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Chernobyl: You didn’t see this thread, because it’s not here (Potential Spoilers) (5 Viewers)

I'm through the first 3 episodes, and the show is amazing. breathtaking visuals & performances.

I'm planning to start over on a re-watch with my wife. here's my pitch to her: "babe, you should watch this show. it's amazing. a guy on the internet's friend wrote it." 

 
Not caught up because I haven't watched the last episode yet but ran across this article today from Vice that had an interesting tidbit in it:

The Book of Revelations tells us that a star will fall from the sky, poisoning the rivers and springs of the world below. “Many people die,” it says. The Bible names the star as Wormwood, which translates into Ukrainian as “Chornobyl.”

Never knew that. In various different publications Chernobyl is alternately spelled Chornobyl in Russia.

 
Yankee23Fan said:
I have to think on this more, not that it truly matters, but the courtroom scene was one of the best I've ever watched.  It wasn't an American courtroom in that sense, but the manner in which it was filmed, the lack of dramatic sound, the clear tension with so very little sound to portray it and the way he explained how the reactor worked was just magnificent.

I can't think of one true demerit I could give this show.  Not one.  5/5 10/10 100/100 whatever the ranking is.  It needs to win just about every award it gets nominated for.  This is the way you tell a story like this, and more of this kind of work needs to be done to teach people about the events that have shaped our history that are cataclysmic like Chernobyl.

Just brilliant.

And absolutely heart-wrenching.
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Totally and 100% agree!

 
Yankee23Fan said:
I have to think on this more, not that it truly matters, but the courtroom scene was one of the best I've ever watched.  It wasn't an American courtroom in that sense, but the manner in which it was filmed, the lack of dramatic sound, the clear tension with so very little sound to portray it and the way he explained how the reactor worked was just magnificent.

I can't think of one true demerit I could give this show.  Not one.  5/5 10/10 100/100 whatever the ranking is.  It needs to win just about every award it gets nominated for.  This is the way you tell a story like this, and more of this kind of work needs to be done to teach people about the events that have shaped our history that are cataclysmic like Chernobyl.

Just brilliant.

And absolutely heart-wrenching.
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that was why a show like this had to be so hard to do, and I think they did a great job of making the show not completely depressing. Was impressive how they focused on the whole story, but also emphasized some of the heroics involved like the miners and divers. Also how the potential damage of Chernobyl could have been exponentially worse without some of the good decisions and efforts by the leaders involved. Hard to do with such a tragedy and display of incompetence and injustice

 
Nipsey said:
Every episode as great. Watched them all multiple times except this last one. I'd rank them:

5

2

1

3

4

Who do you even nominate for Emmys? So many great performances. Harris for sure. Likely Watson. Skaasgard should be. I think Ritter may have been my favorite actor in the whole show. Guy was so great tonight. When he slaps the test book out of the worker's hands, awesome.
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If Harris doesn’t win for his role they should honestly shut it down. 

 
Mr Anonymous said:
The buildup to the explosion in episode 5 was some of the best television I've ever seen. When Legasov got to 1:23:40 during his courtroom presentation I was so immersed that my house could have been burning down around me and I wouldn't have noticed.
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That was my favorite part. The verbal timestamps made it so intriguing and Jared Harris f'n crushed it. 

 
So great.  And I am so glad it was made because I've always felt that people never understood just how bad it was.  I remember even having debates on this board a decade ago about the dangers of nuclear energy and people pointing to Chernobyl as to proof that it's not as bad as we thought.  The propaganda that the Soviet's put out was so good, that up until 5 weeks ago, a lot of the world still didn't realize the extent of how bad it was.  Bringing this tragedy to full light is the best part of this miniseries.  A mountain of whipped cream and a ton of cherries was the fact it was amazing television.

I'm not totally against nuclear power, so I don't want it to sound like that.  And I don't want this post to start a debate over it.  But it's important to point out not only how bad things can go, but how they can go bad.  I remember someone on this board saying "Sure, Three Mile Island had a flaw, but these days they are building these plants so they won't fail with more safety features."  And it always struck me as odd that people think when they built the original ones they were like, "No need to make them safe.  Just get them built."  The biggest mistake you can make is thinking that something is NOW completely safe.

And the other thing people would always say was that "Of course they cut corners when they built it.  It was the Soviet Union."  But everyone in the world cuts corners.  It doesn't matter if you're in China, Russia, Canada, the US or Luxembourg.  Corruption runs deep in mankind.  

When we look at Chernobyl, it's important to understand that even with everything that happened, the outcome was pretty much "Best Case Scenario" for the event that occurred.  1000 square miles uninhabitable for hundreds of more years.  Two countries affected.  Tens of thousands of people suffering from cancer.  Best case scenario.  As we saw in the series, Europe could have become uninhabitable.  EUROPE!  Entire continents and their water sources ruined.  It's hard to even fathom that outcome.

And we spent billions of dollars to cover up the reactor so that's taken care of.  Well.  Taken care of for about 100 years.  Then that sarcophagus will be at the end of it's life span.  And, good news with that, is that entire structure will be radioactive by then.  So maybe just build a bigger sarcophagus?   Like, this is a problem that isn't going away.  Most likely ever.  

But again, I think this show brings a lot more light to a very shady event in history.  And that's a great thing.  But even more than that, it was amazing to watch.  The storytelling, the characters, the visuals... just all so amazing.  Sometimes you read a book or a novel and you think, "They should make that into a movie."  And then you hear they are, and you immediately get worried because you're afraid they won't do it justice.  But this guy definitely knocked it out of the park.  Mammoth style dinger.

And the last thing I want to say, that I always say when ever talking about anything Russia, is this:  God, I love Putin.  He's the most handsome and intelligent leader the world has ever seen.  There is no one better than him and he is the greatest ruler there ever was, or will ever be.  Putin is the man. 

 
TheIronSheik said:
So great.  And I am so glad it was made because I've always felt that people never understood just how bad it was.  I remember even having debates on this board a decade ago about the dangers of nuclear energy and people pointing to Chernobyl as to proof that it's not as bad as we thought.  The propaganda that the Soviet's put out was so good, that up until 5 weeks ago, a lot of the world still didn't realize the extent of how bad it was.  Bringing this tragedy to full light is the best part of this miniseries.  A mountain of whipped cream and a ton of cherries was the fact it was amazing television.

I'm not totally against nuclear power, so I don't want it to sound like that.  And I don't want this post to start a debate over it.  But it's important to point out not only how bad things can go, but how they can go bad.  I remember someone on this board saying "Sure, Three Mile Island had a flaw, but these days they are building these plants so they won't fail with more safety features."  And it always struck me as odd that people think when they built the original ones they were like, "No need to make them safe.  Just get them built."  The biggest mistake you can make is thinking that something is NOW completely safe.

And the other thing people would always say was that "Of course they cut corners when they built it.  It was the Soviet Union."  But everyone in the world cuts corners.  It doesn't matter if you're in China, Russia, Canada, the US or Luxembourg.  Corruption runs deep in mankind.  

When we look at Chernobyl, it's important to understand that even with everything that happened, the outcome was pretty much "Best Case Scenario" for the event that occurred.  1000 square miles uninhabitable for hundreds of more years.  Two countries affected.  Tens of thousands of people suffering from cancer.  Best case scenario.  As we saw in the series, Europe could have become uninhabitable.  EUROPE!  Entire continents and their water sources ruined.  It's hard to even fathom that outcome.

And we spent billions of dollars to cover up the reactor so that's taken care of.  Well.  Taken care of for about 100 years.  Then that sarcophagus will be at the end of it's life span.  And, good news with that, is that entire structure will be radioactive by then.  So maybe just build a bigger sarcophagus?   Like, this is a problem that isn't going away.  Most likely ever.  

But again, I think this show brings a lot more light to a very shady event in history.  And that's a great thing.  But even more than that, it was amazing to watch.  The storytelling, the characters, the visuals... just all so amazing.  Sometimes you read a book or a novel and you think, "They should make that into a movie."  And then you hear they are, and you immediately get worried because you're afraid they won't do it justice.  But this guy definitely knocked it out of the park.  Mammoth style dinger.

And the last thing I want to say, that I always say when ever talking about anything Russia, is this:  God, I love Putin.  He's the most handsome and intelligent leader the world has ever seen.  There is no one better than him and he is the greatest ruler there ever was, or will ever be.  Putin is the man. 
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What did Legasov say the half-life was?  28,000 years?

 
Grahamburn said:
I loved that part.  "We should print that on our money."
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Yea I thought it was a very poignant statement that really captured not only what was going on with Legasov but really summarized the entire Soviet apparatchik reaction to Chernobyl.

@Evilgrin 72 you were correct earlier, Mazin, much like what Comrade Charkov stated would happen to Legasov, will forget you ever existed. If you do happen to run into him again, right before the security personnel cart you away, please pass along my congratulations to him on an outstanding series :thumbup:

 
I'm not sure what was more disappointing, the end of this series or the end of the sister podcasts :( Now I'm really bummed.

If you haven't already, you should definitely go back and listen to the podcasts. Great insight into the story and the show from Mazin.

 
beer 30 said:
I'm not sure what was more disappointing, the end of this series or the end of the sister podcasts :( Now I'm really bummed.

If you haven't already, you should definitely go back and listen to the podcasts. Great insight into the story and the show from Mazin.
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I just heard him on the Big Picture with Sean Fennessey for you Ringer/Rewatchables fans.  The accents came up.  :lol:

 
So I know you are wondering, 350 kilograms = 772 lbs which is really nothing considering the first explosion blew a 450 ton dome off the top of the reactor. This was the little explosion :D

Considering what occurred and what sheer human will overcame to stop it, it's a wonder that all of Europe isn't a winter wonderland for the next 50,000 years or so.

 
Loved the series but I have an issue with the fabricated character of Ulana Khomyuk (Emily Watson).  After I watched the first two episodes, I commented that she is one of the world's greatest unsung heroes.  I don't think the writers should have made her actions to be so heroic because it takes away from some of the true Chernobyl heroes and the story didn't need the extra drama IMO.

 
chet said:
Loved the series but I have an issue with the fabricated character of Ulana Khomyuk (Emily Watson).  After I watched the first two episodes, I commented that she is one of the world's greatest unsung heroes.  I don't think the writers should have made her actions to be so heroic because it takes away from some of the true Chernobyl heroes and the story didn't need the extra drama IMO.
Click to expand...
She's a composite of a number of actual scientists who helped drive the revelation that there were flaws with the reactor.  Rather than have 11 additional characters each dropping a tidbit here and there, he created one character to embody all their contributions.  Story-telling choice.  Also the main reason behind the podcast, he's super transparent about what did really happened what had to be generated in order to tell a compelling story that flows.

 
Evilgrin 72 said:
She's a composite of a number of actual scientists who helped drive the revelation that there were flaws with the reactor.  Rather than have 11 additional characters each dropping a tidbit here and there, he created one character to embody all their contributions.  Story-telling choice.  Also the main reason behind the podcast, he's super transparent about what did really happened what had to be generated in order to tell a compelling story that flows.
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That makes sense.  What podcast are you referring to?  I have to admit that I can count the number of podcasts I've listened to on one hand. 

 
chet said:
That makes sense.  What podcast are you referring to?  I have to admit that I can count the number of podcasts I've listened to on one hand. 
Click to expand...
It's the companion podcast.  An hour for each episode.  Even if you don't listen to podcasts on the reg, this is worth listening to for 5 hours just to get a lot more detail about each episode.

 
chet said:
Loved the series but I have an issue with the fabricated character of Ulana Khomyuk (Emily Watson).  After I watched the first two episodes, I commented that she is one of the world's greatest unsung heroes.  I don't think the writers should have made her actions to be so heroic because it takes away from some of the true Chernobyl heroes and the story didn't need the extra drama IMO.
Click to expand...
They mentioned what EG is referring to in the final credits. 

 
TheIronSheik said:
It's the companion podcast.  An hour for each episode.  Even if you don't listen to podcasts on the reg, this is worth listening to for 5 hours just to get a lot more detail about each episode.
Click to expand...
What if you’ve never listened to a podcast?  And don’t know how. Asking for a friend. 

 
Evilgrin 72 said:
She's a composite of a number of actual scientists who helped drive the revelation that there were flaws with the reactor.  Rather than have 11 additional characters each dropping a tidbit here and there, he created one character to embody all their contributions.  Story-telling choice.  Also the main reason behind the podcast, he's super transparent about what did really happened what had to be generated in order to tell a compelling story that flows.
Click to expand...
I liked it.

 
DA RAIDERS said:
What if you’ve never listened to a podcast?  And don’t know how. Asking for a friend. 
Click to expand...
If you have an iPhone, just open the Podcast app that is on their phones and search Chernobyl.  Download the one that says HBO next to it.  Fairly easy.  

If you don't have an iPhone, you'll have to check with someone else.  I mean, your friend will have to check with someone else.

 
DA RAIDERS said:
What if you’ve never listened to a podcast?  And don’t know how. Asking for a friend. 
Click to expand...
I believe there's a link to them on pornhub.

At least that's where I spent a couple hours looking for them last night.  

Come to think of it, I really never did find them... I'll check again tonight.  They must be buried in one of the subcats

 
There's a podcast that is sort of a companion piece to the episodes.  I highly recommend.  👍  Just search iTunes for Chernobyl.  

 
chet said:
That makes sense.  What podcast are you referring to?  I have to admit that I can count the number of podcasts I've listened to on one hand. 
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It's called The Chernobyl Podcast. There's one roughly 45 minute episode to accompany each of the 5 episodes of the show. They go in depth about all the choices made in the creation of the show. Essential listening (IMO) to gain a full appreciation of the program. 

 
DA RAIDERS said:
What if you’ve never listened to a podcast?  And don’t know how. Asking for a friend. 
Click to expand...
Download any podcast app on your phone and subscribe/download or, if you don't want to listen on your phone, just search Chernobyl podcast rss feed and you can surely find a link to download an mp3. 

 
Wife and I finished Ep 5 tonight.  @Evilgrin 72, please shake your buddy's hand (figuratively if necessary) for us.  5 of the best episodes of tv we have watched in  a long, long time.  The fact that it is at least based in history makes it even better.  A+.

 
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