movement, and feels he's finally found a place to fit in.

While playing his guitar in front of a campus crowd, Mary Brunner (Ellen Wroe), a worker at the UC Berkeley Library, is walking her poodle when she comes across the musical work of ex-con Manson. Mary approaches him and the two go for a walk, shooting the breeze and becoming fast friends. Mary invites Charlie to stay in her apartment since he has nowhere to crash, and the two eventually have sex. While Charlie is happy to have found a woman willing to open her heart to him, he doesn't feel altogether satisfied. Charlie proposes an out-of-this-world idea to Mary; allow other women to stay with them and start a hippie commune. While at first skeptical of letting other girls sleep with her boyfriend, Mary soon opens her mind to the idea of starting a family and making their place a home for other people feeling lost and neglected.

While cruising the streets of San Francisco in a school bus, Charlie and Mary come across a young woman named Lyn (Alyson Hannigan) sitting on a step while crying. Charlie approaches the sad woman and tells her that her father must have kicked her out of the house. Shocked, impressed and mind-blown, Lyn had just left home after experiencing too many difficulties getting along with her father. Charlie tells Lyn he knows what it feels like to be passed up and abandoned by someone who was supposed to have taken care of him, and he tells her he and his girl are driving around looking for people to pick up. He invites her to join, but Lyn is unsure of what to do. Charlie tells Lyn he can't make up her mind for her, and he gets back in his bus and drives away. With little time to think, Lyn leaves her luggage behind and runs as fast as she can to the bus, confidently telling Charlie that she's going with him. While driving around town, Charlie, Lyn and Mary enjoy themselves; making love with each other and having nonstop laughs as they leave their former worlds behind them and finally feel loved.

The trio travel to Manhattan Beach, where Charlie joins a party being hosted inside an apartment. There, Charlie plays his guitar and sings a song he made about his experiences in prison, while a group of hippies sit around and smoke dope as they watch Charlie perform. After finishing up his act, Charlie spots a young, redheaded woman named Pat (Annalise Basso) standing in the crowd by herself, contemplating as to whether she should eat the snacks at the table. Charlie approaches Pat and tells her she can eat the food if she wants to, and she finds herself confused and intrigued by the convict's words. Charlie tells Pat that she's one of the few real people in a room loaded with phonies, but she doesn't buy into his obviously fake charisma. She tells Charlie he could flirt with any woman he wanted to, and she's nothing special, but Charlie tells Pat she's the only girl he wants to spend time talking to.

Charlie and his girls are invited to stay at the apartment by Pat's half-sister, and they accept. While getting ready to go to bed, Charlie walks into Pat's bedroom and begins talking to her some more. He takes her by the hand and sits her down on her bed, telling her he won't leave until she tells him everything about herself. Pat's too shy and self-conscious to open up, so Charlie volunteers to go first. He tells Pat how his mother never loved him, and once sold him for a pitcher of beer. He also reveals that most of his 32 years in life were spent behind bars, making Pat feel shocked and sympathetic. Pat begins to feel more comfortable opening up about herself, and she confides in Charlie that she has felt ugly and rejected all her life. At the age of thirteen, Pat was overweight as a result from comfort-eating, and relied on pills to lose the weight. She was also diagnosed with an endocrine condition that causes her to grow an excessive amount of body hair. This has left Pat feeling undesired by men and even resulted in her getting bullied at school. Charlie kisses Pat's arms and legs, and tells her all the hair in the world couldn't hide how beautiful she is. Pat begins to cry in astonishment because no one had ever told her she was beautiful before. The two have sex on Pat's bed, and she cries the entire time out of happiness that she's finally found someone who accepts her for who she is. Two days later, Pat quits her job as a processing clerk, leaves her car and final paycheck behind, and hits the road with Charlie, Mary and Lyn.

While staying at Pat's El Porto apartment, Charlie introduces her to Mary and Lyn. He insists that the girls share the bed together, and he sleeps on the couch. While Mary, Lyn and Pat lay in bed together, Pat finds herself extremely inhibited. Mary and Lyn sit beside Pat and tell her to relax, as they stroke her hair and kiss her on the cheek. Lyn insists that there's nothing to worry about, and she and Mary continue to seduce Pat and slowly begin to make out with her. Still nervous and uncomfortable, Pat tries to stay calm and let the girls do what they want. Soon, Lyn begins performing oral sex on Pat, and she starts to enjoy it. Pat then opens up and begins to feel more comfortable, and soon the three girls have intercourse. As they sleep next to one another after the sex, Pat wakes up and goes over to sleep with Charlie on the couch.

While hanging out near the bus on a hot, sunny day, Charlie meets a construction worker named Bruce (Shia LaBeouf) and the two engage in a conversation. Both men realize they have quite a few things in common; Like Charlie, Bruce is a good musician, has an interest in Scientology and is an ex-con. Charlie likes having another man around, and he asks Bruce to join his family. He promises Bruce he can sleep with any of the women he brings into the group, and there's no strings attached. Liking the free-living spirit of Charlie, Bruce happily joins.

Susan Atkins (Christian Serratos) is a topless dancer struggling to make money. After feeling displeased with her pay, she quits and returns to her apartment, where she remains lonely, broke and depressed. Susan attends a get-together at another room, and Charlie is there playing the guitar while singing Tony Bennett's song, "The Shadow of Your Smile". Sitting with all of the other dope-smoking crowd members, Susan finds herself enticed by Manson's angelic voice. He's being surrounded by a bunch of women, and she wants attention from him. After Charlie gets done playing, Susan approaches him and asks if she can borrow his guitar. Once Charlie hands it to her, Susan feels insecure and doesn't know what to do. Able to sense her insecurity, Charlie looks Susan in the eye and tells her she can play the guitar if she really wants to. Susan plucks a few strings, then hands the guitar back to Charlie. She kneels down and kisses Charlie's feet, before leaving the party out of embarrassment.

Days later, Charlie returns to the apartment, and is greeted eagerly by Susan, and he asks her to go for a walk with him. While the two flirt with each other on the walk, Charlie takes Susan to a vacant room where they can have sex. He takes her by the hand and puts her in front of a large mirror, where he tells Susan she's beautiful, and she must always think of herself as pure perfection. Charlie then asks Susan if she has ever wanted to make love with her father, and she giddily replies yes. He tells her to think of him as her father in order to relieve herself of her anger toward him, and the two proceed to have passionate sex.

Charlie and his girls stop off at a convenient store to pick up some snacks, and once there, they quietly steal all the food they want while the cashier isn't watching. Charlie walks up to the cashier and makes idle conversation with him to distract him, while Susan, Mary, Lyn and Pat continue stuffing the snacks into their bags. Once the cashier catches the girls, he yells at them to get out of his store, and Charlie tells them to keep going and finish taking whatever they want. The cashier begins to dial the police, and as the girls finish taking their desirables, they quickly run out of the store while laughing, and Charlie follows after them. They get back in the bus, and Charlie screams at Bruce to drive them away as fast as he can.

As Bruce drives the gang around town in the night, he, Charlie, Mary, Lyn, Pat and Susan eat their snacks and talk quietly amongst each other. Susan and Pat begin to bond as they discuss their backgrounds, and learn quite a bit about each other. Susan tells Pat she was working as a topless dancer, and before that, she had met a couple of convicts who took her with them up the west coast to commit several armed robberies. The boys got put away for having priors, while Susan got probation after serving three months. Pat tells Susan she was working as a processing clerk, and never felt like she belonged anywhere until she met Charlie. Both girls laugh, share their stories, and develop a sisterly bond that they're thankful to have.

Charlie takes his family to a house called the "Spiral Staircase" over in Topanga Canyon, where they settle in and live life by panhandling. Soon, they begin to grow in number as more wayward individuals join the family. While living at Spiral, Charlie meets an aspiring musician/actor named Bobby Beausoleil (Matt Bomer), who is rich with good looks and a talent for producing a tune on the guitar. Intrigued by Bobby's musical talent, Charlie asks him to join the family so the two of them can jam together, and Bobby accepts. He's been living in the basement of fellow musician Gary Hinman (Chris Sheffield), who is also a Buddhist, teacher and caregiver to less fortunate people. Charlie tells Gary he's welcome to join his family, but Gary kindly declines because he's happy living his life the way he is and prefers to stay pure rather than promiscuous. However, Gary loans Charlie some money and agrees to stay friends with him.

After arriving back from a trip to Mendocino, California, Susan receives notice that she's pregnant. The father is a man she had a brief sexual fling with in Mendocino, but has no way of contacting him to let him know he's the father. On April 1, 1968, Mary gives birth to a son whom she and Charlie name Valentine Michael, nicknamed "Pooh Bear". In October of the same year, Susan gives birth to her son, and Charlie takes it upon himself to name her child Zezozose Zadfrack. Ruth Ann (Alexandra Daddario) and Patty help take care of Valentine and Zezozose, while Charlie finds out that Susan has gotten him, Bruce and Bobby contracted with Gonorrhea. Angered by the bills he has to pay and the infection he must live with, Charlie kicks Susan out of the family and tells her to stay at a nearby religious retreat called Fountain of the World. While she's sitting at a diner eating a steak, Susan watches a happy family sit and laugh amongst one another, and she becomes upset and feels all alone again. She drives back to Spiral, and begs Charlie for his forgiveness, and he allows her back in.

In an effort to get more money, Charlie tells his girls to start hustling. Susan, Patty and Ruth Ann walk into a bar, and Susan flirts with a male customer sitting at a table. While she seduces him and shares some laughs, Patty sneaks up behind the man and steals his keys from out of his pocket. Ruth Ann then joins in the conversation with Susan and the man, and she comments on how handsome he is. Once Patty manages to exit the bar without being noticed, Susan and Ruth Ann say their sudden goodbyes to the man and leave. The trio then run into the man's car and drive away, laughing hysterically along the way.

At Topanga Canyon, Paul Watkins (Johnny Simmons) runs into the family and decides to join because he enjoys the free-living lifestyle and the way Charlie is able to attract so many women to his side. Paul is a talented musician, and Charlie treats him as a second-in-command. He has Paul enroll into a local high school to try to recruit new people into the family, but he drops out after only a couple of weeks. Charlie, Bobby and Paul jam out on their guitars together, while Patty, Ruth Ann, Mary, Susan and Lyn wash dishes, serve food, and clean up the place. Mary does her best to take care of Valentine, so Patty tells her to take a break and go look after her son. While Mary goes to check on Valentine in the kids' room, she realizes he's breathing strangely. Mary picks up Valentine and rushes over to Charlie, asking him what to do. Charlie grabs Valentine, cradles him in his arms, and assures Mary that time and God will cure their son.

While Mary carries Valentine back to his bed, Patty tells her she should take her son over to a hospital and get him checked out. Mary is reluctant because Charlie doesn't believe in medical care, nor do they have enough money for an emergency bill. Patty comforts Mary and tells her that Charlie isn't the mother, she is, and it's her decision to take care of her child. Mary takes Patty's advice and sneaks out of Topanga to take Valentine to the hospital. Once Mary returns to the house, Charlie and the rest of the gang are waiting inside the living room. Charlie tells Mary to lay their son down in his bed, and to return right after. After Mary lays Valentine to sleep, she returns to the living room and is berated by Charlie, who screams at her for going behind his back and taking their son to see a doctor. Mary tries to reason with Charlie and tells him she only did what she felt was right for their child. Charlie slaps Mary across the face and orders her to never do anything with their son behind his back ever again. Patty steps in and tells Charlie it was her idea for Mary to take her son to a hospital, and Charlie turns his attention on her. Patty begs Charlie not to be mad at her, and tells him she just told Mary to do what she felt was right. Charlie then throws Patty on the floor, and tells her to clean up the dirty dishes. He then storms out of the house and the others remain inside, frightened and quiet.

Susan goes into the kids' room and changes Zezozose's diaper, and is offered help by Patty. Susan asks Patty how she's doing, and Patty says her arm is bothering her on account of Charlie throwing her on the floor. While the two girls chat as they change the baby's diaper, Patty confides in Susan that she no longer feels the same way about Charlie as she did when they first met; she feels he's becoming much more dominant, unreasonable and abusive. Pat then contemplates leaving the family, but Susan encourages her to stay, saying that Charlie just has a lot on his shoulders with his new baby and the stress of managing a family. Susan pleads with Patty to stay with her, and proceeds to tell her about how her mother died of cancer when she was a teen, and has felt alone until she became part of this family. Out of guilt and compassion, Patty decides to stay, and she and Susan happily continue to change the baby.

Becoming more consumed by the power his family members are giving him, Charlie decides it's time to rename some of his girls in order to fully relieve them of their former lives. Bruce creates fake ID's to provide the girls with so they can get into certain clubs and social gatherings. On Charlie's request, Bruce gives Susan the name "Sadie Mae Glutz", and Patty the name "Katie". Charlie takes his family to a party at the home of Harold True, located at 3267 Waverly Drive. Susan and Patty use their fake ID's to get in. Next door, at 3301 Waverly Drive, Leno (David Born) and Rosemary LaBianca (Kelly Rutherford) are woken up out of their sleep by the noise of the party. Leno is fed up with the shenanigans going on in the area, including the break-ins that have occurred in his very home. Rosemary tells Leno to just stay calm and go back to bed, and Leno decides he's going to demand his shareholders to let him out of his business at Gateway for good. He and Rosemary both want to leave Waverly Drive desperately.

At the house party, Charlie mingles around and makes conversation with the other guests, telling them about his musical talents and desire to become a rock 'n' roll musician. Susan and Patty hang around closely to each other as they grab a drink and talk. Leno wakes up once more, walks out of his home and bangs on Harold's door. Bobby opens the door and Leno harshly asks him to tell the other party-goers to keep it down because he can't get to sleep. Bobby sweet talks Leno and invites him to join so he can lower his stress, but Leno coldly rebuffs Bobby's offer and storms off. Susan then approaches Bobby and the two run to a bedroom to have sex. Patty is standing alone, and Charlie calls her out. He takes her by the hand and introduces her to some of the other guests, but Patty is very shy and unable to make conversation. Charlie tells her not to be so nervous, and say hi to everyone. When someone notices a bruise on Pat's wrist, they ask her what happened, and she tells them she fell down while cleaning. Charlie then tells Patty one of the guests has offered him a guitar, and his only request is to have sex with one of the girls. Patty is uncomfortable, and asks if Susan can do it, but because she is currently with Bobby, Charlie tells Patty she has to sleep with the man. She reluctantly goes off with the man and agrees to sleep with him so Charlie can get his guitar. When she is finished having sex with the man, Patty walks out of the bedroom in tears, and leaves the party. Paul notices that Pat seems upset, and asks Charlie what happened, but he tells him she'll be fine and not to worry about it. Patty walks out of Harold's home and goes off in the night, officially decided to leave the family.

In Los Angeles, California, Sharon Tate (Brooke Nevin), a remarkably beautiful Hollywood actress, is at a photo shoot getting publicity shots to further promote her career. Rich with luscious blonde hair and a glamorous look of natural feminine beauty, Sharon is living the sweet life in Bel Air while her husband, film director Roman Polanski, is in Europe filming a movie. Keeping her company are celebrity hairstylist Jay Sebring (James Franco), coffee heiress Abigail Folger (Katharine Isabelle), and Polish writer Wojciech Frykowski (Toby Stephens). Jay and Sharon used to date, but after Sharon left him to be with Roman, he never fell out of love with her and the two remain close friends. Sharon confides in Jay that she's pregnant after he notices she isn't feeling well and looks rather tired. Jay asks Sharon if Roman is aware, and she tells him she hasn't told Roman yet because she's worried he's going to make her get an abortion. Wojciech and Abigail, both of whom are in a steady relationship, support Sharon in her time of loneliness, and they all spend time together at Sharon's cul-de-sac on Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon.

Things aren't going too well at Spiral, as a water leakage has caused a deterioration on the living conditions, and Charlie is under deep stress because he can't afford to fix the place up. Nancy (Martha MacIsaac) suggests they move somewhere else, maybe do some traveling up the west coast. Unable to pay the bills and unsure he'll be able to support his family, Charlie is at a dead end and finds himself in a panic for the first time in years. As he paces back and forth figuring out what to do, Patty makes a surprise return on the door step. Charlie is in shock to see her back, and Patty is unsure of how to respond. She apologizes to Charlie for leaving him, and promises she won't do it again. Silent and overwhelmed by surprise, Charlie embraces Patty and the two reconcile. He asks her what made her decide to return, and she tells him she's found a place for them to stay. Charlie asks where, and Patty tells him that after she ran away, Dennis Wilson, the drummer of the Beach Boys, picked her up while she was hitchhiking, and invited her to stay at his mansion. Charlie and the family gather their belongings and drive over to Wilson's mansion, and without his knowledge, they take it upon themselves to move in. Having never been surrounded by fancy décor and furniture, Charlie is stunned to be living here, and decides it's time for him to become a real deal rock star so he can own all this glamor.

During a party in Dennis' mansion, all of the party-goers are hanging around, smoking joints and engaging in intercourse with whomever. Susan, Patty, Mary, Lyn, Nancy and the other girls are all wearing dresses, makeup and high heels to prepare themselves for men. Charlie approaches Susan and Nancy and persuades them into stealing some of Dennis' valuables, such as some shirts, pants and a lamp. Susan and Nancy sneak by as they take these belongings and place them safely in their bags. While Charlie is sitting on top of the stairs smoking a joint, a scruffy Texan boy named Charles Watson (Mike Vogel) approaches Charlie and asks him if he's got a joint to spare. Charlie and Charles sit next to one another, smoke a joint and start a conversation, with each telling the other about their life stories. Charlie mentions how he's spent virtually his entire life in prison, and he's only been out the last two years. He's been programmed since childhood and since he got out, he's never felt freer. Charles goes on to tell Charlie how he grew up in Copeville, where his parents ran a gas station and made him go to church regularly. As he grew older, Charles began to join church activities, and was a very athletic jock in high school; active on the track, basketball and football team. Charlie finds himself impressed with the man's easygoing life, and also takes notice in how both men share a name. Charles asks Charlie how he has so many women traveling with him, and he tells him it's all about his confidence as a man; he's got musical talent, sexual inventiveness and knows how to get inside someone's head. Charles comes to the realization his whole life has been played out, with no real direction or sense of freedom. He's been following the expectations of his parents mostly. Charlie offers him acceptance into his family, and all he has to do is give over all of his possessions, such as cars and clothes. Intrigued by Charlie's charisma, ability to attract women, and hippie philosophies, Charles agrees to join and hand over all possessions to the family.

