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

HiLife

HiLife

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
39,593
Goddamn that ending.

I watch a lot of horror movies and am a sucker for them in general. But this show is doing a crazy job of putting those to shame when it comes to sheer dread and hopelessness. All those jump scares in movies they play loudly don't even compare to the sound of the dosimeter going off and the three dudes knowing that shits hitting the fan lol.

It's making me paranoid now. The slight sound of my ceiling fan clicking sounds like the dosimeter haha.
 
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Sinder

Sinder

Banned
Jul 24, 2018
7,576
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Vulcano's Assistant

Vulcano's Assistant

Member
Oct 29, 2017
13,471
Pretty haunting that the scale of the threat in the worst case scenario briefing was not unlike something out of an apocalyptic Roland Emmerich flick.
 
Monkey Gland Sauce

Monkey Gland Sauce

Member
Oct 30, 2017
880
I like how all the title cards are very slightly out of focus and have a bit of distortion towards the edges, rather like an old slide projector.
 
Kuroyume

Kuroyume

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
3,910
I don't think I've ever had a show grip and horrify me as much this... Jesus. I never knew about the water tanks until I saw this episode. It could have been so much worse if not for that sacrifice. That scene at the end was ridiculous. And that scene where Ananenko, Bezpalov, and Baranov volunteered for that shit was overwhelming. Actual heroes.

Pikalov volunteering to drive the dosimeter over for the measurement so that one of his soldiers wouldn't suffer the consequences was also fantastic.

"Why did I see graphite on the roof? Graphite is only found in the core, where it's used a neutron flux moderator. Correct?" LOL

As others have pointed out there's actual footage of the helicopter crash on the internet.

Really upsets me thinking about what happened to the first responders and military personnel. Infuriating to see people wasting they're time trying to protect their own backs from culpability when people went in there exposing themselves to that danger because of false information.
 
Dubbedinenglish

Dubbedinenglish

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
10,326
This show really drives home just how destructive radiation poisoning is. You get realization that it really could end all life on Earth.
 

Sixfortyfive

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
4,615
Atlanta
I can already tell that the fictional scientist character is going to be the thing that bothers me the most about this show. I'd rather they have just quickly hand-waived how Legasov gets his information and spent more time on things like the Swedish discovery of the accident instead.

More_Badass said:
Said it earlier, but people acting and speaking rationally on this show is immensely satisfying. Like Shcherbina cutting through the bullshit about graphite on the roof
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"I may not know much about nuclear reactors, but I know a lot about concrete" was a pretty good line.
 
Tugatrix

Tugatrix

The Fallen
Oct 26, 2017
3,260
I'm gonna have nightmares with that dosimeter

Can't find Boris shcherbina on anything, only that he was/is a real person, i wanted to know if legasov prediction that they would be dead in 5 years was correct.
 
AniHawk

AniHawk

No Fear, Only Math
Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,123
Iceman said:
30km annihilation radius + Ukraine and Byelorussia would not be inhabitable for 100 years. Wut?! Wow.
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that's basically all of nyc completely annihilated because of continued human fuckups. it's staggering to think how it could get so bad and that there were straight up heroes willing to sacrifice themselves for the good of millions like that. i've been looking up these guys though and it seems that all three lived another 20ish years and two might still be alive today? i hope that's true after making that choice.
 
Strafer

Strafer

The Flagpole is Wider
Member
Oct 25, 2017
29,348
Sweden
Stellan was unrecognisable.

Haunting episode goddamn. I need something happier after watching this series.
 
exodus

exodus

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,937
Was the threat of the second explosion really that big? How does that work out exactly? While the first explosion was a huge deal, the immediate explosion wasn't all that devastating and the level of radiation, while noticeable, still wasn't anywhere near rendering Europe uninhabitable. Wouldn't the second explosion just about 3x as bad as the initial?
 
shnurgleton

shnurgleton

Member
Oct 27, 2017
15,864
Boston
This is the best television I have seen in years. Jesus Christ

Lovecraft hasn't got shit on this nightmare reality. These sad men and women are heroes
 
OmniGamer

OmniGamer

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,752
This is such an excellent show. Got my partner watching it too now. Bryukhanov and Fomin are such weasels. I liked the moments of Shcherbina quietly digesting the severity of the situation as the episode progressed. The real news footage with Peter Jennings was cool, though I've never heard Chernobyl pronounced that way before. That pile of contaminated fire fighter clothes was freaky, especially after seeing YouTube vids of people recently going there and it still being radioactive
 
TheForgotten

TheForgotten

Member
Oct 27, 2017
566
the first 2 episodes have been amazing. just finished the podcast for episode 1. and still shaking my head at how crazy some of the stuff was that was actually real, and some of the insane things that were left out.

Hope to have time tomorrow to listen to the episode 2 podcast.

I think this is the best thing HBO has done for years. I told my sister and mum both about this show and had them check it out.

I could not recommend this enough, and the podcast for the show is such a great companion.

Anyone in Australia with Foxtel get onto this show. sucks they are not promoting it or even have it on a channel yet. but its just put up in the On Demand. but at least its within an hour or so of the US screening.
 
Tugatrix

Tugatrix

The Fallen
Oct 26, 2017
3,260
OmniGamer said:
This is such an excellent show. Got my partner watching it too now. Bryukhanov and Fomin are such weasels. I liked the moments of Shcherbina quietly digesting the severity of the situation as the episode progressed. The real news footage with Peter Jennings was cool, though I've never heard Chernobyl pronounced that way before. That pile of contaminated fire fighter clothes was freaky, especially after seeing YouTube vids of people recently going there and it still being radioactive
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yep they are still there and still highly radioactive
 
More_Badass

More_Badass

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,621
OmniGamer said:
This is such an excellent show. Got my partner watching it too now. Bryukhanov and Fomin are such weasels. I liked the moments of Shcherbina quietly digesting the severity of the situation as the episode progressed.
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The contrast between his initial attitude and his silent thousand-yard stare during the second briefing was really effective
 

Sixfortyfive

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
4,615
Atlanta
exodus said:
Was the threat of the second explosion really that big? How does that work out exactly? While the first explosion was a huge deal, the immediate explosion wasn't all that devastating and the level of radiation, while noticeable, still wasn't anywhere near rendering Europe uninhabitable. Wouldn't the second explosion just about 3x as bad as the initial?
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The initial blast was only a partial destruction of one of the 4 reactors, and its force was propelled almost entirely upward and not outward. A second, larger, and even less constrained blast would've been worse. I dunno if it's realistic to say that truly catastrophic effects would be felt as far as East Germany, but the prospects of turning much of the surrounding area around the plant into a crater probably wasn't far off.
 

DrM

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,076
Slovenia
Too bad that this show is only 5 episodes... will watch second one this evening.
Sixfortyfive said:
The initial blast was only a partial destruction of one of the 4 reactors, and its force was propelled almost entirely upward and not outward. A second, larger, and even less constrained blast would've been worse. I dunno if it's realistic to say that truly catastrophic effects would be felt as far as East Germany, but the prospects of turning much of the surrounding area around the plant into a crater probably wasn't far off.
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Emergency water containers (Steam suppression containers to be precise) under the reactor building held around 5000 cubic meters of water - and they were almost full due to broken pipes and water poured into the reactor building. Now just imagine hot (2500+ degrees Celsius) corium lava touching pool of water. Blast would evaporate whole atomic plant (with all three remaining reactors) with surrounding area and throw everything into the atmosphere (several hundred tonnes of uranium, several thousand tons of graphite etc) . Even with Chernobyl accident a lot of Europe received a fair amount of radiation, just imagine it several levels more severe. As stated in Midnight In Chernobyl, even 500 km exclusion zone could be considered in case of second blast.

Also some spoilers for stuff that could be on the menu for episode #3
There was also a possibility molten corium reaching underground water and contaminating whole Dyneper water basin.
 
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rsfour

rsfour

Member
Oct 26, 2017
16,714
Loxley said:
I gotta say, I love listening to the podcast after watching the episodes - they go into way more detail about the real events depicted in the show. It really sheds a whole new light on each episode.

Craig Mazin mentioned that one scene they would have loved to film for this episode but ran out of time was a scene showing how the Swedes first detected that something had gone wrong in Chernobyl. Apparently one of the workers there was walking outside and got a piece of fallout from Chernobyl on his shoe and once he went back inside the radiation caused an alarm in their facility to go off.

Like, wow.
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Where can I find the podcast?

And this show is fucking outstanding
 
Javaman

Javaman

Member
Oct 31, 2017
629
I hope one of the episodes focuses on the accident itself. The wikipedia entry about the show make it sound like there will be one.
 
Wackamole

Wackamole

Member
Oct 27, 2017
16,931
So, just asking without trying to read too much and possibly spoil myself: Is it a good show?
Worth watching? An instant classic? How does it measure up to the greats?
 
Strafer

Strafer

The Flagpole is Wider
Member
Oct 25, 2017
29,348
Sweden
Wackamole said:
So, just asking without trying to read too much and possibly spoil myself: Is it a good show?
Worth watching? An instant classic? How does it measure up to the greats?
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Too soon to tell, at least for me. Need to see the whole series before giving my final impression.

But so far the two episodes have been 10/10.
 
Spoder

Spoder

Member
Oct 24, 2017
234
Wackamole said:
So, just asking without trying to read too much and possibly spoil myself: Is it a good show?
Worth watching? An instant classic? How does it measure up to the greats?
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It's definitely worth watching. Very intense and immaculate, visual, audio, script, all production values are top notch.
 
More_Badass

More_Badass

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,621
Wackamole said:
So, just asking without trying to read too much and possibly spoil myself: Is it a good show?
Worth watching? An instant classic? How does it measure up to the greats?
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Two episodes in, it's the best show I've watched this year and one of the most gripping I've seen in years. Need to show how it finishes to answer that definitely, but right now, it's a haunting and dread-inducing must-see
 
Wackamole

Wackamole

Member
Oct 27, 2017
16,931
exodus

exodus

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,937
Yup, I'd agree with that sentiment. The show is absolutely outstanding. I can't recall seeing anything better in a long while. The addition of the podcast makes it that much better.
 
True Prophecy

True Prophecy

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,919
Sometimes real life is scarier than fiction. I was so ignorant to a lot of this even though I've always had an interest. My first exposure to this event was through video games but knowing what I'm watching happened is something else.
 
randompasserby

randompasserby

Member
Apr 17, 2019
1,375
Viridia
Scattered thoughts as I watch.
Spoilered just in case
  • Huh this General Secretary guy is surprisingly decent. Much better than Dyatlov, Fomin and that Viktor guy at least.
  • Yay Nuclear Reactor 101 for dummies. This will be very much appreciated by most audience.
  • Wow this military brass who volunteered to drive the truck with measurements is badass.
  • Well Scherbina is effective at least. I'm guessing the burying head in sand part is over and we're switching to crisis response finally.
  • Ah there's the Vnimanie loop from the trailer...that shit was haunting.
  • "We're asking for your permission to kill 3 men." The tension and the weight is suffocating.
  • What happened at the end there? They got disoriented and lost somehow? That ever rising crackle of the dosimeter is going straight up my ranking for hellish noises goddamn.
 
Delphine

Delphine

Fen'Harel Enansal
Administrator
Mar 30, 2018
3,658
France
Just watched 1st episode a few days ago, and we're already hooked! I really love Jared Harris as an actor (he's amazing in The Terror), so I'm happy to see him in this as well. Can't wait to watch 2nd episode soon!
 
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