Series Review: "Waco: American Apocalypse" (2023).

From the director of Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer comes Waco: American Apocalypse. This true crime documentary series directed by Tiller Russell. This immersive three-part Netflix documentary series is the definitive account of what happened in Waco, Texas in 1993 when cult leader David Koresh faced off against the federal government in a bloody fifty-one-day siege. Released to coincide with the 30th anniversary of this national tragedy, the series features exclusive access to recently unearthed videotapes filmed inside the FBI's Hostage Negotiation Command Post, as well as raw news footage never released to the American public, and FBI wiretap recordings.

American cult leader, David Koresh, played a central role in the Waco siege of 1993. As the head of the Branch Davidians, a religious sect and offshoot of the Davidian Seventh-day Adventists, Koresh claimed to be its final prophet. His apocalyptic Biblical teachings, including interpretations of the Book of Revelation and the Seven Seals, attracted various followers. Coming from a dysfunctional background, Koresh was a member and later a leader of the Branch Davidians, a movement originally led by Benjamin Roden, based at the Mount Carmel Center outside Waco, Texas. Here, Koresh competed for dominance with another leader, Benjamin Roden's son George, until Koresh and his followers took over Mount Carmel in 1987. In the early 1990s, he became subject to allegations about polygamy and child sexual abuse by former Branch Davidian associates, although investigation by authorities found no conclusive evidence. Further allegations related to the Branch Davidians' stockpiling of weapons led the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) and later the FBI to launch a raid on the group's Mount Carmel compound in February 1993. During the fifty-one-day siege and violence that ensued, Koresh was wounded by ATF forces and later died of a gunshot in unclear circumstances as the compound was destroyed in a fire.

Disturbing but not salacious, the series does a good job of showing how negligence and lack of foresight went into stopping a cult leader whose methodology was all over the place, and thus more difficult to profile. The series is a doc that focuses more on a city in peril than the boogeyman that caused it. Nothing groundbreaking, but it does have more details about the victims and the police who brought Koresh down. But Netflix's latest docuseries isn't about Koresh. Instead, it's about the community he terrorized, the people affected by his beliefs, and the men who managed to bring him and his organisation to an end. This uses a horrendous story, and creates a varied perspective that gives due to the detectives and victims involved. It's frustrating, it's riveting, and in its diligent care, it sheds new light on a dark, dark case. The series is a well-produced docu-series on one of the America's most notorious religious figures. Whether you have read up on Koresh already, or this is your first introduction, the show is a must-watch for true crime buffs.

Simon says Waco: American Apocalypse receives:

Also, see my review for Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer.