The Day of the Dolphin originally going to be directed by Roman Polanski for United Artists in 1969, with Polanski writing the script. However, while Polanski was in London, England, looking for filming locations in August 1969, his pregnant wife, the actress Sharon Tate, was murdered in their Beverly Hills home by disciples of Charles Manson. Polanski returned to the United States and abandoned the project. The following year it was announced Franklin Schaffner would make the movie for the Mirisch Corporation. These plans were frustrated and Joseph Levine ended up buying the project from United Artists for Mike Nichols. The film was mostly shot
Charles (Manson) in Charge else, this episode convinced me that Butte, Montana, is the scariest place on earth." Kat Rosenfield from "Entertainment Weekly" gave the episode an A-. She particularly praised the scenes with Charles Manson, calling them "horrifying even by AHS standards". She also enjoyed Billie Lourd's performance in this episode. Howewer, she noticed that some plot points, like Gary's death, could only be explained by Kai's madness, "because it otherwise makes absolutely no sense". "Vulture"'s Brian Moylan gave the episode a 3 out of 5, with a mixed review, commenting "It was my least favorite episode of the entire season so far,