While sitting and smoking with Charlie, Charles locks eyes with Susan as she's standing around talking to Bobby and Paul, and the two develop an instant connection. Charlie tells Charles that he's allowed to have sex with whoever he wants in the family, and Charles gets up, walks over to Susan and they introduce themselves. Susan offers Charles a drink and asks him what he thinks of Charlie. As he sips his glass of wine, Charles tells her he finds Charlie to be a very unique type of individual, one who seems to understand the real world. Susan tells him Charlie isn't just any man; he's someone who knows everything about everyone, and he's in fact Jesus Christ. Charles is skeptical of that, but Susan informs him that he'll feel the same way the more he interacts with Charlie. As the two continue to talk and flirt, Susan takes Charles by the hand and they go into a bedroom, where they proceed to have rough sex on Dennis' bed.

On April 4th, 1968, outside on the grass, Charlie and Mary finish having sex and cuddle together while discussing the insanity of the outside world. Charlie believes that love-making is the greatest form of stress-release, and if the world thought the way he did, things would be less crazy and judgmental. As the two lay peacefully together on the lawn, Susan comes running outside and informs them that "they shot King". Charlie and Mary run inside the mansion where the rest of the family is sitting in front of the TV, where they learn Martin Luther King, Jr. has been gunned down at a motel in Memphis, Tennessee. The family watches the news in shock, while Charlie begins to fear that there will be a retaliation against the white population for King's murder. He prays that he and his family remain unaffected by the racial conflict, and that God will give him the strength to protect his loved ones.

As the family lives life at Wilson's mansion, they begin to slowly tear it apart; wrecking Dennis' cars, knocking over vases, dropping food all over the floors, etc. Steve Grogan (Rory Culkin), a talented musician who's had some trouble with the law, crashes Dennis' uninsured Ferrari while he's speed racing down the street with Charles and Bobby. Charles tells Steve that Dennis is going to be pissed, and goes on to call Steve "Scramblehead". Because of his heavy drug use, Steve possesses the behavior of a mentally handicapped individual, but most people just assume he's playing dumb to be funny. Bobby insists they can fix this, and calls Bruce over to help fix up the damages. As Bruce does his best to clean up the dents and scratches, he realizes it's unable to be fixed, and insists that Steve tell Dennis the truth.

Angered by the damages and dental bills he has to pay on the Manson family's behalf, Dennis' manager forces the family out on the streets. Charlie is upset because his dreams of becoming a musician are fading, and without Dennis, he'll have no one to connect him. Nancy promises Charlie that wherever they end up, he will get a record deal. Convinced by the pep talk, Charlie finds himself loaded with confidence, as he "knows" he will become a rock star in time, one that's even more famous than the Beatles.

In Chatsworth, there's a movie ranch that used to film Western-themed movies and television programs. With mountainous terrain, boulder-strewn scenery and an 'old Western town' set, it is completely deserted with only the owner, 81 year-old visually impaired George Spahn (Bob King), and stunt actor Donald "Shorty" Shea (Ian Somerhalder) living there. Sandy (Scout Taylor-Compton), one of Charlie's most devoted and enthusiastic women, drives over to the ranch to check it out. On a hot, sunny afternoon, George is sitting outside on a rocking chair, with his cane resting close by. While Shorty is feeding the horses, he asks George if there's anything else he needs done, but George tells him to go relax and take the day off. Shorty informs George that an opportunity to star in a Western picture has come up, and if he gets it, he won't be available to help out on the ranch as much. George thanks Shorty for the time he's already spent helping out on the ranch, and tells him it's okay if he wants to take the job. Unsure of what to do, Shorty goes over to a quiet spot to think over his options; stay on the ranch and help out George, or leave for good as he pursues his acting career.

Sandy approaches George while he's sitting outside the Longhorn Saloon, and he warmly greets her. The two begin to chat, and Sandy tells George she will make him some tea. In the kitchen, Sandy makes two cups of tea while George sits at the table. Sandy gives him his tea, and he thanks her for being so kind. As George drinks his tea, Sandy flirts with him and tells him that she and the people she's living with are in desperate need of a place to live. George sympathizes with Sandy but tells her he isn't so confident about letting people crash at his ranch. Sandy informs George that there's about 20 of them all together, and that they're a friendly, peaceful group who devote themselves to love and happiness. Sandy goes on to tell him that their leader is a man who is Christ-like and beautiful, and in fact is the second coming of Christ. George is intrigued by her claims, and tells Sandy that he's had people in the past come to his ranch and trash it. Sandy promises George that they will clean up after themselves, help take care of the horses, and offer sexual favors as well. Convinced that he can get some good help and have sex with younger women, George agrees to let the family live on the ranch, and Sandy kisses him passionately while thanking him.

Sandy drives back to Wilson's and tells Charlie she's found a place for them to stay. Charlie asks where, and Sandy tells him it's at an abandoned movie ranch called Spahn's. She says the owner has agreed to let them live there rent-free as long as they help out around the ranch and the women offer themselves to him. Charlie is intrigued and asks about the foundation, to which Sandy tells him it's 500 acres and full of large, open space for more people to join the family. Charlie hugs and kisses Sandy out of gratitude, and tells the family to pack their bags once more. Just then, Bobby informs Charlie that he's leaving them temporarily and starting his own family. Charlie is slightly angered by this news, and asks Bobby why he wants to leave. Bobby has met and fallen in love with a woman named Gail, and wants to be the leader of his own group of women. Charlie expresses his concerns, but ultimately approves of his choice and gives Bobby a hug goodbye, telling him to make sure he carries on with his music career for the both of them. Bobby smiles and leaves, as the rest of the family makes their way out.

Riding up in their stolen cars, the family arrives at Spahn's Ranch and empties out all their luggage on the property. Charlie takes notice of the beautiful land, filled with wide open space, fresh air, large mountains, and a gorgeously constructed movie set. George introduces himself to the family and tells them he's happy to have them live here. Some of the girls take a fancy to the old blind man, in particular, Lyn, Sandy and Ruth Ann. George flirts with the women and tells them not to forget the deal they have. Lyn grabs George's hand and puts it on her chest, telling him she can feel his soul even though his eyes are covered by dark glasses. George finds himself mostly attracted to Lyn, and he claims he can see how beautiful she is even though he lacks eyesight. George then pinches Lyn's thigh and it causes her to let out a squeaky laugh, resulting in him giving her the nickname "Squeaky".

Charlie supplies his family with LSD for drug circles and sex sessions. While feeding the horses, Pat is approached by Steve, who asks for a blowjob because none of the other women have offered to make love with him. Patty is much more open and less shy, so she agrees happily. While Steve sits in a chair, Patty unzips his pants and performs fellatio on him. Charlie looks over and sees that Steve isn't enjoying it, and he becomes agitated. Charlie walks over to the two and puts an end to their session. Pat apologizes for not doing a good job, and Charlie tells her he loves her, but if she can't perform fellatio properly, she'll have trouble later on attracting other men into the group. Charlie calls everyone over, and orders Pat to perform fellatio on everyone for practice. Obviously uncomfortable, Patty keeps quiet and does as she's told. Charlie instructs other men, such as Charles (who has been given the nickname "Tex" by George because of his Texan origins), Bruce and Larry (Kyle Gallner) to sit in a chair while Pat gives each one a blowjob. Before she begins, Charlie tells Pat the first thing she must do is get herself comfortable. He gives her a pillow to rest her knees on, and then tells her to caress each man's thigh, legs and fingers. Then, while relaxed, Pat performs fellatio on the men and seems to be getting better each time. When she finishes up, Charlie gives Pat a kiss and dismisses everyone, telling them to continue setting up their sleeping arrangements and checking out the ranch.

Daily life at Spahn's consists entirely of brainwashing through means of sexual exploration and drug-induced revelations. The family goes on LSD trips while participating in orgies with one another, as a way of growing as a family and letting go of former pasts. There's a swimming hole down the hill where everyone goes to swim and simultaneously commence foreplay. Charlie takes much smaller doses of LSD in order to stay in more control than everyone else. Chuck Lovett (Sean Faris) soon joins the family, and takes an instant liking to the lifestyle and drug culture. Charlie plays a flute while roaming around naked, and everyone follows suit; taking their clothes off, running around the land and enjoying their freedom, all while lost in a drug-fueled daze. Lyn, Sandy and Nancy love playacting roles from Western movies; tying ropes around their necks, screaming to be saved, and lying down in the street and pretending a train is coming. Charlie hosts group sessions where everyone gathers around in a circle, puts their arms around each other's shoulders, bows their heads and sings. While everyone is on their LSD trips, Charlie has them sit in a circle while he stands and fills their heads with his own form of reality. Charlie declares that the meaning of life is a lie. Nothing anyone's parents have taught them is true, and no one understands them like he does. He tells them they must relive themselves of guilt, and embrace fear because it keeps them aware and feeling truly alive. No one is allowed to talk about their pasts, and must give up their birthdays.

Bobby has moved to Kalen Ranch near Victorville and Apple Valley, where he lives with his wife and several other young women. While he's singing and playing the guitar during dinner, Catherine Share (Sarah Butler), who worked with Bobby on a porno near Spahn's, contemplates leaving Bobby and living with the Manson family. She tells her friend, Leslie (Brittany Robertson) about Charlie; how he has the answers and is very Christ-like. Catherine tries to convince Leslie to leave with her to go join Charlie at Spahn's, but Leslie is madly in love with Bobby and doesn't want to ever leave him. Catherine tells her that beauty shouldn't come from fancy cars and macho stereotypes, but rather the peaceful realism of a true family leader that is Charlie. Leslie admires Bobby playing the guitar, and sees she could never leave his side, no matter how special Charlie may be.

The Manson family continue to live out their life on Spahn's Ranch with simplicity, love and peace being the major elements. Everyone goes on at least 17 acid trips a day, while finding someone new each time to have sex with, and often walking around naked. Through their daily sex orgies, the family has at least two dozen children and newborns living at the ranch, so Charlie makes a room separate for the kids to sleep in. Outside Charlie orders a certain section to be made exclusively for the children to play with each other, and his number one rule is that the kids must be raised by everyone; not just the mother or the father. Charlie tells his family the best way to rid kids of their egos is to allow them to be raised by everyone with different values.

In September of 1968 at Kalen Ranch, Bobby tells his girls they're going to take a trip to Spahn's so he can do a jamming session with Charlie. This makes Catherine excited because she can see Charlie and introduce Leslie to him. During their ride over to Spahn's, Catherine talks for hours about Charlie and how he's Jesus Christ, possessing all the answers one could look for about life. Once they arrive at the ranch, Charlie and Bobby embrace each other and get their guitars to begin playing. Sitting around a circle inside one of the rooms, Pat and Susan hand out LSD tabs for everyone to take. Leslie is nervous because she's been trying to stay away from drugs for a while, but Catherine tells her to calm down and just relax. Reluctantly, Leslie takes the LSD and lets her mind go freely. Before performing, Charlie welcomes Bobby's girls to the ranch and tells them the end of the world is near, and they must act fast to save the future of their planet. Charlie and Bobby sing a duet together on their guitars, where they sing about the beauty of Hell and how no one is safe from its grasp. The girls are all tripping on acid, and are in a relaxed, barely conscious state of mind. Leslie begins to find herself experiencing a trip she's never had before. Her hands are vibrating and she can see the color of the air. She keeps quiet and tries to breathe in and out, but once she sees how everyone has suddenly taken on a demonic appearance, Leslie screams and runs away. While running, Leslie feels herself sinking into the floor and screams for help. As the music still plays, Leslie is in a blurred, psychedelic state, and she sees Charlie standing against a crucifix with his hands tied as he wears a white robe. Leslie blurrily stares at Charlie as he proclaims he's Jesus Christ and that "they" are going to try to crucify him once more. Charlie tells Leslie that only the strongest will survive the war that's coming, and she is welcome to join him. While in her deluded and psychedelic trance, Charlie reaches out for Leslie's hands, and she grabs onto him.

Once everyone comes down from their trips, Bobby says his goodbyes and takes his girls back to Kalen, but Leslie finds herself unable to stop thinking about Charlie. Catherine is thrilled that Leslie has had a chance to meet him and experience his intense profundity. Bobby begins to experience problems with his wife because she no longer wants to share him with other women. Though hesitant, Bobby agrees to cut his girls loose in order to patch things up with Gail. Leslie is devastated by the news, and worries about where she'll go. Bobby drives Leslie and Catherine over to Spahn Ranch to live with the Manson family while he clears things up with his wife. Once they arrive on the ranch, Catherine happily gets out of the car and says her goodbyes to Bobby, but Leslie is much more upset and heartbroken. Leslie asks Bobby if they'll ever see each other again, and he assures her he'll come back for her. But in the meantime, she must stay with Charlie and become one of his girls. Leslie and Bobby share a final kiss before Leslie steps out of the car and says her goodbyes to him. Charlie comes outside and waves bye to Bobby as he drives away, and Leslie goes over to Charlie. Charlie is uncomfortable with Leslie being with him because he doesn't want to ruin his friendship with Bobby. Leslie makes herself at home and becomes friends instantly with most of the Manson members. She calls her mother on a nearby telephone and tells her to stop loving her; that she's dropping out of society and won't be seeing her anymore. Leslie tells her mom that she's found a group to live with who will take care of her, and she doesn't need to worry. While her mom is obviously upset, Leslie says her goodbyes and hangs up.

Catherine is given the nickname "Gypsy" by George because of her wild and impetuous nature, and becomes one of his favorite helpers/companions. Gypsy makes George tea, while Leslie is given the job of a cook. She makes dinner for the family on most nights and receives quite a few stares from the other men, captivated by her beauty. At night, the family have a campfire outside the ranch. Everyone gathers next to one another, talks and hums songs written by Charlie, while Charlie stands in the middle of everyone and preaches his beliefs. Everyone is given LSD to take while they're sitting, and once again, Charlie takes a smaller dosage to remain in control. While the family's tripping on acid, Charlie preaches about an oncoming war that will kill every Caucasian human being in the world. Charlie believes that, on account of all the racial tension flaring in the streets, there will be a time when all the black people rise up and brutally slaughter all of the white people. Deluded and borderline schizophrenic, Charlie is in full belief that this war will happen and he must protect his family from it. Kathryn Lutesinger (Maitland McConnell), who goes by the nickname "Kitty", falls asleep during Charlie's rant, and he elbows her in the face. Charlie tells his family they should be safe as long as they remain a tight, unbreakable unit and no one leaves the group. Leslie is intrigued by Charlie's far-out philosophies but can't help but feel a sense of fear around him. Everyone buys into Charlie's racial war paranoia and agrees to stick together in order to survive.

Charlie meets Danny DeCarlo (James Marsden), club treasurer of the Straight Satans motorcycle gang, and asks him to join the family since he owns a lot of guns and can protect the family from the race battle. Danny tells Charlie that he served 4 years in the Coast Guard and afterward, he went into the firearms business with his father. Charlie tells Danny that he feels a war coming on between the blacks and whites, and the blacks will be victorious unless they find a way to stay safe during the conflict. Danny agrees to protect Charlie and his family, with help from his other motorcycle buddies. Once he steps foot on the ranch, Danny finds himself amazed and infatuated by the wide variety of women, and agrees to join. Thanks to Danny and the other Straight Satans, the family is supplied with an abundance of guns. Danny enjoys the lifestyle at Spahn's and spends much of his time sleeping with the women he desires most.

The entire mood of the family changes quickly. Based on Charlie's paranoia with the racial conflict, he turns his once-peaceful hippie followers into a military base ready to kill at any time. Charlie takes his followers down to the woodsy area and teaches them how to shoot properly with different sorts of guns. Tex holds impromptu classes where he teaches family members how to stab someone. Using a dead pig he found in the woods, Tex uses this for practice. He tells everyone to insert a hunting knife into the pig's abdomen, and rather than just stab it, they have to twist the knife around to get out "more stuff". Tex also instructs everyone to slit the pig's throat properly with a quick slash. Sandy is the most disturbed and reluctant, but Tex orders her to stab the pig and show it no mercy, even though it's already dead. Sandy stabs the pig and twists the knife around, causing the pig's guts to fall out of its stomach. Sandy is overwhelmed by the inhumane cruelty of the activity, but Tex assures her that once she lets go of her guilt, there's nothing she can't do.

In addition to learning how to destroy their enemies, the family begins to play games where they sneak up on other unsuspecting members, practicing catching people off guard. The girls use the open space of the ranch to play this game, and they all go into hiding places to prepare for attack. While the girls are all spread out and hiding in their own locations, Leslie decides to step out and quietly escape. As she checks her surroundings to make sure none of the girls are nearby, Leslie slowly walks over to a spot in the woods to hide in. Leslie hides behind a tree, and Susan suddenly sneaks up behind her and pounces on Leslie, injuring her leg in the process. Susan puts Leslie in a headlock and carries her back to the ranch, where she proudly screams that she "caught a pig". Charlie applauds Susan for her survivor skills, but Leslie complains about her leg to Charlie. He seems unmoved by her discomfort and tells Leslie that if a wounded leg is all it takes to bring her down, she must be stupid and weak. Susan releases Leslie and informs her that she must develop stronger defense skills if she wants to survive the war when it comes down.

