'Waco: The Aftermath' Episode 1: Trial starts with an EPIC betrayal as one of Waco 5 turns heel
Spoilers for 'Waco: The Aftermath' Episode 1
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: In 2018, Showtime took the world by storm by coming out with a series ‘Waco’ that dramatized the 1993 standoff between the FBI, ATF, and the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas. In the concluding episode of the series, we saw how most of the Branch Davidians died after the complex they were living in caught fire after the FBI targeted the complex with tanks and weapons. When the siege ended, the FBI painted the events as “mass suicide” as the remaining five members of the apparent cult were taken into custody. Five years later, Showtime has continued the ‘Waco’ saga with another chapter, titled ‘Waco: The Aftermath’, that looks at what happened after the siege ended and the trial of the ‘Waco 5’ began.
The premiere episode of 'Waco: The Aftermath' is all about giving viewers an idea as to what happened at the complex in Waco and how the government, along with the FBI are trying to save their faces by painting a picture that people in the complex deserved what they got. FBI officer Gary Noesner (Michael Shannon) is still a part of the case and everyone else involved with the siege is now getting ready for the trial. On the other hand, the Waco 5 – Clive Doyle, Kathy Schroeder, Paul Fatta, Livingstone Fagan, and Ruth Riddle – are still not able to understand why people are considering them villains because they didn’t do anything wrong.
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The trial has begun and it looked like the Judge wanted to put these people behind bars because he went ahead and chose the jury himself. He asked one of the jury members as to how she felt about the cult that hurt children and the jury member said, “I feel really negative about it.” The lady went on to become the first jury person. So, this is how the trial began. Dan Cogdell, the lawyer for the Branch Davidians, made clear that he wanted to show the aforementioned five as “victims” and wanted to tell the world to David Koresh brainwashed them to pick up weapons. The people on trial didn’t believe what was happening and why they were being treated like criminals.
In between the trial, the lead prosecutor Bill Johnston comes forward with a plea deal that might help the Waco 5. The deal is to confess that they were involved in what happened at Waco and a cult was being run in and around that place. If they do that, they will get a punishment of a maximum of 15 years. However, if they don’t they will be behind the bars for a longer period. The deal was made to every single member of the team and if any one of them takes it, all of them would get the same punishment.
Everyone discusses the plea deal, but they decide that they won’t take it and leave everything up to God because they haven’t done anything wrong. The following day, every member of the remaining Branch Davidians makes their way to the court, except one: Kathy. They get the shock of a lifetime when they get to know that Kathy has taken the plea deal and would be testifying against the others.
The trial has begun on a disastrous note for the Waco 5 because they never thought that someone from their team would do this sort of thing. Will Kathy come forward and testify against the others? Or she would change her plans and try to defend her friends.
Things are only going to get more and more intense from here. We will hope that we are going to get the real picture of what really happened during the trial.