I'm so sorry people spoiled you for the montage at the end. I see it at everyone who does a reaction to Chernobyl and it annoys me every time, so thank you for coming right out and saying it. Somehow, people seem to think it's not spoilers if "it happened" in real life and it's not in the dramatized part of the series -- but the montage is brilliantly constructed narratively and it is there for a reason - catharsis. Learning the facts presented in the montage when the "story" is over is meant to be an emotional release from the series and it packs an amazing punch as new information, which people who have seen the series already or a few times seem to completely forget when they watch reaction channels, and they spoil it every time. I really wish people would learn this. It's *part of the series*.
I completely agree. It is such a dumb comment for people to say that it isn't a spoiler if it's based on historical fact. It's very simple: If you tell someone something that they don't know, but would find out by watching the show/movie then THAT is a spoiler.
@@SilentBob731 I'm sorry you don't care about how telling stories works. What are you here for, if you're not interested in an honest reaction? And you'll note that *Angela* said, right in the video, that she would have preferred not knowing what was in the epilogue to having been spoiled by her viewers, so this is coming straight from the person who is reacting to the show.
The amazing thing about Boris is that he said he hoped one day he would matter. And he ended up mattering twice. In 1988 he was in charge of rescue efforts in Armenia after a major earthquake.
The bench scene between Boris and Valery is perhaps one of the best written and acted scenes I’ve seen in the last 10 years. It hits me every time! Two actors at their best. Wow.
Yes, but science is self-correcting. Lies, as you call them - or better "untruths" which covers deliberate and accidental/misinformed - are sooner or later corrected by other scientists. Science is the best process we have to find truth. Without trust in the scientific process - chaos, as we are seeing today.
The Bridge of Death thing is apparently an urban myth--most people who have researched Chernobyl have said that there weren't actually a bunch of people watching from the bridge. The fact that the explosion happened in the middle of the night meant that people slept right through it or at least weren't going outside to look at it. Hope that's a little comforting. Also, I think that the power of the final episode is that, despite having seen the aftermath of the explosion, I watched the scenes from the control room with a palpable sense of dread, just hoping *something* would happen to stop the disaster that I knew was inevitably coming. This show plays people's emotions like a violin. Masterful filmmaking!
The story isn’t just about the accident, it’s the story of the people who lived, suffered, and died. The series is the people’s story. The people sacrificed everything - their health, their home, their professional reputations and careers, even their very lives to do what the situation required of them. They went willingly to their deaths to save others, to save their countrymen, to save the people of neighboring countries, they sacrificed all for the sake of the greater good. As the character Khomyuk says so solemnly, “they died rescuing each other”. The story may get details wrong or changed for dramatic effect but the series makes the viewer feel the experience, trauma, and emotion of the events surrounding Chernobyl. The story is not just the accident’s story, it is the people’s story.
@@neptunusrex5195 Yes! This is why I do not care much about the scientific or dramatic liberties taken in this show. The institutional and cultural failures that lead to the accident (and don't kind yourself: democratic capitalist systems have their own different but equally powerful pressures to not rock the boat or tell the whole truth as the Soviet communist system) and the "we simply must deal with this" heroism are all true in the sense that any storytelling is true. So what that none of our three (Khomyuk, Scherbina, Legasov) were involved in the actual trial of the three reactor managers. It is still a great scene.
51:22 Scientists would be the _first_ to tell you that they are not always right. Scientists work with hypotheses and theories, with which they explain reality as accurately as possible given the available information (including careful testing of those theories, etc...). The point is that if new information comes to light that contradicts those theories, scientists will happily admit that they were wrong - and adjust the theory accordingly.
There's a full circle moment, where Legasov is explaining to them, and us, how a RBMK reactor works. Where one of the first interactions he has with their authority is one telling him to explain to him how a reactor works and he laughs at the idea, and we all scoff at the hubris of such a question. But he exactly had to work on how to do that, to get his point across to the board and history. And it works, we understand without needing to understand everything.
It also has one of my favourite pieces of acting in the show for me, where you see Legasov say, 'It is beautiful...' and he smiles for a moment, like he really loves it. Great little detail from Jared Harris.
Dyatlov was created by that society. He ran away from home as a boy, managed to get an education. Married. He Lost his 9-year-old son to Leukemia, most likely because of his job working close to dangerous materials. As he's played here, he comes across as a bitterly unhappy man who's already lost what he loved and cares about very little. I can muster an atom of sympathy for him.
plus its a tv show so don't believe everything you see, its for entertainment not truth. Also he has a government trying to cover it up and blame him for the problem, do you know if he actually was the problem? No. You need facts to decide if he made mistakes, or just invented facts against him to cover it up by the government. Hey, China and Covid, the same thing. Hide the problem that will fix it right? lol
My older brother is a former Navy nuc, and a current civilian reactor operator. He has a lot of little complaints about details in this show, especially "the baby absorbed it all," but he does say that Legasov's description of reactor dynamics in this episode is the very best one he has ever seen for a non-technical audience.
True the baby didn't absorb the radiation. But if speaking in non scientific simplified terms it's understandable. The baby didn't absorb the radiation instead, it would however have absorbed some of the radioactive material instead of the mothers body retaining it..
@Markus117d Dose is dose. There is no sense in which the baby's absorbed radiation reduced the mother's. The absolute intensity (Bequerels or Curies), the absorbed dose (grays or rads), and the "equivalent dose" (which is fuzzier because it tries to quantify the biological harm of a dose which varies by radiation type and absorbed dose) measured in sieverts or rem (roentgen equivalent man) and these are defined in much more complex ways. The units they keep talking about in this show, roentgen, really only apply to X and gamma rays in air. The radiation from alpha and beta decay are a greater part of the hazards in an open fission reactor. But cells receiving energy from exposure are cells receiving energy from exposure. Let's put it this way: if you are standing next to an open reactor core next to someone else you are not any safer than you would be standing there by yourself. And that is, essentially, the assertion they make with the "baby absorbed it instead" remark.
@evilpenguinmas You missed the point i was saying, it didn't absorb the radiation, It did however absorb some of the radioactive materials ingested ect by the mother, just it absorbs non radioactive materials. The body can't distinguish between a stable element and it's isotopes.. And if speaking in a non scientific manner for TV audiences it does get the point across, without going into overly technical explanations..
I'm a former navy Nuc and retired nuclear engineer. Your brother is absolutely correct. The show is great, but it plays fast and loose with a lot of details about radiation effects and reactors.
@@Markus117d I didn't miss it! I'm just don't think it makes any difference. It's just something the show gets wrong. It doesn't diminish the show. It's just something completely technically inaccurate in there so they can say the line about babies sacrificing for their mothers. I wasn't trying to criticize you in any way. I get what you mean, it just wouldn't make any difference. The radioactive isotopes would be taken up by the baby's cells and the mother's cells in the same proportion. I'll admit that to the extent that the fetus has tissues whose cells are dividing more rapidly than the same tissues in an adult, there might be a somewhat higher absorption in the fetus than in the mother, but this is not because it making less available to the mother. I don't want to make more of this than we have. I see your point. I hope you see mine. Let's agree it is a really good show!
" For God's sake, Boris, you were the one who mattered most" The story arc of Boris and Valery relationship from Boris threatening to have Valery thrown out of a helicopter to this line is wonderful and heartbreaking all at the same time.
It sucks that we live in a world where almost everyone knows the name Kardashian but almost no one knows the names of certain people in this story like the 3 divers and the miners, Valery and Boris, and many others who are responsible for saving the lives of millions. To paraphrase Churchill "Never before was so much, owed by so many, to so few"
Agreed. Except it wasn't entirely "so few." There were literally thousands of people involved in responding to the disaster. One of the biggest take-aways of this show for me was just the incredible heroism (willing or unwilling) of the ordinary citizens called upon to deal with it.
@@rudewalrus5636 exactly just like all the scientists that worked together to figure it out. In the tv show they simplified the characters to streamline it more, but just think, the made up woman wasn't really there, dozens of scientists were working hard to figure it out and fix it, and are only mentioned in the after credits. What are THEIR names, why aren't they good enough to be in a tv show about the disaster, but a made up character is. Hey, no matter how telling the show is, it's still just a tv show, and many things left out, changed, and just made up for entertainment.
Each episode had a corresponding podcast where the creators went over in detail every historical fact versus every change they made to present them here. It's a fascinating listen.
After Chernobyl Unit 4 Exploded, the other Units kept on running and producing electricity. Unit 1 was shutdown Nov. 1996, Unit 2 was shutdown after a turbine fire in 1991 and Unit 3 was shutdown for inspections and repairs 1n 1997. Unit 4 and 5 were under construction at time of the explosion in Unit 4 and were never completed. In 1999-2000 it was decided to permanently decommission all units. It was very lucky that the "accident" at Unit 4 didn't melt down the other reactors. Thank God (or Deity of your choice or not)
well if you actually watched the show and read up on history, wasn't a diety that prevented that, it was the hard work of the people represented on the show. did you even watch the show? lol.
My friend is an engineer who works for a really big company that does contruct power plants (nuclear and normal) he has 10y worth of experience educating the staff who manages the control room. And he always said to me "Listen mate, you sleep better if you don´t know who manages nuclear power plants and the skillset those ppl have"
@@funnylilgalreacts Interesting thing is that , Homer Simpson should have died at the very first episode, that glowing green container he carries around carelessly is said to contain one of the most radioactive materials, which is a form of cobalt, the warnings on the container literally say "drop and run" a lot of people have measured that he probably would have died only minutes after getting home from work in the opening. Also a different topic and an interesting story, there is a content creator known as Pravus, who mostly does strategy and civilization building games, he and his wife had been trying for a child for something like five years, but it never worked. The doctors couldn't figure out why, nothing was wrong with them, they just didn't seem to be having children. Then one day, they finally had a child, heck they even have a second child on the way. Sometimes there are some mysteries that even science cannot solve.
