Synopsis: In Waco, Texas, 1993, cult leader David Koresh faces off against the federal government in a 51-day siege that begins with the biggest gunfight on American soil since the Civil War and ends with a fiery inferno captured live on national television.
Review:
Waco: American Apocalypse is a heart-wrenching documentary in a way when you hear the surviving members of David’s cult still believe the misogyny David showed his members were acceptable including sleeping with underage children. While it doesn’t show us anything new to the story of the Branch Davidians that was promised. It still featured some heartbreaking moments that will make you think about why she[Heather Jones] still thinks it was normal for someone like David Koresh to behave as he was.
One scene that sticks out as eye-opening is when Heather Jones says that women come of age when they’re 14 years old, so they could give consent to marry someone as old as David Koresh is sickening to the general public, and also shows you how much of a stranglehold David has of the group’s ex-members still.
There are even more haunting stories in which Chris Whitcomb details a story where he could have pulled the trigger on David Koresh while he was the sniper and then David spotted him and waved. It sounded like a horror movie coming from Chris’ perspective, the way the camera locks in on him with his is voice shaking and full of regret, you could his agony of not pulling the trigger.
There’s some iffy storytelling from the viewpoints of the FBI and David Thibodeau that always contradicts each other. One thing I hate for Veterans is the use of the American Flag on the demolition tanks as if the FBI doesn’t get the meaning behind the flag and it makes every patriotic person look inconsiderate.
Other than that Waco: American Apocalypse is a serviceable documentary series that should entertain new true-crime fans. Fans of podcast and other source materials for true crime may find this underwhelming.
Overall Grade: 3/5 stars