Charlie, Tex, Bruce, Danny and Steve wash their cars and discuss the oncoming race war. Steve suggests that they should all leave and find a safe place to stay at while the war is going on, but Charlie accuses him of being stupid, telling him there's no place to hide in when "Blackie" makes his way into town. Tex thinks they should be more concerned about the girls and how they'll survive, being that women are weaker in nature than men. Charlie insists they don't worry about them and depend on their guns to wipe out the enemy. Meanwhile, the girls are all sitting around Spahn's in a sewing circle, sewing together rags taken from garbage dumps to make clothes out of. While Leslie is sewing together a nice dress for herself, she looks over and sees Charlie coddling Patty and applauding her for her work. This makes Leslie noticeably jealous and she finds herself craving for Charlie's affection, as he's only giving it to his earliest girls. Susan notices Leslie's jealousy and goes to sit by her, telling her that if she craves Charlie's attention, she must do something to prove her dedication. Leslie confides in Susan that she's only had two boyfriends in her life; one of them she ran away with during high school to Haight-Ashbury but returned home to finish her high school studies. The other boyfriend was Bobby, who recently dropped her off to live with the Manson's. She tells Susan she's not used to a man not liking her, and she feels as though Charlie only sees her as Bobby's property. Susan insists that once she shows how strong she is, Charlie will sense it and come around. However, Susan also informs Leslie that Charlie isn't interested in "princess" types like herself, but rather strong, obedient soldiers who display independence and self-respect.

To provide food for the family, Charlie sends his girls on garbage runs, where they rummage through the Hollywood dumpsters and collect all of the fresh food that's been thrown out. Mary, Ruth Ann, Squeaky, Sandy and Gypsy ride over to a Hollywood food market and jump inside the dumpster, where they take out all of the vegetables and fruits and place them in a basket. Every time they find something with a spot or bruise on it, they peal it off, wash the food with a hose and bring it back to Spahn's. During their food search, Ruth Ann brings up Charlie's war talk, and fears that they all might die when it comes down. Mary assures her that when the war arrives, Charlie will keep them safe. Squeaky says the most important thing they must do is take care of the children and make sure that they grow up to carry on the family's existence. Shifting their talk from war to Charlie, the girls discuss their mutual love for Charlie, and how much happier their lives have been since they met him. Sandy proclaims that Charlie is love, and everything he comes into contact with becomes alive with love.

Susan holds classes outside of Spahn's where she coaches the other girls on how to defend one's self against an unpredictable attacker. Wearing her camouflage hat, with her hair tied up in pigtails, and rife with a sharp hunting knife, Susan demonstrates how to grab an attacker's arm, twist it behind their back and then slit their throat. She demonstrates this technique on some of the girls, and she recites Charlie's message to embrace the fear that "pigs" instill in people. While Susan is teaching, Bobby makes a surprise appearance at the front of the ranch. Leslie is overjoyed to see Bobby and she and the other girls quickly run over to him. Bobby and Leslie passionately embrace each other while the other girls bow down and kiss his feet. Charlie comes outside and is happy to see Bobby, and the two hug. Bobby tells Charlie that he's decided to rejoin the family after being rejected by his wife. While he's unpacking his bags and making himself at home, Bobby meets up with Kitty, who reveals to him that she's pregnant with his child. Bobby is, at first, startled by the news, but quickly grows to enjoy the idea of being a father, and he and Kitty rekindle their relationship.

Charlie is listening to the Beatles' White Album inside the ranch, and discovers their new hit, Helter Skelter. While listening to this song about a rollercoaster, Charlie has a shocking realization; he believes that the Beatles are singing about the oncoming race war he's been anticipating, and names the race war, "Helter Skelter", after the song. Overjoyed by the music group's "awareness" of the pending race war, Charlie calls Steve into the room, and has him listen to the song, telling him that the Beatles are sending a message. Steve, who is hopped up on hashish and Benzedrine, buys into Charlie's delusion and begins to feel happy himself. Charlie is exhilarated, and feels the war must be coming down sometime soon since the Beatles are beginning to send out a warning through their music.

Around February of 1969, early Winter, the family is staying in the desert while Charlie has gone into L.A. When Charlie comes back, he informs his family that he's had a vision telling him he must return to L.A. to prepare to save people from Helter Skelter. Low on money and on dune buggies, Charlie doesn't know how he and the others will manage to save themselves from the revolution. Tex steps in and offers to get some money by drug dealing, so he leaves and goes to L.A. where he meets up with a drug dealer and plans on ripping him off. With everybody in a panic, Charlie has another realization; he tells his family that maybe Helter Skelter is a good thing. Delving more into this deluded apocalyptic theory, Charlie believes that once the blacks are done slaughtering the whites, he and his family will emerge from the caves and take over civilization. Because the black man has never been able to do anything without the White man showing him how, Charlie eagerly insists that they will hide in the desert and then when all the chaos is complete, they will take over, send the blacks back to picking cotton, and become rulers of the new world. While some find this theory a bit far-fetched, Tex, Bobby, Susan, Pat and Leslie buy into it lock, stock, and barrel.

Leslie reads revelations from the Bible to Charlie while he bathes, and everyone else listens to songs from the Beatles to look for more "messages". While listening to "Piggies", Bobby announces that they must be singing about the establishment, and how they're all rich, evil pigs who earn their fortunes by keeping everyone else down. Charlie begins to fantasize about being emperor of the new world once Helter Skelter comes to an end, but also realizes that the war isn't coming along as quickly as he had anticipated. Leslie asks when it will all come down, and Charlie estimates sometime in the summer, which is only about 4 months away. While bathing, Charlie comes to a premeditated solution; if the war doesn't come down soon enough, if the blacks don't start breaking into wealthy white folks' homes and slitting their throats, then the family will have to show them how to do it.

Ruth Ann, Mary, Nancy and Lyn hear a sudden scream while hanging around the ranch, and run to a nearby hill. Charlie is brutally beating Gypsy; kicking her in the ribs and stomach repeatedly as she lays helplessly on the ground. Gypsy does her best to cover her face, and rolls up into a ball while the beating worsens. Charlie furiously screams at Gypsy and begins punching her in the face after he forcefully removes her arms from the front of her face. While other family members stand by and watch, Charlie finally settles down and takes a breath. Gypsy is laying on the ground, sobbing and gasping for air. Charlie gets in Mary's face and screams at her, accusing her of wanting to take Valentine to Wisconsin to live with her parents. He then goes into a rant about how no one "cares enough for the music". After Charlie storms off in an unknown direction, the other girls run to Gypsy's aid and comfort her. As she collects herself and starts breathing properly, Gypsy tells the other girls that it was her own fault Charlie beat her because she accidentally dropped a drum set down a hill. Mary hugs Gypsy while the other girls run to get her some water and band-aids.

While cleaning up after the horses, Shorty looks on over toward the family's whereabouts. He sees the girls cleaning their dishes and sewing dresses, while the men are washing their cars and talking to each other in secrecy. Shorty begins to look down on the family, seeing them as dumb, emotionally brain-dead freaks who look up to Charlie as if he were God, when he knows that he's really an ex-con loser. Shorty rolls his eyes at the family and continues his work. Once he's finished, Shorty finds George sitting on his rocking chair and voices his concerns about the family living there. George assures Shorty that Charlie and his family have been great help for him and the girls are especially desirable. Shorty feels that the family members are nothing but a bunch of bums who take orders from a lunatic and behave in a very conspirative manner. Despite Shorty's pleas to kick the family off the ranch, George insists that they're staying and it's not up for negotiation.

Charlie confronts Shorty when he's having a drink at the Longhorn Saloon, and asks him why he requested his family to be kicked off the ranch. Shorty tells Charlie that he sees him to be a pretentious, egotistical lunatic who's convincing a bunch of sad, lonely kids that he's the answer to their problems. Charlie informs Shorty that all he wants to do is provide a home for those who have been rejected by society and are looking for guidance and direction. The two continue to argue, and it ends in Charlie vaguely threatening to cut Shorty's head off and send it to him in a box. As Charlie walks away, Shorty yells out that he knows things about him and will get him in serious trouble if he tries anything.

Living in a rundown trailer with her husband, Bob and two year old daughter, Tanya, Linda Kasabian (Elena Kampouris) has had enough; she's emotionally ended her relationship with Bob and is in search of a deeper sense of meaning in life. Gypsy travels to Linda's trailer and picks her up, telling her she can come stay with her at Spahn's Ranch. Linda is unsure if she should go with Gypsy or travel back to New Hampshire to live with her mother. Gypsy tells Linda that at the ranch, everyone loves everyone and there is no judgment. She also proudly shares her belief with Linda that Charlie is Jesus, and will have whatever answers Linda's looking for. Though slightly reluctant, Linda agrees to go with Gypsy to Spahn's, and takes Tanya with her.

During the ride to Spahn's, Gypsy comforts Linda and promises her she will love it there because it's populated by people just like her who once felt lonely and are now happy and complete. Once they arrive at the ranch, Gypsy introduces Linda to everyone. While carrying Tanya, Linda meets Susan and Patty, who are both sitting on the patio. Immediately, Susan and Patty warmly hug Linda and welcome her to the family, making her feel loved and comforted. Gypsy then introduces Linda to Squeaky and George while the two are sitting next to each other at George's chair. Like everyone else, Squeaky hugs Linda and asks her to turn over all possessions, resulting in Linda giving up her watch, wallet and driver's license. Nancy introduces herself to Linda before taking Tanya and bringing her to meet the other children. While Linda is uncomfortable with giving up her belongings as well as her daughter, she warms up to the idea of living in a free-spirited environment. Leslie steps out of the kitchen while cooking dinner and warmly greets Linda, hugging her and expressing how happy she is to have her there.

While Linda is making her bed in one of the cabins, she looks outside and locks eyes with Tex, who is cleaning a car and as a result, he's drenched in sweat and grease. Linda is instantly attracted to Tex but lacks the confidence to talk to him. Gypsy notices Linda's shyness and assures her that everyone sleeps with everyone, no one owns anybody and it's okay to talk to whomever. Seconds later, Susan, Patty, Squeaky, Sandy and Ruth Ann enter Linda's room and initiate a pillow fight, where the girls playfully attack one another as a way of bonding and quickly developing their sisterhood, while Petula Clark's song, "Downtown" plays on the radio. Linda feels she's finally found a place where she belongs, and believes she has found sisters for life.

While getting ready for bed, Tex stops by Linda's room and officially introduces himself. Linda explains where she came from, telling Tex that her husband just abandoned her and their daughter, and she is now searching for a deeper connection with nature. While the two chat and get to know one another, Tex asks Linda if she would like to have sex in a cave. Though slightly hesitant, Linda takes Tex's hand and he guides her to a nearby cave, where the two commence foreplay. During the passionate love-making, Linda begins to feel herself getting numb and asks Tex to stop, but he continues humping. Realizing she has no way out, Linda stays quiet and allows herself to enjoy the sex.

Gypsy tells Linda that she can't meet Charlie until she does something to prove her dedication, so the next day Gypsy drives Linda back to Bob's trailer while he's away. Linda has heard that Bob and his friend made a big score on their trip and now have $5,000. While Gypsy waits in the car, Linda sneaks into Bob's trailer and steals the $5,000 from a cabinet. Feeling an exhilarating rush of excitement, Linda rushes back to the car and the two girls drive off while screaming in joy and victory.

As soon as the girls arrive back at the ranch, Charlie is busy fixing the tires of a car. Linda is scared and excited to meet the man everyone refers to as Jesus, and she slowly makes her way over to Charlie. Gypsy interrupts Charlie as he's working on the car and introduces him to Linda, saying she just left her husband and has a big gift to give him. At first, Charlie is uninterested and slightly irritated, while Linda is very nervous and timid. She hands Charlie the $5,000 she stole and tells him she did it for him. Charlie is grateful and welcomes Linda into the family, praising her for knowing the "true meaning" of family. Gypsy leaves the two alone to get acquainted, and Charlie kneels on the ground and feels Linda's legs. While Linda is unsure of how to react, she allows Charlie to continue feeling her legs as he develops a vibe. Charlie informs Linda that she has a hang-up with her father, and she finds herself stunned in amazement.

After taking a couple doses of LSD together, Linda and Gypsy roam freely around Spahn's while laughing and exclaiming to the sky how beautiful it is to be alive. Gypsy asks Linda how the sex felt with Tex, and Linda confides in her that it freaked her out a little. When Gypsy asks why, Linda tells her she didn't understand why her body felt numb and couldn't move, but Gypsy assures Linda that it's because her ego is slowly dying and until she lets go of it entirely, she can't come to "now" (the absence of thought). Linda then comes across the swimming hole, and she and Gypsy giddily take off their clothes and go swimming.

Before going to bed, Charlie comes into Linda's room and commences a face-to-face talk with her. Linda sits calmly on her bed as Charlie sits across from her, staring into her eyes and holding her hands. He compliments Linda and implies that he really is Jesus Christ, and only if she believes will she survive with the rest of them. Linda quietly submits to Charlie's claim and promises that she will do whatever it takes to earn his love and appreciation. Charlie taps into Linda's darkest vulnerabilities and desire to be loved, telling her that he and everyone else at the ranch loves her unconditionally. Charlie and Linda then proceed to have sex, forcing Linda to relinquish all her hatred toward her step-father as well as her individualism.

Having decided to sleep on the roof of the Longhorn Saloon, Linda brings her pillow and covers, and quickly dozes off on her side. Susan quietly sneaks out through the window and lies down next to Linda, caressing her hair as she sleeps. As Linda begins to slowly wake up, she turns around on her other side to face Susan, and the two begin to talk about themselves. In a hushed tone, Susan reveals to Linda that when she was a little girl, her older brother and some of his friends raped her. Linda starts tearing up and attempts to move, but Susan holds her still and grows more serious with her discussion. Susan informs Linda that in order to live, she must let go of her past; never think about your families, forget that there was such thing as a family, and be ready to die. Linda quietly sobs and gives her condolences to Susan for what she went through, and Susan tells her that her experiences as a child have shaped her into the person she is now. When Linda asks Susan about what happened to her mother, Susan tells her that her mom died from cancer when she was an early teen, and recalls the night when she and her church group sang Christmas carols under her mom's hospital window. The two girls then hold each other as they sleep, listening to the peaceful sounds of owls screeching as the wind blows.

The next morning, Charlie wakes Susan and Linda up, and orders them to never sleep on the roof again in fear of the Black Panthers finding them and shooting. Charlie then gathers all the men in the family together, and shows them a collection of rifles he and Danny have collected. Tex and Bobby, in particular, are very fascinated by the variety of guns; bolt-action, lever-action, pump-action and semi-automatic types are made available. Charlie informs his men that they will depend on these rifles to keep them protected once Black militants begin invading the neighborhood. Tex doesn't believe that these guns will be enough to take out a whole army, but Charlie insists otherwise.

The girls get together inside a cabin and discover the rifles that the men have been hiding from them. Susan, Squeaky, Sandy, Nancy, Kitty, Gypsy, Linda, Ruth Ann and Leslie sit around and hold the different types of guns, while cocking the handles and pretending to shoot. While messing around with the rifles, Sandy voices her belief that Helter Skelter is coming very soon, and the girls begin laughing. Squeaky insists that whatever needs to be done will be done, and Susan seems the most eager to start the killing. She believes that death is only an allusion, and to kill only coalesces with bringing back life.

Once night falls, Charlie tells his family to get dressed in black clothing and meet him outside. Tex, Steve, Susan, Patty, Linda and Squeaky put on their dark clothing and are joined by Charlie, who tells them they're all going on a creepy crawl (sneaking into people's houses and stealing their belongings/rearranging furniture). Charlie drives the gang over to a wealthy white side of the neighborhood, and they silently sneak into a couple's home. Once inside, the group steals jewelry, food, lamps and other antiques, and places them in a bag to bring back to Spahn's. Linda is nervous about getting caught, but Charlie assures her that they've never once gotten caught during their creepy crawlies. He takes Linda by the hand and walks her into the couple's bedroom, where they creep around as quietly as possible while the occupants sleep. Linda searches underneath the bed and steals a pair of shoes, then a necklace and perfume off of the bureau.

The gang then meets up downstairs and quietly makes their way out. Steve pushes a couch in front of the television, and Squeaky flips over some photographs on the walls. Out of sheer cockiness, Susan takes some beer bottles out of the refrigerator and makes a loud noise as she slams the door shut. Linda panics, and she and Susan quickly flee from the home while laughing hysterically. During the drive back to Spahn's, Linda expresses the adrenaline rush that's running through her body, and how that one creepy crawl was the most exciting thing she's ever done in her entire life. Charlie believes that the feeling of your heart beating at a fast rate means that one is truly living for the first time. Tex volunteers that he stole a fresh pack of underwear, while Charlie reveals a bag of groceries that should last the family a few weeks.

Mary runs over to Charlie in a frenzy once he returns to Spahn's. She screams to him in tears that the law has taken Pooh Bear from her custody while she was out stealing diapers because the child appeared to be malnourished and shoddily dressed. Charlie begins to panic and thinks out loud what they can do to get their son back. Linda comforts a hysterical Mary and promises her everything will be fine. Bobby decides to drive over to Gary Hinman's house to ask him for some money, and once he gets there, Gary agrees to ride over to Spahn's and visit Mary face to face.

Once they arrive at the ranch, Gary meets Mary and agrees to help her get Valentine back. They take a ride to the airport in the morning and get a plane ticket for Valentine to go live with Mary's parents in Wisconsin. Gary cons the police into giving Mary's baby back by convincing them that Valentine is going to be staying with his grandparents. Mary couldn't be more grateful, and she hugs Gary out of gratitude and unimaginable relief.

While the family is once again playing around the ranch, hopped up on drugs and running around partially naked, Shorty has had enough. He steps outside and tries to reason with the drugged-out hippies that they need to stop messing around as they always do, and to quit making his job harder. The group laughs and begins taunting Shorty, calling him a nigger-lover because he was once married to a black go-go dancer. Shorty becomes more angry and retaliates by calling the family a bunch of idiots who take orders from an ex-con and cannot think for themselves. He goes on to say that Charlie is nothing but a bigoted criminal who will spend the rest of his life in jail, and if they continue to follow him, they'll end up in jail with him. As Shorty storms off, Tex and Steve continue to belittle him as they warn Shorty that Charlie does have the power to get him killed. Susan and Linda playfully try to seduce Shorty, but he coldly rejects them and warns them to stay away from him.

During a group sewing session, Linda questions what Helter Skelter is, and Susan informs her that it'll be the final war to ever take place before the world completely erupts. The peace is suddenly interrupted when Charlie begins screaming at Bobby and Kitty. Charlie believes that Kitty is trying to lure Bobby away from the family, and they both swear that she wasn't. Charlie threatens to cut Kitty's tongue out and hang her from a tree if she even thinks about stealing one of his brothers away from him. Bobby holds Charlie back and defends Kitty, promising he has no intentions of leaving. Charlie then punches Kitty and knocks her on the ground, much to the shock and horror of Linda. Charlie then storms off and leaves Kitty sobbing and bleeding on the ground, while Bobby tries to comfort her. The other girls ignore what has happened and continue sewing, but Linda is visibly upset and disturbed.

Patty takes Kitty into the ranch and provides a wet rag for her bleeding lip. The two sit on a bed and quietly talk. Kitty is holding back tears, and confides in Pat that she wants to leave the family because Charlie is impossible to deal with. She feels that everything she does is wrong in Charlie's eyes. Patty compassionately listens to her as she simultaneously dabs Kitty's bleeding lip with the rag. Kitty wants to sneak out of the ranch and live with her parents on their horse ranch, but Patty begs her to reconsider. She tells Kitty that she must stay at the ranch because the family won't survive without every last member of the family on board. Patty goes on to defend Charlie, saying he's under a lot of stress preparing for the war and he does love everybody, he just has a hard time always showing it. Kitty reluctantly agrees to stay, and Patty gives her a warm hug while affirming that Charlie needs her strength and commitment.

At the dinner table, the men in the family eat their meals while the girls have to wait until after the dogs have finished. Linda questions why they have to wait for the men and dogs to finish eating before they can, and the other girls explain that Charlie believes on the evolutionary chart, women fall below men and dogs. Linda is unsettled by this belief system, but Susan suggests that she should leave her beliefs behind and listen to what Charlie says, and to stop asking questions. Once the men and dogs finish, the girls begin serving themselves dinner, most of which is food left behind in the dumpsters, and food taken from other houses during the family's creepy crawls. Charlie arrives at the dinner room and is upset that everyone has started eating without him. Everyone stops eating, and Tex explains that they were all hungry. Hurt and free of words, Charlie exits the room and throws a mild tantrum outside. Tex, Bobby, Bruce and Steve run outside and comfort Charlie, telling him that they all missed him while he was gone and developed hunger from their loneliness. Charlie feels happy after hearing these kind words, and he begins to calm down. The 5 men then go back into the dining room, where the others are still stuck in their awkward silent patch. Once Charlie reveals his smile of calmness, the rest of the family sigh in relief and continue to eat their dinner.

Outside in the fields, Charlie holds a ritualistic slaughter course with every member of the family. He carries the body of a lifeless dog, whose throat was slit, while all the other members follow behind. Charlie orders all the women in the family to strip naked and dance around in the light of the moon, while the men cover themselves in the dog's blood. The men then begin to take their clothes off, and Charlie preaches about how Helter Skelter is coming and once it's over, he will be bigger than the Beatles once and for all. The women dance naked around a fire, and the men follow suit. Charlie removes his clothes and wears only a white cloak. He tells his family that the end of the world is right around the corner, and they must live as if it was their last night on Earth. The family members engage in another group orgy, and Charlie stands close by while voyeuristically watching the sexual activity take place. While Tex is dancing by the fire, Charlie pulls out a knife and presses it against his rib cage. Tex resists the pain as best as he can, and Charlie asks him if he will die for him. Out of pain and lack of mental consciousness, Tex answers yes.

July 25th, 1969, Charlie gathers Susan, Mary and Bobby and instructs them to go over to Gary Hinman's house to collect some money. Apparently, Gary inherited $10,000 and owes it to the family for dune buggies. Bruce drives the trio over to Hinman's home in Topanga Canyon and drops them off. Once the three arrive at the front door, Gary warmly invites them in with a friendly "hi". Bobby acts normally, pretending to be there for amiable purposes. Gary invites the three into his home and offers to make them some tea. Once inside, Bobby brings up the $10,000 Charlie sent them to collect. Gary is confused, and tells Bobby honestly that he has no money in his inheritance to give them. Susan doesn't believe him, and Mary stays quiet while walking around the living room. Bobby kindly requests for Gary to search around his house for the money, but Gary once again states he has nothing to give. After a moment of silence, Bobby punches Gary in the face, knocking him down and causing him to spit out a tooth. Bobby and Gary wrestle on the floor, and Bobby pulls out a pistol. While aiming at his head, Gary manages to take the gun from Bobby, stands up and points the gun at Bobby. While choking back tears, Gary tells Bobby that he doesn't believe in violence, then hands the gun back to Bobby and asks him and the girls to leave. Bobby insists he isn't leaving without the money, and he hits Gary over the head with the butt of the revolver. While Gary lays unconscious on the floor, Bobby and Mary turn the place upside down; emptying out drawers and cabinets, and ripping apart pillows and couches. Susan makes herself something to eat in the kitchen.

At night, Bobby, Susan and Mary hold Gary hostage in his home. As the three are sleeping, Gary wakes up and decides to escape. He slowly walks over to the front door, but Susan hears this and alerts Bobby, who runs over to Gary and throws him on the floor. Bobby kicks Gary in the rib cage, and punches him in the face while Susan kicks Gary in the back. Gary cries out in agony and vows vengeance on the two for what they're doing to him.

The next day, someone calls Gary's home asking where he is. Susan picks up and talks to the person in a Southern accent, telling the caller that Gary is sick and she's his niece who is taking care of him. The voice tells Susan that Gary didn't show up for a piano lesson, and wishes him good luck before hanging up. Susan and Mary discuss what to do, and Mary suggests they let Gary go. Susan disagrees, saying Gary is a pig who deserves everything that's happening to him. Mary believes that Gary's telling the truth, and feels sorry for him. Gary is lying on the floor with his prayer beads in hand, and he chants his faith; "Nam Myo Ho Renge Kyo Nam Myo Ho Renge Kyo". Mary gives Gary sips of water, and he pleads with Mary to help him escape. Mary whispers to Gary that he's going to be okay, and that she loves him, but cannot risk sneaking him past Bobby and Susan.

On July 27th, Bobby and Susan tie Gary to a chair with rope. Gary pleads with Bobby to let him go, but Bobby coldly states that he won't listen to a "pig". Bobby calls Charlie on the phone, and tells him Gary isn't coughing up the money. Charlie grows angry, and orders Bobby to do what he has to because Gary has a responsibility to pay them what he "owes".

Charlie and Bruce drive over to Gary's house and come inside to confront him. Bruce aims a pistol at Gary, while Charlie raises a sword and strikes Gary in the head, slicing his left ear and face. Gary screams in pain as blood runs down his cheek, and Charlie screams at Bobby to kill Gary if he doesn't come up with the $10,000. Gary asks Charlie why he's doing this, and requests him to take the others and leave. Charlie and Bruce then drive off in one of Gary's fiats, and leaves the others to finish the job.

Mary and Susan go into the bathroom and take some dental floss to help Gary. While Gary sits helplessly in his chair, barely conscious, Susan and Mary stitch up his ear with the dental floss. Gary begs the girls to leave his home, and Mary comforts him, telling him to just stay calm and that he will be fine. Susan, on the other hand, is much less sympathetic. She lectures Gary about how none of this would be happening if he would just tell them where his $10,000 is. Gary frees his hands of the ties and attempts to make a run for the backdoor. As Gary runs away, Bobby chases after him and grabs Gary while he's screaming for help out of a window. Bobby turns Gary around and stabs him in the chest twice with a hunting knife, and he collapses on the floor while convulsing and gurgling on his blood. Mary and Susan rush over to Gary, and Susan hands Gary his prayer beads. Gary holds tightly onto his beads and chants "Nam Myo Ho Renge Kyo Nam Myo Ho Renge Kyo" repeatedly. To keep Gary quiet as he lays dying on the floor, Bobby, Susan and Mary take turns smothering his face with a pillow. Gary's chant becomes weaker and he begins gasping for air, before slowly dying a torturous death. Mary is deeply disturbed, but Susan and Bobby are rather satisfied and proud. Before leaving, Bobby dips his hand in Gary's blood, and writes "political piggy" on the wall before drawing a paw print to make the police think that Gary was killed by Black panthers.

Before going back to Spahn's, Bobby, Susan and Mary drive to a diner in Gary's car. While sitting at a table, the trio share a cherry cake. Bobby and Susan notice that Mary isn't touching the cake, and don't understand why. Mary feels guilty about what happened to Gary, and she asks the two if they feel any remorse. Susan laughs and heartlessly insists that what they did was "far out". Bobby believes that it was the right thing to do, but he does feel some guilt for killing a close friend. Bobby and Susan continue to happily eat their cake, but Mary remains quiet and slightly nauseated. She eats some of the cake, but stops after only a few forkfuls.

After discovering that Kitty has attempted to leave the ranch, Nancy, Ruth Ann and Sandy capture her and bring her over to Tex, who is watching over the landscape. Tex comes down the hill and confronts the girls, who angrily inform him that they caught Kitty trying to leave. Kitty promises she wasn't trying to leave, she just wanted to clear her mind and be alone for a little while. Nancy orders her to be quiet and demands she be punished, but Kitty swears that she wasn't doing anything wrong. Tex gets in Kitty's face and threatens to kill her if he ever catches her trying to leave, saying that her life means nothing to him.

Once the three girls bring Kitty to her room, she immediately escapes right after. Making sure Tex is back on top of the mountain, and none of the girls are anywhere to be seen, Kitty quietly leaves her room and runs away to her parents' horse ranch.

Wednesday, August 6th, Bobby gets arrested after falling asleep in Gary's stolen car. While searching the vehicle, a police officer finds the bloody knife Bobby used to kill Hinman in the trunk, and immediately apprehends Bobby.

Kitty calls Spahn Ranch consistently to see where Bobby is, but everyone tells her he doesn't want to speak to her. Kitty begs the family to tell her where Bobby is because she misses him and wants him to be with her when she has their baby. Linda talks to Kitty over the phone and kindly informs her that Bobby loves her, but she doesn't know what happened to him. Charlie gets on the phone and tells Kitty that Bobby's been arrested, but he doesn't reveal what it's for. He also informs Kitty that it isn't a big deal, and that Bobby should be out in a couple days. Kitty is terrified that Bobby will never get out, and begins to panic in fear that he did something really wrong.

At 10050 Cielo Drive, Sharon Tate is swimming in her pool and doing peaceful exercises to prepare for her baby's arrival. Wojciech is taking pictures of Sharon to further promote her modeling career, while Jay is making himself a drink in the kitchen. While Sharon is swimming peacefully in her pool, Charlie arrives at the front door of the home. Because no one is answering, Charlie decides to sneak into the backyard, where he sees Sharon and Wojciech. Wojciech is startled by Charlie's appearance and approaches him, asking what he wants. Charlie wants to talk with Terry Melcher, but Wojciech informs him that Melcher moved out and the home now belongs to the Polanski's. Wojciech then rudely kicks Charlie off of the premises, and before he leaves, Sharon looks over and locks eyes with Charlie. The two stare at each other for a brief moment, and Charlie quietly walks away. Sharon is slightly unsettled, but Wojciech confidently assures her that the "creepy guy" is gone and she has nothing to worry about.

While roaming around the ranch on an acid trip, Patty comes across Charlie who seems to be in a confused state. She asks Charlie if he's feeling okay, and Charlie embraces Pat. While hugging and kissing Patty, Charlie then asks her to stand against a tree for a trust exercise. Patty is bewildered by this request, but she loyally obliges. As she stands silently against a tree, Charlie pulls a sharp hunting knife out of his pocket and gets ready to throw it at Pat. Patty begins to tear up in anxiety, and she questions Charlie as to what his intentions are. Charlie wants to test Pat to see if her dedication to him is so powerful that she'll let him throw a knife and risk stabbing her. Sweat begins to pour down Pat's forehead, and she begs Charlie not to do this. Charlie ignores her plea and throws his knife at Pat, but it misses her and becomes stuck in the tree. Charlie then takes out another knife, and does the same thing. This time, the knife misses the tree entirely. Pat takes deep breaths and keeps quiet. Charlie then walks up to Pat and gives her a passionate hug and kiss on the forehead, telling her how impressed he is with her loyalty and strength. Pat closes her eyes and holds onto Charlie out of relief that the exercise is over.

August 8th: Squeaky, Sandy, Nancy, Ruth Ann and Susan are once again playing with the rifles and hunting knives, seemingly prepared for a mission. Linda discovers the girls fooling around with the weapons and acting more giddy than usual, and asks what's going on. Squeaky tells Linda that she can "feel it" coming down, and it's important they get ready. Linda doesn't understand what the girls are talking about, or why they're so fascinated with all these weapons. Rather than explaining, the girls laugh childishly and tell Linda that when the time comes, she'll know. Linda finds herself confused and a little disturbed, but decides to walk away while the girls continue to swing around their knives and reload their guns.

Tex, Bruce, Steve, Danny, Paul and the other men in the family practice their shooting once again. Down in the fields, the men fire off their guns at a row of beer bottles lined up on a fence. Charlie is directing their shooting, and applauds Tex for his extraordinary focus and precision when firing. Bruce is having some trouble shooting his target, but Charlie assures him that he's smart enough to make it. Thanks to that wave of confidence, Bruce successfully shoots his bottle into several pieces. Linda approaches Charlie and questions him as to why everyone is acting so weird and playing with weapons. Charlie takes Linda by the hand and walks around the field with her, informing her why today is the day to get ready. Linda doesn't understand what the importance of today is, and Charlie smooth talks his way around it. He tells Linda that he learned in prison to never let your guard down, and always be prepared for the enemy to strike. Linda thinks that Charlie is preparing them to go on another creepy crawly mission at night, to which Charlie laughs and tells Linda that the thing he loves most about her is her half-way sense of understanding. Charlie kisses Linda and returns to his position, leaving Linda to roam freely around the landscape.

As night draws near, Linda is getting her hair brushed by Susan, who begins kissing Linda and unbuttoning her blouse. Sandy and Squeaky enter their room and join in, making out with Linda and Susan. The 4 end up having an orgy on the bed while Susan happily announces that "shy Linda" is no more.

Leslie is in the kids' room taking care of the babies. Because of the intense heat, the kids are crying hysterically and Leslie cradles them to calm them down. Charlie looks in and notices that Leslie is struggling to get the kids under control, so he asks Patty to watch over her for the night. At first, Pat is reluctant because she has never been introduced to Leslie in the 11 months she's been staying at Spahn's, and also because the heat is so strong. Charlie kisses Pat and assures her that she's capable of making it work because she's the strongest soldier in the family. Pat kisses Charlie and agrees to watch over Leslie. After Charlie and Patty kiss once more, Leslie looks on while holding a baby, and rolls her eyes out of jealousy.

While lying in bed together, Linda thanks Susan for being so nice to her and for giving her a family that she's been looking for her whole life. Susan tells Linda to thank Charlie, crediting him for supplying them with the confidence and camaraderie that they had never received before. Linda and Susan kiss each other and hold hands, while Squeaky and Sandy smoke a joint together while continuing to make out.

In the kids' room, Pat and Leslie barely utter a word to one another as the kids continue to cry out of discomfort from the heat. Leslie tries calming down one of the screaming children, and Pat decides to step in. She takes the baby from Leslie's arms and cradles him herself, while singing a song that Charlie had written called "Always is Always Forever". Comforted by Pat's soothing voice, the baby begins to calm down and falls asleep in Pat's arms. Leslie is impressed with Pat's skill, and compliments her for her success in calming the baby. Pat tells Leslie that her mom always used to sing to her to get her to go to sleep as a child. In no time, the girls begin opening up about themselves and develop a strong bond with each other. While the kids are going to sleep, Leslie and Patty sit next to each other and talk about their backgrounds. As it turns out, they both come from eerily similar histories.

Patty reveals that she grew up in a suburb outside of Los Angeles to a homemaker mother and an insurance agent father. She is the younger of an older sibling who threw her life away a long time ago on drugs. When Patty was 17, her parents divorced and she went to live with her father in an apartment while her mom moved to Alabama. During the time Pat was growing up, nothing was talked about in the household. All problems were pushed aside, and as a teen, Pat began eating to solve her problems. This led to Pat becoming overweight and she went into a deep depression. After taking diet pills during a 40-day crash diet, Pat lost the excess weight but was still burdened by an endocrine condition that caused her to grow excess body hair. She taught at a Sunday school and had thought about becoming a nun, but dropped out after one semester. Until she met Charlie, Pat felt unwanted by men and perceived herself as ugly.

Leslie is stunned by Pat's history because she can relate to her strongly. She grew up in a suburb outside of Los Angeles to a school teacher mother and an automotive auctioneer father. Leslie is the younger sibling to an older brother, and when she was 10, her parents adopted two orphans from Korea. When Leslie was 14, her parents divorced and she stayed to live with her mom and siblings. After her father moved out, Leslie spiraled into a deep depression and felt abandoned and lonely, resulting in a consistent drug intake. Leslie attended Monrovia High School and was very active in extracurricular activities. She was a cheerleader and won homecoming princess two years in a row. When Leslie was 17, she got pregnant and was forced by her mother to get an abortion. Leslie ran away with her boyfriend during high school to Haight-Ashbury to join the hippies, but once there they became fearful and returned home. Leslie completed her high school studies and after graduating, she moved in with her father and joined a business college to become a legal secretary. After graduating from Sawyer's Business College, Leslie decided to drop out of society and immerse herself in the counterculture movement.

Both girls take a moment to realize how near-identical their backgrounds are, and become instant best friends. Pat asks Leslie what happened to her old boyfriend after she returned home, and she says he became a minister. Patty begins laughing hysterically, saying that Leslie must've been such a bad kisser that her boyfriend decided to give up sex completely. Leslie laughs along and jokingly tells Pat to shut up, and the two begin drinking bottles of liquor.

Charlie watches over the other girls in the kitchen as they clean up the table and wash the dishes. He goes outside and paces back and forth in the dark, while thinking deeply about something. After reaching a conclusion as to what's bothering him, Charlie suddenly stops and says out loud to himself "now is the time for Helter Skelter!"

Mary calls Charlie from a local prison, saying that she and Sandy have been arrested for attempting to use a stolen credit card at a Sears department store. Charlie tells Mary to hang tight and not to say a word about Gary Hinman's murder. Mary and Sandy sit in their cell together and talk about what to do once Helter Skelter comes down. Sandy panics over the possibility of them missing out on the family's move to the desert, but Mary insists that once it comes down, they will all be together.