I am going to assume you are referring to this in a "global" sense. I have to respectfully disagree with regard to those who staff nuclear plants in the US. I worked for many years doing control room design (i.e., evaluating control room design from the perspective of what is know as ergonomics or human factors). I worked at many different power plants, and can say without reservation the control room staff are extremely professional (most came from the Navy having served on various nuclear powered vessels). I was IN a control room at one point, during a refueling outage....we were replacing ALL of the labeling on the Emergency Diesel Generator panels...someone out in the plant tripped a breaker and the control room (and much of the plant) lost all power. I watched this operations crew go from sitting around eating pizza, it was about 2am and lunch for this shift, to immediately on station...with much of the attention AT the Emergency Diesel Generator panels. They restored power in a matter of minutes...only glancing at our control panel drawings a couple times to double check they were operating the current control. Absolutely amazing. So...I take a bit of offense when folks cast shade on our NPP operators. I wish I were that talented.
It was more of mismanagement lesson and sovok mentality demonstration. RBMKs were ok by design and there are still functioning ones today. P.S. passenger airplanes can be dangerous if stalled or above mach 1, pilots just need to follow the rules to the letter.
That bit of dialogue beteeen Boris and Valery is a real tear jerker, amazing writing and acting. That serie has to be the most powerful and impactful that i've ever watched. Love your reactions! 😊
sorry no. The fall of the Soviet union is not from instances or occurances, but by the leadership. Those running the country are responsible. Was Gorbachev leading the country at that time? Then he is one of those responsible. The US is in a bad state when it comes to healthcare, crime, prisons, and many other things. Those problems aren't caused by accidents, injuries, etc. Those problems are caused by those in charge not fixing the problems. Simple as that.
@@funnylilgalreacts Watch everything first, then start posting. Alternatively, have moderators to delete spoilery comments. Look up That Chernobyl Guy for a much more nuanced look into the chain of events, court documents, and operational procedures. There is also Dyatlov's last interview.
@@funnylilgalreacts hey people are stupid. I would suggest like most other reactors do. Have mods handle the posts and remove spoilers, or try to not read any forums or posts on shows you are doing until the show is finished to prevent spoilers. A short series like this one, easy to do. A longer series sure hard to not respond to posts and chat on those shows but a short series maybe try to say "ok i won't look at the posts until i finish reacting to it all". Mods are easier, but not everyone uses moderators.
It wont surprise you that this show won a buttload of awards and was almost entirely responsible for Craig Mazin to be put in charge of The Last of Us show as well. I love that montage at the end. Its so simple yet beautiful. And lastly, Vichnaya Pamyat is Ukrainian for "Memory Eternal" A fitting title indeed.
The series is a dramatisation and they were probably unfairly harsh towards Dyatlov. He was very experienced with these reactors and, while a harsh and unpleasant boss, he most certainly didn't go into denial about what happened, as depicted in the show. I recently read the book Midnight in Chernobyl and I came to feel a lot more empathy for him. The higher-ups were trying to push the blame onto the operators and Dyatlov was very outspoken in the defense of his men such as Toptinov and Akimov. And after the accident he wrote to the parents of these men to let them know that what was being said about them was untrue and that they did their jobs well.
There is an interview with him on youtube. I take it you're already acquainted with That Chernobyl Guy? How does those match with the book? I can't remember if TCG used the book in all his work, but...
@gottagowork not seen him actually, so can't say. I work in the nuclear industry and my manager recommended the book after we were discussing the HBO series
of course you don't just accept the "facts" on these people or how they are represented in a tv show. You also don't demonize Dyatlov past the tv show, because it is a tv show and they make up stuff to make the show more appealing in various ways. Like the divers that went into turn on the water, they didn't go into danger, there wasn't that much radioactivity, and they had no problems doing the job, all made up for the TV show. So if you want to know the truth about Dyatlov read up on him and learn. He could have been stupid, or he could have just been called that by the soviet leaders who were trying to blame him instead of them accepting responsibility. A communist government trying to hide facts? say it isn't so! You all remember Covid with China right? lol
Vichnaya Pamyat means Eternal Memory (I think). I think it’s an apt title for the finale, seeing as this should never be forgotten. If i ever become a history teacher, Chernobyl will be on my list of things to show my students.
Re-post from a previous episode just because I feel like you'd enjoy a deeper look into the series: I would recommend listening to the Chernobyl Podcast featuring Craig Mazin the executive producer, each episode of the podcast goes into detail for a specific episode!! With how things were done and why they did some of the things they did in this mini-series.
@@Dularr Regardless, it is undeniable that modern reactors are far safer than those from the 80s. Especially the old soviet ones, human error in operation or not.
Nothing is perfectly safe, and you do public opinion about nuclear power *no favors whatsoever* by making statements like that. We can, and should, recognize that modern reactor designs are *safer* . But to say they're "safe" is not only to mislead people, but to train people to think of these things in the wrong way. The correct way to think is in terms of degrees of risk.
I've said it before, but I'll repeat it here. This might be the scariest horror movie ever made. I was a teenager when this happened, and this event shocked everybody. The lack of concrete information coming from the Soviet Union certainly added to it. Per Soviet doctrine they insisted nothing was seriously wrong while pretty much every country in Europe was detecting copious amounts of radiation in the air.
well there are many reasons. First the show is old so they figure most people know about it anyway at this point. If someone is reacting to the wizard of oz, people aren't going to think twice about saying stuff. Also many reactors are way ahead in the episode reactions, sometimes all done by time people are putting up spoilers. Hey, she's starting the show! i'll post spoilers about episode 2 because its cool! Thinking, well she's already seen episodes 2, 3, etc and its not a new show anyway so who cares.
There’s an HBO podcast that discusses the history of Chernobyl and production of the series (also available here on TH-cam). Craig Mazin, Stellan Skarsgard, Jared Harris, et al all make appearances and give their commentary as well. Highly recommend listening to the podcast it sheds a lot of light on some key details of the events.
the fact that the kgb and the iron curtain willingly acted like a child till they finally changed policy is what hit me the most: cowardice for not accepting the screw up and doing anything to pass the blame on to others
well that is all governments. Governments are run by people, and people lie, cheat and steal. Soviet union, and every government on earth. People try to cover their butts, blame others. For the most part, everyone does it. Heck China and Covid? Germany and Japan in WW2, Heck america in WW2? Did you learn anything about american prison camps for asians in WW2 growing up in history classes in school? I sure didn't. They taught us enough about Germany and Japan in the battles, but not one word about that we had hundreds of thousands in prison camps.
Angela said viewers could probably guess what her political preferences are.. and if anyone had any doubt she then proceeds to tell us she believes in science.. Q.E.D.
This was the 80s, and the vast majority of the general population didn't understand what radiation was or how it worked. Hell, even today, the vast majority of the modern general population doesn't know what radiation is or how it works.
people need to learn to stfu with spoilers in comments. If a reactor gets to the summary at the end and multiple times go "you guys told me that" then you as commenters fucked up. stfu.
You just never know. When I was a kid, I saw this movie, "Captain Newman, MD," about life in a WWII Army Air Corps Psych Hospital. I remember being pretty traumatized, and resolving that I would never, ever, get myself into that work. It wasn't until YEARS later that I was able to watch that movie again. I got freaked out again when the scene of the orderlies wrestling with a patient with a knife in a running shower came on. I remembered my promise to myself, then realized with shattering clarity that that was EXACTLY what I had ended up doing after all. Mysterious ways. (shivers)
On a different topic, here's something I love so much about the series - "How does an RBMK reactor explode?", or some variant of that question, is asked at least once in each of the first four episodes (by different characters for different effects), and then, in episode five, we get the answer from Legasov, as if he's reaching back through time and answering each and every instance of the question being asked: "*That* is how an RBMK reactor explodes. Lies."
The official number is one of those weird history technicalities, though, there's no Soviet Union to change that number today. It's like how Germany ended WWII only a couple of decades ago, because East and West Germany on their own weren't able to officially end the war, as they didn't start it.
One thing that seems insane is the other reactors actually continued to be used to produce power after all of this. Unit 2 was shutdown in 1991, unit 1 in 1996 and finally unit 3 shutdown in 2000. They've been going through the slow process to decommissioning them since 2015 where it's not expected to be finished until 2065
Boris is my MF GOAT of this show!! Him telling the diver “you’ll do it because you have to”🥶That’s the realest shit he could say and it worked also him talking to Valery is amazing!! Such a amazing series and very informative!!
It's ironic because, although Shcherbina was a key part of the system, he was the most competent among a group of otherwise incompetent individuals, and he was unmistakably chosen to resolve the crisis.
Regardless of what details the show took liberties with, they told one hell of a story. They made us pay attention to the disaster that happened, and ponder the emotions involved. From hubris and fear to heroism and empathy.
This series was such a moving masterpiece. It's so hard to not cry if you cry, I so feel your heartache and can grieve along with you. That's how amazing of a reactor you are, thank you.
I watched this with my husband who studied the Chernobyl disaster in the Navy Nuclear Power school. They go through everything: the interviews, the testimony, the case notes of how they responded. I waited until this episode to tell you: 1, the trial is word for word exactly as recorded. So much so that my husband was able to say exactly what Boris, Ulana and Legasov said before it was said on TV. 2, the KGB did take all the research and recordings and everyone in the trial was forced to keep it secret except! 3, Legasov knew he was dying so he aligned himself with American CIA spy's and gave them everything: the recordings, the research, the interviews, the timelines of events. In return his family was brought to America for protection. He committed suicide and left the tapes for American spy's to intercept before the KGB found him. This is why all UN aligned Nuclear military schools teach this disaster and it is how we know all of this information.
I was in the NNPS in '79-80. We would have benefited from the knowledge gained from Chernobyl. At the time, the only reactor disaster we learned about was the 1961 SL-1 accident in Idaho. A correction though. Perhaps your husband is mistaken. Valery Legasov did not testify at the trial. His testimony was entered as a written transcript of an interview he had with the KGB months before the trial. Also Ulana wasn't there because she didn't exist.
There is an interview with real Dyatlov on TH-cam (with English subs), where he briefly presents his version of the story. I'm not claiming that what he says there is the entire truth, but after the show painted him as a cartoon-level villain it's definitely worth watching. For example, he was defending the power plant operators till the end of his life.
again, to learn what really happened use your brain, study and read up. No one should be a "coolaid drinker" and just believe what you see on tv, or are told. You have a brain for a reason. TV shows are made for entertainment, not truth. Maybe documentaries are made more for truth, but tv shows are for entertainment, and many things were made up in this series for entertainment that never happened, or were never true, or were changed. Only stupid people believe what they are told, smart people learn the truth. Was Dyatlov this bad and stupid? I don't know i never studied him or history on the subject, but 1, its a tv show. and 2, its a government probably trying to lie and cover their own butts and blaming people who's fault it wasn't. Happens with every country and every government.
The exact version is an original composition, but the closing song in this episode is the Russian/Ukrainian Orthoodox Funeral Hymn, Vechnaya Pamyat (also the Episode Title), meaning “Memory Eternal” “Their souls shall dwell with the blessed, and their remembrance is from generation to generation.”
This is the one series that although still, don't spoil people, I'm at least not as annoyed about it because our experience watching this show, or her experience, feels almost disrespectful to be consider when it comes to this tragic event. Like going, "ugh now that I know how the Diary of Anne Frank ends it's not as fun reading it!" if you know what I mean. We all already came in knowing bits and pieces anyways. Just wish people were patient because a large amount of the comments were "last episode" sort of things like, "Oh you're watching Chernobyl? You should see the documentary about the puppies of chernobyl and animals left behind". Umm, she hasn't even started it yet, don't even give hints of where things could go, wait till AFTER the series to recommend things for her to do AFTER the series lol.
@@Saphthings I disagree with you - the montage at the end is part of the series and it is as carefully constructed as any other part of the show. It is meant as emotional release and catharsis for the viewer, and people who have seen the show a few times just completely forget that they got to experience it because now it's part of their knowledge. Every choice made in which clips to use, which words to use, what timing of revelation to use -- each of these is a deliberately made choice and is just as narratively important as the dramatized part of the show. It makes me so annoyed when people are like "oh but it happened in real life so we can say" -- nearly every person who reacts to Chernobyl says they have no idea what it's about other than they know it's a nuclear disaster, so all of those things that happened in real life *are just as emotional to discover as the dramatized elements are*. And regardless of it happening in real life or not, nobody should be telling a reaction channel *anything* in the comments that is going to be presented to them by the show.
My dude, people still deny we landed on the moon. Deny the earth is round (well not round but you know what I mean). Deny 9/11 was a terrorist attack. Deny Jan 6th happened or was an "antifa or FBI psyop" (or some other bullshit). What is the cost of lies, indeed.
So, can now comment! The control rods weren't tipped with graphite because it was cheap. They had to be long enough for a portion to remain in the core because otherwise when they're taken out they get replaced with water, which is a neutron absorber and that slows the reaction. Not what you want when you take the control rods out! The ideal thing to tip them with is more moderator - graphite - which speeds the reaction up! The design problem is that the tips weren't long enough. This was done to centre the reaction in the core, but it did mean that at the bottom of the reactor the control rods were replaced with water. Then when you insert them to stop the reaction, *locally*, at the bottom of the reactor, you introduce more carbon moderator, speed up the reaction instead of slow it down, and in cases of extreme instability end up with a steam explosion that disassembles the reactor. So there was some engineering logic to it beyond "cheap" (cheapest would have been no tips at all!) just the implications of a local power increase got missed.
exactly. The control rods were designed exactly how they were suppose to work. You have the rods, which are graphite on the bottom and boron on top. Having graphite isn't the cheap or bad way of making them, its the correct way. You can insert the rods half way, where the graphite is in the reactor core and working normally, and you can insert them all the way where the boron is in the reactor core, and the graphite part is below the core. When you want power you have the graphite part in the core, and when you want to reduce the core power you insert the rods all the way so the boron is in the core part. Again, made up facts for the tv show, there was no problem with the graphite being in the control rods, its part of the process.
The series vividly depicts the Soviet political system whereby no one took responsibility, much less accountability and all positions of power were defined by absolute loyalty to the state which "could do no wrong". Hence the rise of incompetents making decisions. However, Gorbachev, leader of the Soviet Union shown making decisions in the series, rose to power in 1985 and was instrumental in bringing about the collapse of the USSR in 1992. He is quoted as saying that Chernobyl was the event that convinced him that the Soviet political system could not sustain itself any longer. The "Cold War" ended and the USSR broke apart.
In the actual trial, there were three other senior people at the #4 reactor who were charged. They were left out of the show for simplification, I guess. It would have complicated the narrative. Boris Rogozhin was the shift director of #4 and sentenced to 5 years labor. Alexander Kovalenko was the chief of #4 and sentenced to 3 years. Yuri Laushkin, one of the senior engineers, was sentenced to 2 years. Also, Valery Legasov didn't testify at the trial. His written testimony was entered as evidence.
It's crazy to think that Lyudmilla was victim of an oppressive state reigning from Moscow causing a nuclear accident back then and now she's victim of another regime ruling from Moscow and leading an offensive war against the Ukraine. Poor woman really doesn't get a rest.
When the show came out I seem to remember a science podcast, Skeptics Guide to the Universe (one of the hosts is a medical doctor), said that the explanation for the baby's death was correct for the time but science has moved on and the reason would be different today. They also said that the 'Bridge of Death' has never been confirmed. In that all the people on the bridge that died soon after.
There is a lot of "deliberate wrongs" in the show that are based on what the popular perception was at the time. I.e. how it "became a nuclear bomb", or "thermal explosion of 50 MT" in one of the earlier episodes. A nuclear bomb have other fissile material requirements (like *much* higher purity). And thermal explosion of that size implies thermonuclear detonation (hydrogen bomb, which require a nuclear explosion to set it off), which is also nonsense.
Thank you for an excellent conclusion to your reactions to this series. It IS a brilliantly produced series...the acting is amazing, the performances so good. Yes...I do feel at times they take some liberties with facts...but that is to be expected for dramatic purposes, and I don't feel detracts from the quality of the series. IF you wish to learn more I highly recommend the TH-cam channels of Kyle Hill (channel of the same name), and That Chernobyl Guy (I don't know if his information is any more accurate, but it does add to the conversation about these events...and if anything shows most everyone has a narrative they wish to. push...probably even him). Peace.
This is a great series that tells the story very well. A lot of things are exaggerated for dramatic effect, like the magnitude of the steam explosion that was prevented by the divers (although the danger posed by it was huge, it wasn't a nuclear bomb). It always irks me though amid all the focus on the truth, and relaying things that actually happened (despite some dramatisation), the series includes the Bridge of Death, presented ina way that heavily implies it's a fact. The whole Bridge of Death event is an urban legend and there's no evidence it ever happened. I'm interested to know where the myth came from and how it began, but it's important to know it's a myth, and the show doesn't tell you that in the ending montage. The words "It is said..." do a lot of heavy lifting at the start of the subtitle on that section.
Although in a fair scenario, the faculty management would bear responsibility for having the tests complete before certification, one fun little bureaucratic trick is to make sure everyone has at least one place where they're not in compliance. If you ever need to go after anyone, you've always got a way to do it. Blame the system. The men inside it did the best they could.
I was in my early twenties, living in Austria. May 1st is our national holiday. We were poorly informed, we knew there was an accident somewhere in the USSR and that Sweden reported some radiation. That wasn´t enough to make people stay at home. So everyone was out because there were street parties and parades in every village. Even some rain didn´t bother us. It was the day of the highest radiation exposure. We got "showered" with Cesium-137 & Cesium-134. Now, a few decades later, types of leukemia are spiking. According to the oncologist who treated a relative, who died of leukemia last year. Another relative will have a bone marrow aspiration next week. I have no proof of causality. But we three spent that day in 1986 together. Am I living on borrowed time?
The creepy mouse is Soviet Mickey Mouse. Чебурашка, they had their own version and his own animated tv show etc... When Legasov is taken away from the court room, its always kind of striking to me that when he enters the room he looks around, and notices theres no windows and a drain/grate in the middle of the floor. Most Soviet people from that era would have been familiar with stories of the red terror and the purges from their parents or older family members. Tens or hundreds of thousands or more, people taken into dark rooms/basements, brutally killed, and the blood and brain matter etc just washed down the drain in the floor and the bodies hauled off to unmarked graves. He's in there fully expecting to be killed.
I also remember the 1961 K19 nuclear powered submarine accident. Which was made into the 2002 film, "K-19: The Widowmaker " starring Harrison Ford. It was the first Soviet Union nuclear powered submarine, and it turned out as badly as you might expect.
13:49 "First the trial." Correction..."First, the cover-up". 16:38 Said in Paul Harvey's voice: "And that, is the rest of the story." 20:13 Ha! She said it.😁 15:42 "Anytime these two are together, nothing good is happening". Perhaps not narratively, but we are getting a master-class in acting. 24:22 Case in point right here. 👍 24:23 That's Mikhail Mouse from Moskva. 😉 33:12 🤣 Angela is a wise woman, she makes many of the same comments as I do. 😁 37:05 Damn, that's cold-blooded. Exactly my reaction too...fork Dyatlov with a five-pound chunk of irradiated graphite.
