When the Showtime original miniseries about the tragedy in Waco premiered in 2018, no one was expecting it to be quite as good as it was. Sure, Michael Shannon had already proven his ability to elevate anything with his acting for years, but what about the rest of the cast? With the important role of Branch Davidian cult leader David Koresh being played by Taylor Kitsch, a guy whose most notable roles were in a failed sci-fi movie and as Gambit in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (a movie that remains the butt of many jokes to this day), it would be fair to say there wasn’t a lot of pre-release hype around this series.
That being said, hindsight is 20/20, and Kitsch killed it along with his fellow cast members, which include the likes of Andrea Riseborough (who secured a Best Actress nomination in the 2023 Oscars race for the film To Leslie), and Julia Garner, our favorite badass from Ozark.
The Evidence
If this were about the original Waco series, the article would end here. Stream it, absolutely. However, when it comes to Waco: The Aftermath, the conversation is a bit more nuanced. Let’s start with the pros. As always, with a Showtime series, this is a “prestige drama,” so you’re getting a cinematic level of filming, and it’s clear that the people behind the camera know exactly what they’re doing. The acting is also fantastic. Shannon never disappoints, and everyone around him holds their own in this series. There are certainly some standout moments, scenes that hold your attention and don’t let go.
What about the cons? To start with, even with a short run of five episodes, it still feels too long, which leads to the second point. There’s just not that much story to tell. Even though Shannon doesn’t disappoint, he’s given a lot less to work with this time around. The best part of the 2018 Waco series was observing the back-and-forth between Shannon and Kitsch as the stakes continued to increase, and the lack of that feels like a gaping hole in this series.
There was also a surreal feeling in the original Waco series that made us ask ourselves in shock did this really happen? The antics of the FBI, as well as the cult members, were constantly surprising. In Waco: The Aftermath, the plot feels more like talking about a memory of something that happened long ago, as opposed to actually experiencing it.
The Verdict
This is not a badly made series by any means – many of the most important elements are there: production value, cast, and the seeds of an intriguing story. But ultimately, it fell flat. We would recommend this series to people who are die-hard fans of Michael Shannon, or to anyone that just can’t get enough of the story of what happened at Waco. Otherwise, skip it.
