Waco recounts the US government's siege of the Mount Carmel Center in Waco, Texas during the spring of 1993. The compound, which served as headquarters for the Branch Davidians, a small religious cult led at the time by David Koresh (Taylor Kitsch), became a battleground after the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms tried and failed to serve a search warrant related to possible weapons on the premises. Following a 51-day blockade, the compound caught fire, killing 76 Davidians including Koresh.

Despite having originally aired in 2018Waco's timely re-release on Netflix in the midst of the ongoing lockdown has captured audiences with its suspenseful recreation of the frightening event that many remember well. The series begins at Ruby Ridge, a similar standoff nine months prior to Waco, and covers the time from David Thibodeau's (Rory Culkin) first encounter with Koresh through the end of the siege. The series harbors a healthy skepticism towards the government's account of the events and makes some small changes in the interest of this perspective, yet its retelling is largely faithful.

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Having based their portrayal on both Thibodeau's account, which is markedly more sympathetic to Koresh than previous attempts to tell the story, as well as FBI agent Gary Noesner's (Michael Shannon) own memoir, series creators John and Drew Dowdle manage to make their version relatively accurate and balanced. The series gets a lot right about what went on at the Mount Carmel Compound, including the theological strategy Koresh used to carry out sexual abuse under the guise of spiritual betterment. Inevitably, however, they took certain liberties in bringing the convoluted tale to the screen. Moreover, the series takes for granted certain details that are contested to this day, favoring the Davidians' view that the federal government was ultimately at fault for the tragic escalation of events.

What Waco Gets Right

Taylor Kitsch in Waco

Despite its apparent sympathy for the Davidians' side of the story, the series nonetheless goes into detail about the rampant sexual abuse Koresh carried out on the compound. According to the series, Koresh claimed to have had a revelation that sex keeps humans bound to their lower instincts. Therefore all compound men had to abide by a vow of celibacy, including the married ones, while Koresh "assumed the burden of sex" on their behalf. Additionally, he decided to take Michelle Jones (Julia Garner), his first wife's younger sister, as his second wife when she was only twelve. When the Davidians started to fear federal intervention, they married Michelle off to Thibodeau in an attempt to legally legitimize things. It worked; none of the sexual abuse allegations against Koresh were ever substantiated despite significant evidence, including the very existence of Koresh's numerous children. All of this is true and presented faithfully in the series, but certain other details were fabricated in the service of coherent narrative.

What Waco Changes

According to the series, FBI crisis negotiator Gary Noesner played a pivotal role during both the siege in Waco and the botched standoff at Ruby Ridge one year prior. Determined to save face in the wake of the disaster, an agent of the ATF (Christopher Stanley), the government bureau which co-executed both operations, is seen rushing into the investigation of the Mount Carmel Compound. Believing that success on this front would make up for their recent bad publicity, the ATF  hastened what could have otherwise been a careful and protracted stakeout. Koresh's suspicions were aroused as a result, and tensions escalated early on.

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In reality, however, Noesner was not present at Ruby Ridge, and there's little evidence to prove that the mission at Waco was expedited as a direct result of the events at Ruby Ridge. Both changes work to help audiences who were not alive at the time make sense of these indirectly linked tragedies. Placing Noesner at both Ruby Ridge and Waco creates a through-line that frames the narrative so that audiences might better understand why the legacy of Ruby Ridge would have an effect on the events at Waco. Noesner's character becomes a stand-in for human error, highlighting the influence that emotions and careerism might have had on the outcome at Waco. Both standoffs became rallying points for right-wing and pro-gun advocates who claimed that these events indicated a new era of aggressive policing and federal overreach at the expense of human lives, and by consolidating certain details, Waco makes clear why this narrative emerged.

By making the point right away that federal agents' judgement may have been clouded by a desire to rehabilitate their image, the series constructs doubt about the government's version of events. Additionally, the questions of who fired first and who started the fire that ultimately claimed the lives of  76 Davidians, including 25 children and Koresh himself, are the subject of significant debate to this day. However, the series firmly sides with the Branch Davidians by showing government agents firing the first shots at the compound dogs. Additionally, the series portrays the government's official position on the fire - that it was intentionally set as part of a mass-suicide attempt - as impossible, favoring the explanation that the tear gas fired by agents filled the building and ignited.

Waco presents a version of events that takes into account both perspectives on the massacre at Mount Carmel even as it firmly sides with the Davidians. This is not to say that the series endorses their way of life or excuses Koresh's gross sexual misconduct; rather, it takes up the question of why so many had to die and concludes that the federal government acted rashly and inappropriately. By linking Ruby Ridge and Waco through Noesner's character - fictionally adding him to the Ruby Ridge incident - and emphasizing the effect of publicity on federal agents' decision-making, Waco leaves little room for doubt that while Koresh was undeniably guilty, the government was ultimately to blame.

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