Aleister Crowley drama has U.S. in WWII and a scientist mastering rocketry and the occult

Drama Strange Angel debuts season two on CBS All Access June 13. The period drama centers on Jack Parsons, who straddled the worlds of science and the occult, pioneering America’s rocketry program while practicing sex magick rituals as a devotee to Aleister Crowley’s religion.

As season one wound down, Jack and his team from Caltech made a scientific breakthrough that secured the military’s interest as the country neared the brink of war. In season two, the U.S. is fully engaged in World War II, transforming Jack’s rocketry work into a lucrative business and further entrenching him in the military-industrial complex. While Jack’s career takes off, he and his wife Susan’s devotion to their new occult religion grows, leading them to invite the sex cult into their Pasadena mansion and Jack to forge a personal relationship with the group’s notorious founder, Crowley.

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The cast includes Jack Reynor, Rupert Friend, Bella Heathcote and Peter Mark Kendall. Angus Macfadyen joins the cast as Aleister Crowley.

Mark Heyman created the show, which is based on George Pendle’s book of the same name.

Strange Angel is produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Scott Free Productions. Heyman, David DiGilio, Ridley Scott and David W. Zucker are executive producers.