First time watching CHERNOBYL (and I'm already so angry)

[@saviourself687]

Pikalov, the general that drove the truck with the dosimeter, was an absolute legend. He not only drove the truck to take the risk for his men, but he knew that a general would not be able to be ignored. He repeatedly told younger soldiers to stay out of the dangerous areas because "They had not yet become fathers". He worked tirelessly during both the initial disaster and the subsequent cleanup ('liquidation'). He was awarded Hero of the Soviet Union (the highest award of the USSR) for his efforts at Chernobyl, and passed away in 2003 in his mid seventies.

[@agp11001]

Decorated war hero, fought at Minsk, Kursk and was part of the assault on Berlin. Got his degree and worked up his way to Commander of the Chemical Troops. Did reconnaissance himself during the war, even as he was acting commander of Artillery, so I guess there was no question that he would do some pretty dangerous stuff himself. Damn respectable guy.

[@dallesamllhals9161]

Well, NOT every BIG STARs does that!

[@TheJerbol]

goated

[@jamiepasquariello2652]

So Russia is our ally? Male sure you remember that in November

[@TheJerbol]

@@jamiepasquariello2652 what are you, 10?

[@mckrackin5324]

Addie cries about the dog... Ohnoz...

[@tsrgoinc]

Yeah, Episode 4 is going to destroy her!

[@tehvvisard]

iykyk

[@zodiac_blue9116]

For real… ugh.

[@neptunusrex5195]

She’s gonna need therapy 🫣🙈

[@JohnnyJohnny-f5o]

I know, when I watched it all I could think was "thank god I'm not a dog person."

[@OneColdMonkey]

"I'm So Angry" could pretty much be an alternate title for this show. 😂

[@arctan2010]

And she have not yet read the end credits of episode 5! 😬

[@benn454]

Welcome to communism

[@valjean76]

my biggest worry is that people watching this miniseries (which came out in 2019) didn't appreciate that it's not about lies that those in the soviet union told themselves about science but us in English speaking countries. (hence why they speak english). It's not about "those naive communists."

[@XTRaptor]

⁠​⁠​⁠@@valjean76eh. they speak English because it’s produced by an English speaking company, for an English speaking audience, portrayed by English speaking actors. You can say that the show is highlighting how PEOPLE lie for their personal gain even against Fact or overwhelming evidence, but to say that it’s actually about English speaking countries specifically just because the actors are speaking English and not Russian is a bit of a reach. At least I would require something more substantial than just English speaking people speaking English. Also there was nothing naive about “those communist” the show goes out of its way to highlight the how far high ranking officials go to “not be embarrassed” and even highlight how the USSR was a “country obsessed with not being humiliated” never mind all the stuff about the KGB and how they silence scientists, of which English speaking countries have no equivalent to unless your implying the FBI,CIA or MI6 are going around silencing American/British scientist?

[@Mr.Ekshin]

@@benn454 - Yup... this is "Socialism 101"... this should be mandatory viewing for all those college kids who've been taught that socialism is cool.

[@ScottGibbs]

Possibly the best 5 hours of TV over the last 20 years. Amazing and heartbreaking and enraging.

[@airborngrmp1]

I've wondered for years just how we would deal with the aftereffects of the end of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. Having a superpower rival was the best and worst thing to happen to the United States (having competition and a singular opponent to focus our political, social and economic power on helped to push the technological development evident today, however the ideological incompatibility of the two systems forced ours to become deeply ideologically partisan in an unsustainable way for a healthy Republic to function). Since at its heart the Cold War was an ideological struggle, there isn't a particularly effective means of writing the history in an unbiased manner - which leaves the subsequent generations a gap in understanding that is difficult to fill (I really have a hard time trying to get my kids to understand how the Cold War rivalry of even the 1980's affected the domestic social and political environment in a way that was impossible to ignore, and which is fully lost upon them). I still hold the opinion that losing our external locus of danger/rivalry/ideological nemesis as a nation (and our immediate collective celebration of 'victory' without even the most basic understanding of what it meant, or what the fallout of 50 years worth of global zero-sum-game ideological partisanship was going to look like) directly explains our current domestic and international rudderless-ness as a society. The brilliance of this particular show was it's ability to bring the Soviet system to life, and expose it's total inability to confront even the most pressing and obvious problems without first rendering them into acceptable ideological terms - regardless of the actual reality of the event. The Soviet system liked to appear as infallible, and the inevitable solution to the future of social and political relations of the world - in reality it was a tenuous, totalitarian system where accountability for mistakes (whether avoidable or not) were hazardous to the individuals' health, and led to a system and culture of finger-pointing at others and ass-covering for yourself. A system incapable of innovation or even basic, honest self-assessment and reflection on its failures - because according to itself, and as an article of faith, it was incapable of making mistakes.

[@theivory1]

It is in my opinion the best TV series ever created.

[@bobsandler4563]

Without a doubt.

[@shihonage]

I grew up in Moldavian SSR, neighboring Ukrainian SSR. In 1986 I was 9 years old. The Chernobyl announcement appeared on our TV. It was 15 seconds long. You can actually find it on KZbin. It downplayed everything and made it sound like a routine minor event. My dad was called up to clean up Chernobyl. His life was saved at the staging site, where people were putting on ineffective masks and stuff. His commander said, "you have a family already, right? Go home".

