Extremism is an all too familiar term and Showtime is bringing onscreen, one of the times wherein religious extremism festered and got out of control, consuming people in its part. The network has released a first-look trailer for Waco: The Aftermath, the follow-up to the 2018 limited series, Waco. The sequel had initially been produced for Paramount+ but will now debut on Showtime.
The first-look teaser begins with a look back at Waco, with a meeting of Branch Davidian sect members wherein its leader, David Koresh (Taylor Kitsch) continues his indoctrination, making his victims believe that somehow, he was acting at the behest of a higher power. “You’ve looked to me to be your leader,” he says. “To guide you on this journey. But I’m no leader, I’m a follower just like you. God has instructed me to stay here and wait for his son.” Starring in the limited series is Academy Award Nominee Michael Shannon with his character set to investigate this sect. Over a clip of someone within the sect realizing their mistake, the indoctrination continues, “This is our time to prove through suffering that we are worthy of the miracle that is to come.”
With ever-intensifying foreboding music, there are tense scenes of normal, happy people soon sucked into this sphere of delusion and brainwashing that soon leads to fiery carnage with casualties. Then comes a scary warning, “Waco has united them by a common enemy – us.” This perhaps is the realization that led to the unfurling of the tragic events at Mount Carmel that began on February 28, 1993. The series follows the aftermath of that disaster: the trials of the surviving members of the Branch Davidians sect and the eventual emergence of the homegrown terrorist, Timothy McVeigh.
Speaking about the upcoming limited series, Showtime offered a link in a broader sense to more recent challenges. The five-part series “provides a broader context for the escalation of the American militia movement, which foreshadows the infamous attacks of the Oklahoma City bombing and the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.” The Aftermath will debut on streaming and on-demand platforms for Showtime on April 14. The 30th anniversary of the fallout of the Waco disaster will coincide with the linear debut on April 16.
101 Studios and Spyglass produce the series which sees Drew Dowdle and John Erick Dowdle return as showrunners. The pair will then serve as executive producers alongside Shannon, Kitsch, Andrew Gettens, and Lauren Mackenzie. Asides from the aforementioned Shannon, the cast for Waco: The Aftermath includes John Leguizamo, Giovanni Ribisi, David Costabile, J. Smith Cameron, John Hoogenakker, Keean Johnson, and Abbey Lee.
Waco: The Aftermath debuts on Showtime in April. Watch the first look teaser below: