Oklahoma City Bombing: American Terror arrives on Netflix Friday, April 18, and manages to be engrossing while remaining admirably restrained.
The restraint is found in both its politics (especially in this hysterical day and age) and its 84-minute, single-episode runtime. Netflix is notorious for stretching pretty much any subject out to three hour-long episodes. Sometimes you appreciate that in-depth examination (like Netflix’s terrific JonBenet Ramsey doc), but sometimes you feel like you’re in an eternal waiting room.
If anything, Oklahoma City Bombing left me wanting to know more, especially about Timothy McVeigh, the monster responsible for the devastatingly effective bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building which resulted in the murder of 168 people, including 19 children, and remains the worst domestic terror attack on American soil.
In our current political climate, you simply expect a modern documentary of this kind to tie everything up in an orange bow around a MAGA box, complete with clips from January 6. You also expect soundbites of the late, great Rush Limbaugh saying something against the size of government. There’s none of that. Instead, filmmaker Greg Tillman delivers a sober, mature, poignant, and ultimately tragic reminder of the horrors of political terrorism and how three evil, anti-government extremists (whose combined IQs likely didn’t rise above 350) somehow pulled off a perfect attack. Then there’s an unforgettable look at the achingly real human devastation of those who survived, those who participated in the rescue, and above all, a new mother as she waits two days to learn the fate of her baby.
What little we learn of McVeigh (and I do sympathize with the motive behind not wanting to dwell on him) is that he was one more Lee Harvey Oswald: a not-terribly-bright outcast and narcissist looking for an easy way to feel important.
Oklahoma City Bombing: American Terror / Netflix
“To these people in Oklahoma who have lost a loved one, I’m sorry, but it happens every day,” we hear McVeigh say by way of a recorded interview. “You’re not the first mother to lose a kid, or the first grandparent to lose a grandson or a granddaughter. It happens every day, somewhere in the world. I’m not going to go into that courtroom, curl into a fetal ball, and cry just because the victims want me to do that.”
Evil and stupid is no way to go through life, son. And by stupid, I mean the Keystone Kop-bungling of trying to cover his tracks and those of his co-conspirators, Michael Fortier and Terry Nichols. Just one example is that these idiots believed a long-distance calling card would cover their tracks. Instead (duh), it allowed law enforcement to easily connect all the who, where, and when dots.
Oklahoma City Bombing quickly and competently walks us through that terrible day and the subsequent investigation, which was primarily conducted by an FBI eager to remove the eternal stain of Waco — which, as we all now know, motivated McVeigh.
Not being a Netflix subscriber, the only reason I was interested in reviewing this is that it comes from the same people who made 2023’s Waco: American Apocalypse, an absolutely superb and unfailingly honest look at the indefensible behavior of the federal government during the 51-day confrontation with David Koresh and his Branch Davidian followers. And McVeigh was there. Oklahoma City Bombing shows footage of McVeigh as part of the anti-government protests at Waco during the siege.
Oklahoma City Bombing: American Terror / Netflix
Oklahoma City Bombing also doesn’t shy away from two uncomfortable truths: 1) that Waco in no way justifies political violence, much less the appalling massacre in Oklahoma, and 2) that an overreaching attempt to serve a warrant, followed by an unnecessarily hostile and provocative siege, followed by a militarized assault, radicalized all kinds of people as the Branch Davidian compound burned to the ground.
Without an April 19, 1993, in Waco there would’ve been no April 19, 1995, in Oklahoma City. That in no way justifies the behavior of McVeigh (or Koresh), but if you are a Netflix subscriber, I strongly recommend watching Waco: American Apocalypse, followed by Oklahoma City Bombing: American Terror.
In both cases, the tone is honest, and the facts are presented by adults both behind and in front of the camera. Waco was an avoidable tragedy escalated by self-important federal officers. Oklahoma was an unspeakable act of hate committed by losers who deserved to die.
Oklahoma City Bombing: American Terror / Netflix
The best compliment I can give to director Tillman, who also executive produced Waco, is that I would love to see him take on Ruby Ridge.
With access to Netflix, I took advantage to watch a few other programs. Here are some quick reviews:
Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey: Superb look at a dreadful murder and the horrors our disgusting media and law enforcement put an innocent family through.
Squid Game — Season 2: I fell asleep during the first episode.
Monsters: The Erik and Lyle Menéndez Story: Too long, too drawn out, needed a stronger point of view, but the final episode, when the district attorney absolutely demolishes the defense, is a thing of beauty.
Rebel Ridge: Compelling and intelligent action movie with Don Johnson acing the bad guy role and Aaron Pierce coming out of nowhere to show he has what it takes to be a star. Not once is race mentioned when just one mention would’ve ruined the whole thing. The first half is pure gold. The second half is close enough.
Black Mirror — Season Seven: This show’s been losing steam for a couple of seasons now, and season seven is no comeback. Of the six new episodes, Bête Noire and Common People are good. Eulogy (with Paul Giamatti) is great. Skip the rest, especially Hotel Reverie, an overlong slog desperate to recapture the magic of San Junipero (the series’ best episode) only to fall flat on its face, starting with a nonsensical premise.
John Nolte’s first and last novel, Borrowed Time, is winning five-star raves from everyday readers. You can read an excerpt here and an in-depth review here. Also available in hardcover and on Kindle and Audiobook.
