By Monica Rodriguez | Reporter
Last week, a teaser trailer for the new TV miniseries, ‘Waco,’ came out from Paramount Network.
‘Waco’ is set to be a six-episode series that is based on the actions of cult and Branch Dividians leader, David Koresh, and his 51 day standoff with the federal government outside The Mount Carmel Center in Waco in 1993.
The one minute and nine second clip gives insight into the religious mastermind behind the cult and the ensuing chaos that occurred between Feb. 28 and April 19, 1993 that resulted in the deadly fire that ended the lives of Koresh along with a large number of his followers.
Taylor Kitsch, best known for playing Tim Riggins on the TV show ‘Friday Night Lights,’ stars in the series as Koresh.
Kitsch’s co-stars include: Rory Culkin, Shea Whigham, Michael Shannon, Camryn Manheim, Julia Garner, Jon Leguizamo, and Andrea Riseborough.
The series is also based on two biographies from eyewitnesses of the siege: “Stalling for Time: My Life as an FBI Hostage Negotiator” by Gary Noesner, the lead FBI hostage negotiator during the siege, and “A Place Called Waco” by former surviving Branch Dividian member, David Thibodeau.
‘Waco’ will be just another addition to the over 10 different adaptions that have already been made about the 1993 event ranging from documentaries, films, books, and even an opera.
In 2013, 20 years after the tragedy, Baylor University held a symposium where current religion professor, Gordon Melton, agreed that the situation was handled poorly and should serve as a lesson for future similar conflicts.
“The incident at Mount Carmel gave us more questions than answers,” Melton said. “The people there just happened to get caught up in events that were bigger than their community was.”
Others, however, have begun to criticize the trailer’s timing for bringing more negative attention to Waco, which was also the setting of the biker shooting at Twin Peaks just two years ago.
“It’ll be interesting to see what the reception afterwards will be like,” said Houston junior, Joshua Mack. “My mom remembers watching the news when it originally happened and it really put Waco on the map. It’s honestly just crazy seeing how much buzz the community is getting nowadays.”
The ‘Waco’ miniseries, will premiere on the Paramount Network in mid January 2018.