From what I’ve heard… after he served his time, Dyatlov did show remorse and did what he could to right the wrongs he committed. Obviously there wasn’t very much he could do, but even so
or he wasn't at fault in the first place. Its a tv show, not a documentary. Or a communist government trying to cover its own butt and hide evidence trying to blame others. Do some homework on the guy to see how he really was.
Neither my brother nor I ever had kids. My mom had given up on my brother (based on age), but she continued to noodge me about grand children. One day I decided to get her. When she next brought it up I just said, "Well, can you wait 7 months?" I never heard another word about it. 😮
Legasov lied in Vienna, a scientist who was given incentive to not speak the truth, because the science didn't match the narrative. Legasov spoke the truth at the Soviet trial, and him and his testimony was scraped off the record, because the science didn't match the narrative. -"The science doesn't lie." I don't intend to argue, but I just find it amusing. I liked the series reaction.
I've been to Chernobyl twice and talked to many people about it. Although most in Ukraine didn't want to watch the TV show for obvious reasons, the ones who did told me this. There's only 2 things in the TV show that is not accurate. The first was the bridge of death. That bridge is 1-3 km away from their apartments. Also, from their apartments, they had a perfect view of the reactor, so there was no reason to go out there, in April, at night, when it was still freezing(april in Ukraine is still very cold). 2nd, the naked miners, although I am sad that isn't true because it brought a bit of humor to a tragedy, unfortunately it never happened.
Now you're done and spoiler-safe, I recommend the book Chernobyl Prayer. It's beautifully written, and you get to know Ludmilla better. Her love for her husband is so powerful.
its a tv show and stuff is made up for the show. Did you even research or study the man? Then don't take the "facts" of a entertainment tv show. Use your brain.
You had your own disaster on Wednesday, March 28, 1979, at 3 Mile Island, but although it was bad it wasn't a complete disaster as it was with Chernobyl.
My dad used to work at the Doel Nuclear Powerplant in Belgium... one day they came in and alarms started to go off... they had to go through the special showers to rinse off any radioactivity.. they tested where the radiation came from... it was from outside.. dad called home and ordered my mom to keep my sisters (i wasn't born yet) inside and lock all windows... later on Chernobyl was on the news.... later on (don't know how much later) my dad was working with a friend who was a pipe inspector and his dosimeter went off.. turns out the milk in the coffee from Germany was radioactive...
I think hunting wild hogs/boars for food is still regulated in Sweden to this day, due to the chance of elevated radiation levels (Cesium-137) in them. But not the widespread risk it used to be a long time ago.
Great reaction. One thing, not sure if anyone else already mentioned but the bridge of death is I think only urban legend. There is no proof of it and probably was included for dramatization.
There's no way to truly know but the speculation on the reactor going to 33000 has been surmised by some, given the conditions that it could easily have hit 300,000 or more Given that neutron generations are measured in nano seconds --- the amount of time it takes to jump up in power is mere milliseconds which is why they rely on delay neutrons to control the reactor --- nothing on earth could control a reaction with prompt neutrons alone
The phrases "it has been widely reported" or "it has been claimed" do a lot of heavy lifting in that ending montage. My understanding of the bridge thing is that it's essentially just an urban legend.
@Markus117d Our family friend, the former Chernobyl's liquidator, who lived in Pripyat the night of the accident, told us that the Railway Bridge scene is highly dramatized. Most people were sleeping, some were awaken up by the explosion. They were scared to go outside.
The amount of times you said "that's what everyone was telling me". I don't know what it is about this show but commenters are the absolute worst for spoiling this one. Just let people watch. This show is so much worse for it than others for some reason
If you can stand another sad show, there is a show called The Days about the Fukushima nuclear disaster. That one is a little less frustrating because it was caused by a natural disaster, but again it focuses on the workers doing their best in a terrible situation to save as many as possible. Its interesting because they have that history of what happened at Chernobyl to compare to and they say the situation in the control room was worse than Chernobyl
Thanks for toughing it out on this one. Your points about science in your commentary at the end is very much appreciated! If you want some positive modern news about Chernobyl despite *waves hands in general at everything going on in that part of the world*, it's worth reading up on the new protective structure at Chernobyl called "New Safe Confinement" (NSC). It's not just a building designed to contain radioactive material like the original Sarcophagus cover structure built in haste. NSC is an entire safe-deconstruction facility equipped with robotics and overhead cranes so that workers can slowly and safely dismantle the reactor and its building. It's designed to last a 100 years. To protect the workers building it, NSC was built away from the reactor building and rolled over top of it on rails when completed. It's the largest moving land-based structure ever built. There's a good overview of the project at th-cam.com/video/oY3fZH9VWhc/w-d-xo.html
Yeah. Definitely do educate yourself about what Russia is and what the Soviet Union used to be to get rid of these propaganda myths about 'Russian shooting men' etc. If you did fail to find any compassion for Dyatlov then look up an hour-long interview with him. It is on TH-cam with English subtitles - no excuse not to take a look. Check the vibe, check out how he speaks, compare it to the series. Start detoxing from the narrative.
They did Dyatlov incredibly dirty. In reality he always claimed that he and his team weren’t guilty and that the real culprits were the system and his superiors. He defended his team against the allegations. And unlike in the series he was actually liked by most of his colleagues. He didn’t like Fomin though, because in his opinion, Fomin wasn’t skilled enough for his job. Read up on Wikipedia for more details. In the end the series did exactly what the USSR government did. They used him as a scapegoat.
exactly. They needed an antagonist like any good tv show needs, someone to focus those bad feelings on and in this show they picked him. Its just a tv show chances are the guy is 100% not even close to how they portrayed him, and if you want more just research the guy and see for yourself to get actual facts, not made up facts for a tv show.
I totally agree with you on this series: you get to the end and you close the book. It was extremely hard-hitting and I don't think I would ever go back and watch it again...although I kind of broke that by watching your reaction videos. I struggled with episode 4 a lot, btw.
Hey Angela! If you’re interested in learning more about the science behind the Chernobyl disaster, Hank Green has a great little video that goes into even more detail about the disaster. Very interesting. Here’s a link for anyone else who’s interested. th-cam.com/video/hIGtTImeYU4/w-d-xo.htmlsi=1ENPlT-nOgL8tHtS P.S. if you’re looking for empathy for Dyatlov, well, once he was released from the Gulag, Dyatlov spent the rest of his life calling Chernobyl a failure of the Russian State to anyone who would listen, and desperately tried to get Akimov and Toptunov (the two workers he is depicted here abusing the most) recognized as heroes of the Soviet Union. In his own twisted way, he did care about his men (and there is historical ambiguity as to whether the real Dyatlov was as abusive as he is depicted here).
Boris is such a bait and switch character, immediately became an asshole, representing Communist redundancy and Government meddling, but you learn he clearly pays attention, is hyperaware of the situation. And he even softens over time is really really sad.
I think your reaction at the end , when you read the captions says it all . The political concealment and the consequences of telling the truth against people of power and influence are common everywhere . It's been a frightening ride , remembering it is a dramatization , it still leaves the viewer mourning the victims and heroes and very angry .
That "it was widely reported"-phrase is doing a lot of work. Any time they say that you gotta go back and look it up yourself. For example, the "Bridge of Death" is a meme. It WAS 'reported' that they all die.... and I suppose on a long enough timeline we all do, so they probably have.... but it wasn't as bad as the memes made it sound. It wasn't like the firefighters
I'm so sorry people spoiled you for the montage at the end. I see it at everyone who does a reaction to Chernobyl and it annoys me every time, so thank you for coming right out and saying it. Somehow, people seem to think it's not spoilers if "it happened" in real life and it's not in the dramatized part of the series -- but the montage is brilliantly constructed narratively and it is there for a reason - catharsis. Learning the facts presented in the montage when the "story" is over is meant to be an emotional release from the series and it packs an amazing punch as new information, which people who have seen the series already or a few times seem to completely forget when they watch reaction channels, and they spoil it every time. I really wish people would learn this. It's *part of the series*.
I completely agree. It is such a dumb comment for people to say that it isn't a spoiler if it's based on historical fact. It's very simple: If you tell someone something that they don't know, but would find out by watching the show/movie then THAT is a spoiler.
I've said it before and I'll say it again...this world needs an enema.
@@dneill8493 Exactly! It's such a simple rule - if the show is going to reveal something, don't tell the reactor about it. Let the show do its work.
@@dneill8493ignorance is no excuse
@@SilentBob731 I'm sorry you don't care about how telling stories works. What are you here for, if you're not interested in an honest reaction? And you'll note that *Angela* said, right in the video, that she would have preferred not knowing what was in the epilogue to having been spoiled by her viewers, so this is coming straight from the person who is reacting to the show.
The amazing thing about Boris is that he said he hoped one day he would matter. And he ended up mattering twice. In 1988 he was in charge of rescue efforts in Armenia after a major earthquake.
Boris was a Real One.
Exactly! Boris saved a lot of lives in 2 major disasters. He was a Soviet, but he saved lives.
the scene on the bench was the best imho. just phenomenal acting between 2 people
The bench scene between Boris and Valery is perhaps one of the best written and acted scenes I’ve seen in the last 10 years. It hits me every time! Two actors at their best. Wow.
Science doesn't lie, people lie and sometimes those people are scientists.
Yes, but science is self-correcting. Lies, as you call them - or better "untruths" which covers deliberate and accidental/misinformed - are sooner or later corrected by other scientists. Science is the best process we have to find truth. Without trust in the scientific process - chaos, as we are seeing today.
Exactly.
Or they withhold truth by suppressing studies that aren't in line with establishment opinions.
"If I was dying I would spill as many state secrets as I could..." well SOMEONE is never getting clearance lol
The Bridge of Death thing is apparently an urban myth--most people who have researched Chernobyl have said that there weren't actually a bunch of people watching from the bridge. The fact that the explosion happened in the middle of the night meant that people slept right through it or at least weren't going outside to look at it. Hope that's a little comforting.
Also, I think that the power of the final episode is that, despite having seen the aftermath of the explosion, I watched the scenes from the control room with a palpable sense of dread, just hoping *something* would happen to stop the disaster that I knew was inevitably coming. This show plays people's emotions like a violin. Masterful filmmaking!
The story isn’t just about the accident, it’s the story of the people who lived, suffered, and died. The series is the people’s story. The people sacrificed everything - their health, their home, their professional reputations and careers, even their very lives to do what the situation required of them.
They went willingly to their deaths to save others, to save their countrymen, to save the people of neighboring countries, they sacrificed all for the sake of the greater good. As the character Khomyuk says so solemnly, “they died rescuing each other”.
The story may get details wrong or changed for dramatic effect but the series makes the viewer feel the experience, trauma, and emotion of the events surrounding Chernobyl. The story is not just the accident’s story, it is the people’s story.
@@neptunusrex5195 Yes! This is why I do not care much about the scientific or dramatic liberties taken in this show. The institutional and cultural failures that lead to the accident (and don't kind yourself: democratic capitalist systems have their own different but equally powerful pressures to not rock the boat or tell the whole truth as the Soviet communist system) and the "we simply must deal with this" heroism are all true in the sense that any storytelling is true. So what that none of our three (Khomyuk, Scherbina, Legasov) were involved in the actual trial of the three reactor managers. It is still a great scene.
The story is about the cost of lies. Simple as that.
The critical thing about scientists is that we are not always right, but we are always willing to change our minds based on evidence.
Idk, there are some (unfortunately) dumb AND stubborn scientists out there. Bad combination.
51:22 Scientists would be the _first_ to tell you that they are not always right. Scientists work with hypotheses and theories, with which they explain reality as accurately as possible given the available information (including careful testing of those theories, etc...). The point is that if new information comes to light that contradicts those theories, scientists will happily admit that they were wrong - and adjust the theory accordingly.
There's a full circle moment, where Legasov is explaining to them, and us, how a RBMK reactor works. Where one of the first interactions he has with their authority is one telling him to explain to him how a reactor works and he laughs at the idea, and we all scoff at the hubris of such a question. But he exactly had to work on how to do that, to get his point across to the board and history. And it works, we understand without needing to understand everything.
It also has one of my favourite pieces of acting in the show for me, where you see Legasov say, 'It is beautiful...' and he smiles for a moment, like he really loves it. Great little detail from Jared Harris.
Dyatlov was created by that society. He ran away from home as a boy, managed to get an education. Married. He Lost his 9-year-old son to Leukemia, most likely because of his job working close to dangerous materials. As he's played here, he comes across as a bitterly unhappy man who's already lost what he loved and cares about very little. I can muster an atom of sympathy for him.
plus its a tv show so don't believe everything you see, its for entertainment not truth. Also he has a government trying to cover it up and blame him for the problem, do you know if he actually was the problem? No. You need facts to decide if he made mistakes, or just invented facts against him to cover it up by the government. Hey, China and Covid, the same thing. Hide the problem that will fix it right? lol
@@Pamtroy So true.
My older brother is a former Navy nuc, and a current civilian reactor operator. He has a lot of little complaints about details in this show, especially "the baby absorbed it all," but he does say that Legasov's description of reactor dynamics in this episode is the very best one he has ever seen for a non-technical audience.
True the baby didn't absorb the radiation. But if speaking in non scientific simplified terms it's understandable. The baby didn't absorb the radiation instead, it would however have absorbed some of the radioactive material instead of the mothers body retaining it..
@Markus117d Dose is dose. There is no sense in which the baby's absorbed radiation reduced the mother's. The absolute intensity (Bequerels or Curies), the absorbed dose (grays or rads), and the "equivalent dose" (which is fuzzier because it tries to quantify the biological harm of a dose which varies by radiation type and absorbed dose) measured in sieverts or rem (roentgen equivalent man) and these are defined in much more complex ways. The units they keep talking about in this show, roentgen, really only apply to X and gamma rays in air. The radiation from alpha and beta decay are a greater part of the hazards in an open fission reactor. But cells receiving energy from exposure are cells receiving energy from exposure. Let's put it this way: if you are standing next to an open reactor core next to someone else you are not any safer than you would be standing there by yourself. And that is, essentially, the assertion they make with the "baby absorbed it instead" remark.
@evilpenguinmas You missed the point i was saying, it didn't absorb the radiation, It did however absorb some of the radioactive materials ingested ect by the mother, just it absorbs non radioactive materials. The body can't distinguish between a stable element and it's isotopes..
And if speaking in a non scientific manner for TV audiences it does get the point across, without going into overly technical explanations..
I'm a former navy Nuc and retired nuclear engineer. Your brother is absolutely correct. The show is great, but it plays fast and loose with a lot of details about radiation effects and reactors.
@@Markus117d I didn't miss it! I'm just don't think it makes any difference. It's just something the show gets wrong. It doesn't diminish the show. It's just something completely technically inaccurate in there so they can say the line about babies sacrificing for their mothers. I wasn't trying to criticize you in any way. I get what you mean, it just wouldn't make any difference. The radioactive isotopes would be taken up by the baby's cells and the mother's cells in the same proportion. I'll admit that to the extent that the fetus has tissues whose cells are dividing more rapidly than the same tissues in an adult, there might be a somewhat higher absorption in the fetus than in the mother, but this is not because it making less available to the mother. I don't want to make more of this than we have. I see your point. I hope you see mine. Let's agree it is a really good show!
An asshole move by those who left comments spoiling the story for you. Shameful.
" For God's sake, Boris, you were the one who mattered most" The story arc of Boris and Valery relationship from Boris threatening to have Valery thrown out of a helicopter to this line is wonderful and heartbreaking all at the same time.
It sucks that we live in a world where almost everyone knows the name Kardashian but almost no one knows the names of certain people in this story like the 3 divers and the miners, Valery and Boris, and many others who are responsible for saving the lives of millions.
To paraphrase Churchill "Never before was so much, owed by so many, to so few"
Agreed. Except it wasn't entirely "so few." There were literally thousands of people involved in responding to the disaster. One of the biggest take-aways of this show for me was just the incredible heroism (willing or unwilling) of the ordinary citizens called upon to deal with it.
@@rudewalrus5636 exactly just like all the scientists that worked together to figure it out. In the tv show they simplified the characters to streamline it more, but just think, the made up woman wasn't really there, dozens of scientists were working hard to figure it out and fix it, and are only mentioned in the after credits. What are THEIR names, why aren't they good enough to be in a tv show about the disaster, but a made up character is. Hey, no matter how telling the show is, it's still just a tv show, and many things left out, changed, and just made up for entertainment.
Each episode had a corresponding podcast where the creators went over in detail every historical fact versus every change they made to present them here. It's a fascinating listen.
I've listened to that show like 12 times. Craig Mazin is a great guy. And I loved the bonus episode with Jared Harris
Its very simple.
If you tell someone something that THEY DON'T KNOW, but would find out by watching the show/movie then THAT is a spoiler.
After Chernobyl Unit 4 Exploded, the other Units kept on running and producing electricity. Unit 1 was shutdown Nov. 1996, Unit 2 was shutdown after a turbine fire in 1991 and Unit 3 was shutdown for inspections and repairs 1n 1997. Unit 4 and 5 were under construction at time of the explosion in Unit 4 and were never completed. In 1999-2000 it was decided to permanently decommission all units. It was very lucky that the "accident" at Unit 4 didn't melt down the other reactors. Thank God (or Deity of your choice or not)
well if you actually watched the show and read up on history, wasn't a diety that prevented that, it was the hard work of the people represented on the show. did you even watch the show? lol.
My friend is an engineer who works for a really big company that does contruct power plants (nuclear and normal) he has 10y worth of experience educating the staff who manages the control room. And he always said to me "Listen mate, you sleep better if you don´t know who manages nuclear power plants and the skillset those ppl have"
Immediately thought of Homer Simpson
"Do you not know, my son, with how very little wisdom the world is governed?"
Pope Julius III
@@funnylilgalreacts Interesting thing is that , Homer Simpson should have died at the very first episode, that glowing green container he carries around carelessly is said to contain one of the most radioactive materials, which is a form of cobalt, the warnings on the container literally say "drop and run" a lot of people have measured that he probably would have died only minutes after getting home from work in the opening.
Also a different topic and an interesting story, there is a content creator known as Pravus, who mostly does strategy and civilization building games, he and his wife had been trying for a child for something like five years, but it never worked. The doctors couldn't figure out why, nothing was wrong with them, they just didn't seem to be having children. Then one day, they finally had a child, heck they even have a second child on the way. Sometimes there are some mysteries that even science cannot solve.
I am going to assume you are referring to this in a "global" sense. I have to respectfully disagree with regard to those who staff nuclear plants in the US. I worked for many years doing control room design (i.e., evaluating control room design from the perspective of what is know as ergonomics or human factors). I worked at many different power plants, and can say without reservation the control room staff are extremely professional (most came from the Navy having served on various nuclear powered vessels). I was IN a control room at one point, during a refueling outage....we were replacing ALL of the labeling on the Emergency Diesel Generator panels...someone out in the plant tripped a breaker and the control room (and much of the plant) lost all power. I watched this operations crew go from sitting around eating pizza, it was about 2am and lunch for this shift, to immediately on station...with much of the attention AT the Emergency Diesel Generator panels. They restored power in a matter of minutes...only glancing at our control panel drawings a couple times to double check they were operating the current control. Absolutely amazing. So...I take a bit of offense when folks cast shade on our NPP operators. I wish I were that talented.
It is the same in all industries. The world is constructed on lies told by those who shout loudest not by those truly knowledgeable or honourable
The best, and most tragic, science lesson I ever got.
