Waco won't be the first drama to reduce a tragedy to its simplest components, but this doesn't offer much confidence that these are the right components or the only ones.
The series does a good job of showing both sides of the story with Michael Shannon playing an FBI hostage negotiator advocating for less-violent means of action.
Kitsch is quite convincing as Koresh. He plays Koresh as genuine, if not saintly, and that laconic Tim Riggins charisma is put to good use, or icky use if you keep waiting for the miniseries to find anything Koresh does problematic.
We mainly need to look to Kitsch's performance, along with writers John Erick and Drew Dowdle's screenplay ... commanding, but never quite intimidating (or is he?).
The only way the government could look any more like buffoons, barbarians, and jackasses in the series is if the ATF and FBI sequences were soundtracked with "Yakety Sax."
Despite a fantastic cast, with a particularly outstanding performance by Taylor Kitsch, the miniseries' desire to make Koresh a folk hero is a miscalculation.
A compelling, tragic tale that allows stars like Kitsch and Shannon to play different, surprising roles, just like the new cable channel that's featuring the show.