[@sitting_nut]

don't take this for real history. far from it. this is a very well made, well acted, show, depicting real events and real people, their heroism and cravenness, as well as ingrained problems of a tottering bureaucratic state. but its also problematic; its main overarching narrative is deliberately false and propagandist. that is not good in a show about "cost of lies". to avoid any spoilers, i will just point to one of many instances from this 1st episode that contribute to that false narrative - in reality legasov sent his "tapes" to editor of pravda, one of the main propagandist outlets of ussr; to a person linked to the ruling faction at the time. it was quite unlike what is depicted in show with secret drop, under the cover of taking out garbage. their depicting him as a person living alone(when he was a family man) is forgivable dramatic license to make plot tight. their changing recipient from an elite person, to an implied secret dissident is not. he was opposed by, and was working against someone, before he allegedly committed suicide, but who? difference between show's answer and real answer, is where falsehood comes in. and these changes multiply and always with same tendency, for a purpose . that is why show is problematic.

[@neddhu]

The guy who said that...gave your father his life black. A hero.

[@UninstallingWindows]

I grew up in Estonia, and my father was supposed to go too, but luckily he had kids, so he was allowed to stay - but my classmates father wasn't so lucky. He did his duty and came back....but his health was wrecked till the rest of his life. He died of cancer in his 60s, i think.

[@shihonage]

@@UninstallingWindows I'm sorry. Yeah in USSR everything was bad. Just everything. People these days don't understand.

[@cdwyer737]

I wish I could go back and live in the USSR, looks amazing!

[@shakawhenthewallsfell8570]

That cliffhanger at the end of episode 2 with that Geiger counter buzzing away while everything goes pitch black... cinematographic gold.

[@Rem91067]

And more harrowing than any horror movie Hollywood has ever produced; made all the more so because unlike “Hellraiser” or “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, Chernobyl actually happened.

[@lillykawaiifox]

When I tell you I freaked out on that scene. I thought they would be gone 😟

[@habadasheryjones]

"This will be easy to get through quickly." Yeah if your own tears from watching episode four don't wash you away before you watch episode 5.

[@darthsphincter909]

Legasov and Scherbina are my favorite part of the show. Like a good buddy cop movie.

[@CyberBeep_kenshi]

the acting is just out of this world. 2 of my favourite actors. the bench scene, later on, is my favourite moment of the series.

[@Sindrijo]

And the music...

[@ChrisReise]

27:35 Yes, On 4 May 1986, just a few days after the initial disaster, mechanical engineer Alexei Ananenko, senior engineer Valeri Bespalov and shift supervisor Boris Baranov stepped forward to undertake a mission that many considered to be suicide. They were advised that if they did not survive their families would be taken care of. The outcome of their mission would decide the fate of millions of people.

[@goldenageofdinosaurs7192]

I’m not sure I can fathom the bravery it would take to do that🫡

[@EpimethiusPSN]

The Firemen's clothes were dumped in the hospital basement due to them being irradiated . . . they are still there.

[@StarkRG]

@Nulli_Di Given how much the clothes have already decomposed, I think they'll cease being recognisable as former clothes and may not even be recognisable as rags and bits of boots long before they're no longer contaminated.

[@carkawalakhatulistiwa]

​@Nulli_Diis still 500 rogen in 2012

[@DayBlueberry-F]

Awesome! I was feeling like I was too happy this week, can't wait to cry alongside you!!

[@AddieCounts]

Hahaha

[@fuzzy__dunlop]

24:24 - "the dog, the dog. That's going to break me". Uh oh 😲

[@cobrazax]

oh it will...so much more...

[@asmrhead1560]

This miniseries is a brilliant essay on "the cost of lies". When people think they can concoct a better version of reality by believing hard enough in the lies they're telling, atrocities happen.

[@Stevtrek]

The two extremes... the cowardice of the leadership vs. the bravery of the workers. So many did what they needed to do, knowing full well how dangerous and deadly what they were doing was.

[@goldenageofdinosaurs7192]

40 years later & nothing has changed there😞

[@Ryan_Christopher]

@@goldenageofdinosaurs7192What do you mean? Even in the midst of a war we still have not had any radiological incidents in Chernobyl. Plenty has changed since ‘86.

[@stephenpmurphy591]

​@@Ryan_ChristopherI believe he means cowards still sneak about causing disasters and the brave of heart clean up the mess. It applies to every aspect of human life.

[@sitting_nut]

don't take this for real history. far from it. this is a very well made, well acted, show, depicting real events and real people, their heroism and cravenness, as well as ingrained problems of a tottering bureaucratic state. but its also problematic; its main overarching narrative is deliberately false and propagandist. that is not good in a show about "cost of lies". to avoid any spoilers, i will just point to one of many instances from this 1st episode that contribute to that false narrative - in reality legasov sent his "tapes" to editor of pravda, one of the main propagandist outlets of ussr; to a person linked to the ruling faction at the time. it was quite unlike what is depicted in show with secret drop, under the cover of taking out garbage. their depicting him as a person living alone(when he was a family man) is forgivable dramatic license to make plot tight. their changing recipient from an elite person, to an implied secret dissident is not. he was opposed by, and was working against someone, before he allegedly committed suicide, but who? difference between show's answer and real answer, is where falsehood comes in. and these changes multiply and always with same tendency, for a purpose . that is why show is problematic.

[@Kirill_Fedorov1970]

bullshit, its mostly lied film about catastrophe

[@waterbeauty85]

Boris' line "This is what has always set our people apart. A thousand years of sacrifice in our veins" reminds me of what an American astronaut who worked aboard the Russian Mir space station as part of an exchange program said. Whenever there was an emergency (and because the station was not incredibly well build, emergencies were common) they first put the American into the Soyuz escape capsule then went and fixed the problem without him. He said that this was because Russians believe that their history and culture make them better prepared for dealing with hardships (and sacrifice) than people in the west, especially Americans. so they thought that he needed to be "sheltered" from difficulties on the station. He eventually had to assert himself to gain their trust and respect so he could participate fully as a member of the crew.

[@TheOffkilter]

yes and that spirit has been manipulated by sooo many successive Russian regimes to allow them to both cause and ignore untold misery upon their people. Russian history is a tragedy, but often one of their own making.

[@beefjezos2713]

While I dont disagree that the Russian people are surely used to hardship…It sure is a convenient cultural identity to explain away generations of their own people subjugating them and ensuring they will never even know what a better life is.

[@andrewrippel6164]

My favorite anectode about this show is that all of the non-diegetic scoring is a recording from an ACTUAL nuclear reactor. Absolutely genius composer, and it really amplifies the eerieness to me

[@AddieCounts]

YES! It adds so much to the show

[@sitting_nut]

don't take this for real history. far from it. this is a very well made, well acted, show, depicting real events and real people, their heroism and cravenness, as well as ingrained problems of a tottering bureaucratic state. but its also problematic; its main overarching narrative is deliberately false and propagandist. that is not good in a show about "cost of lies". to avoid any spoilers, i will just point to one of many instances from this 1st episode that contribute to that false narrative - in reality legasov sent his "tapes" to editor of pravda, one of the main propagandist outlets of ussr; to a person linked to the ruling faction at the time. it was quite unlike what is depicted in show with secret drop, under the cover of taking out garbage. their depicting him as a person living alone(when he was a family man) is forgivable dramatic license to make plot tight. their changing recipient from an elite person, to an implied secret dissident is not. he was opposed by, and was working against someone, before he allegedly committed suicide, but who? difference between show's answer and real answer, is where falsehood comes in. and these changes multiply and always with same tendency, for a purpose . that is why show is problematic.

[@timothymclain]

People should know that all the music in the series was remixed with sounds recorded at nuclearpower plants. Makes it even more creepy. What a series.

[@Ghost_PM11]

This is gonna go from anger to a deep sadness really fast.

[@StarkRG]

And then back to anger.

[@ferchrissakes]

23:00 The helicopter didn’t crash due to radiation; its blades hit the steel cables on the crane and broke. It’s not super obvious in the show, but you can see it happen; the crane hook falls as the cables are cut and the helicopter blades disintegrate. It’s how it happened in real life - there’s footage of that crash. That’s not to say the radiation wasn’t absolutely awful, but it didn’t pluck a helicopter out of the sky. The pilot simply got too close to the crane, no doubt due to smoke reducing visibility, and flying in the updraft from the fire probably wasn’t easy to begin with.

[@andyb1653]

Also, the crash didn't happen during the fire-fighting phase. It happened months later, during the construction of "The Sarcophagus". Since the show doesn't really detail The Sarcophagus structure, they moved the crash to the firefighting phase.

[@Victoratify]

@@andyb1653 Yes, this series is full of blatant lies and mixing up facts.

[@LoveEachDay94]

​@@Victoratifythey made a podcast talking sbout the changes fheyvmade and why so maybe listen to that

[@Victoratify]

@@LoveEachDay94 I've seen these rotten excuses from filmmakers before. Let the fools believe them. Almost everything in the series is a lie, except for the name Chernobyl and the characters' surnames.

[@fabiorusso8751]

6:57 The "eyes of Medusa": while you look at the burning reactor, it has already killed you. Girl, this series will truly tear your heart out: it's one of the best shows I've ever seen, but you will cry a lot.. trust me..

[@shaneday5573]

I was 8 years old in 1986 (England) and remember seeing the news. So watching this show gave me more insight into the disaster.

[@danielpopp1526]

So to better understand the radiation exposure rates they’re talking about, Roentgens per hour is equal to dose (REM: Roentgen Equivalent Man/Mammal) per hour for a person. So when they say 3.6 roentgens per hour, that’s equal to a dose of 3.6 REM per hour. The 50/50 survival rate dose (with proper medical treatment) is 500 REM. The guaranteed death dose (even with proper medical treatment) is 1000 REM. Which means the roentgens per hour the general read means a guaranteed lethal dose at 4 minutes. And that’s only when you’re exposed to radiation. In that disaster, there was tons of radioactive material in the air. When it gets on your skin and in your lungs from breathing, you’re being constantly exposed to radiation, including particulate radiation that is a lot more damaging than the standard gamma radiation.

[@elric5371]

Well back then, but now the ld/50 with immediate medical care is actually 800 rem, with the Ld/100 being 1300 rem.

[@danielpopp1526]

@@elric5371 no, back then 50/50 was 1000 REM, and lethal was higher. I should know, I work with radioactive material as part of my job.

[@elric5371]

@@danielpopp1526 no, the ld 50/60 was 500 rem before Chernobyl but Chernobyl showed with medical intervention the ld 50 can be increased much higher in isolated cases up to 800 rem.

[@danielpopp1526]

@@elric5371 no, it wasn't. It was higher before Chernobyl. Again, I know this because I work with radioactive material. I just renewed my IRRSP. Stop spreading misinformation about radiation

[@elric5371]

@@danielpopp1526 no it wasn’t lol, medical treatment has increased the ld/50 sources and effects of ionising radiation by unscear makes that clear, you stop spreading misinformation.

[@ChrisReise]

14:11 I felt the same way when I first watched this. They've LITERALLY had THREE people SEE the lack of a reactor and that one guy kept saying, "you're wrong".

[@Smokie_666]

Very true but throughout history it is proven people in power, any level of power, do not need to pay attention to common sense if they don't want to. I am not saying there might not be consequences, but those don't always land on the right people either.

[@benn454]

Welcome to the Soviet Union.

[@cutecumber2593]

it's not as easy as it seems. The moment Dyatlov went out of the control room he SAW graphite on the floor. He knew what happened. But he also knew, that admitting to a mistake this big in Soviet Union was basically suicide. There was a long chain of people responsible for this catastrophe, but they all pale in comparision to the Soviet Union itself. Maximise the profit with the least amount of costs. Even if it may cost you your life. Sad reality

[@elric5371]

@@cutecumber2593thats fiction, in reality it was Dyatlov himself who persisted that the reactor exploded, but he fell down vomiting by 5 and was overruled by Fomin and co.

[@robcoz98]

One of the final performances of actor Paul Ritter who played Anatoly Dyatlov before he sadly died in 2021. Although he has had many roles over the years, he's quite famous in popular culture in the UK for the sitcom Friday Night Dinner where he's a comedic powerhouse

[@mattybob12310]

SHIT ON ITTTTT!

[@ravenofroses]

in terms of accuracy, there are a lot of details and events that were merged together or smoothed out for the sake of narrative cohesion. like in reality, there were TONS of scientists working around the clock to contain the disaster and minimize loss of life, not just legasov and a rogue belarusian physicist. but condensing the team into just a couple people makes the narrative flow better and emphasizes the struggle of the scientists and workers to make the state understand just how serious the situation was. certain real people have been portrayed as more rude or blatantly uncharitable than they perhaps were in reality, and conversations you see between different characters may have played out a little differently. this miniseries is a warning not to allow convenient lies to get in the way of recognizing and solving urgent problems, and every moment of runtime is devoted to furthering that message. (also you'll see what happened to all the people you saw being carted off to the hospital later, and this was one of a few places where they actually TONED DOWN what happened IRL. it's brutal in the show, but the reality was somehow even worse.)

[@robertvenegas6113]

There is an inaccuracy worth noting in the 5AM local committee meeting. Plant director Viktor Bryukhanov (1935-2021) initially advocated evacuating Pripyat, but was persuaded otherwise. However, this information was not available in any english sources until after this miniseries aired. Series creator Craig Mazin has gone on record that - had he been aware of this - he would have written that scene differently.

[@IH8YH]

was just a little child when this happened, born and living in WEST Germany and i do remember there was a period where me and my brother were not allowed to go outside and everyone was scared shitless. With all the cancer in the following decades in even healthy living people, the true death toll of this disaster will never be truly known...

[@IH8YH]

also the Geigercounter going crazy will always be the scariest sound for me. no competition comes even close

[@gamepat9]

I remember that too. I don't know if it was because of that, but I also remember the teacher gave us an iodine pill every day for a while (1990) when school started in south west germany. And they didn't want to say why we had to take them.

[@Niinsa62]

Stellan Skarsgård. His first movie role was here in Sweden, in Bombi Bitt and Me. In 1968, a four part TV movie. It is a bit of a Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn story, set in 1930´s Sweden. The Southernmost part, where people move and talk slow. But that doesn't mean they think slow, they just think more. The author, Fritiof Nilsson Piraten, who wrote the novel the movie was based on, back in 1932, had a background story very much like the "I" of the novel. Kind of Tom Sawyer. The son of a railway station master, in a quiet Southern Swedish town. He later became a lawyer, practicing law in my home town of Tranås, but spending most of his time writing this novel, and other novels. He was a very good lawyer, so he could do that. Stellan Skarsgård played Bombi Bitt in the movie, a kind of Huckleberry Finn character. Sixteen years old, and larger than life! Like when he drained a river to steal the crawfish in the river! That is a classic! Oh, and the author. Fritiof Nilsson Piraten. The last part of his name means "The Pirate", and he got that name after being a very young sailor and telling ripping yarns to his friends. His gravestone is famous here in Sweden, it doesn't even carry his name, but only the words "Here lies a man who never did anything on time, until he actually died on January 31, 1972". There is a street named after him here in Tranås, Piratens gata. The Pirate´s Street. Where he had his lawyer's office, but didn't do much lawyering. Well, he did some lawyering, and he was so good at it, he didn't have to do more than that. He was a storyteller. So when Stellan Skarsgård in 1968 played Bombi Bitt, who was a very well known novel character here in Sweden since 1932, he made super stardom immediately!

[@ciberzombiegaming8207]

23:11 the only thing out of helicopter equipment that was effected was radios and , well, electronics, however there is in that model of helies. pilots on other hand did get much effected, radio transmissions ware scrambled by radiation and they got confused due to radiation, confusion is one of first effects. why helli dropped? it snagged crane cables with blades, broke them, and fell because spinning helli blades is what keeps it in air, no blades - no lift - gravity wins.

[@Melancthon7332]

I watch a lot of horror. It's one of my favorite genres. I've been exposed to scares for decades, since I was a little kid watching stuff wayyy too "mature" for me. I've seen a LOT, and it takes a lot to scare me. Chernobyl might be the most terrifying television show I've ever seen. This show chills me right into my bones. Each episode left me shaken in a way that very few works have managed. Good luck with this one, Addie, it's a tough (but incredibly rewarding) journey.

[@DavidMacDowellBlue]

08:14 The real Dyatlov was nothing like this at all. He was a harsh supervisor but was popular, and he was one of the first to realize the core had blown up. He tried to save as many people as he could, suggesting several people go home--they chose to stay. This series gets lot of relatively small details wrong, and fictionalizes others. But the overall story is accurate in most ways. Please, please, please be careful about watching episode four. Give yourself some time before watching it.

[@LaBlueStateGirl]

This is one of the best docu-series ever done and it's also history that needs to be learned, but you seem to have such a sweet gentle heart! I'm so sorry that it's about to have to break in so many little pieces during each of these 5 parts!

[@elric5371]

Learned through this series lol, that’s funny since this series spreads more lies than truth.

[@eltrueabdul611]

FYI: Nowadays, one of the most dangerous places on esrth is the basement of the hospitsl where the firefighters were attended. Their uniforms are still there snd staying in the room for enough time can get you permanent consequences.

[@oslafoirausuebutuoy5457]

16:59 Something like that had never happened before.

[@tsrgoinc]

You asked were the people on the bridge too close? I was 14 and lived in London UK 1986, 1299 miles away and that was considered too close!

[@pyatig]

Just stop, please. I was 11 and 200 miles away in Odessa. Bridge was def too close but your precious island had nothing to fear

[@ariochiv]

I don't know which is more terrifying: that you're in the pitch dark, or that you know that the radiation is so severe that it killed all of your flashlights.

[@vkdeen7570]

actually that type of radiation has no effect on those types of lights. it was more the fact that they had really shoddy equipment and crap flashlight that kept flickering on and off due to bad batteries or wiring. the fact it was flooded was actually lucky for them along with the fact that the majority of the blast went upwards. Water is a fantastic neutron shield

[@Niinsa62]

Oh, and the show is directed by the Swedish director Johan Renck! He is Stakka Bo! kzbin.info/www/bejne/qXixfGCZhNmridU

[@bennyjorgensen]

I still remember watching the news back then. I live in Denmark and we had one TV station at the time, and they showed maps with estimates of the radioactive cloud as if it was the weather.

[@keefriff99]

This series is more disturbing and terrifying than most horror movies, and the anger you feel is well-justified (and only just beginning, sadly). It has a lot to say about our current situation as well.

[@johngingras]

I love this show. It does fill me with anxiety all throughout. It's tough to watch in parts, but is so worth it.

[@d-4azerty755]

Before Chernobyl, there was an absolute belief among engineers and civilian authorities that a nuclear reactor explosion of the RBMK type was impossible. This conviction was partly due to the design of the RBMK reactor and a lack of understanding of the risks associated with its operation. What seems frustrating in this series is due to our knowledge of the devastating risks of a reactor explosion, but on many levels, they were so clueless.

[@gavinderulo12]

Technically the reactor itself didn't explode

[@oslafoirausuebutuoy5457]

When this show came out I saw a video comparing side to side scenes of the show with real footage of Chernobyl. It seems pretty accurate. It included footage of the helicopter falling in real life. There are several videos of that on youtube, actually. Crazy footage, you can see the backside of the helicopter bending in the air as it starts falling.

[@UninstallingWindows]

A few notes: at 23:00 - the helicopter did crash, but not because of radiation. It crashed because the pilot couldnt see the thin cables of the crane and its rotor blades hit it. You can see it in the video as well( the crane hook falls down because its cables have been cut ). Second note: Radiation actually damages electronics, so, robots and lights can indeed burn through.

[@minty_Joe]

Those square blocks with a round hole in the middle are the graphite moderators at the top of the reactor vessel. The nuclear fuel rods and neutron control rods are inserted into the reactor channels via this round opening. These moderators were jumping up and down like a Whack-A-Mole in the fleeting few seconds before the first explosion.

[@kd6558]

This was such a great watch, happy you're into it.