And that final 'what is the cost of lies?' 😢
It was more of mismanagement lesson and sovok mentality demonstration.
RBMKs were ok by design and there are still functioning ones today.
P.S. passenger airplanes can be dangerous if stalled or above mach 1, pilots just need to follow the rules to the letter.
@@Alex-wg1mbSo graphite doesn't accelerate the nuclear reaction? 🙄
What is the cost of blind obedience to authority?
What is the cost of lies? About tree fiddy, comrade.
What is the cost of lies? Well here in the US we're sure going to find out in about 4 years or so eh?
That bit of dialogue beteeen Boris and Valery is a real tear jerker, amazing writing and acting. That serie has to be the most powerful and impactful that i've ever watched. Love your reactions! 😊
I believe Gorbachev said that he believed Chernobyl to be one of the main contributing factors to the fall of the Soviet union.
…Do you believe that because that is literally word for word what this episode tells you at the end?
sorry no. The fall of the Soviet union is not from instances or occurances, but by the leadership. Those running the country are responsible. Was Gorbachev leading the country at that time? Then he is one of those responsible. The US is in a bad state when it comes to healthcare, crime, prisons, and many other things. Those problems aren't caused by accidents, injuries, etc. Those problems are caused by those in charge not fixing the problems. Simple as that.
I didn't realize she got spoiled so bad... ... last episodes comments had some posts about it but... damn. That's bad.
I didn’t realize I could be spoiled about this show but yikes, they told me everything.
@funnylilgalreacts 😢 sorry that happened..
@@funnylilgalreactsHello nice to meet you your my favorite streamer love your reaction to avatar the last airbender and legends of korra
@@funnylilgalreacts Watch everything first, then start posting. Alternatively, have moderators to delete spoilery comments.
Look up That Chernobyl Guy for a much more nuanced look into the chain of events, court documents, and operational procedures.
There is also Dyatlov's last interview.
@@funnylilgalreacts hey people are stupid. I would suggest like most other reactors do. Have mods handle the posts and remove spoilers, or try to not read any forums or posts on shows you are doing until the show is finished to prevent spoilers. A short series like this one, easy to do. A longer series sure hard to not respond to posts and chat on those shows but a short series maybe try to say "ok i won't look at the posts until i finish reacting to it all". Mods are easier, but not everyone uses moderators.
It wont surprise you that this show won a buttload of awards and was almost entirely responsible for Craig Mazin to be put in charge of The Last of Us show as well.
I love that montage at the end. Its so simple yet beautiful.
And lastly, Vichnaya Pamyat is Ukrainian for "Memory Eternal"
A fitting title indeed.
The series is a dramatisation and they were probably unfairly harsh towards Dyatlov. He was very experienced with these reactors and, while a harsh and unpleasant boss, he most certainly didn't go into denial about what happened, as depicted in the show.
I recently read the book Midnight in Chernobyl and I came to feel a lot more empathy for him. The higher-ups were trying to push the blame onto the operators and Dyatlov was very outspoken in the defense of his men such as Toptinov and Akimov. And after the accident he wrote to the parents of these men to let them know that what was being said about them was untrue and that they did their jobs well.
There is an interview with him on youtube. I take it you're already acquainted with That Chernobyl Guy? How does those match with the book? I can't remember if TCG used the book in all his work, but...
@gottagowork not seen him actually, so can't say. I work in the nuclear industry and my manager recommended the book after we were discussing the HBO series
of course you don't just accept the "facts" on these people or how they are represented in a tv show. You also don't demonize Dyatlov past the tv show, because it is a tv show and they make up stuff to make the show more appealing in various ways. Like the divers that went into turn on the water, they didn't go into danger, there wasn't that much radioactivity, and they had no problems doing the job, all made up for the TV show. So if you want to know the truth about Dyatlov read up on him and learn. He could have been stupid, or he could have just been called that by the soviet leaders who were trying to blame him instead of them accepting responsibility. A communist government trying to hide facts? say it isn't so! You all remember Covid with China right? lol
Vichnaya Pamyat means Eternal Memory (I think). I think it’s an apt title for the finale, seeing as this should never be forgotten. If i ever become a history teacher, Chernobyl will be on my list of things to show my students.
Memory Eternal yes.
вичная памят
Re-post from a previous episode just because I feel like you'd enjoy a deeper look into the series:
I would recommend listening to the Chernobyl Podcast featuring Craig Mazin the executive producer, each episode of the podcast goes into detail for a specific episode!! With how things were done and why they did some of the things they did in this mini-series.
Pavel's a conscript, not a volunteer.
The point that should be made here is modern reactors are indeed safe. They are generations ahead of these old soviet reactors.
The reactor stalled. If they simply allowed the reactor to sit for 48 hours, they could then restart the reactor.
OK. How?
Specific engineering details, please.
@@Dularr Regardless, it is undeniable that modern reactors are far safer than those from the 80s. Especially the old soviet ones, human error in operation or not.
It's the human factor that will always be the chief issue, one I suspect will worsen now.
Nothing is perfectly safe, and you do public opinion about nuclear power *no favors whatsoever* by making statements like that. We can, and should, recognize that modern reactor designs are *safer* . But to say they're "safe" is not only to mislead people, but to train people to think of these things in the wrong way. The correct way to think is in terms of degrees of risk.
as dramatized as it is, the courtroom expositions are the best explanation of the disaster ever committed to page or screen.
I've said it before, but I'll repeat it here. This might be the scariest horror movie ever made. I was a teenager when this happened, and this event shocked everybody. The lack of concrete information coming from the Soviet Union certainly added to it. Per Soviet doctrine they insisted nothing was seriously wrong while pretty much every country in Europe was detecting copious amounts of radiation in the air.
To this day, I don't understand how or why Chernobyl didn't win a thousand awards.
I don't get why people write spoilers when they've seen the show and probably know about the end credit scene. Seems dumb.
well there are many reasons. First the show is old so they figure most people know about it anyway at this point. If someone is reacting to the wizard of oz, people aren't going to think twice about saying stuff. Also many reactors are way ahead in the episode reactions, sometimes all done by time people are putting up spoilers. Hey, she's starting the show! i'll post spoilers about episode 2 because its cool! Thinking, well she's already seen episodes 2, 3, etc and its not a new show anyway so who cares.
There’s an HBO podcast that discusses the history of Chernobyl and production of the series (also available here on TH-cam). Craig Mazin, Stellan Skarsgard, Jared Harris, et al all make appearances and give their commentary as well. Highly recommend listening to the podcast it sheds a lot of light on some key details of the events.
The people posting spoilers should be sentenced to 10 years hard labour.
the fact that the kgb and the iron curtain willingly acted like a child till they finally changed policy is what hit me the most: cowardice for not accepting the screw up and doing anything to pass the blame on to others
well that is all governments. Governments are run by people, and people lie, cheat and steal. Soviet union, and every government on earth. People try to cover their butts, blame others. For the most part, everyone does it. Heck China and Covid? Germany and Japan in WW2, Heck america in WW2? Did you learn anything about american prison camps for asians in WW2 growing up in history classes in school? I sure didn't. They taught us enough about Germany and Japan in the battles, but not one word about that we had hundreds of thousands in prison camps.
Angela said viewers could probably guess what her political preferences are.. and if anyone had any doubt she then proceeds to tell us she believes in science.. Q.E.D.
This was the 80s, and the vast majority of the general population didn't understand what radiation was or how it worked.
Hell, even today, the vast majority of the modern general population doesn't know what radiation is or how it works.
people need to learn to stfu with spoilers in comments. If a reactor gets to the summary at the end and multiple times go "you guys told me that" then you as commenters fucked up. stfu.
The Science!.....lol🤣
FINALLY, an appropriate reaction to the "you were the one who mattered most" line. Thank you, FLG!
You just never know. When I was a kid, I saw this movie, "Captain Newman, MD," about life in a WWII Army Air Corps Psych Hospital. I remember being pretty traumatized, and resolving that I would never, ever, get myself into that work. It wasn't until YEARS later that I was able to watch that movie again. I got freaked out again when the scene of the orderlies wrestling with a patient with a knife in a running shower came on. I remembered my promise to myself, then realized with shattering clarity that that was EXACTLY what I had ended up doing after all. Mysterious ways. (shivers)
On a different topic, here's something I love so much about the series - "How does an RBMK reactor explode?", or some variant of that question, is asked at least once in each of the first four episodes (by different characters for different effects), and then, in episode five, we get the answer from Legasov, as if he's reaching back through time and answering each and every instance of the question being asked: "*That* is how an RBMK reactor explodes. Lies."
The official number is one of those weird history technicalities, though, there's no Soviet Union to change that number today. It's like how Germany ended WWII only a couple of decades ago, because East and West Germany on their own weren't able to officially end the war, as they didn't start it.
One thing that seems insane is the other reactors actually continued to be used to produce power after all of this. Unit 2 was shutdown in 1991, unit 1 in 1996 and finally unit 3 shutdown in 2000. They've been going through the slow process to decommissioning them since 2015 where it's not expected to be finished until 2065
Boris is my MF GOAT of this show!! Him telling the diver “you’ll do it because you have to”🥶That’s the realest shit he could say and it worked also him talking to Valery is amazing!! Such a amazing series and very informative!!
It's ironic because, although Shcherbina was a key part of the system, he was the most competent among a group of otherwise incompetent individuals, and he was unmistakably chosen to resolve the crisis.
Come down to greed, money, money, money from divorce to Chernobyl money makes the world go around
Regardless of what details the show took liberties with, they told one hell of a story. They made us pay attention to the disaster that happened, and ponder the emotions involved. From hubris and fear to heroism and empathy.
This series was such a moving masterpiece. It's so hard to not cry if you cry, I so feel your heartache and can grieve along with you. That's how amazing of a reactor you are, thank you.
