Will Watches Waco Week Final Whack

At one point in Waco, Steve Schneider, more or less David Koresh's second in command asks, 'What did we do to deserve all this.' Indeed.

A weird and creepy religious sect the Branch Davidians may have been, but they weren't abusing their children and they weren't bothering anyone else.

They certainly didn't do anything to justify a hundred ATF (Asshole Terrorist Fuckers) storming their compound, and they didn't do anything to justify a months long siege with tanks busting through their walls, lighting the place on fire and killing dozens of them. The Fed's strong hand played right into the Branch Davidians end of the world view, making them god's chosen against a demonic enemy.

And that's really the point. Long gone are the days of the gray suited, fedora wearing, just the facts ma'am G-Men. As we see in this day and age, the FBI has more in common with the Gestapo than Melvin Purvis. This blog recommends President Trump send a company of tanks down Pennsylvania Avenue with orders to blast the Hoover building to rubble.

We could use Nazi hunters, Red chasers, and Klan busters. Mr. We could use a man like J. Edgar Hoover again.

Will Watches Waco Week (not?) Wacko

Wait, David Koresh was in a bar band? He was. We expected a raving lunatic. But as played by Taylor Kitsch, Koresh is no raver. A lunatic? Well by the end of Waco, Koresh is holding up the surrender so he can complete his religious testament, delivered from god, through him, to all mankind.

Throughout most of Waco, Koresh is a deeply committed preacher of a fringe faith. But he is also friendly, welcoming, loving, giving, compassionate...we're running out of positive adjectives here. In other words, Koresh was not the man the media told us about back in 1993.

This blog does not endorse polygamy or child marriage. Both are creepy and wrong. But at some point the viewer wonders, and a character even asks, what did the Branch Davidians do to deserve all this?

We swear, by the end of episode two Taylor Kitsch had us rooting for the Branch Davidians.

Given the actions of the Feds, well, who can blame anyone for that?

Will Watches Waco Week Warrior

Waco co-producer Michael Shannon* plays Gary Noesner, the series hero and sceptic.

Noesner is an old fashioned Fed, a square jawed, gray suited G-Man interested in the facts and the facts only and he's the FBI's lead negotiator at Waco. Noesner's a straight shooter, the man you want in charge of a tense situation. He's a man of peace, force is the last thing he wants. He has faith in the FBI and the art of negotion.

As the siege drags on Noesner is trapped between the Branch Davidians, who think god guides their every move, and the FBI hardliners who want to storm the compound. The hardliners eventually remove Noesner and he watches the compound burn to the ground on live TV.

Shannon's portrayal is layered, nuanced and sympathetic. He makes us feel everything Noesner feels. It's a brilliant, Emmy winning performance. Just a pleasure to watch.

The real Gary Noesner makes a cameo in the series' final scene.

*Shannon was in one of our favorite comedies ever. Heh.