Waco: The Aftermath

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Waco: The Aftermath
Genre
Based on A Place Called Waco: A Survivor's Story
by David Thibodeau & Leon Whiteson
Developed by
Starring
Music by The Newton Brothers
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes5
Production
Executive producers
Production location Albuquerque, New Mexico
Running time40–51 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network Showtime
ReleaseApril 16 (2023-04-16) 
May 14, 2023 (2023-05-14)
Related
Waco (2018)

Waco: The Aftermath is an American television miniseries developed by John Erick Dowdle and Drew Dowdle that premiered on April 16, 2023, on Showtime. The five-episode series is a sequel to the 2018 miniseries Waco , which dramatizes the 1993 standoff between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas. The sequel series portrays the aftermath of the siege and the trials of the surviving members of the Branch Davidians. The cast includes Michael Shannon, Shea Whigham, John Leguizamo, and Annika Marks, who reprise their roles from the Waco miniseries.

Contents

Cast and characters

Main

Recurring

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateU.S. viewers
(millions)
1"Truths and Consequences" John Erick Dowdle John Erick Dowdle and Lauren Mackenzie & Andrew GettensApril 16, 2023 (2023-04-16)0.150 [1]
2"A Common Enemy"John Erick DowdleLauren Mackenzie & Andrew Gettens and Stacy Chbosky and John TempleApril 23, 2023 (2023-04-23)N/A
3"The Gospel According to Livingstone Fagan"Drew DowdleStacy Chbosky and John TempleApril 30, 2023 (2023-04-30)0.143 [2]
4"Conspiracy"Drew DowdleJohn Temple and Alice Dennard & Stacy ChboskyMay 7, 2023 (2023-05-07)0.128 [3]
5"Reckoning"John Erick Dowdle
Drew Dowdle
Alice Dennard & Stacy Chbosky and Andrew Gettens & Lauren MackenzieMay 14, 2023 (2023-05-14)0.123 [4]

Production

Development

In February 2021, Paramount+ announced American Tragedy, an anthology series that would focus on true crime, including a follow-up to the 2018 Waco miniseries. [5] In March 2022, American Tragedies: Waco – The Trials was officially announced with Michael Shannon set to reprise his role of Gary Noesner. The series was created by brothers John Erick Dowdle and Drew Dowdle, who also created the 2018 miniseries. [6] In February 2023, the series was retitled Waco: The Aftermath and would instead premiere on Showtime on April 16, 2023. [7]

Casting

Alongside Shannon's casting in March 2022, the following month, John Leguizamo was confirmed to reprise his role, while David Costabile, J. Smith-Cameron, Giovanni Ribisi, John Hoogenakker, Keean Johnson and Abbey Lee were announced to star. [8] In February 2023, it was announced that Shea Whigham and Annika Marks would reprise their roles from the original miniseries, and new cast members included Alex Breaux, Michael Cassidy, Gary Cole, Nicholas Kolev, Michael Luwoye, Kali Rocha, Michael Vincent Berry and Sasheer Zamata. [9]

Filming

The series was filmed between March and June 2022 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. [10]

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 29% of 7 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.90/10. [11] Metacritic gave the series a weighted average score of 52 out of 100 based on 7 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [12]

Viewership

The series has become the third most-streamed Showtime original debut to date, behind Dexter: New Blood and Yellowjackets . With 1 million viewers, it has doubled its audience since opening weekend, according to Showtime. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Branch Davidians</span> Cult known for the Waco siege of 1993

The Branch Davidians are an apocalyptic cult founded in 1955 by Benjamin Roden. They regard themselves as a continuation of the General Association of Davidian Seventh-Day Adventists, established by Victor Houteff in 1935.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waco siege</span> 1993 US law enforcement siege in Texas

The Waco siege, also known as the Waco massacre, was the siege by U.S. federal government and Texas state law enforcement officials of a compound belonging to the religious cult known as the Branch Davidians between February 28 and April 19, 1993. The Branch Davidians, led by David Koresh, were headquartered at Mount Carmel Center ranch in unincorporated McLennan County, Texas, 13 miles northeast of Waco. Suspecting the group of stockpiling illegal weapons, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) obtained a search warrant for the compound and arrest warrants for Koresh and several of the group's members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Shannon</span> American actor

Michael Corbett Shannon is an American actor. He is a frequent collaborator with director Jeff Nichols, having appeared in Nichols' films Shotgun Stories (2007), Take Shelter (2011), Mud (2012), Midnight Special and Loving, and The Bikeriders (2023). Shannon received two Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nominations, for Revolutionary Road (2008), and Nocturnal Animals (2016). He received Screen Actors Guild Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for his role in 99 Homes (2014).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shea Whigham</span> American actor (born 1969)

