TV REVIEWS : ‘Ambush in Waco’ a Rationale for Assault

Authorities say that Branch Davidian sect leader David Koresh and 85 of his followers--24 of them children--died on April 19 when their compound outside Waco, Tex., was consumed by fire after being assaulted by federal agents.

It’s not that event, however, but the initial storming of the Mt. Carmel compound 51 days earlier that occupies “In the Line of Duty: Ambush in Waco,” NBC’s ratings sweeps-tailored quickie history airing at 9 p.m. Sunday on Channels 4, 36 and 39.

The sixth in a series of “In the Line of Duty” movies depicting actual events, “Ambush in Waco” adds little to the lore about Koresh--a musician/singer who proclaimed himself the Messiah--or his followers. Nor does it provide insight into the minds of charismatic zealots like Koresh and the otherwise ordinary people who submit to them so obediently.

However, by portraying Koresh as a man of hair-trigger violence who amassed an illegal arsenal, physically abused children and planted his “seed” even in young girls, Phil Penningroth’s script provides a rationale not only for the initial assault but also for the more controversial one on April 19 that resulted in mass deaths.

“You gotta do something soon,” a Koresh defector urges authorities prior to the first incident. “If you don’t get those people outta there, someone’s gonna die.”

Tim Daly is a convincing Koresh, one moment gentle and charming, the next a tornado of rage, screaming Scripture at his terrified flock, persuading married women that they owed him their bodies and that having sex with their husbands was adulterous. The Branch Davidians acquire a huge store of weapons, and as federal agents plan their moves, Koresh stalks the compound with a sidearm, whipping up his followers with forecasts that “the Babylonians are coming.”

The rest is bloody history. The Branch Davidians are inexplicably armed and waiting when agents try a sneak assault on the compound in hopes of taking Koresh into custody (although who allegedly tipped them off is not explored). Four agents and two sect members die in the ensuing gun battle. Members of the battered assault team leave with their dead and wounded, the movie runs a crawl updating viewers on the aftermath, and that’s it.

Until Waco II.