Back at Spahn Ranch, Charlie informs Tex that Helter Skelter is here. Tex begins to panic and asks Charlie if it's time to take the family and move to the desert. Charlie believes that before they can make their move, they have to show the blacks "how to do it"; how to start the war. Charlie then instructs Tex to ride over to Terry Melcher's old home on Cielo Drive and kill everyone inside. Tex is horrified by these orders, and doesn't want to end up spending the rest of his life in jail like Bobby. Charlie orders Tex to follow his instructions, otherwise the world will explode and not even they will make it out alive. Tex doesn't understand why Charlie is choosing this particular house, and Charlie reveals it's because that house represents the establishment's rejection of him; the sort of home he could never have because no one would give him a chance at stardom.

In the kids' room, Pat and Leslie lay next to each other on a blanket to get ready for sleep. Pat cuddles up against Leslie and warmly embraces her while the two slowly fall asleep. Quietly, Pat tells Leslie that, despite the hardships she has encountered in her life, none of it matters because the family is there for her in the long haul. Leslie smiles as she sinks into her sleep, feeling loved and cared for by the person she's envied the most during her stay with the family.

Charlie wakes Susan up and tells her that Helter Skelter is here. Feeling both nervous and excited, Susan eagerly asks what she can do to help. Charlie instructs Susan to get a change of dark creepy-crawl clothes, and to wait outside for further orders. After changing into her black clothing, Susan wakes Linda up and orders her to grab a change of clothes, her driver's license and a knife. Linda thinks she's going on a creepy crawly, so she eagerly follows Susan's orders.

Charlie goes into the kids' room and wakes Patty up, instructing her to get a pair of dark clothes and to wait outside with the others. Patty doesn't understand what's happening, but agrees to play along. Leslie then wakes up and asks Patty what's going on, but Pat decides not to tell. Patty tells Leslie to go back to sleep and make sure the kids are comfortable and sound asleep. She walks outside with Charlie and asks what exactly is happening. Charlie reveals to Pat that the war is officially here, and he has chosen her to participate in the mission. Leslie sneaks over to the front door and eavesdrops on their conversation, but can't make out what Charlie's saying. She feels left out of whatever is going on, and is disappointed that Charlie didn't ask her to go with. Knowing there's nothing she can do, Leslie goes back into the kids' room and falls back to sleep.

Outside in front of the Western Facade, Charlie and his chosen followers gather together. Tex, Susan, Pat and Linda are all dressed in dark clothing and Roebuck's jeans. Charlie tells Linda to act as the designated driver since she has the only valid driver's license. Susan and Patty get in the backseat while Linda sits in the front seat prepared to drive. Before Tex gets inside the car, Charlie gives him a secretive request. He tells Tex that he must murder every individual inside the house as brutally as he can. The war will only start and end with the family ruling the world once they show "Blackie" how to do it. Tex is then handed a bag full of hunting knives, a .22 caliber Hi-Standard Double Nine Longhorn buntline styled revolver, and nylon rope. Tex agrees to kill for Charlie, then hops in the passenger seat. As Linda starts the car, Charlie gives the group one final request; leave a "witchy" sign to let the world know they were there. Linda then drives off into the night, wondering what Charlie meant by "write something witchy." During the drive to 10050 Cielo, Tex and Susan take turns inhaling cocaine while expressing how excited they are for Helter Skelter. Linda questions how doing this creepy crawl will lead to a revolution, and Tex, Susan and Pat laugh at Linda's ignorance. Rather than telling her their true intention, they falsely assure Linda that everything will work out smoothly. As Linda continues her long drive to the Bel-Air residence, she and the group take notice of how beautiful the area is.

At a Mexican restaurant, El Coyote, Sharon, Jay, Wojciech and Abigail are dining on delicious Mexican cuisines and enjoying their last few nights together. Abigail talks about her former career as a volunteer in ghetto neighborhoods, and how she had to quit because the depression got under her skin. She's now choosing to focus on her artistic and musical talent, as the calmness of piano-playing and painting is a better match for her. Wojciech and Abigail offer to leave since Roman will be returning soon, but Sharon insists they stay the night at her home. Jay begins drinking excessively, and guilt trips Sharon into letting him come back to her home as well. Wojciech makes a jokey remark that Roman wouldn't be happy knowing that Sharon's ex-boyfriend is coming back home, but Sharon replies that she and Jay are just friends.

Upon returning home from dinner, Sharon, Jay, Abigail and Wojciech settle down and get ready to go to bed. First, the group decides to have some drinks in the living room and converse with one another about funny stories from the past. Jay talks amicably about his former relationship with Sharon, and how they were close to marriage before Sharon suddenly dumped him for Roman. In a more serious manner, Jay makes it clear that he still loves Sharon and would take her back in a heartbeat. Sharon laughs off Jay's gesture and openly expresses how thankful she is to have all of them with her. She begins to feel uncomfortable due to her pregnant belly, and invites her friends to feel for the baby's stomach. Abigail presses her head carefully on Sharon's stomach, and becomes excited upon feeling a kick. Sharon announces that the name for her baby will be Paul Richard, as Roman wanted to name the child after his past ancestors. Abigail announces that she's leaving in the morning to visit her mother for her birthday. Wojciech slowly begins to pass out on the couch from intoxication, and Abigail throws on a white nightgown dress before heading to her bedroom.

Sharon retires into her bedroom and takes off her dress, deciding to go to sleep in her brassiere and panties to get more comfortable. While sitting on her bed, Sharon talks calmly to her unborn baby and smiles out of unrestrained excitement for her son's arrival. Suddenly, Jay enters the bedroom and informs Sharon that Wojciech is passed out on the couch and Abigail is reading a book in her bed. Jay offers to leave, but Sharon sees that he's slightly drunk and should spend the night here. Jay then confidently moves over to Sharon's bed and slides over on his side, with his back facing the doorway. Jay begins flirting with Sharon and talks inappropriately about their former relationship. Sharon grows slightly annoyed and tells Jay to stop bringing that up, but he charmingly informs her that he can't. Sharon decides to brush off Jay's advances and changes the subject to how happy she is to be giving birth in a couple weeks. Jay asks Sharon if she's happy to be with Roman, and she wholeheartedly claims that she couldn't be any happier. Sharon then brings up how hot it's been the past few weeks, and Jay agrees.

At around 11:45pm, Tex, Susan, Linda and Patty reach their destination on Cielo Drive. Tex pulls out a pair of pliers and climbs on top of a locked fence. There, he cuts the telephone wire before climbing back down. The girls then exit the car and sneakily make their way over to the top of a hill leading to the house. Linda is confused as to why Tex cut the telephone wire, but she's refused an explanation.

Steven Parent (Connor Price), an 18 year-old electronic whiz is leaving the guesthouse of the Polanski's after visiting the caretaker and drinking a can of beer. He's carrying a clock that he was unable to sell, and gets into his father's white 1966 AMC Ambassador and backs up into the split rail fence. Tex and the girls notice the headlights as they climb atop the hill, and Tex orders the girls to kneel down and hide behind the bushes. While Tex walks down the hill, Linda quietly asks Pat and Susan what he's going to do, but they tell her to hush up.

While Steven is rolling his window down to push the button that opens the electronic gate, he's met by Tex wearing his dark blue velour shirt and wielding a .22 caliber revolver. Steve pleads for his life, telling Tex "Please don't hurt me! I won't say anything!" Tex shoots Steve 4 times; once through the back of the forearm, once in the upper chest, once in the cheek and throughout his mouth, and once in the lower chest with his .22 caliber revolver. Steve dies instantly and slumps lifelessly over the front seat of his car. While the three girls watch from behind the bushes, Linda goes into shock. Her eyes swell up with tears and her body goes numb. Tex motions the girls to come down the hill, and Linda struggles to get herself to move. Once the girls reach the bottom, Linda glances into the car and sees Steve's corpse. Tex, Linda, Susan and Pat then search for an open door or window around the house. While searching around the back, Linda takes a moment to cry in private while repeatedly telling herself "this isn't happening." Linda gets herself together and tells Tex there is no opening available, and Tex orders her to go back to the car and keep watch for nearby drivers. Linda hurries over to the car and breaks down into tears after viewing Steve's dead body once more. She collapses on the driveway while lying against the car, and cries hysterically out of guilt and horror.

Tex slits open a window screen with his hunting knife, and crawls inside through the window. As soon as his feet hit the floor, Sharon hears the thumping sound from inside her bedroom. She asks Jay if he heard the noise, but he dismisses it saying that Wojciech probably just fell off the couch. Tex quietly makes his way to the front door and lets Susan and Patty in. The three silently walk around the hallways, noticing the rooms have been freshly painted and a lot of baby toys are lying around. They make their way into the living room, where Wojciech is still asleep on the couch. Tex has his four foot rope draped around his shoulder, and he's carrying a hunting knife in one hand and a .22 caliber revolver in the other.

Tex, Susan and Pat crowd around Wojciech as he's sleeping, and Tex motions the girls with his knife to move a few feet away. After staring at the sleeping Wojciech for a moment, Tex kicks him in the head to wake him up. Awake and startled, Wojciech asks Tex who he is and what he's doing here. Tex aims his gun at Wojciech's head and replies "I am the Devil. And I'm here to do the Devil's business." Wojciech looks over and sees Susan and Pat standing nearby. Tex asks where all the money in the house is, and Wojciech volunteers that his money is over on the nearby bureau. Tex orders Susan to check for anybody else, and she gladly obliges. Susan walks over to Abigail's bedroom and sees her sitting in bed reading a book. Abigail notices Susan watching her, but because she assumes Susan is another house guest, she smiles and waves to her. Susan smiles and waves back, before making her way to the other bedroom. While Sharon and Jay are sitting in bed talking, Susan is watching the two of them without being noticed. She then goes back into the living room and reports to Tex that there's three more people. Wojciech continues to ask the group what it is they want, but Tex ignores him and orders Susan and Pat to go get the others and bring them into the living room.

While Abigail is reading peacefully in her bed, she's approached by Susan and Patty, both of whom are wielding hunting knives. Susan commands Abigail to stay quiet and go into the living room. Abigail puts her book down, slowly stands up and follows the girls out in the hall. Patty walks Abigail over to the living room, and Susan rushes into Sharon's room. While Sharon and Jay are still talking in bed, Susan reveals her knife to them and orders them to stay quiet and go into the living room. Sharon is horrified, and Jay calmly tells her to just listen to what Susan is telling them to do. Reluctantly, Sharon and Jay carefully walk into the living room while Susan follows behind and holds her knife up to Jay's back.

Once Abigail, Jay and Sharon are assembled in the living room, Tex brandishes his gun and demands everyone to stay quiet and lay on their stomachs on the floor. Jay defends Sharon on account of her pregnancy, and requests that she be able to sit down. Tex refuses to negotiate, and once again orders everyone to get down on the floor. Sharon softly tells Tex that she's unable to lay on her stomach. Tex then throws his rope over a ceiling rafter, and begins tying the rope noose around Sharon, Jay and Abigail's necks. Sharon and Abigail quietly sob as they ask Tex what he plans on doing to them, but he ignores them and continues tying the nooses firmly around their necks. Jay cops an attitude with Tex and argues with him to not hurt Sharon because she's pregnant. Tex abruptly shoots Jay in the armpit with his .22 caliber revolver, causing him to fall flat on the floor while Abigail and Sharon scream. Susan screams at the two women to shut up, and Tex instructs her to get a towel from the bathroom. Upon returning from the bathroom, Susan ties Wojciech's hands together with the towel.

Jay lays unconsciously on the carpet, and Tex kicks him in the face repeatedly, breaking the bridge of his nose. Pat begins to feel guilty and attempts to reason with Susan that maybe what they're doing is wrong. Susan harshly opposes Pat's thought and pulls her aside, forcefully unrolling the sleeves on Pat's sweater to reveal scars on her wrists from past years of self-mutilation. Pat used to cut herself due to bullying and feeling unloved for many years, and Susan uses this to bring out the meanness in her. Pat struggles to overcome her guilt of seeing all these innocent people crying and begging for mercy, but Susan manages to manipulate her into enjoying the fact that they are the ones in control now, not the wealthy privileged "pigs." Jay begins to regain consciousness and crawls across the floor while moaning. Tex kneels down over Jay and stabs him in the back 7 times with his hunting knife. Abigail and Sharon scream loudly and uncontrollably, while Susan begins laughing in devilish glee. Pat finds herself opening up to the enjoyment of watching others suffer, and starts smiling and laughing at the sadistic torment of the victims.

Cast
Christian Bale as Charlie Manson - Charles Manson was born "No name" Maddox in Cincinnati, Ohio on November 12, 1934. His mother was a 16-year-old runaway named Kathleen Maddox, and his father, a man named Colonel Scott. Charlie took the surname Manson from William Manson, a man his mother was briefly married to. In 1940, Kathleen was convicted of Strong Armed Robbery and sentenced to 5 years at Moundsville State Prison. Young Charlie bounced around from grandparents to aunts and uncles, and those early years were full of mixed messages. He went from living with strict religious grandparents, to an uncle that thought he was a sissy and dressed him in girl's clothes for the first day of school. Charlie also had more rebellious influences; he lived with an uncle, that one day blew himself up in his moonshine still because the law was going to take his land. Charlie briefly lived with his mother after she was released from jail, but was given up to the state after his mother's boyfriend said he'd didn't like having Charlie around. Manson was sent to the Gibault Home for Boys in Terre Haute, Indiana. After running away and getting arrested on a stolen bike, Charlie was sent to Father Flanagan's Boys Town. He ran away after 4 days, stole a car, and committed several armed robberies. When caught, he was sent to the Indiana School for Boys in Plainfield, Indiana, where he claims he was repeatedly raped. Once again Charlie escaped and stole a car, this time heading towards California. He was arrested in Utah, and because he had taken a stolen car across state lines, Charlie had violated the Dyer Act, a federal law. He spent the next 3 years in 4 different facilities; the National Training School for Boys in Washington, D.C., the Natural Bridge Honor Camp, the Federal Reformatory at Petersburg, VA, and the Federal Reformatory at Chillicothe, Ohio. In January of 1955, Charlie married a 17-year-old girl named Rosalie Jean Willis. The two headed to California in a stolen car, and once again Manson had violated the Dyer Act ; he was arrested in Los Angeles 3 months later. Rosalie was pregnant, so a sympathetic judge gave Charlie probation, which he soon broke. He was sentenced to 3 years at Terminal Island Prison. Shortly after Charles Manson Jr. was born, Rosalie left town with a truck driver; Charlie never saw Rosalie or his son again. Manson was released from Terminal Island in September of 1958, and began pimping a few girls in Hollywood. In May of 1959, Manson was arrested for attempting to cash a stolen $37.50 check. Once again he had broken a federal law, because the check was stolen from a mailbox; he was given a ten-year suspended sentence. It was around that time that Manson married a girl named Leona. On June 1, 1960, Charlie was arrested in Laredo, TX for violating the Mann Act (crossing state lines for the purposes of prostitution). Manson was ordered to serve the ten-year suspended sentence he had received for cashing the stolen check. Charlie was sent to McNeil Island Penitentiary in Washington State. While serving his sentence, he learned how to play the guitar and became interested in Scientology. Meanwhile, Leona served Charlie with divorce papers after she gave birth to his second son, Charles Luther Manson. Charlie was transferred to Terminal Island in June of '66, and was finally paroled on March 21, 1967. He requested that they let him stay in jail, but the warden told Charlie he had to leave. Charlie moved upstate to the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco. With his guitar and philosophies, Charlie finally found a place to fit in. It was there that he met Mary Brunner, and the family was born.

Jordan Pressler as Young Charlie Manson

Brittany Robertson as Leslie Van Houten - Leslie Louise Van Houten was born on August 23, 1949 in Los Angeles, California. She and her older brother grew up in a typical middle class household. Leslie's father Paul was an automotive auctioneer, and her mother Jane was a schoolteacher. After Leslie, there were two more additions; the Van Houtens adopted a young boy and girl that had been orphaned in Korea. In 1963 Leslie's parents divorced, Paul moved out and the children stayed with Jane. Meanwhile, Leslie began attending Monrovia High School, where she was twice elected homecoming queen. Like many at the time, she discovered hallucinogenic drugs, and her grades soon started to slip. She drifted away from her extracurricular activities, and shortly after, got pregnant and had an abortion. After graduating high school in 1967, Leslie moved in with her father and began attending a business college; studying to become a legal secretary. She began gravitating towards spiritualism, and planned to live in a yogic spiritual community. In the summer of 1968, Leslie was visiting friends in San Francisco when she met Catherine Share, Bobby Beausoleil, and his wife Gail. She began traveling with them, and in September they took her to meet Charles Manson at Spahn's Movie Ranch. She returned to the ranch three weeks later, this time she didn't leave.

Christian Serratos as Susan Atkins - Susan Denise Atkins was born in California on May 7, 1948. Her mother was afflicted with cancer and died when Susan was still in her teens. Constantly fighting with her alcoholic father, Susan decided to hit the road; dropping out of school and moving to San Francisco. She got a job as a telemarketer for a company that sold magazine subscriptions, rented a room and soon found herself poor, lonely, and depressed. She eventually quit her telemarketing job and started waiting tables at a local coffee shop. It was there that she met a couple of escaped convicts and decided to hit the road with them. The three committed several armed robberies up the west coast, and were eventually caught in Oregon. The men were sent to prison, and Susan got probation after she served three months in jail. When she was released, she came back to San Francisco and found work as a topless dancer. It was there she danced in a show called the Witches' Sabbath organized by Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey. After quitting her job, Susan met Charles Manson. Her experiences with him had a profound effect on her, and she decided to leave San Francisco to travel with the family to Los Angeles.

Emma Roberts as Kathleen Maddox - She is the youngest of three children from the marriage of Nancy and Charles Maddox. Kathleen's parents love her and mean well by her, but they are fanatical in their religious beliefs. Especially Kathleen's grandmother, who dominates the household. She is stern and unwavering in her interpretation of God's Will, and demands that those within her home abide by her views of God's wishes. For Kathleen, life is filled with a never-ending list of denials. From awakening in the morning until going to bed at night, she is forbidden by her parents to participate in social events, comb her hair and talk to boys, and spends most of her time going to church. In 1933, at the age of 15, Kathleen runs away from home. In search for acceptance, Kathleen begins to fall easily in love with other men and gets a job as a prostitute in order to supply herself with money. Kathleen meets and marries a man named Colonel Scott, and the two become pregnant with their son, Charlie. Kathleen gives Charlie the last name, Manson named after William Manson, a man she was briefly married to. After Charlie's birth, Kathleen begins to disappear consistently for days or weeks at a time, leaving Charlie with his grandmother or his aunt and uncle. When Kathleen and her brother get sentenced to the penitentiary for armed robbery, Charlie gets sent off to live with his aunt and uncle in McMechan, West Virginia. When Kathleen is released from jail, she is not responsible enough to take care of Charlie, preferring her life of promiscuity and hard drinking to any kind of normal lifestyle. At a cafe one afternoon, Kathleen sells Charlie to a waitress for a pitcher of beer and leaves him at the cafe for several days, until his uncle searches the streets for the waitress to take Charlie home. After Charlie runs away from his reform school at the age of 9, he tracks down Kathleen in hopes of her taking him back, but she rejects him.

Annalise Basso as Patricia Krenwinkel - Patricia Dianne Krenwinkel was born on December 3, 1947 in Los Angeles, California. Her parents divorced when she was 17 years old. At the time, Pat stayed in California with her father - an insurance agent - while her mother moved to Alabama. After High School, Pat moved to Alabama to live with her mother and attend a Catholic college. She had taught Sunday school in the past, and had thought about becoming a nun. After only one semester, Pat had enough and dropped out. She moved back to California, where she moved in with her half-sister Charlene, and got a job as a processing clerk. In September of '67, she met Lynette Fromme, Mary Brunner, and Charles Manson on Manhattan Beach. After making love with Charlie, Patricia decided to go with him and the girls to San Francisco, leaving her car and final paycheck behind.

Elena Kampouris as Linda Kasabian - Linda Kasabian was born Linda Drouin on June 21, 1949 in Biddeford, Maine. Her parents divorced and remarried when Linda was still young. At the age of 16, Drouin dropped out of high school and got married, and soon after, divorced. Linda married again, this time to a hippie named Robert Kasabian. The two traveled the country, enjoying the hippie lifestyle from commune to commune. In March of 1968, Linda and Bob had their first child, Tanya. However, problems between the young couple led Linda and Tanya back to New Hampshire. In an effort to reconcile their marriage, Bob talked Linda into coming out to California. Bob was living in Topanga Canyon with a man named Charles Melton. It was through Melton that Linda first met Manson family member Catherine Share (Gypsy). When things didn't work out with Bob, Linda decided to go with Gypsy back to Spahn's Ranch. After a day at the ranch, Linda returned to Topanga Canyon, retrieved her belongings, stole $5,000 from Melton, came back to Spahn's and joined the family.

Mike Vogel as Charles Watson - Charles Denton Watson was born on December 2, 1945 in Dallas, Texas. He was the youngest of three children and grew up in the small town of Copeville, Texas. By his own accounts, he had a happy childhood; looking up to his parents, who ran a gas station in town. The Watsons were church going people, and as Charles got older he became more involved with church activities. In high school he was an honor role student, and held some town sports records; he played football, basketball, and track. During his Junior year Watson became an Editor for the school newspaper, Hi Life. Things started to change when Charles went away to North Texas State University in September of 1964. His grades started to slip as he became more interested in girls and booze. Through a roommate, Charles got a job as a baggage boy for Braniff Airlines. One of the perks was free flights; once and awhile he would take a girl to Hawaii for the weekend. It was around this period when he began smoking Marijuana and experimenting with other drugs. His Senior year, he decided to go to California to visit a frat brother. Impressed with it, Charles came back to Texas only to tell his parents he was moving out west. In California, Watson signed up for classes at Cal State, and got a job as a wig salesman in Beverly Hills. He lived in a few different places; first there was an apartment in Silverlake, and then he moved to Laurel Canyon. He messed up his knee in a car accident in the Canyon, which kept him out of the Army. After dropping out of school, he moved to Malibu and opened a wig shop with his roommate. The store was called Love Locs, and it turned out to be a disaster, closing after only a few months. To pay the rent, Watson began dealing pot full time. Charles picked up Beach Boy Dennis Wilson hitchhiking, and Wilson invited him back to his mansion. Watson visited the house several times and ended up living there for the summer. Charles Manson and the family were regulars at Wilson's mansion, and with time Watson decided to join, giving them all of his possessions.

Matt Bomer as Bobby Beausoleil - The first of five children (2 sisters & 2 brothers), Bobby Beausoleil was born in Santa Barbara, California in 1947. Bobby displayed an interest in music at a very young age, and eventually taught himself how to play the guitar. When Beausoleil was 16, he had an affair with a cousin's wife; angered by the affair, his cousin left. Young Bobby was forced to play the role of husband, working for a trailer company to support his cousin's wife and child. After the death of a grandmother Bobby moved to Los Angeles. There, he briefly played in a band with Arthur Lee, called Grass Roots. Grass Roots would later achieve fame under the name Love. Lee apparently named the group Love as a reference to Beausoleil's nickname "Cupid". Bobby also became friends with Frank Zappa, and can be heard as a backup singer on Zappa's first record, Freak Out. However, the city of Angels proved to be too superficial for Bobby, so he traveled north and fell in love with the Bay Area. In San Francisco, Beausoleil began playing with a band called The Outfit, but eventually dropped out and started his own band called Orkustra. The group played gigs in the Bay area from 1966 to '67, and as the group was in the process of breaking up, Bobby met filmmaker Kenneth Anger. Anger and Beausoleil worked together on the film Lucifer Rising, in which, Bobby played the part of Lucifer, and helped compose the score. At that time Beausoleil was playing in a band called Magick Powerhouse of Oz, and living at Anger's "Russian Embassy" house. In the fall of '67, Beausoleil and Anger had a falling out, so Bobby decided to move back to Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, Beausoleil once again found acting work and was featured in soft porn titled Ramrodder. The movie was filmed near Spahn's Movie Ranch and also starred family member Catherine Share. Bobby was living in the basement of Gary Hinman's Topanga Canyon home when he first ran into Charles Manson and the Family at a house called "The Spiral Staircase". Bobby's musical talent impressed Charlie and the girls, and Bobby started hanging around with them.

Scout Taylor-Compton as Sandra Good - The youngest of three girls, Sandra Good was born on February 20, 1944. Her father - a San Diego stockbroker - and her mother divorced when Sandy was only 4 years old. She attended both the University of Oregon and San Francisco State College. Good joined the family in April of 1968, and a month later she found a new home for them at Spahn's Movie Ranch.

Alyson Hannigan as Lynette Fromme - Born in Santa Monica, California, Lynette Alice Fromme grew up in Westchester, California where her father William worked as an aeronautical engineer. Lyn was the first of 3 children, was a talented, well-liked child that toured throughout the United States and Canada in a song and dance troop called the Lariats. In Junior High School Lynette was active with many after school activities. She was a member of the Athenian Honor Society as well as the Girls Athletic Club. In her drama class Lyn befriended a young Phil Hartman, who eventually gained fame on shows like Saturday Night Live, The Simpsons , & Newsradio. When her class gave out superlatives, Lynette was voted "Personality Plus". As Lyn grew older, the relationship between her and her father grew apart. Neighbors remembered William Fromme as a tyrant-like figure, who seemed to punish Lyn for little or nothing at all. In High School, Lynette became more rebellious, using drugs and alcohol. She worked in a Canvas shop where coworkers would see Lyn burn herself with lit cigarettes, and shoot staples into her forearm with a staple gun. She briefly dated Bill Siddons, who went on to be the road manager of The Doors. However, Siddons' mother felt that Lyn was disturbed, and talked Bill into steering clear of her. After High School, Lynette bounced around, living with different people. She eventually moved back home and enrolled at El Camino Junior College. It wasn't long before Lyn and her father were fighting again. The two got into a fight over a definition of a word, and it was the last straw for Lynette; again, she hit the road. It was at this time, that Lyn met Charles Manson on Venice Beach. Impressed by Manson, she quickly decided to leave Los Angeles to travel with Charlie and Mary Brunner.

Bob King as George Spahn - He is a rancher who owns the Spahn Ranch near Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California. George rents the ranch to the movie industry to film Westerns. He is a blind, 81 year-old man who looks after his property and houses the Manson Family at the ranch in return for their care. Many of the girls in the family claim that they love George because he is a beautiful man on the inside and is a good lover too.

James Marsden as Danny DeCarlo - Danny DeCarlo was born in Toronto Canada, but was granted U.S. citizenship after serving four years in the Coast Guard. After his service, DeCarlo went into the firearms business with his father. Danny loved guns, so much so, that he once said he loved them more than his old lady. Danny was also club treasurer of the Straight Satans motorcycle gang. In 1966, he was convicted of smuggling Marijuana across the U.S./Mexican border. Through the Straight Satans, Danny met Charles Manson. Charlie wanted the motorcycle gang to hang around Spahn's Ranch to protect the family. DeCarlo enjoyed the girls, and the lifestyle at Spahn's, so he joined the family. However, Danny was the only Straight Satan to become a full time fixture at Spahn's. DeCarlo was given the duty of taking care of all the family's weapons.

Shia LaBeouf as Bruce Davis - Bruce Davis was born in Monroe, Louisiana on October 5, 1942. He grew up in Mobile, Alabama, and was the youngest of 2 children. After high school Davis attended college in Tennessee for about 2 years, then dropped out and moved west where he became immersed in the hippy counter culture. In the west, Davis made a living doing construction work, and in 1967, ran into Charles Manson, Mary Brunner, Lynette Fromme, & Patricia Krenwinkel in Oregon. Manson liked having another man around, plus Charlie and Bruce had a few things in common. Like Manson, Davis was a good musician, had an interest in Scientology, and was an ex-con. From November of 1968 to April 1969, Bruce lived in London, England working at the Scientology headquarters. Davis was kicked out of the organization because of his drug use, he then returned to the states, where he rejoined the family. In the family, Davis acted as a comptroller, handling all the stolen credit cards and fake ID's.

Rory Culkin as Steve Grogan - After dropping out of high school, Steve Grogan roamed the communes of California, eventually ending up at Spahn's Movie Ranch in the spring of 1967. Grogan was a talented musician and had a criminal record; which included small time crimes such as Disturbing the Peace, and Possession of Marijuana. He joined the Manson family when they moved to Spahn's Ranch in the spring of 1968. During the days the family hung around with Beach Boy Dennis Wilson, Steve crashed Wilson's uninsured Ferrari while racing through the roads outside of Spahn's Ranch. While many at the Ranch viewed Clem Tufts (an alias used by Grogan) as mentally handicapped, others felt that he was just playing dumb. In June of 1969, Steve was arrested for exposing his penis to a group of school children. He was sentenced to a 90-day observation period at Camarillo State Mental Hospital, but walked out and returned to Spahn's Ranch 2 days later.

Ellen Wroe as Mary Brunner - Mary Brunner was born in Wisconsin in the early 40's. She went to the University of Wisconsin and got a Bachelors degree in History. After graduating, Brunner headed west, and took on a job at the UC Berkeley Library. In 1967, she met and took in Charles Manson. Brunner has become known as the first member of what would become the Manson family. She left her job, hit the road with Charlie, and the family was born. On April 1, 1968, Mary gave birth to Valentine Michael Manson, aka "Pooh Bear", the first baby of the family.

Alexandra Daddario as Ruth Ann Moorehouse - Ruth Ann Moorehouse was born in Toronto, Canada on January 6, 1951. She first met Charles Manson in 1967, after her father, Dean Moorehouse (a former minister) picked Charlie up hitchhiking. Charlie had been traveling up and down the pacific coast with Lynette Fromme and Mary Brunner. Dean welcomed the three to his home and preached to them over dinner. He gave Charlie a piano, which Manson traded towards a Volkswagen microbus. Meanwhile, Charlie had his eyes on young Ruth Ann, and took her to Mendocino. When Dean found out, he vowed to kill Manson. However Charlie calmed him down, introduced him to LSD, and stayed at his house for a few weeks. While Dean thought Charlie was Christ like, Mrs. Moorehouse didn't appreciate her husbands new houseguests, and left to live with her sister. Charles Manson visited the Moorehouse home a few more times before he and the girls decided to travel down to Southern California. Before leaving for Los Angeles, Charlie told Ruth Ann she could come with if she was married. A few weeks later, she married a bus driver, left him, and joined the family in L.A. She began living with the family at various residences, including Spahn's Movie Ranch. The ranch's owner, George Spahn, gave her the nickname Ouisch, pronounced üsh. With the family, she went on garbage runs (various members would dig through supermarket dumpsters looking for food), panhandled, and helped take care of the children.

Sarah Butler as Catherine Share - Catherine Share was born in Paris, France on December 10, 1942. Her Hungarian father and German mother were both members of the French underground and committed suicide during the war. Catherine was put into an orphanage where she stayed until she was eight. She was adopted by an American couple (a blind psychologist and his wife) and moved to California. When Catherine was still in high school, her adopted mother was afflicted by cancer and took her own life. Catherine stayed and took care of her adopted father until he remarried. After graduating from Hollywood High School, she went to college, stayed there for three years, got married, and shortly after, divorced. Like her father, Catherine was a Violin virtuoso and had a beautiful singing voice. She spent the next few years drifting around California, occasionally scoring acting roles. On the set of a soft porn entitled Ramrodder, Catherine met a young musician named Bobby Beausoleil. She began living with him and his wife Gail, traveling with the couple for about 8 months before deciding to go live with Charlie and the family (whom she met through Bobby) at Spahn's Movie Ranch. Gypsy, as she became known in the family, was the oldest female member, and was very much in-love with Charlie. She recruited new members, including girls like Linda Kasabian and Leslie Van Houten.

Martha MacIsaac as Nancy Pitman - Nancy Laura Pitman was born in Springfield, Illinois on January 1, 1951. Like many in the Los Angeles area, her father was employed in the aerospace industry, working as an aeronautical engineer designing guidance systems for missiles. Growing up in Malibu, California, Nancy and her brothers were surrounded by the rich and famous. She was first introduced to Charles Manson and the family through her friend Deirdre Lansbury, daughter of the famous actress Angela Lansbury. Deirdre hung out with the family from time to time, and even had a note from her mother stating it was ok for her to travel with them. Nancy on the other hand, wasn't getting along with her parents, and had been kicked out of her house. The family welcomed her to stay with them and she happily accepted.

Maitland McConnell as Kathryn Lutesinger - Kathryn Lutesinger was brought into the family through her boyfriend Bobby Beausoleil. At the time, she was pregnant with Beausoleil's child. Charles Manson often threatened her, because he felt she was trying to lure Beausoleil away from the family. Tired of Manson's death threats, Kathryn fled Spahn's Ranch on July 30th, 1969. She went directly to a nearby police station and reported her concerns about Manson, and then returned home to her parent's horse ranch. While she was away, Bobby Beausoleil was arrested for the murder of Gary Hinman. Kathryn constantly called Spahn's Ranch looking for Beausoleil, but no one would tell her what had happened to him. Finally, Manson told her over the phone that Bobby had been arrested, however he didn't tell her what for. Manson simply said it wasn't a big deal, and Bobby would be out in a couple of days. On August 15th, Kitty (Kathryn's nickname) called Spahn's Ranch asking for someone to come pick her up. She was apparently having problems getting along with her parents.

Johnny Simmons as Paul Watkins - At the age of one, Paul Alan Watkins moved to Sidon, Lebanon, where his father worked on a pipeline. After five years in Sidon the Watkins family moved back across the Atlantic to Beaumont, Texas and finally Thousand Oaks, California. Watkins was one of six children (3 sisters & 2 brothers), he enjoyed going to church, was a talented musician, and was considered "gifted" by his High School teachers. Paul joined the Manson family in 1968 after running into them in Topanga Canyon a number of times. According to Paul's own account, he was Manson's second in command. Like many other family members, much of Watkins' time was spent working at Spahn's Ranch. Manson had Paul enroll at a local high school, to try and recruit new faces to the family, however Watkins only attended a couple weeks.

Sean Faris as Chuck Lovett - He is a loyal member of the family who loves to get wired on drugs and is devoted to Charlie and his "siblings". Chuck is a true hippie and is against violence, but is willing to prove his dedication. His favorite activity is spending time around the swimming hole and hanging out with the other family members.

Kyle Gallner as Larry Bailey - He is a member of the family who is often picked on for having black facial features, and loves to get wired on drugs. Larry is also against violence of any kind, but is too cowardly and secretly afraid of Charlie to break out of his spell or think for himself.

Brooke Nevin as Sharon Tate - Sharon Marie Tate was born in Dallas, Texas on January 24, 1943. Her parents, Doris Gwendolyn Willet and Paul James Tate, had married the previous year. Doris was a "southern belle, gracious and charming" and Paul "filled with patriotism, had joined the ranks of the United States Army", working his way up to Colonel. Moving from different military bases throughout the U.S. and Europe, the Tate family grew to include two more daughters, Debra and Patti. As a teenager, Sharon began modeling and competing in beauty pageants. Winning such events wasn't anything new for her; when she was only six months old she was named Miss Tiny Tot of Dallas. In 1960, Paul was relocated to an Army base in Verona, Italy. There Sharon attended Vincenza American High School and became a very active student, joining the Library club, the Student Council, the Cheerleading squad and eventually becoming the school's very first Homecoming Queen. Things seemed to be going well for Sharon in Italy, she soon found herself speaking Italian fluently. But just as things appeared like they couldn't get any better, she fell victim to a date rape, which she kept to herself because she was afraid it would bring shame to her family's name. Paul Newman, Richard Beymer, and Susan Strasberg were filming the movie, Adventures of A Young Man in a town nearby Verona. With a group of friends, Sharon came upon the movie set and caught Richard Beymer's eye. He invited her to lunch and gave her his agent's number telling her to contact him if she was ever in the States. Sharon's brushes with stardom continued, she got work as an extra in the movie Barrabas, as well as a Pat Boone special. Meanwhile, she continued to see Beymer while he was in Italy filming. In 1962, Paul was promoted to Major and reassigned to Fort McArthur in California. Sharon - who while dating Richard Beymer had started seriously considering a career in acting - hitchhiked down to Hollywood and contacted Beymer's agent Hal Gefsky. Sharon started doing Television commercials while Gefsky shopped her around town eventually landing her a deal with Martin Ransohoff, CEO of Filmways. Ransohoff signed Sharon to a seven-year Filmways contract. Immediately she was tested for a role on Paul Henning's Beverly Hillbilly's spin-off Petticoat Junction. However, Sharon's lack of acting experience kept her from the part, so Ransohoff decided to put her career on hold. Instead Filmways decided to invest in Sharon, spending over $100,000 on her. In-between photo shoots she would take acting, singing, and dancing lessons. As well as spending hours each week in the gym with physical trainers, and in speech classes with vocal coaches. Sharon began dating a French actor named Philippe Forquet. Both Sharon's parents and Martin Ransohoff disapproved of the relationship; both felt that Forquet would stand in the way of her career. Meanwhile, Sharon was given a small walk-on role on the Mister Ed show. It went well enough for Ransohoff to allow her to take a small reoccurring role on The Beverly Hillbillies. This role was strictly for her to get a little practice. Sharon wore a black wig and was unbilled on the show because Ransohoff wanted to make her a movie star, the next Marilyn Monroe, and as he once said, it is almost impossible to launch someone twice. Forquet proposed to Sharon and she happily accepted. Their love affair was intense but it was far from perfect, they fought, and not just with words. One physical altercation landed her in the UCLA medical center. They remained together for about a year, and in the end Forquet was the one to leave. On Thanksgiving of 1964, Sharon met Hollywood hair stylist Jay Sebring at a party thrown by the owner of the Whiskey A-Go-Go. The two hit it off quite well, almost immediately becoming inseparable. He gave her the royal treatment like only a man of his refinement could. The two did everything together, whether it was eating at the best restaurants, attending various Hollywood parties, or experimenting with psychedelic drugs like LSD. Sharon's parents were quite impressed with Sebring; both seemed to agree that he treated Sharon well. Thirteen was an eerie suspense film directed by J. Lee Thompson, about a cult that preformed ritual human sacrifice to guarantee a lavish grape harvest. Starring in the picture, were David Niven, Kim Novak, and David Hemmings. Ransohoff decided to make this Sharon's big screen debut and secured her the role of Odile, a witch with mysterious powers. Midway through filming Kim Novak injured her back and was replaced by Deborah Kerr. Sharon's second film was a vampire spoof titled The Fearless Vampire Killers, sometimes-called Pardon Me, But Your Teeth Are In My Neck, or The Dance of the Vampires. Playing the part of Sarah, she is kidnapped by a group of vampires and eventually rescued by a bumbling professor and his assistant. While filming the picture, a romance blossomed between Sharon and director Roman Polanski. She broke the news to Jay Sebring over the phone, and he immediately rushed off to London determined to win her back. It was a lost cause; Sharon insisted her love for Roman was genuine. Still, Jay demanded to meet Roman, just to make sure he was worthy of her. The three had dinner, and by the end of the night, Jay reluctantly gave his approval. Back in the States, Sharon began filming the movie Don't Make Waves, playing the part of Malibu. The film was a spoof of the popular '60's beach movies, filled with a tangled web of love triangles. Along with Sharon, the picture starred Claudia Cardinale and Tony Curtis. While the film kept Sharon away from Roman, it enabled her some time with her family, who were living in the San Francisco area at the time. Alfred Hitchcock passed at the opportunity to direct Rosemary's Baby, so Paramount quickly contracted Roman for the job. Sharon began searching around L.A. for a place for her and Roman to live while he worked on the film; finally settling on a rented mansion at 1038 Palisades Beach Road, right on Santa Monica Beach. Roman originally wanted to cast Sharon for the female lead in Rosemary's Baby, but because she was his girlfriend, he didn't want to be the one to propose the idea. No one at Paramount suggested it, and Mia Farrow was eventually signed on to the deal. Twentieth Century Fox cast Sharon in their film version of Jacqueline Susann's bestseller, Valley of the Dolls. The story followed the rise and fall of three women in the world of entertainment. Sharon's character, Jennifer North, was that of a showgirl whose career was totally centered on her stunning looks. According to Roman, Sharon "dismissed it as an exploitation picture and felt she wasn't doing anything artistically worthwhile." After moving out of their Santa Monica beach house, Roman and Sharon moved from hotel room to hotel room, until Patty Duke suggested they move into her Summitridge Drive home, since she wasn't using it. By the end of 1967 Valley of the Dolls, Don't Make Waves, The Fearless Vampire Killers, and Thirteen - which had been renamed Eye of the Devil when distributors became superstitious about titling the film such an unlucky number - had all been released. Roman and Sharon married in London on Saturday, January 20, 1968. The star-studded wedding was followed by a reception at the Playboy club, a Supremes concert, and a honeymoon in the Alps. Sharon was unhappy with the way Martin Ransohoff had managed her career. She decided to meet with him to try to get out of her multi-picture agreement. He agreed to let her out of the Filmways contract, but at a price; Ransohoff would collect a percentage of her earnings for the next four years. Freed from Filmways, Sharon was signed by Columbia Pictures to star in The Wrecking Crew, the last film of the Matt Helm series, which also featured Dean Martin, Tina Louise, and Elke Sommer. Sharon played the part of Freya Carlson, a clumsy agent sent to assist Helm. The part called for her to perform a few fight scenes, so Columbia hired Bruce Lee to give her Martial Arts lessons. The film was neither a critical or financial success however Sharon enjoyed the work, and got some favorable press from the media. In early 1969, Patty Duke told Roman and Sharon that she needed her SummitRidge house back. So once again, Sharon began searching around L.A. for a place to live, finally landing on the perfect house, a cul-de-sac on Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon. It was around this time she found out she was pregnant. Fearing that Roman would make her get an abortion, she kept the news to herself. In March of 1969, Sharon flew to Italy to film the motion picture The Thirteen Chairs. The movie, which was sometimes titled 12 + 1, starred Orson Wells and Vittorio Gassman. Sharon played the part of Pat, a scheming saleswoman working in an antique shop that gets involved in a wild goose chase, looking for a fortune hidden within an old chair. Before leaving for Italy, Sharon finally told Roman that she was pregnant, and he wasn't happy. Roman was clear that he never wanted children. The experience of growing up in occupied Poland had forever scarred him, he felt the world was too violent, and too cruel, to bring a child into. However, as the months passed, he became excited about becoming a father. Meanwhile, Sharon, who was eagerly awaiting the birth of her first child, finished filming The Thirteen Chairs and made it back to the States in time to watch the moon landing. Roman Polanski was never faithful to Sharon Tate. Not when they were dating, and not after they were married. She had always told Roman that she didn't want to change him, but she always hoped that he himself would change. She tried her best to ignore his philandering ways, but it was taking a toll on her. Some of her friends would later suggest that Sharon planned to leave Roman. However, even if she had intended to, she would never get the chance.

Toby Stephens as Wojciech Frykowski - Wojciech Frykowski was born in Poland on December 22, 1936. His father Jan Frykowski was a small textile printer who fought with authorities to remain in control of his business after World War II. Wojciech graduated from school with a degree in chemistry, but chose to spend his time hanging around filmmakers. He met Roman Polanski at a school dance; Polanski was working the door and refused to let him in because Frykowski was a known troublemaker. According to Polanski, the altercation almost resulted in a fistfight. Some weeks later they met again, this time at a local bar, Wojciech bought Roman a drink and the two instantly became friends. Frykowski financed and produced an early short Roman made titled Mammals, but wasn't credited because he wasn't an official member of the film community. He was an exceptional swimmer and was hired to be the lifeguard on the set of Polanski's first full-length motion picture, Knife In The Water. In Roman's own memoirs he told stories of wild nights out at the bar with Wojciech, one of which included a brawl where Frykowski struck a man twice with a chair. "Beneath his tough exterior" Roman said, "Wojciech was good-natured, softhearted to the point of sentimentality, and utterly loyal." Frykowski married twice and had a son, Bartek. One of his marriages was to the famous polish writer Agneski Osiecka. He left Poland in 1967 and after spending some time in Paris he moved to the United States. In New York, Polish author Jerzy Kosinski introduced him to Abigail Folger. Wojciech couldn't really speak English but both he and Folger were fluent in French. For months the two lived together in New York but then decided to move out west. In August of 1968 the couple rented a car and drove to California where they took residence at 2774 Woodstock RD., across the street from Mama Cass, in the Hollywood hills. While Abigail tutored him in English Wojciech kept a diary where he would take notes on American customs. He seemed to want to become a writer like Jerzy Kosinski and began writing poetry. He had a brief job with Paramount as a set constructor but was unhappy with the work and quit. On April 1, 1969, Wojciech and Abigail moved into Roman and Sharon's Beverly Hills home to housesit while Polanksi and Tate were abroad working on different film projects. When Sharon came back from Italy Roman asked Wojciech if he and Abigail would stick around until he came back from England in August. By August, neither Wojciech nor Abigail seemed happy with one-another; they fought constantly and both started using drugs more frequently. Nonetheless, they stayed together and spent their summer hosting several parties at the Cielo Drive house. Through a friend, Wojciech was introduced to a group of Canadian drug dealers and allegedly agreed to traffic their drugs into Los Angeles. Frykowski's actual involvement in the drug trade still remains a mystery and continues to generate controversy among people who believe there was a connection between him and the Manson family. Years later, Roman Polanski denied the rumors about Wojciech selling drugs, stating that the stories were just media sensationalism.

Katharine Isabelle as Abigail Folger - Abigail Anne Folger was born in California on August 11, 1943. Her father Peter Folger, chairman of the Folger Coffee Company, and her mother Inez Mejia divorced when Abigail was still young. Growing up in the San Francisco area Abigail displayed an interest in art, passing much of her free time painting. She was also musically inclined, as she was noted as being a talented pianist. She attended the Catalina School for Girls in Carmel, California, moving on to Radcliffe College where she graduated with honors, finally ending up at Harvard where she did graduate work and received a degree in Art History. In 1967 she took a job at the University of California art museum in Berkeley, California. Abigail didn't stay in Berkeley long; she soon decided to move to New York City, where she got a job working for a magazine publisher, which she eventually left for a job at the Gotham Book Mart on 47th Street. It was at a bookstore party where she met polish author Jerzy Kosinski who in-turn introduced her to Wojciech Frykowski. Frykowski could hardly speak English, but like Abigail he was fluent in French. She gave him tours of the city, and with time a romance developed. The couple shared an apartment for a few months before deciding to move to California in the summer of 1968. In Los Angeles Abigail and Wojciech found a house on Woodstock Road in Laurel Canyon. Like her mother Inez, who was active doing charity work with the Haight-Asbury Medical Clinic in San Francisco, Abigail got involved with volunteer work. She registered as a volunteer social worker for the Los Angeles County Welfare Department. In 1968, Abigail attended fundraisers set up by her mother to aid the Haight-Ashbury Medical Clinic around the same time many of the Manson family women were being treated there. Back in Los Angeles, Abigail spent her days in the ghettos doing volunteer work with children. She was very involved with the civil rights cause, contributing large amounts of money to the campaign of Tom Bradley, a black councilman running for mayor. Abigail's job with the Welfare Department was taking a toll on her; she became overwhelmed when she realized her work did little to combat the massive social problems within the inner city. "A lot of social workers go home at night, take a bath and wash their day off, I can't. The suffering gets under your skin", she told a friend. Further adding to her depression was the election between Tom Bradley and Sam Yorty; Bradley ended up losing after he became the victim of an intense racial smear campaign. In the spring of 1969, both Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski went to Europe to work on separate film projects. Roman didn't want the Cielo Drive home to be unattended in his absence so he arranged for Wojciech and Abigail to housesit. They moved in on April 1st. It was around that time Abigail made the decision to quit her job with the Welfare Department, and it was about that time that she started considering leaving Wojciech. Their relationship had begun to sour, they fought constantly and both started using drugs more frequently.

James Franco as Jay Sebring - Jay Sebring was born Thomas John Kummer on October 10, 1933, in Alabama. Thomas was the fourth child of accountant Bernard Kummer and his wife Magarette. With his brother and two sisters, Thomas led a typical middle class life growing up in a suburb outside of Detroit, Michigan. After high school he joined the Navy and went overseas to serve in the Korean War; among the many skills he learned during his service, how to cut hair, would serve him well in the years to come. After serving four years in the Navy, Kummer moved to Los Angeles and changed his name to Jay Sebring, taking the name from the famous Florida car race. In California, Sebring developed a unique style of cutting hair, which helped launch the male hair care revolution. He opened one of the first male salons in the United States and quickly made a name for himself. His client list included big Hollywood names such as Warren Beatty, Steve McQueen, and Paul Newman. At Kirk Douglas' request Sebring was hired to design a haircut for the slaves in the movie Spartacus. This added attention brought in a steady flow of contracts from different movie studios. He fit in well in Hollywood; Friends, acquaintances, and clients remembered him as being a kind, thoughtful man with sophisticated taste. He was insecure about things such as his short stature. However it was those insecurities that fueled his attention to style. Whether it was his fashionable clothes or the cars he drove; he always seemed to put time and effort into his appearance. In October of 1960 he became a husband, his wife was a model named Cami, their brief relationship came to an unofficial end when the two separated in August of 1963. Jay received Martial Arts lessons from Bruce Lee after the two met at Ed Parker's 1964 Internationals. Sebring passed a videotape of Lee on to client-and-friend William Dozier, the producer of hit television show Batman. Dozier cast Lee to the part of Kato on the show Green Hornet and from there Bruce Lee's acting career took off. On Thanksgiving of that year Sebring attended a party thrown by the owner of the Whiskey A-Go-Go, there he met a young up incoming actress named Sharon Tate, the two hit it off quite well, almost immediately becoming inseparable. He gave her the royal treatment like only a man of his refinement could. The two did everything together, whether it was eating at the best restaurants, attending various Hollywood parties or experimenting with psychedelic drugs like LSD. Sharon's parents were quite impressed with Sebring; both seemed to agree that he treated Sharon well. Jay had bought a home on Easton Drive in Benedict Canyon. The house had a dark history, and that was one of the reasons he bought it. It was the former home of actress Jean Harlow and MGM producer Paul Bern. On Labor Day of 1932, after just 2 months of marriage to Harlow, Bern killed himself in the house. Three more people would die at 9860 Easton Drive; one man committed suicide, another drown in the pool, and years later a maid hung herself. While staying at the house alone in 1965, Sharon was awoken in the middle of the night to see a little man by the bed, terrified she ran out of the bedroom and down the stairs. Tied to the foot of the staircase she saw the body of a man with his throat slashed. In the blink of an eye the atrocious image was gone. She fixed herself a drink and went back to bed convinced that she had seen the ghost of Paul Bern. In March of 1965, Jay and Cami finally made their divorce official. Sebring started talking seriously with Sharon about marriage, and though she had strong feelings for him, she wasn't ready for a serious commitment. Sharon went to London to work on the movie The Fearless Vampire Killers; it was there a romance blossomed between her and director Roman Polanski. She broke the news to Jay over the phone and he immediately rushed off determined to win her back. It was a lost cause; Sharon insisted her love for Roman was genuine. Still, Jay demanded to meet Roman just to make sure he was worthy of her. The three had dinner and by the end of the night Jay reluctantly gave his approval. Business was booming for Sebring, not only did he have successful salons in West Hollywood, Palm Springs, and Las Vegas, but also his Hollywood connections scored him occasional acting roles. One of which, was a cameo in a Batman episode where he played the part of Mr. Oceanbring, a character based upon himself. Sharon and Roman had gotten married in 1968; Jay had graciously watched the love-of-his-life walk away in the arms of another man. Sebring was quite the ladies man and never had a shortage of girlfriends, but everyone that knew him, knew full well that his heart was still with Sharon. He remained close with her and even became good friends with Roman. There was an intimate emotional bond between Jay and Sharon; some have even implied that Sharon was closer with Sebring than she was with Polanski. Jay gave her support throughout her troubled marriage and she confided with him her most personal feelings. It was time for Sebring to expand his business once again. In the summer of 1969, Jay opened another salon; this one was located on Commercial Street in San Francisco. But that was just the tip of the iceberg; he had gathered partners to invest in Sebring International; a corporation that intended on releasing a line of hair-care products as well as opening a series of franchised salons.

Connor Price as Steven Parent - Steven Earl Parent was born in California on February 12, 1951. He lived in the Los Angeles suburb of El Monte with his a father Wilfred Elmer Parent (a construction superintendent), his mother Juanita, his younger sister Janet, and 2 younger brothers, Greg and Dale. The six-foot carrot toped teenager attended Arroyo High School on North Cedar Avenue in El Monte. He didn't have a serious girlfriend but dated here and there. His free time was spent listening to popular folk music as well as playing the guitar. His main interest was electronics, which led to trouble with the law. Parent was arrested several times for petty theft and spent some time in a youth correctional facility, where he tested at near-genius level for electronics. According to his sister Janet, "Steve was fascinated by electronics and mechanics and he stole several radios, bringing them home and tearing them apart to understand how they worked." In June of 1969 Steven graduated from Arroyo High School. He had planned to attend Citrus Junior College in Azusa the following September. Most of his time was spent working and saving money for school. He had two jobs; by day he worked full time as a delivery boy for Valley City Plumbing Company in Rosemead. And in the evenings Parent worked as a salesman at Jonas Miller Stereo on Wilshire Boulevard.