[@twoheart7813]

An amazing series for sure, looking forward to more great reactions

[@kanea77]

A masterpiece of a show, I almost think it should be required viewing so people understand how close we came to the unthinkable. Also, it didn't make the edit, but the delivery of "you have made lava?" It absolutely kills me every single time

[@Yevgeniy-UA]

Episodes 3 and 4 are the most horrifying. Glad that you are reacting to this show! Don't forget to watch a short epilogue after episode 5. There will be some real footage that is very interesting and will explain what happened to Chernobyl after disaster and what happened to all the people that were involved in the liquidation.

[@marvinsarracino116]

Oh Addie you have been sucked in to the best mini series ever! This show will frustrate you to the Max! It will also break your heart! I look forward to joining you on your Chernobyl watch journey! Thanks Addie ❤️💛

[@roFloFlo]

Aw hell yeah! Was really waiting for this one!

[@Ghostface4k]

You're the only person of all the reaction channels i've watched, that showed no frustration whatsoever to this first episode... You didn't seem frustrated at all. That's an interesting character you have there..

[@phtevenj]

i couldnt get myself to sit and watch this show so thanks for reacting so i can still see it

[@toxicgamers1113]

Chernobyl Power Plant had 4 reactors. Reactor number 4 exploded in 1986, the other operated until they all got decomisioned in 2000 (2 shut down in 1991 due to an accident, 1 shut down in 1996, 3 was finally started being decomissioned in 1999). Imagine working in the other reactors knowing what happened literally 200 meters away from you. Also there were other accidents there. In 1982 reactor 1 partially melted down. No one noticed it for 7 hours and when it was discovered it was kept a secret. In 1984 reactors 3 and 4 had serious incidents. According to declassified KGB documents, Soviets already knew in 1984 that Chernobyl Power Plant is the most dangerous power plant in the world. In 1991 turbine in reactor 2 caught fire and the roof collapsed. They stopped using this reactor then.

[@neptunusrex5195]

I first saw this series on another reactors’ channel (I follow several 😅, I like getting various opinions and insights) and then I went out and bought the dvd myself. Spent next few months doing obsessive deep dive researching everything I could get my hands on about Chernobyl. Showed the series to my mom and was able to give commentary on stuff that id researched and explained more of the technical stuff. We watched one episode every couple days because it was so heavy for her, plus it’s alot of information and stuff that happens so it’s good to take a day or two to let everything sink in and let your brain process it all. Anyway one episode every other day or so. She loved it as hard as it was to watch, she learned so much and even now nearly a year later she’ll hear something on the news and she’ll think back to what she saw on Chernobyl and how insane the government was, how hard the experts had to fight just to be able to do their job and help, and how much the people were kept in the dark and suffered so much just because the government was so concerned about image. I also showed the series to my dad. We watched one episode a night, and I again gave commentary based on what I’d researched and he was glued to the screen and listened to me explain stuff and he’s not very good at following things or keeping up with the plot and such but this series he was glued and laser focused and he really enjoyed it, he said it was amazing and that he learned so much about not just the accident but what Soviet culture was really like and what the people themselves were like etc

[@handfuloftrains4781]

This series makes me SO angry and heartsick, I wasn't sure if I even wanted to watch Addie's reaction. But our Addie is such a major sweetheart, I feel I must be by her side as she makes this journey. Here we go...

[@hairlokk8672]

Johan Renck were known under the name Stakka Bo. Lets say he come a long way.

[@wozing]

Craig Mazin has really demonstrated that he knows how to effectively bring the horror and emotional depth out of real-world issues. I still get chills at different points in this show just from the reactions. And the ending to episode 2? _That_ was an incredible choice. The radiation ripping apart the cells of their batteries, causing the lights to go out. The sheer darkness. And then the dosimeter going off and getting louder and more in-your-face until-silence.

[@markfilla9305]

Hey Addie - I- hadn't realized that you've never watched this fantastic mini-series. So looking forward to the whole set of reactions! As you've found out already, it may be "easy to get through quickly" because it's only 5 episodes, it is definitely NOT an easy watch. One, if not THE, best mini-series ever produced. Since I know from past comments by you that you are a book reader as well, I'd highly recommend the book Midnight in Chernobyl. It's a highly detailed account of the events leading up to, during and after this disaster. It covers events covered in the mini-series, but in much more detail and it also covers a lot of important events not touched upon in the show. It's definitely worth a read if you are interested in wanting to know more about this whole event.

[@hermanrobak1285]

11:20 "Seal off the city! Noone leaves! [...] Contain the spread of misinformation." History does not (quite) repeat itself, but sometimes it rhymes.

[@mrtveye6682]

So true. For sure the communist block during the time of the cold war took this "keep it a secret" to the extrem. But it would be completely naive to think this can, will and had never happened anywhere else in the world.

[@jonasfermefors]

I was 16 living in Stockholm, Sweden when this happened. I won't go into the long term effects until the end of the show but I can say that we were not allowed to go outside and for some time the weather reports included estimates of risk for where radioactive material would contaminate Sweden.