I watched this with my husband who studied the Chernobyl disaster in the Navy Nuclear Power school. They go through everything: the interviews, the testimony, the case notes of how they responded. I waited until this episode to tell you:
1, the trial is word for word exactly as recorded. So much so that my husband was able to say exactly what Boris, Ulana and Legasov said before it was said on TV.
2, the KGB did take all the research and recordings and everyone in the trial was forced to keep it secret except!
3, Legasov knew he was dying so he aligned himself with American CIA spy's and gave them everything: the recordings, the research, the interviews, the timelines of events. In return his family was brought to America for protection. He committed suicide and left the tapes for American spy's to intercept before the KGB found him. This is why all UN aligned Nuclear military schools teach this disaster and it is how we know all of this information.
I was in the NNPS in '79-80. We would have benefited from the knowledge gained from Chernobyl. At the time, the only reactor disaster we learned about was the 1961 SL-1 accident in Idaho.
A correction though. Perhaps your husband is mistaken. Valery Legasov did not testify at the trial. His testimony was entered as a written transcript of an interview he had with the KGB months before the trial. Also Ulana wasn't there because she didn't exist.
There is an interview with real Dyatlov on TH-cam (with English subs), where he briefly presents his version of the story. I'm not claiming that what he says there is the entire truth, but after the show painted him as a cartoon-level villain it's definitely worth watching. For example, he was defending the power plant operators till the end of his life.
This!
They did him incredibly dirty and I hate it.
The real culprits were his superiors and obviously the government.
again, to learn what really happened use your brain, study and read up. No one should be a "coolaid drinker" and just believe what you see on tv, or are told. You have a brain for a reason. TV shows are made for entertainment, not truth. Maybe documentaries are made more for truth, but tv shows are for entertainment, and many things were made up in this series for entertainment that never happened, or were never true, or were changed. Only stupid people believe what they are told, smart people learn the truth. Was Dyatlov this bad and stupid? I don't know i never studied him or history on the subject, but 1, its a tv show. and 2, its a government probably trying to lie and cover their own butts and blaming people who's fault it wasn't. Happens with every country and every government.
The exact version is an original composition, but the closing song in this episode is the Russian/Ukrainian Orthoodox Funeral Hymn, Vechnaya Pamyat (also the Episode Title), meaning “Memory Eternal”
“Their souls shall dwell with the blessed, and their remembrance is from generation to generation.”
Way to go those who like to spoil things............. Way to cheapen the experience for her , and other people......
This is the one series that although still, don't spoil people, I'm at least not as annoyed about it because our experience watching this show, or her experience, feels almost disrespectful to be consider when it comes to this tragic event. Like going, "ugh now that I know how the Diary of Anne Frank ends it's not as fun reading it!" if you know what I mean. We all already came in knowing bits and pieces anyways.
Just wish people were patient because a large amount of the comments were "last episode" sort of things like, "Oh you're watching Chernobyl? You should see the documentary about the puppies of chernobyl and animals left behind". Umm, she hasn't even started it yet, don't even give hints of where things could go, wait till AFTER the series to recommend things for her to do AFTER the series lol.
@@Saphthings I disagree with you - the montage at the end is part of the series and it is as carefully constructed as any other part of the show. It is meant as emotional release and catharsis for the viewer, and people who have seen the show a few times just completely forget that they got to experience it because now it's part of their knowledge. Every choice made in which clips to use, which words to use, what timing of revelation to use -- each of these is a deliberately made choice and is just as narratively important as the dramatized part of the show. It makes me so annoyed when people are like "oh but it happened in real life so we can say" -- nearly every person who reacts to Chernobyl says they have no idea what it's about other than they know it's a nuclear disaster, so all of those things that happened in real life *are just as emotional to discover as the dramatized elements are*. And regardless of it happening in real life or not, nobody should be telling a reaction channel *anything* in the comments that is going to be presented to them by the show.
Tragically, a lot of people *_today_* still deny the events surrounding the Chernobyl disaster.
That's because RBMK reactor cores DON'T explode, comrade!
My dude, people still deny we landed on the moon. Deny the earth is round (well not round but you know what I mean). Deny 9/11 was a terrorist attack. Deny Jan 6th happened or was an "antifa or FBI psyop" (or some other bullshit). What is the cost of lies, indeed.
Well, there are "people" today denying the earth is a globe, so...
So, can now comment! The control rods weren't tipped with graphite because it was cheap. They had to be long enough for a portion to remain in the core because otherwise when they're taken out they get replaced with water, which is a neutron absorber and that slows the reaction. Not what you want when you take the control rods out! The ideal thing to tip them with is more moderator - graphite - which speeds the reaction up!
The design problem is that the tips weren't long enough. This was done to centre the reaction in the core, but it did mean that at the bottom of the reactor the control rods were replaced with water.
Then when you insert them to stop the reaction, *locally*, at the bottom of the reactor, you introduce more carbon moderator, speed up the reaction instead of slow it down, and in cases of extreme instability end up with a steam explosion that disassembles the reactor.
So there was some engineering logic to it beyond "cheap" (cheapest would have been no tips at all!) just the implications of a local power increase got missed.
exactly. The control rods were designed exactly how they were suppose to work. You have the rods, which are graphite on the bottom and boron on top. Having graphite isn't the cheap or bad way of making them, its the correct way. You can insert the rods half way, where the graphite is in the reactor core and working normally, and you can insert them all the way where the boron is in the reactor core, and the graphite part is below the core. When you want power you have the graphite part in the core, and when you want to reduce the core power you insert the rods all the way so the boron is in the core part. Again, made up facts for the tv show, there was no problem with the graphite being in the control rods, its part of the process.
The series vividly depicts the Soviet political system whereby no one took responsibility, much less accountability and all positions of power were defined by absolute loyalty to the state which "could do no wrong". Hence the rise of incompetents making decisions. However, Gorbachev, leader of the Soviet Union shown making decisions in the series, rose to power in 1985 and was instrumental in bringing about the collapse of the USSR in 1992. He is quoted as saying that Chernobyl was the event that convinced him that the Soviet political system could not sustain itself any longer. The "Cold War" ended and the USSR broke apart.
In the actual trial, there were three other senior people at the #4 reactor who were charged. They were left out of the show for simplification, I guess. It would have complicated the narrative. Boris Rogozhin was the shift director of #4 and sentenced to 5 years labor. Alexander Kovalenko was the chief of #4 and sentenced to 3 years. Yuri Laushkin, one of the senior engineers, was sentenced to 2 years. Also, Valery Legasov didn't testify at the trial. His written testimony was entered as evidence.
It's crazy to think that Lyudmilla was victim of an oppressive state reigning from Moscow causing a nuclear accident back then and now she's victim of another regime ruling from Moscow and leading an offensive war against the Ukraine. Poor woman really doesn't get a rest.
When the show came out I seem to remember a science podcast, Skeptics Guide to the Universe (one of the hosts is a medical doctor), said that the explanation for the baby's death was correct for the time but science has moved on and the reason would be different today. They also said that the 'Bridge of Death' has never been confirmed. In that all the people on the bridge that died soon after.
There is a lot of "deliberate wrongs" in the show that are based on what the popular perception was at the time. I.e. how it "became a nuclear bomb", or "thermal explosion of 50 MT" in one of the earlier episodes. A nuclear bomb have other fissile material requirements (like *much* higher purity). And thermal explosion of that size implies thermonuclear detonation (hydrogen bomb, which require a nuclear explosion to set it off), which is also nonsense.
I read somewhere that the bridge got that name because of a motorcyclist's death on it, not because of Chernobyl.
Thank you for an excellent conclusion to your reactions to this series. It IS a brilliantly produced series...the acting is amazing, the performances so good. Yes...I do feel at times they take some liberties with facts...but that is to be expected for dramatic purposes, and I don't feel detracts from the quality of the series. IF you wish to learn more I highly recommend the TH-cam channels of Kyle Hill (channel of the same name), and That Chernobyl Guy (I don't know if his information is any more accurate, but it does add to the conversation about these events...and if anything shows most everyone has a narrative they wish to. push...probably even him). Peace.
This is a great series that tells the story very well. A lot of things are exaggerated for dramatic effect, like the magnitude of the steam explosion that was prevented by the divers (although the danger posed by it was huge, it wasn't a nuclear bomb).
It always irks me though amid all the focus on the truth, and relaying things that actually happened (despite some dramatisation), the series includes the Bridge of Death, presented ina way that heavily implies it's a fact. The whole Bridge of Death event is an urban legend and there's no evidence it ever happened. I'm interested to know where the myth came from and how it began, but it's important to know it's a myth, and the show doesn't tell you that in the ending montage. The words "It is said..." do a lot of heavy lifting at the start of the subtitle on that section.
Although in a fair scenario, the faculty management would bear responsibility for having the tests complete before certification, one fun little bureaucratic trick is to make sure everyone has at least one place where they're not in compliance. If you ever need to go after anyone, you've always got a way to do it.
Blame the system. The men inside it did the best they could.
Science does not lie, but the money behind the science does!
I was in my early twenties, living in Austria. May 1st is our national holiday. We were poorly informed, we knew there was an accident somewhere in the USSR and that Sweden reported some radiation. That wasn´t enough to make people stay at home. So everyone was out because there were street parties and parades in every village. Even some rain didn´t bother us. It was the day of the highest radiation exposure. We got "showered" with Cesium-137 & Cesium-134. Now, a few decades later, types of leukemia are spiking. According to the oncologist who treated a relative, who died of leukemia last year. Another relative will have a bone marrow aspiration next week. I have no proof of causality. But we three spent that day in 1986 together. Am I living on borrowed time?
The creepy mouse is Soviet Mickey Mouse. Чебурашка, they had their own version and his own animated tv show etc...