David Born as Leno LaBianca - Leno LaBianca was born Pasqulino Antonio Labianca in Los Angeles, California on August 6, 1925. He took his first name, which was shortened to Lino, from his grandfather and his middle name from his father, an Italian tradition. Both Lino's parents, Antonio and Corina Labianca came to America in the beginning of the century. Antonio had a growing grocery business with Gateway Ranch Markets and State Wholesale Grocery Company. The latter purchased food at wholesale prices and distributed it to a group of grocers. Meanwhile Corina stayed at home taking care of Lino and his two older sisters Emma and Stella. In High School Lino was an exceptional student, which led him to skip a grade. As a member of the Benjamin Franklin High School track team, Flash (his nickname) competed in both shot put and discus competitions. People were constantly mispronouncing Lino's name so he decided to change the spelling from "i" to "e". Outside of school Leno worked for his father at Gateway Markets. In his free time he frequented places like the Hollywood Rollerdrome, the Sycamore Drive-In , and the Pasadena Civic Auditorium with his girlfriend Alice Skolfield. According to Skolfield, Lino was "quiet, shy and equipped with a subtle humor," and "had a great capacity for getting himself innocently into all kinds of trouble". In 1940, Leno's father bought a home on Waverly Drive in the Los Feliz district of Los Angeles. This put Leno in another school and away from Alice. It wasn't long before Leno forged his father's name on a change of address form and went back to Benjamin Franklin High School to be with his first love. In the fall of 1942, Leno started working at State Wholesale as well as enrolling at Los Angeles City College, studying Business Administration. After one semester at city college Leno transferred to the University of Southern California and went back to work at Gateway. In November of 1943, Leno received his Army induction papers and was sent to Fort Macarthur in San Pedro California, and eventually went on to become a member of the 524th Military Police Battalion. The following month he and Alice got engaged. They married in March of 1944 and lived for brief periods in Salinas, California and Gainesville, Texas. In September, Leno was ordered off to Europe to serve in World War II and the couple was separated for 18 months as he was on duty in England, France, Holland, and Germany. Alice lived with Leno's parents on Waverly Drive, eagerly waiting for him to come home as Leno was on the move in Europe. Passing his free time writing home to his wife, gambling, and watching movies. He finally returned home in March of 1946 having risen up to Technical Sergeant. Leno immediately joined the Army reserve where he took the rank of Sergeant First Class. Back home, Leno's parents had his life planned out for him; he and Alice would live in the apartment behind the Waverly Drive house. As their family grew and needed more space, they would move into the main house. Alice desperately wanted her and Leno to have a home and a life of their own. Their marriage suffered as Leno tried hard not to hurt his parents' feelings. Unhappy with the marriage, Alice left. The couple talked briefly about divorce but after spending some time apart they reconciled and purchased a small home of their own in Alhambra. Leno became a father in the spring of 1948 when Alice gave birth to Corina Jane Labianca. Two years later Leno was elected to the Board of Directors and was named Vice President of both Gateway Markets and State Wholesale. That December, Leno and Alice were blessed with their first son, Anthony Carl Labianca. In 1951, Leno and Alice purchased a bay front summer home on Newport Beach. They had use of the house for 2 weeks in June and rented it out the rest of the year. In August Leno's father passed away. Leno became president of Gateway and State Wholesale and moved his family back to Waverly Drive. Alice committed herself to getting her degree in Accounting, while Leno found himself buried in work from his new responsibilities. Throughout the years, Leno and Alice had grown apart. And while they still cared for each other they both wanted different things from life. They separated in January of 1955. Both Alice and Leno moved out of the Waverly Drive house, finding separate apartments in Los Feliz. In September, Leno became a father for the third time when Alice gave birth to Louise Labianca. State Wholesale was becoming more and more of a burden for Leno. He decided to sell the business and focus his attention on the expansion of Gateway Markets. Leno and Alice officially divorced and he finally graduated from USC with Bachelors in Finance. In 1959, Leno met Rosemary Struthers. The two fell in love and were married later that year in Las Vegas. Leno had begun living out his life long dream of breeding and racing thoroughbred horses. He was tired of the grocery business and was looking for a way out of his responsibilities at Gateway. Rosemary started her own business and was very successful. The two bought a house in Los Feliz previously owned by Walt Disney. The house needed a lot of work and turned out to be more trouble than it was worth. In 1968, Leno sold the Disney house and bought the Waverly Drive house from his mother. Leno, Rosemary, and her son Frank moved in. But only planned to stay there until Leno was officially finished at Gateway. In the summer of 1969 there was a number of break-ins at the Waverly Drive house. Leno finally came to an agreement with the other shareholders at Gateway that would allow him to get out of the business for good. He and Rosemary wanted desperately to get away from Waverly Drive.

Kelly Rutherford as Rosemary LaBianca - It is believed that Rosemary Labianca was born in Mexico on December 15, 1929. Her parents, who were reported to be Americans, either abandoned her or died prematurely. She grew up in an Arizona orphanage until the age of twelve, when a California family by the name of Harmon adopted her. In the late 1940's, Rosemary met Frank Struthers while working as a carhop at the Brown Derby Drive-In in the Los Feliz district of Los Angeles. The pair got married shortly thereafter. During her marriage to Frank Struthers, Rosemary gave birth to 2 children, Suzan, who was conceived out of an extra-marital affair in 1948, and Frank Jr. in 1955. In 1958, Rosemary and Frank Struthers decided to get a divorce. A year later she met Leno Labianca while working as a waitress at the Los Feliz Inn. The two fell in love, and one weekend rushed down to Las Vegas to get married. Rosemary got along well with Leno's children. Suzan and Frank were about the same age as Leno's daughter Cory and son Anthony. Rosemary's sophisticated style and fashion sense was a big hit with Cory. According to Leno's first wife Alice, Rosemary "showed [Cory] new ways to wear her hair" and "spent time doing things with her that I didn't have time for." It was in a 1957 Ford that Rosemary entered the business world; converting an old Gateway Markets truck into a mobile dress shop under the name Boutique Carriage. It was a success, and the business grew; with a partner, Rosemary opened a dress shop/gift store within a Gateway shopping plaza on 2625 North Figueroa St. While her businesses flourished, Rosemary made smart investments in stocks and commodities, and suddenly she was a millionaire. In 1968 Leno, Rosemary, and Frank moved into Leno's childhood home on Waverly Drive. It was there, the following summer that a number of odd occurrences frightened them. Rosemary told a friend, "someone is coming in our house while we're away. Things have been gone through and the dogs are outside the house when they should be inside." It wasn't the first time the house had been broken into; in August of 1943, while Leno was in his late teens, the house had been robbed while the family slept.

Ian Somerhalder as Donald Shea - Donald Jerome Shea was born in Massachusetts on September 18, 1933. He moved to California to pursue a career in acting, but ended up spending most of his time working at Spahn's Movie Ranch. George Spahn hired Shea to help with the horses at the ranch, however he continued to purse his dream of working in Hollywood. A bunch of friends let him use their phone numbers as an answering service; when acting opportunities came up, he would leave the ranch, returning weeks later, after filming was complete. Shea, who was big and stocky, worked long days at the ranch, got along well with the other ranch hands, and always looked after George Spahn's interests. He didn't mind Charlie and the girls when they first moved onto the ranch, but as time went by, he grew to dislike Charlie immensely. Shorty (Donald's nickname) had married a black stripper he met in Las Vegas. Although they had separated, they still got along, and Charlie, who detested black people, looked down on Shorty because of it. Shorty knew that the family, and specifically Charlie, were up to no good and wanted to get them off the ranch.

Chris Sheffield as Gary Hinman - Gary Allen Hinman was born in Colorado on the Christmas Eve of 1934. He graduated school with a degree in chemistry, but continued at UCLA where he was near receiving his Ph.D. in Sociology. He was remembered as having a kind, gentle soul, and for being an intellect. Gary's house in Topanga Canyon was a regular crash pad for anyone needing a place to stay. He befriended the Manson family; often letting various members live at his home. Hinman was a talented musician; he worked at a music shop teaching the bagpipes, piano, trombone, and the drums. Sometime in 1968 he became interested in Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism. In the summer of 1969 Gary was planning a religious pilgrimage to Japan.

Deaths
Gary Hinman - Bobby, Susan and Mary arrive at Gary's Topanga Canyon home and confront him on the $10,000 that he supposedly owes them. Gary warmly invites them inside and explains to the three that he has no money to give to them, but they don't believe him. Bobby orders Gary to search around his entire house to find the money, but Gary promises that he has no money to give to the family. Bobby becomes angrier and punches Gary in the face, knocking him on the floor and causing him to spit up a tooth. Bobby wrestles with Gary on the floor and demands that he give them the money. Bobby pulls out a gun and aims it at Gary's head, but Gary grabs the gun and manages to get ahold of it. Gary stands up, aims the gun at Bobby, and, while choking back tears, tells Bobby he doesn't believe in violence, and asks the three to please leave him alone. Gary then hands Bobby back the gun, and Bobby tells him they're not leaving without the money. Bobby hits Gary over the head with the gun butt, and he leaves Gary lying unconscious on the floor. Bobby and Mary then turn Gary's place upside down while searching for the money, emptying out his drawers and cabinets, and ripping apart his pillows and couches. At night, while Bobby, Susan and Mary are asleep, Gary wakes up and attempts to escape out the front door. Susan hears Gary and alerts Bobby, who quickly runs over to Gary and throws him onto the floor, before kicking him in the rib cage. Bobby then punches Gary in the face, and Susan kicks Gary in the back. Gary cries out in pain and vows vengeance on all of them for what they're doing to him. Two days later, Bobby and Susan tie Gary to a chair with rope, and he pleads with them to leave. Charlie and Bruce arrive, and Bruce aims a gun at Gary. Charlie raises a sword and strikes Gary in the head, slicing his left ear and face. Gary screams in pain as blood runs down his cheek, and Charlie tells Bobby to finish him off if he doesn't come up with the money. Gary asks Charlie why he's doing this and requests him to take the others and leave. After Charlie and Bruce drive away in one of Gary's cars, Susan and Mary stitch up Gary's ear with dental floss from the bathroom while he sits quietly in his chair, and he continues to plead with them to just leave. Mary sympathizes with Gary and tells him to stay calm, while Susan lectures Gary about how none of this would be happening if he would tell them where his $10,000 is. Gary frees his hands of the ties and attempts to make a run for the backdoor. As Gary runs away, Bobby chases after him and grabs Gary while he's screaming out of a window. Bobby turns him around and stabs Gary twice in the chest with his hunting knife, and he falls onto the floor while convulsing and gurgling on his blood. Mary and Susan rush over to Gary, and Susan gives him his prayer beads. Gary clutches his beads tightly in his hands and chants "Nam Myo Ho Renge Kyo Nam Myo Ho Renge Kyo", the chant of his faith as he lays dying on the floor. Bobby, Susan and Mary take turns holding a pillow over Gary's face to help him stop breathing. Gary's chant becomes weaker as he begins gasping for air, and he slowly succumbs to his wounds.

Steven Parent - While Steven pulls out of Sharon's driveway in his car after visiting the caretaker of her house, Tex walks over to him at his car window and points a .22 caliber revolver handgun at Steven. Steven pleads for his life to Tex and promises that he won't say anything to the police, but Tex ignores his pleas and shoots Steven once through the back of the forearm, once in the upper chest, once in the cheek and throughout his mouth, and once in the lower chest with the .22 caliber revolver handgun while he is sitting in the driver seat before Steven slumps dead over the seat of his car.

Jay Sebring - After Tex, Susan and Patricia gather Sharon, Jay, Abigail and Wojciech into the living room, Tex orders everyone to lay on their stomachs onto the floor. Jay argues with Tex to let Sharon sit down because she is pregnant and Tex shoots him in the armpit with the .22 caliber revolver handgun, causing Jay to collapse onto the carpet. Tex later kicks Jay in the face repeatedly while he is lying unconscious on the floor, breaking the bridge of his nose. Jay moans and struggles to crawl across the floor and Tex kneels down over Jay and stabs him 7 times in the back with his hunting knife while he is lying on the floor.

Wojciech Frykowski - While Susan is tying Wojciech's hands with a towel as he is sitting on the couch, he manages to break free from his ties and fights Susan off. Wojciech pulls Susan's hair repeatedly before Susan pulls out a pocket knife and stabs Wojciech in the leg 4 times with the pocket knife. Wojciech attempts to run out of the house, and Tex shoots him once in the back and once in the upper shoulder with the .22 caliber revolver handgun, knocking him down onto the floor. Tex then runs over and bludgeons Wojciech over the head 13 times with the butt of the revolver handgun while he is lying on the floor, but he manages to stand on his feet and limp into the kitchen. Wojciech staggers outside into the backyard and runs into Linda, and the two stare at each other in tears while Linda apologizes to him and cries out in sorrow. Tex then runs into the backyard and tackles Wojciech onto the ground where he holds him down on the grass and stabs Wojciech 30 times in the chest, 7 times in the stomach, 3 times in the left side, 3 times in the back, 2 times in the right cheek and 6 times in the upper left arm with his hunting knife.

Abigail Folger - Abigail unloosens her ties while she is sitting on the couch and quickly runs toward Sharon's back door into the hallway. She manages to escape out through Sharon's backyard, and Patricia drops her ropes and chases after Abigail around the backyard with an upraised hunting knife before tackling her onto the lawn. Patricia tackles Abigail onto the ground where she holds her down on the grass and stabs Abigail 13 times in the chest, 12 times in the stomach and 3 times in the right cheek with the hunting knife, covering her white nightgown dress in blood. Abigail uses her last bit of strength to helplessly plead for her life while she is lying on the ground before slowly dying on the grass.

Sharon Tate - While Sharon is tied to the couch inside of her living room, she cries and pleads hysterically for her life and for the life of her unborn baby to Susan. But Susan becomes annoyed with Sharon's whining and tries to settle her down, telling Sharon that she doesn't have any mercy for her. Sharon continues to sob and beg for mercy while she is sitting tied to her couch, but Susan ignores her pleas and stabs Sharon in the stomach with her hunting knife. Sharon clutches her bleeding stomach with both hands and falls down flat onto her couch while spitting up blood. Susan then stabs Sharon 5 times in the chest, 4 times in the stomach, 2 times in the upper left leg and 5 times in the back with the hunting knife while she is lying on the couch, causing Sharon to slowly die before falling blood-soaked onto her carpet.

Leno LaBianca - Charlie breaks into the LaBianca home and wakes Leno up while he is sleeping on the couch and ties his hands behind his back with his leather thong along with Rosemary. Charlie calms the couple down and tells them to remain quiet and still on the couch. He then leaves and orders Tex, Patricia and Leslie to go inside the home and murder the couple before driving off with Linda, Susan and Steve. Tex guards Leno inside of the living room while he is sitting tied to his couch and promises Leno that he is just going to rob him. But after Leno attempts to stand up off of the couch in order to save Rosemary, Tex pushes him down onto the couch where he holds Leno down on the couch, rips open Leno's pajama shirt and stabs him 12 times in the stomach with a kitchen knife. While Leno is struggling, he falls off of the couch and onto the coffee table where Tex slashes Leno across the throat 4 times with his bayonet while he is lying on the table before placing a pillowcase over Leno's head. Later, Tex kneels down over Leno and carves the word "war" into his stomach with his hunting knife and Patricia kneels down and stabs Leno in the stomach with a carving fork and in the throat with a steak knife while he is lying dead on the table. Patricia then flicks the handle of the carving fork that is embedded into Leno's stomach while he is lying on the table in order to watch the fork wobble back and forth and leaves the utensils protruding from Leno's body.

Rosemary LaBianca - Charlie breaks into the LaBianca home and wakes Rosemary up while she is sleeping in her bed, walks her downstairs and ties her to the couch next to Leno with his leather thong. Charlie calms the couple down and tells them to remain quiet and still on the couch. He then leaves the home and orders Tex, Patricia and Leslie to go inside and murder the couple before driving off with Linda, Susan and Steve. Patricia and Leslie untie Rosemary and drag her into her bedroom while she screams in agony for Leno. Patricia and Leslie throw Rosemary onto her bed before Leslie places a pillowcase over Rosemary's head, then unplugs a lamp out of the wall and wraps the lamp wire around her neck. Rosemary swings the lamp at Patricia and Leslie while her face is covered by the pillowcase and Leslie holds Rosemary down onto her bed while Patricia tries to stab Rosemary with a dull kitchen knife. As Patricia tries harder to stab Rosemary with the knife, the blade bends on Rosemary's collarbone, so Patricia desperately screams for Tex's help. Rosemary struggles and breaks out of Leslie's grip before staggering to her feet onto the floor. Tex walks into the bedroom and stabs Rosemary in her stomach with his bayonet, causing her to collapse onto the floor. Tex then stabs Rosemary 22 times in the chest and 9 times in the back with his bayonet as she lays on the floor, saturating her in her own blood. While watching Rosemary lay face-down in a pool of blood, Leslie starts to feel remorse and goes to cry shamefully inside of another room. While Leslie is crying inside the room, Tex turns her around and tells her to participate because Charlie told him to make sure that they all get their hands dirty. Tex hands Leslie the bloody kitchen knife and pressures her to stab as he taught them, and she walks back into the bedroom. Leslie kneels down on the floor and reluctantly stabs Rosemary in her back with the kitchen knife. Tex tells Leslie to keep doing it longer and deeper, but she is very hesitant. Tex continues to insist and demands that she follow his orders, and Leslie begins to feel more joy and stabs Rosemary 15 times in the lower back with the kitchen knife while she is lying dead on the floor.

Donald Shea - Tex, Bruce and Steve take Donald on a car ride around the ranch to look for car parts. While Tex is driving Bruce, Steve and Donald around in his car, he signals Steve to start the killing. While Steve and Donald are sitting together in the back seat, Steve hits Donald over the head with a pipe wrench, knocking him unconscious on his seat. Tex pulls his car over and drags Donald out of the car and into the road before Charlie and Larry arrive. The 5 gather around Donald's unconscious body in the middle of the road and Charlie orders Bruce to participate, and Bruce reluctantly stabs Donald in the shoulder with a machete while he is lying unconscious in the street. Tex then ties a rope stock around Donald's neck and pulls him by the throat with the rope into the desert where he awakens and screams in pain while lying tied on the ground. Donald pleads for his life to the family while he is lying tied on the ground, but Tex ignores him and kicks Donald in the side of the head. Steve holds Donald up in his arms and Tex begins to slowly torture Donald by punching and kicking him in the face and stomach repeatedly, causing Donald to bleed internally. As Donald slowly dies in Steve's arms, Tex stabs him 3 times in the stomach with the machete while Donald is being held up on the ground by Steve. The 5 then carry Donald's body behind Spahn's Ranch and bury him under the ground.