[@ravensdark99]

I have been to the Tschernobyl museum in Kyiv as well as the actual contamination zone in Prypjat..and that was the single scariest thing I have ever seen in my life. That changes your view on nuclear power as well as war in general. If you in better times ever have the chance to do that..do it

[@JohnBham]

In 1986 I was in the Army, stationed at Fort Lewis, WA. One of my duties as a member of a Chemical unit (we dealt with Chemical, Biological, and Nuclear detection and cleanup) was to go around the base and take Geiger readings when the news broke. It wasn't long before I had numbers to report- not enough to hurt us, but trace amounts of Chernobyl radiation was in our air nonetheless.

[@christophercurtis4131]

I was 15 when the accident happened at Chernobyl and it was pretty scary. I remember not too long after seeing an issue of Life magazine that had a story about Chernobyl. The cover of that issue was a picture of one of the firefighters who was exposed to the radiation; all his hair had fallen out. That was a sobering sight and made me think. Speaking of Stellan Skarsgard, the first time I saw him act was way back in 1990, in The Hunt For Red October, with Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin. It was a small role but he was excellent and gave a very memorable performance. If you have never seen The Hunt For Red October, I highly recommend it. And the original book by Tom Clancy is excellent. It was the first Jack Ryan novel that he wrote.

[@Iceman-135]

The soundtrack to this series was composed entirely from nuclear power plants. That's why it sounds so eerie.

[@goofamatic]

That geiger counter at the end of ep2 haunts me. I find myself having anxiety attacks now when I hear a geiger counter.

[@legslark]

One of the best mini series I have ever watched!!!😂

[@ssjbargainsale]

I felt like my week was just going too well, so lets watch this reaction to Chernobyl that popped up in my suggestions to keep things as they should

[@JackOiswatching]

Yeah, so, this is one of the most terrifying pieces of media I've ever seen. Great show!

[@thefourty-yearoldgamer8289]

This is hard to watch, but i think it's important that we watch. so little is known about this tragedy. i love the way this show was done. looking forward to watching the rest of your reaction :D

[@alexspindler1]

The intense feeling I got when the three men volunteered can't be overstated. As portrayed, there's a lot of behavior that can be attributed to ignorance, self interest, fear, and silly stupidity. But that is pure selfless bravery by young men, not even older persons, in the face of apparent certain death (more on that later). Absolutely incredible and, for me, deeply moving.

[@captainofdunedain3993]

When I saw this show first time I couldnt stop crying. Still remember many many ppl was dying by cancer intire northern Turkiye because of the tea fields.

[@danielschaller7878]

22:56 The Helicopter wasn't crashing due to the smoke or radiation, but because it hit the cable of the crane nearby. Not the clearest imaging in that scene.

[@FutureMartian97]

the helicopter didnt go down because of the radiation. the blades hit the crane cable. it also didnt happen when they were putting the fire out, it was 6 months later when the were building the sarcophagus

[@johnfullbrook628]

Chernobyl is one of my all time favourite series I think ep4 is a hard watch for animal lovers. But I would recommend at the end of the final episode there is a epilogue I believe it’s called with photos and details about of the real people definitely worth a watch some reactors have missed it and go back and rewatch/react to it

[@mckrackin5324]

Your frustration is just beginning. You have barely scratched the surface of the lunacy and heartbreak of this situation. I know certain upcoming scenes are going to wound your soul.

[@ottocarson]

16:58 There is (yet nowadays) no hospital with that equipment. Radioactivity is unstoppable.

[@JLamstudio]

A perfect series.

[@markhamstra1083]

A far from perfect series. Numerous factual errors and intentional misrepresentations serve to undermine the series’ anti-lie message.

[@goldenageofdinosaurs7192]

@@markhamstra1083I mean, sure, it’s not a documentary, but they got around 90% of the information correct. That’s more than enough for a television mini-series. Most people can understand that aspects of what happened are changed, or timelines skewed, for the sake of continuity, or poetic license. I say ‘most’ people. Obviously not everyone understands that, but you’ll always get that 10-15% on the low side of the IQ numbers as well.

[@markhamstra1083]

@@goldenageofdinosaurs7192 The digressions from the truth in this series are not all just accidental, incidental, or artistic liberties taken purely to accommodate the constraints of a television miniseries. For example, there are also falsehoods that consistently overplay the dangers of nuclear power, the effects of radiation, the consequences of the Chernobyl accident, etc. For all of the other merits of their work, the creators of this miniseries were also advocating for an agenda beyond just telling us about the cost of lies, and their willingness to exaggerate and lie to advance that agenda undermines the “cost of lies” morality tale.

[@elric5371]

@@goldenageofdinosaurs7192they didn’t get it anywhere near 90% right lol they got 90% wrong.

[@TwoForTwentyFilms]

I remember that in the days after the accident people here in Germany were warned to not get out if it rained because of the Radiation in the rain. The fear was immense.

[@NominePatris]

Addie gets "blown away" by CHERNOBYL 🙃 Can't wait for the final episodes!!

[@XeonAlpha]

23:00 So the helicopter that crashed was a real thing, however it was because they ran into the cables from a crane. If watch carefully, you can actually see it in the show.