When Legasov is taken away from the court room, its always kind of striking to me that when he enters the room he looks around, and notices theres no windows and a drain/grate in the middle of the floor. Most Soviet people from that era would have been familiar with stories of the red terror and the purges from their parents or older family members.
Tens or hundreds of thousands or more, people taken into dark rooms/basements, brutally killed, and the blood and brain matter etc just washed down the drain in the floor and the bodies hauled off to unmarked graves. He's in there fully expecting to be killed.
They're still doing that in Ukraine.
Russians, that is.
It's a bold or lonely assumption that just because you're dying, there are no consequences you can suffer.
Walking there even these days is crazy sight to see
I haven't really started the video yet, but it stood out to me so I just wanted to say I love that necklace :)
I also remember the 1961 K19 nuclear powered submarine accident. Which was made into the 2002 film, "K-19: The Widowmaker " starring Harrison Ford. It was the first Soviet Union nuclear powered submarine, and it turned out as badly as you might expect.
13:49 "First the trial." Correction..."First, the cover-up". 16:38 Said in Paul Harvey's voice: "And that, is the rest of the story." 20:13 Ha! She said it.😁
15:42 "Anytime these two are together, nothing good is happening". Perhaps not narratively, but we are getting a master-class in acting. 24:22 Case in point right here. 👍
24:23 That's Mikhail Mouse from Moskva. 😉 33:12 🤣 Angela is a wise woman, she makes many of the same comments as I do. 😁
37:05 Damn, that's cold-blooded. Exactly my reaction too...fork Dyatlov with a five-pound chunk of irradiated graphite.
From what I’ve heard… after he served his time, Dyatlov did show remorse and did what he could to right the wrongs he committed. Obviously there wasn’t very much he could do, but even so
or he wasn't at fault in the first place. Its a tv show, not a documentary. Or a communist government trying to cover its own butt and hide evidence trying to blame others. Do some homework on the guy to see how he really was.
Neither my brother nor I ever had kids. My mom had given up on my brother (based on age), but she continued to noodge me about grand children. One day I decided to get her. When she next brought it up I just said, "Well, can you wait 7 months?" I never heard another word about it. 😮
Legasov lied in Vienna, a scientist who was given incentive to not speak the truth, because the science didn't match the narrative.
Legasov spoke the truth at the Soviet trial, and him and his testimony was scraped off the record, because the science didn't match the narrative.
-"The science doesn't lie."
I don't intend to argue, but I just find it amusing.
I liked the series reaction.
I love that you mentioned Natalie. Tell that girl to watch Severance!
I've been to Chernobyl twice and talked to many people about it. Although most in Ukraine didn't want to watch the TV show for obvious reasons, the ones who did told me this. There's only 2 things in the TV show that is not accurate. The first was the bridge of death. That bridge is 1-3 km away from their apartments. Also, from their apartments, they had a perfect view of the reactor, so there was no reason to go out there, in April, at night, when it was still freezing(april in Ukraine is still very cold). 2nd, the naked miners, although I am sad that isn't true because it brought a bit of humor to a tragedy, unfortunately it never happened.
Now you're done and spoiler-safe, I recommend the book Chernobyl Prayer. It's beautifully written, and you get to know Ludmilla better. Her love for her husband is so powerful.
“Why are bad things always so pretty?” Aww, stop… you flirt! 🥰
Not everyone deserves empathy, especially Dyatlov.
its a tv show and stuff is made up for the show. Did you even research or study the man? Then don't take the "facts" of a entertainment tv show. Use your brain.
You had your own disaster on Wednesday, March 28, 1979, at 3 Mile Island, but although it was bad it wasn't a complete disaster as it was with Chernobyl.
It's not even over. The nuclear waste was spread across Europe and the world. Chernobyl is still killing.
My dad used to work at the Doel Nuclear Powerplant in Belgium... one day they came in and alarms started to go off... they had to go through the special showers to rinse off any radioactivity.. they tested where the radiation came from... it was from outside.. dad called home and ordered my mom to keep my sisters (i wasn't born yet) inside and lock all windows... later on Chernobyl was on the news.... later on (don't know how much later) my dad was working with a friend who was a pipe inspector and his dosimeter went off.. turns out the milk in the coffee from Germany was radioactive...
🤯🤯
I think hunting wild hogs/boars for food is still regulated in Sweden to this day, due to the chance of elevated radiation levels (Cesium-137) in them. But not the widespread risk it used to be a long time ago.
Great reaction. One thing, not sure if anyone else already mentioned but the bridge of death is I think only urban legend. There is no proof of it and probably was included for dramatization.
There's no way to truly know but the speculation on the reactor going to 33000 has been surmised by some, given the conditions that it could easily have hit 300,000 or more
Given that neutron generations are measured in nano seconds --- the amount of time it takes to jump up in power is mere milliseconds which is why they rely on delay neutrons to control the reactor --- nothing on earth could control a reaction with prompt neutrons alone
Sorry if this is redundant... the official companion podcast is great. Very interesting. I'd definitely recommend it.
That's why I told people in the first episodes to stop spoiling stuff, but yeah sometimes it's better not to read the comments
About the co -called "Bridge of death". The bridge exists, but people never stood on it the night of the accident. People didn't even go outside.
The phrases "it has been widely reported" or "it has been claimed" do a lot of heavy lifting in that ending montage. My understanding of the bridge thing is that it's essentially just an urban legend.
Some say it didn't happen, others say it did.. can't say for certain either way..
@Markus117d Our family friend, the former Chernobyl's liquidator, who lived in Pripyat the night of the accident, told us that the Railway Bridge scene is highly dramatized. Most people were sleeping, some were awaken up by the explosion. They were scared to go outside.
The amount of times you said "that's what everyone was telling me". I don't know what it is about this show but commenters are the absolute worst for spoiling this one. Just let people watch. This show is so much worse for it than others for some reason
If you can stand another sad show, there is a show called The Days about the Fukushima nuclear disaster. That one is a little less frustrating because it was caused by a natural disaster, but again it focuses on the workers doing their best in a terrible situation to save as many as possible. Its interesting because they have that history of what happened at Chernobyl to compare to and they say the situation in the control room was worse than Chernobyl
Best miniseries ever.
Thanks for toughing it out on this one. Your points about science in your commentary at the end is very much appreciated! If you want some positive modern news about Chernobyl despite *waves hands in general at everything going on in that part of the world*, it's worth reading up on the new protective structure at Chernobyl called "New Safe Confinement" (NSC). It's not just a building designed to contain radioactive material like the original Sarcophagus cover structure built in haste. NSC is an entire safe-deconstruction facility equipped with robotics and overhead cranes so that workers can slowly and safely dismantle the reactor and its building. It's designed to last a 100 years. To protect the workers building it, NSC was built away from the reactor building and rolled over top of it on rails when completed. It's the largest moving land-based structure ever built. There's a good overview of the project at th-cam.com/video/oY3fZH9VWhc/w-d-xo.html
Yeah. Definitely do educate yourself about what Russia is and what the Soviet Union used to be to get rid of these propaganda myths about 'Russian shooting men' etc.
If you did fail to find any compassion for Dyatlov then look up an hour-long interview with him. It is on TH-cam with English subtitles - no excuse not to take a look.
Check the vibe, check out how he speaks, compare it to the series.
Start detoxing from the narrative.
They did Dyatlov incredibly dirty.
In reality he always claimed that he and his team weren’t guilty and that the real culprits were the system and his superiors.
He defended his team against the allegations. And unlike in the series he was actually liked by most of his colleagues. He didn’t like Fomin though, because in his opinion, Fomin wasn’t skilled enough for his job.
Read up on Wikipedia for more details.
In the end the series did exactly what the USSR government did. They used him as a scapegoat.
exactly. They needed an antagonist like any good tv show needs, someone to focus those bad feelings on and in this show they picked him. Its just a tv show chances are the guy is 100% not even close to how they portrayed him, and if you want more just research the guy and see for yourself to get actual facts, not made up facts for a tv show.
I totally agree with you on this series: you get to the end and you close the book. It was extremely hard-hitting and I don't think I would ever go back and watch it again...although I kind of broke that by watching your reaction videos. I struggled with episode 4 a lot, btw.
Akimov reminds me of an abused partner in the relationship. He know Dyatlov is abusive and he tries to protect Toptonov.
Hey Angela! If you’re interested in learning more about the science behind the Chernobyl disaster, Hank Green has a great little video that goes into even more detail about the disaster. Very interesting. Here’s a link for anyone else who’s interested.
th-cam.com/video/hIGtTImeYU4/w-d-xo.htmlsi=1ENPlT-nOgL8tHtS
P.S. if you’re looking for empathy for Dyatlov, well, once he was released from the Gulag, Dyatlov spent the rest of his life calling Chernobyl a failure of the Russian State to anyone who would listen, and desperately tried to get Akimov and Toptunov (the two workers he is depicted here abusing the most) recognized as heroes of the Soviet Union. In his own twisted way, he did care about his men (and there is historical ambiguity as to whether the real Dyatlov was as abusive as he is depicted here).
Boris is such a bait and switch character, immediately became an asshole, representing Communist redundancy and Government meddling, but you learn he clearly pays attention, is hyperaware of the situation. And he even softens over time is really really sad.
I think your reaction at the end , when you read the captions says it all . The political concealment and the consequences of telling the truth against people of power and influence are common everywhere . It's been a frightening ride , remembering it is a dramatization , it still leaves the viewer mourning the victims and heroes and very angry .
That "it was widely reported"-phrase is doing a lot of work. Any time they say that you gotta go back and look it up yourself. For example, the "Bridge of Death" is a meme. It WAS 'reported' that they all die.... and I suppose on a long enough timeline we all do, so they probably have.... but it wasn't as bad as the memes made it sound. It wasn't like the firefighters