Previewing Waco: The Aftermath

 

Yellowstone is the most popular show on television, yet I could not name a second show that has ever aired on The Paramount Channel aside from their very first scripted show based on the Waco tragedy starring Tim Riggins in a mullet.  Studios love digging for intellectual property, but I would have never guessed that we would get a Waco Extended Universe.  Waco: The Aftermath will not actually be airing on The Paramount Channel, or even the streaming service of the same name but a different channel in the Paramount family: Showtime.

 

Despite having “Aftermath” in the title, there are actually three storyline, one of which sees a younger David Koresh (sadly someone other than Tim Riggins is under the mullet this time).  The show also follows Michael Shannon, the lead FBI negotiator from the first show who has moved on to a new case about white nationalist that clumsily tries to tie into the Oklahoma City bombing.  The third storyline deals with the trial of four Branch Davidians that followed the siege, granted only one of the actors were actually on the original show, and I do not even remember that one.  Though the press release actually listed “Waco” as a previous credit so apparently she has not done much since if that was the biggest credit they wanted to highlight.

 

There are a couple other actors who reprise their roles like John Leguizamo (Super Mario Bros.), who played an undercover ATF agent, and Shea Whigham (Boardwalk Empire) as the FBI agent who oversaw the siege.  Apparently his character was able to grow a mustache in the days between when that series ended and this one started.  But really, both of these roles just come off as glorified cameos, which is probably why Whigham did not bother to save off that mustache.

 

The three storylines come off as really disjointed.  The new David in the earliest timeline lacks the charisma to pull off being a cult leader.  While Shannon does his serious drama acting, two new additions come across as more as Saturday Night Live characters.  While being the over the top Wags on Billions works there, David Constable’s southern fried judge in the Davidian case is a little over the top.  Same goes to Gary Cole (Pineapple Express) who also seems to think he is a comedy playing a private investigator and part time conspiracy theorist who claims he used to be in the CIA. 

 

But to be honest, those two are the most entertaining part of the show along with possibly the weirdest needle drop in the history of television (though, another Showtime series, Yellowjackets, has an upcoming episode that ends with a needle drop that is also in the running) featuring George Michael.   But I kind of hope Waco: The Aftermath is successful if only for it to inspire Hulu to do The Dropout: The Aftermath featuring the trial of Elisabeth Holmes.  

 

Waco: the Aftermath airs Sundays at 10:00 on Showtime, but episodes are available to stream as well as On Demand the Friday before the linear premiere.   Which means the premiere is available now.