Shea Whigham is an American actor best known for portraying Elias "Eli" Thompson in the drama series Boardwalk Empire. He also appeared in the first season of True Detective and the third season of Fargo and in numerous films, including Wristcutters: A Love Story, Take Shelter, Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, The Wolf of Wall Street, Kong: Skull Island, First Man, Vice, Joker, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. He has appeared as Agent Michael Stasiak in Fast & Furious, Fast & Furious 6, and F9.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Koresh</span> American religious cult leader (1959–1993)

David Koresh was an American cult leader who played a central role in the Waco siege of 1993. As the head of the Branch Davidians, a religious sect and offshoot of the Seventh-day Adventists, Koresh claimed to be its final prophet. His apocalyptic Biblical teachings, including interpretations of the Book of Revelation and the Seven Seals, attracted various followers.

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<i>Waco</i> (miniseries) American television miniseries

Waco is an American television miniseries, developed by John Erick Dowdle and Drew Dowdle, that premiered on January 24, 2018, on Paramount Network. The six-episode series dramatizes the 1993 standoff between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas and stars Michael Shannon, Taylor Kitsch, Andrea Riseborough, Paul Sparks, Rory Culkin, Shea Whigham, Melissa Benoist, John Leguizamo, Julia Garner, and Glenn Fleshler. The miniseries received a mixed response from critics who praised the performances and tension, but criticized the show's sympathetic approach to Branch Davidian leader David Koresh. A sequel titled Waco: The Aftermath premiered on April 16, 2023, on Showtime.

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Douglas Wayne Martin, was an American Branch Davidian and Harvard-trained attorney who left the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He worked as an attorney in multiple fields, including contract, child custody, and real estate law, and provided the proceeds to the Branch Davidians. He was nominally married to Sheila Judith Martin, another Branch Davidian, but she was "carnally" married to David Koresh, the Branch Davidian leader. Wayne and Sheila had seven children, four of whom died in the 1993 fire: Wayne Joseph, 20; Anita, 18; Sheila Renee, 15; and Lisa Martin, 13. Sheila Martin, who left Mount Carmel Center on March 21 in the middle of the siege, eventually won custody over the three surviving children: James, Daniel, and Kimberly Martin. Wayne Martin was present at Mount Carmel Center when the February 28, 1993, raid occurred. He was the first person in the compound to call 9-1-1 to local authorities and asked to call off the raid for risk of harming women and children. He was considered the second- or third-in-command at Mt. Carmel, behind or equal to Steve Schneider. He died in the April 19, 1993, fire with three of his children. Wayne Martin was a character in the 2018 miniseries Waco, played by Demore Barnes.

David Thibodeau is an American Branch Davidian, a survivor of the Waco siege, and a musician. He was born in Bangor, Maine. In early adulthood, Thibodeau sought to become a musician in Los Angeles, California, where he converted to Branch Davidianism after meeting David Koresh in a Guitar Center in 1990. In the late 1980s, he attended the Musicians Institute of Technology. At the Mount Carmel Center near Waco, Texas, Thibodeau married Michele Jones upon Koresh's request. Thibodeau was present at the Mt. Carmel compound on February 28, 1993, when the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) conducted a botched raid. He stayed for the 51-day siege until escaping, with eight other survivors, the fire that consumed the compound. In 1999, he co-authored a memoir called A Place Called Waco: A Survivor's Story with Leon Whiteson, a Zimbabwe-born novelist, critic, and architect. Thibodeau runs a website called "Waco Survivors," in which he archives media related to the Waco siege. He (re-)married in 1997 and has at least one daughter. In 2018, the miniseries Waco aired featuring Rory Culkin playing David Thibodeau and Thibodeau himself in a cameo role as an unnamed character. Thibodeau is a drummer for the band The Blast Addicts, and he resided in Texas as of 2020. He played drums for other bands after the Waco siege as well, including Grooviest Maximus.

Sheila Judith Martin is an American Branch Davidian and a survivor of the Waco siege. She was the wife of Douglas Wayne Martin, a Harvard-educated lawyer, who died in the April 19, 1993, fire that destroyed Mount Carmel Center. Four out of her seven children died in the fire: Wayne Joseph, 20; Anita, 18; Sheila Renee, 15; and Lisa Martin, 13. In September 1993, she received custody of James Martin (1982–1998) who has cerebral palsy and is blind because of a meningitis infection at 4 months old. By 1994, she obtained custody in Texas state court of her two other children – Daniel and Kimberly.

References

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