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HBO's Chernobyl |OT| Do you taste something metallic?

JangleLuke

JangleLuke

Member
Oct 4, 2018
1,604
The series finally finished airing where I live.

What a fantastic series, I had already read a few articles regarding the event due to personal curiosity, and because in some smaller cities you can still find "denuclearized zone" signs from the 80's, as a response to the newfound fears of nuclear energy caused by the disaster.
(which has led to the closure of all nuclear power plants in my country, for better or for worse).

My father even told me that at the time he took some iodine pills as precaution against the contaminated clouds, even though we live more than 1500 kms away from it (Italy), but apparently the clouds reached us anyway! Truly scary stuff.
 
someday

someday

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,453
Since this series, I've read Voices of Chernobyl, Midnight in Chernobyl, and Chernobyl Notebook. Are there any other recommendations that offer a different perspective or just another good book to read about this or any other modern disaster? To be honest, I'm more interested in the patients with ARS now. I've read the Annex report that goes into the dosages and treatment of many of the first-responders and it's fascinating.
 
Razgriz-Specter

Razgriz-Specter

Member
Oct 25, 2017
29,494
It was crazy to watch this show and then see a bunch of those Chernobyl boneyard videos again,
really put everything into perspective

Particularly one where the person finds the German robot and it sets off the meter like crazy.

or the firetrucks just sitting there.
 
DonaldKimball

DonaldKimball

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,413
Finally found the time to watch this and man, Jared Harris fucking killed it again. That man is insanely talented and a joy to watch.
 
Atomic Playboy

Atomic Playboy

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,900
Portland, OR
My aunt came over last week with some graphite to fix our locks, and game me a completely blank look when I said "you didn't see any graphite because it wasn't there!" She tends to watch the HBO shows too, so I was actually surprised she wasn't following along. Bah.
 
ArkhamFantasy

ArkhamFantasy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,545
I just found out there was an explosion at reactor #2 in 1991, apparently there was a giant 50 meter wide hole in the roof (!) and rain water got in, messed up the turbine causing a explosion/fire, it was only 40 meters away from control room #2 and there was a ton of oil in the room that thankfully didn't catch fire.

Imagine the horror of the fire fighters being called to another explosion at Chernobyl, THIS IS FUCKING INSANE, THE MORE I LEARN THE MORE FUCKING INSANE CHERNOYBL IS.
 
Sunbro83

Sunbro83

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,262
Finally watching this and it has some unexpected little gaming cameos. I'm sat here thinking "why do I know that guy's voice"? IMDB to the rescue....

The first 2 episodes have the guy that voices Titchy Gren in Dark Souls II. Such a distinctive gravelly yet high pitched voice

Also, the guy that takes the kid around shooting dogs is Leo from A Way Out. Was surprised at how much the actor resembles the in game character!
 

voodoo

Member
Oct 26, 2017
466
Dmax3901

Dmax3901

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,872
Anyone else get the impression from that latest podcast that Mazin's next project might be about 9/11?
 
Joeku

Joeku

Member
Oct 26, 2017
23,477
voodoo said:
For those who might have missed it, there was a bonus addition to the Chernobyl podcast which has Craig Mazin briefly talk about this, and how similar it is to what happened in Chernobyl. Also has a retrospective discussion with Jared Harris about the show:

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That's really neat, thanks for the link.

Edit: Interesting, it sounds like a lot of pre-shooting conversation between Jared Harris and Craig Mazin ended up leading to some changes to the character and certain scenes because Jared was so insightful and probing with regards to how he should be acting. This is why you hire master performers like that; they feed back up the chain.
 
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Sparky2112

Sparky2112

Member
Feb 20, 2018
947
Yeah, thanks for the tip on the bonus podcast. Can't wait. BTW, you can go down the Jared Harris / Chernobyl rabbit hole on YouTube, if you're so inclined.
 
H.Cornerstone

H.Cornerstone

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,717
so finally went back and watched the series, and I briefly read the wikipedia article, but in reality, was the cause of the explosion 50% the operators and 50% the fatal design flaw of the reactor? or some other percentage?
 
Jombie

Jombie

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10,392
H.Cornerstone said:
so finally went back and watched the series, and I briefly read the wikipedia article, but in reality, was the cause of the explosion 50% the operators and 50% the fatal design flaw of the reactor? or some other percentage?
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Mostly the operators. The accident could have been 100% avoided, but there probably would have been an incident down the line if it had been. There were incidents with the RBMK reactors all across the Soviet Union, and they were more inherent design flaws than just the graphite control rods.
 
Cheerilee

Cheerilee

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
3,969
H.Cornerstone said:
so finally went back and watched the series, and I briefly read the wikipedia article, but in reality, was the cause of the explosion 50% the operators and 50% the fatal design flaw of the reactor? or some other percentage?
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It's impossible to assign a number to the blame. But...

The reactor was built using a flawed design, under the assumption that nobody would ever abuse the reactor like it was abused.

The reactor was abused, under the assumption that abusing the reactor would be fine.

Sure, you could call that 50/50 blame. Or maybe shift the blame around.

