Take Three: Waco

Waco: Season 1, Episode 3 “Operation Showtime” (B+)

Well, that was one hell of a shootout. It really did feel like the famed first battle of the Revolutionary War, where it was difficult to tell who shot first and won’t matter in the long run because enough people are dead and there’s no going back from it for any of them now. Wayne calling the police to tell them to get the ATF to stop shooting right before the cameraman called on behalf of the ATF for backup was intense, and there’s definitely much political commentary to be found here, with lines like, “Who do you call when it’s your own government attacking?” and Eric Lange’s radio host Ron Engelman talking about the law against attacking your own citizens. We had our latest “Boardwalk Empire” alumnus, Glenn Fleshler, show up as FBI Agent Tony Prince, there to bridge the relationship between the ATF, who were more than ready to throw Rodriguez under the bus for not warning them about an armament and allegedly being compromised, and Gary, who is cool under pressure and managed to strike a deal that should have worked well and help resolve things smoothly. The negative publicity from the TV commentators seemed to be enough to convince David that his message wasn’t actually heard, prompting him to tell Gary that God spoke to him and told him not to surrender. That can’t be good for anyone involved, and, only three episodes in, I think we all know that it’s just going to get much worse from here.