[@shihonage]

You ask "why is the hospital not equipped". As someone who grew up in USSR, I have to tell you that I grew up from childhood without having anesthetics during dental visits. That's why. USSR was full of systemic scarcity, it was a third-world country. We had no toilet paper, either. We used free government newspapers, it was a routine practice. You had to crumble them a lot before they could be used as toilet paper.

[@eddiehoward7002]

Some good news about the three guys that volunteered to go to the water tanks; one of them lived until 2005 when he died from a heart attack, and the other two are still alive

[@tsogobauggi8721]

3:42 That makes the mood for this show... :) 21:37 He is a true man. 27:58 "Oh my gosh..."

[@TomasMisura]

21:30 By the way Ananenko, Bespalov and Baranov in reality were not volunteers.

[@123rvr]

22:56 Was a real helicopter crash over Chernobyl they have it on documentary they flew too close to a wire this is the actual footage kzbin.info/www/bejne/sKaxpZqPqatnfKs

[@mathiaswittinger2808]

The helicopter that crashed did really happen, but not until a few months later and it crashed because it struck the crane nearby. If you pay really close attention to the scene you can even see the hook dropping when the rotor hits the cable.

[@salto1994]

FYI the scene with the helicopter happened a few months after the incident and the rotor blades hit the cable of a crane and it crashed

[@PeeVee1979]

There's also the Chernobyl podcast that was dropped at the same time as the series.

[@crowfoot1199]

podcast is EXCELLENT, highly recommend.

[@swbigfan1]

You know the fireman's outfits that you asked about the hospital staff touching? They remain in the hospital basement to this day, they are still dangerously radioactive!

[@DorfVG]

A bit late but the radiation didnt dorectly cause the helicopter to crash. Its rotors hit the crane cables which broke the rotor, presumably either. Ecause the radiation messed with the controls or caused enough nausea in the pilot to not realize he was flying into the crane

[@Ladco77]

22:30 The helicopter didn't crash because of radiation. It's rotor hit the cable hanging from a crane next to the building. He couldn't see it due to the smoke.

[@iKvetch558]

Here is a sort of standard comment I post on this series...hope you do not mind me copy/pasting it. This a really good series...one of the best ever made...but the producers did get some things wrong. Some things were changed intentionally for the purposes of storytelling, and the makers of the series put in a series of notes at the end of the last episode of the series explaining some of them. They also have a podcast that they put out along with the show in which they talk about other things they altered from the history and why. However, I do recommend you check out the History vs Hollywood article on Chernobyl when you are done watching the whole series, so you can find out about the other things that the producers got wrong that they do not admit to. Definitely wait until you are done with the series so you do not spoil anything for yourself. However, the more you learn about the history of the RBMK reactor and of the Chernobyl power plant, the more you may come to feel that a lot of context is left out of the show, and it could have been more accurate if it had revealed some of that...but that only matters if you intend to keep learning about the disaster after you are done with the show. Also, it is important to remember that this show has very few lessons regarding nuclear power in the West...it pretty much only applies to the Soviet Union or other similar totalitarian society. And on Part 2 I usually post something like... In this episode, there were a few things the makers of the show changed for various reasons. For one thing, the character who said that they should close off the city in the first episode and is evacuated in this one, did not exist...he was added for dramatic purposes. Also, the helicopter crash did not happen so soon after the explosion...it really happened months later in October, 1986, and had little to do with radiation. As I mentioned in my comment to episode 1, once you are done with the series, the History vs Hollywood article on the show is a must read.

[@smavtmb2196]

So glad you're watching this show Addie. It's definitely a roller coaster of emotions. Not suprising Soviet officials didn't want to take it seriously. Truth isn't what they cared about clearly. Super frustrating. The series is incredible and heartbreaking. HBO handled this tragedy extremely well. Everyone should watch this series. Also the actor's were amazing. Its clear they all wanted it to be as authentic as possible.

[@elric5371]

No it’s not they clearly wanted to murder real characters with lies and spread soviet propaganda.

[@mb8132]

"It'll be easy to get through quickly" Ohhh boy

[@mentrazzo]

It's always fascinating to see the frustration younger people experience watching this series. Anyone who didn't grow up during a stretch of the Cold War thinks that the USSR will listen to experts about Chernobyl; the Soviets preferred to make problems go away by pretending they never happened and threatening or killing anyone who disagreed. Stopping the spread of information was paramount.

[@pyatig]

You def were born during the Cold War cause western propaganda is strong in you

[@user-su3zn2xt3z]

The psychological aspect that you dont see what kills you (the radiation) is so powerful.

[@craigmorris4083]

I remember this very well. We knew none of the reality at the time, and to say that the world was anxious is a gross understatement. We were terrified.

[@craigmorris4083]

You can find pictures of what is left of the core. See them for yourself.

[@MaskinJunior]

The Tjernobyl disaser was hidden untill it was discovered by Sweden at the Forsmark Nuclear station because the radiation was higher outside the building than inside. (It is a facianting story in itself)

[@offensivename11]

Apparently the IRL helicopter that crashed at 23:00 was so messed up by radiation that when it hit the ground, it shattered like it was made out of pottery.

[@theswedishdude1]

"i'm curious if that first episode is the angriest i'll be" whoa boy, you in for some stuff.