It is not new that I emphasize the dangers of the editorial line of today’s documentaries, with even greater frequency, shown on Netflix. The richness of images prevail and the lack of contextualization as well. The danger of misrepresentation and propaganda is always imminent. And with Waco: The American Apocalypse the trap repeats itself.

The documentary, divided into three parts, assumes that even foreigners and new generations (who did not witness the tragedy) know the prior details of one of the most traumatic events in American culture in pre-9/11 times. Remembering that the platform’s target audience, for the most part, was not even born in 1993 or was still in its infancy, the word ‘Waco’ makes little sense, and it is so important.

Billed as “the definitive account of what happened in the town of Waco, Texas in 1993,” the series shares never-before-seen and moving footage, and interviews. The editing of images and sound is incredible, the flaw is in the script.

We’ve already got our foot in the door, at the start of the 51-day siege that stopped the world 30 years ago. Considered the biggest armed conflict since the Civil War, in the end, there were almost 80 dead, at least 25 of them children. But for those who haven’t followed – let’s agree that the number of tragedies and attacks has unfortunately multiplied in recent decades – the religious sect led by David Koresh is unknown, especially abroad. It took us a while to get to the explanation and presentation of ‘the characters’ and the basic principle of the conflict.

Filmmaker Tiller Russell (Night Stalker: Torture and Terror) has one of the most impressive materials from the conflict: the videos made in the FBI’s crisis negotiation unit, which transform the narrative into a terrifying reality show, even more so since it includes unpublished journalistic images, and FBI recordings. He tries to balance the opposite impressions of who is really responsible for the appalling ending, with survivors talking about the sect and the police involved in the operation, but – again – he almost misses the effect that Waco had on a country in turmoil.

For example, many will ask who are the Davidians? Who is/was David Karesh? Why were they armed? The answers given later, which I found after a long time, were superficial and assumed that the public already knew what was going on. Tim McVeigh‘s quote and image, for example, only impact those who remember who he was and non-Americans will have a harder time connecting the dots that fast.

What is mentioned but not explored is that the government’s tactical error in Waco – obviously there was a lot of political pressure after the standoff had been unresolved for nearly two months – turned it into a dangerous trigger. The Oklahoma bombing (done by MacVeigh), years later, was “born” in Waco. The conservative current that defends the carrying of weapons that also questions the trigger of the problem. And there we go.

If you haven’t watched the series yet if you were born after 1993, or if you were born before but don’t remember Waco, here’s a quick cheat sheet.

The Davidian Branch is a sect that came out of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, of the Protestant and Restorationist line, which emerged around the 1930s in the United States. 25 years later, a new split originated the Davidian arm in which David Koresh (born Vernon Wayne Howell) joined around the ’90s and started to lead. David proclaimed himself their last prophet and they prepared for the second coming of Christ, described in the Bible as part of the Apocalypse.

Koresh, a pedophile, and fanatic ran the small community in an isolated area 10 miles from Waco, Texas, with complete dominion over his followers. The members of the sect bought and used weapons, as is allowed in Texas, but after a complaint that they also had bombs, the police went to the scene to investigate. Upon arriving there, the police officially were met with gunfire, which suggests that there was a leak of information. But this isn’t made 100% clear at the beginning, we start right off witnessing the first attack that brought about the final tragedy. If there is no conclusion about “how the members of the sect knew about the arrival of the police” and the reason why they were aggressive, there is a flaw that makes us follow the rest stupefied. It is not even clear who shot whom first, something that is still inconclusive.

And without clarification, doubt is fed to the end. What’s amazing about the series is that every siege was captured by the local news crew from the moment the police started to assemble until the moment the tragedy ended. The fire that effectively concluded the nearly two months of negotiations is another (crucial) question that remains unresolved to this day. The FBI alleges that it was a group suicide with the followers themselves setting the fire (which started simultaneously in three places inside the compound), but survivors maintain the possibility of an accident or even police error. And what’s relevant about that, besides the death of 25 children and 51 adults? For one Timothy McVeigh believed so much in the innocency of the group thinking it was the Government interfering with people’s freedom, that used this as the “justification” for killing thousands of others – including children – when he planted the bomb in the FBI building years later. And as the director wants to show, it also led to the radicalism shown in the attacks on the US Congress in 2021. Repression and radicalism, more than 30 years in the same place. If you don’t look for information that is not provided in the documentary, there is a risk of misinterpretation, which is one of the growing and current problems. Careful!