The newly introduced character of Ulana Khomyuk is an amalgamation of several actual characters who worked with Legasov to prevent the second explosion. Even though she is fictional, she provides invaluable insight into the even greater danger of a potential second explosion. The possibility of that second explosion is fact. It would have happened if not for the bravery of the three men who volunteered to drain the water tanks.
The conflict between Legasov and Shcherbina was remarkable. This series continues to amaze with its recreation of the event, but adds just the right amount of dramatization without being offensive to those of us who find the facts as, if not more important, than just being entertained.
The end scene is a genuine rush of adrenaline, and those 3 men are true heroes!
Amazing,scarier than any horror because this happened and could happen again to any of us!
Living under a political system where one must apologize for daring to tell the truth, (even if it saves millions of lives), under the pressure of censure, exile, ostracism, or even death, to the end that lying, or pointing fingers and looking for someone to blame, is more desirable than facing the truth had to have been maddening. (Oh, wait, we ARE talking about the Former Soviet Union, right? Such socio-political nonsense and shenanigans could NEVER happen here......)
Legasov did not know how, or even care, to play the political game and follow the party line and narrative. His only concern was telling the truth and fixing the problem. Shcherbina, was a political hack, but, once he found himself (under party orders) in the line of neutron fire, the TRUTH of the potential annihilation of most of the Soviet Union and eastern Europe, crystallized his mission, and, thankfully, he too became focused on solving the problem. at whatever cost.
As his brilliant speech in the chapel said ",I SPIT on the people who caused this to happen, (and thought they could cover it up by denying it possibly could), but, you will do it.....because it MUST be done! Fortunately, three VERY brave men were up to the task, just as brave men have faced death at the hands of seemingly insurmountable odds, time and time again throughout history. Most of us will probably never face a potentially suicidal task with the lives of other hanging on our ability to complete it, but, I tip my hat to those who have made those choices in the past, and, if my turn ever comes, I hope I can show the same fortitude as they did.
Indeed, that last scene was claustrophobic at best, and just plain terrifying, once the radiation killed their torches, leaving them in pitch black darkness.
You are dealing with something that has never occurred on this planet before. Just OMG, in this part!
We are asking for your permission to kill three men. And this was sadly EPIC :(
This show is really amazing, I totally forgive you now HBO for fucking up GOT.
In life there are true selfless heroes. Thank goodness for them. Watching this is both educational and horror.
Wow, just wow! This show is incredibly well done I must say. The ending of this episode was so tense, it gave me the goosebumps.
Frosty , incredible Tv Show .
I was 16 years old in France , but according to the government the radioactive clouds stopped in Germany :-)
I don't know why, but Gorbachev's "you have made lava?" line had me cracking up.
"These were scientists that understood that they were trying to solve a mystery in a system that did not want them to solve the mystery"
Brilliant TV Show Breath taking episode.
That last scene… terrifying. Heroes those men are.
A truly amazing episode. I'm speechless... To know that this isn't fiction is completely horrifying
I didn't know that it could have been THAT bad...
But I wish they had shown something about the private life of at least one of the three volunteers. Those heroes would have deserved more recognition. Right now they are just three random dudes.
What an incredibly emotional series. I cry for an hour straight every time I watch an episode. The people who gave their lives to prevent a major nuclear catastrophe should never be forgotten.
Hoollly shit :fearful::fearful::fearful::fearful::fearful::fearful:
Absolutely terrifying! Great show though ○__○
I've been asked why I watch horror and Sci-Fi, my answer is always the same - because fiction is nowhere near as horrific as reality, and I like it when there's a win at the end.
ep 2 horrified me especially the last few minutes with the 3 men
Those goddamn apparatchiks knew exactly what had happened and all they were concerned about was covering their own hide.
Even the Committee back then should've known they could not brush this under the carpet. But so were the times.
That ending was wow! Just wow! Terrifying!
What an epic episode explains so much and so perfectly to everyone even if you have no idea about what is really chernobyl you can understand very good from this show.Totally ninja amazing episode!
The phrase: believe what I say, not what your eyes see, you can apply here
That was quite emotional near the end.
Why can't I watch the full season right now? That is some geezers TV company bullshit.
Russian propaganda!
Damn…
What a way to deal with it
Absolutely terrifying. Radiation is otherworldly horror to me and it's captured so very well in this show.
It's such an interesting direction to have the actors use their natural accents rather than forcing them to use a Ukrainian/Russian one. Meant they could focus on the acting not the accents and it didn't detract from the content therein. This decision and the quality of the show so far gives me a little more hope for the upcoming Last of Us tv show. I still have reservations about the casting but if the writer brings the same level of attention and quality as he has here? We could be onto a winner.
To think that we as Europeans owe literally EVERYTHING to these three men...
What a chapter headache, what a bad time I've had. HBO and SKY of 10 with this series
Review by DarkStar2018BlockedParent2019-06-26T17:14:53Z
PSA - Explanation of what the two ladies on the phone are talking about in this episode: