What I’m Watching: Waco

Waco: Season 1, Episode 4 “Of Milk and Men” (B+)

This series is definitely painting Gary as the only person, aside from Rodriguez of course, on the side of the law who is bothering to try to see the Branch Davidians as human beings. Talking to Balenda and having a child tell him that they can’t call her mother because they killed her makes him much more sensitive, but he’s also framed that way in comparison to Mitch and Tony, who are calculating and just want to find a way to get home before Christmas. Milk being the centerpoint of the negotiations in this episode seemed simple enough, but even that involved contradictions like wanting the children to be sent out, and the unfortunate fact that the bugged delivery picked up David and Steve’s conversation about drinking the milk, further indicating to Mitch and Tony that these people couldn’t be trusted. Tony did reveal that they’re purposely filtering information from getting out, like the video in which Rachel lamented the death of her father. Steve is a smart, level-headed individual for Gary to be talking to, but ultimately he’s going to continue to be driven by his faith in the God that he believes spoke to David, a man he confessed to not liking all that much though he accepts him as a prophet. The power being cut just after they saw Balenda making an appeal to her son to come out and return to his real family was a dramatic way to end the episode and indicate no much progress in bringing this standoff to a peaceful end anytime soon.