But then, you can also blame the system that buried important information and created the miscommunication between the two. You can blame the system that ordered the reactor to be made cheaply. You can blame the system that forced the reactor into service before the tests were completed. You can blame the system that pressured the operators to perform reckless tests that they knew would fail, for their own political ambitions. One could say these factors were more important than the first two combined. And these factors still exist today, in America even, waiting to create the next Chernobyl, as if people have learned nothing from history. The design flaws were addressed, and nobody will ever try to stall a reactor like that again. But those are the two most surface-level lessons to take away from Chernobyl.
 
BrassDragon

BrassDragon

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,154
The Netherlands
Joeku said:
That's really neat, thanks for the link.

Edit: Interesting, it sounds like a lot of pre-shooting conversation between Jared Harris and Craig Mazin ended up leading to some changes to the character and certain scenes because Jared was so insightful and probing with regards to how he should be acting. This is why you hire master performers like that; they feed back up the chain.
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It's not just the main parts, the podcast also talks about Fares Fares being cast as the soldier Bacho (the officer on dog liquidation duty) caused Mezin to rewrite the character slightly to better fit the actor. The casting choices are a huge part of why this series works so well.
 
LakeEarth

LakeEarth

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,176
Ontario
Cheerilee said:
It's impossible to assign a number to the blame. But...

The reactor was built using a flawed design, under the assumption that nobody would ever abuse the reactor like it was abused.

The reactor was abused, under the assumption that abusing the reactor would be fine.

Sure, you could call that 50/50 blame. Or maybe shift the blame around.

But then, you can also blame the system that buried important information and created the miscommunication between the two. You can blame the system that ordered the reactor to be made cheaply. You can blame the system that forced the reactor into service before the tests were completed. You can blame the system that pressured the operators to perform reckless tests that they knew would fail, for their own political ambitions. One could say these factors were more important than the first two combined. And these factors still exist today, in America even, waiting to create the next Chernobyl, as if people have learned nothing from history. The design flaws were addressed, and nobody will ever try to stall a reactor like that again. But those are the two most surface-level lessons to take away from Chernobyl.
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Exactly, that's pretty much the big point of the mini-series. It's the lies that did in Chernobyl, did in the whole USSR, and sooner or later, "do in" countries today.
 
BrassDragon

BrassDragon

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,154
The Netherlands
ArkhamFantasy said:
An egyptian mummy
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The editor made some weird choices at the end - the artist talks about being proud of the late stage burns on fireman Vasily Ignatenko and how it resembled a rare picture, then it cuts to a close-up of a mummy and a still of Leonid Toptunov as portrayed in the series.

They don't even bother showing visuals that correspond to what the artist is talking about.
 
2PiR

2PiR

alt account
Banned
Aug 28, 2019
978
I watched the show again this weekend, and I am still wondering if Dyatlov knew and was in denial about the reactor being exploded. Right after the explosion, he walks near the hallway observing the debris outside of the window and you can clearly see graphite yet in the basement with Viktor he was spreading FUD or he genuinely was clueless.
 

Deleted member 8561

user requested account closure
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
11,284
pong123 said:
I watched the show again this weekend, and I am still wondering if Dyatlov knew and was in denial about the reactor being exploded. Right after the explosion, he walks near the hallway observing the debris outside of the window and you can clearly see graphite yet in the basement with Viktor he was spreading FUD or he genuinely was clueless.
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Dyatlov knew, he was just in complete denial because the implications of the reactor exploding means they are all fucked in more ways than one.

It's pure cognitive dissonance. RBMK can't explode, yet he sees clear evidence of graphite littered all over the ground which could only happen because of a reactor exploding.
 
Umbrella Carp

Umbrella Carp

Banned
Jan 16, 2019
3,265
pong123 said:
I watched the show again this weekend, and I am still wondering if Dyatlov knew and was in denial about the reactor being exploded. Right after the explosion, he walks near the hallway observing the debris outside of the window and you can clearly see graphite yet in the basement with Viktor he was spreading FUD or he genuinely was clueless.
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Click to shrink...

He knew he was the only one with concrete knowledge of the graphite at the time, nobody else apart from the first responders had seen it up to that point and they were busy fighting to put the fire out, so he was basically lying his ass off until he could put enough distance between him and the clearly catastrophic situation that, in his mind he then won't be responsible for. He's just one of those people. An irresponsible, corrupt coward.
 
denx

denx

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,321
I'm watching the show for the first time and goddamn, this must be one of the most unsettling things I've watched in a long time. It's a brilliant show tho.

I'm up to Ep 3 and those hospital scenes holy shit
 
denx

denx

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,321
Listening to the podcast for Ep 4. THANK GOD they cut the scene with the still alive puppy in the pit.
 
denx

denx

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,321
Man this show was amazing. It's a heavy, heavy show, but I feel like doing a rewatch to catch details I might had missed the first time.

The memes are hilarious too.

fh56nxn.jpg
 
Arta

Arta

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
8,445
I started episode one a couple months ago, and blew through the rest over last weekend while quarantining at home. What an amazing series. There were two sections that were harrowing like horror movies. And that final episode, despite not being "in the field" was a perfect cap to everything.
 
Joeku

Joeku

Member
Oct 26, 2017
23,477
Jesus, this started in early May of last year. This thing is almost a year old already.
 
LakeEarth

LakeEarth

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,176
Ontario
Funny how relevant and timely it is considering it came out last year. It turns out simply ignoring a force of nature isn't a solution.
 
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