Hello and welcome to all who are reading this! I have been planning to watch Chernobyl for long time now but couldn't make time out for it. However, I finally watched the series and thought of writing a review for the week.
Since the series only had 5 episodes, I will be giving a brief description and my thoughts on each episode. So firstly, the series is a HBO original and was released in 2019 and is directed by Johan Renck and is adapted from the book Voices from Chernobyl written by Svetlana Alexievich.
The plot surrounds one of the worst nuclear explosions that occurred in the city of Chernobyl in the Soviet Union in 1986. Chernobyl was a nuclear power plant and 31 people died as an immediate result of the explosions. Due to the radiation exposure, many more died including workers and firemen.
Episode 1 - 1:23:45
This episode was definitely very confusing as it was hard to understand who the people were and what the situation was but slowly the plot started making sense. Even the names were hard to remember as they were Russian names. The first episode showed the aftermaths of the explosion and also showed the men working within the plant. There was a lot of confusion within the men since it wasn't just the plant exploding but also the core which was impossible to happen. There was a lot of physics used throughout the show but weirdly it made all sense to me. The higher-ups definitely pissed me off as they just didn't want to believe such a things has happened.
Episode 2 - Please Remain Calm
The second episode was where the politics started. At least that's what I call it. Plans to make Chernobyl a safe place started. The radiations coming from the plant were extremely deadly and there was no way anyone who encountered those radiations would live any longer than a few weeks. There were random cut scenes of a few people who were involved in the accident which were very heartbreaking to see. Then we were also introduced to Valery Legasov and Boris Scherbina who worked together to stop the radiations from coming out and making Chernobyl safe.
Episode 3 - Open Wide, O Earth
Introduction to Ulana Khomyuck was undoubtedly the best part of this show. She is such an icon and even though she was not real and was based on many people who helped out through the process. She most definitely was the cog that made the whole process spin perfectly. Again the higher ups made me very angry as every decision they made was only to keep up with their reputation rather than thinking of the people who lost their lives. The graphic scenes of the patients in the hospital with their bodies and face completely messed because of the radiation is very traumatizing. The scene where Legasov asks the commander for the permission to kill three men was very chilling too.
Episode 4 - The Happiness of All Mankind
The name of the episode itself tells the premise of this episode. Ulana and Legasov finally get hold of the idea as to how the core must have exploded but Legasov wasn't willing to tell the truth to the world as it would taint Russia's reputation in front of the world and he would get killed for revealing such secrets. Dyatlov along with Viktor and Fomin undoubtedly were behind the explosion but they kept pleading they were innocent till the end.
Episode 5 - Delete
This was the last episode and definitely the saddest. Since Legasov decided to reveal the truth, he was punished by the higher ups for being honest. We also get to know that Boris has fallen ill and has very little time to live. The men behind this whole disaster were only given 10 years in prison which most definitely is not sufficient considering their crimes. Legasov never met Ulana and Boris after leaving the court after revealing the truth.
At the end of the show we hear Legasov's narration and it has stuck with me so I would like to share it:
"To be a scientist is to be naïve. We are so focused on our search for truth, we fail to consider how few actually want us to find it. But it is always there, whether we see it or not, whether we choose or not. The truth doesn't care about our needs or wants. It doesn't care about our government, our ideologies, our religion. It will lie in wait for all time. And this, at last, is the gift of Chernobyl. Where I once would fear the cost of truth, now I only ask: What is the cost of lies?
Undoubtedly, this show was not only informational but also very interesting. Since it only has 5 episodes, I would recommend it to everyone. Truly it is a disastrous story and makes me sad to think that innocent people went through so much pain and trauma because of it.
Thank you so much for tuning in to my review. If by any chance you are curious as to whether you should watch this show or not, then I would most definitely recommend you to go for it.
Thank you for reading my post! I will be sharing more in the coming weeks. 💕 This post is set 20% Beneficiary to @steemit-Pak
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