So, what I am taken by, more than the usual 'look at them dumb-ass Soviets..' crap, is the stunning humanism of the characters. People that are fucking up, never realize until too late, those that have just performed an ultimately heroic act won't know ever.. and then some, just standing around admiring the glowing bits of rain. And all this is just from episode one. Well presented human tragedy, one hopes it's never too late..
Sky in the UK. I remain on the fence with this show. I was not exactly blown away by the pilot, but could see it might have potential. Frankly, the accents were a bit jarring (along with the actors not quite hitting it). Feels a bit more like Sunday move/masterpiece theatre work than a portrayal of Soviet-era Russia. But I say all this from the perspective of 2019, where we have been considerably spoiled in terms of high-quality television offerings.
So, I'm really interested what you meant by this, because as far as I could tell (and my 1st lang isn't English neither..), they were NOT trying to do that fake Russian accent, which I always cringe on. It's a somewhat international cast, mostly English talent, plus Skarsgard and others.
i listened to a podcast and the writer explained why they decided not to use Russian accents and i tend to agree that it was probably for the better. I enjoyed episode one enough, and will definitely watch it through.
I watched the first episode this week. I couldn’t imagine being one of those firefighters or power plant workers. I’m absolutely terrified now of something like this happening again..
The story of Chernobyl itself has always fascinated me. Finally got to watch the first episode last night. I like the mixture of calm and chaos, will continue to watch.
Finally got to watch the first episode, it was good. I’ve a passing knowledge about the disaster, but this really illustrated how... disasterous it really was. The realization that comes about for each of the characters was intense. The ones with a full understanding of just what had happened, and that their fate has been sealed. And the people in denial about the severity of the situation, and the poor people who had no idea just what was happening... staring at the bright lights and pretty colors. Afterwards the episode prompted me to do a little more research on the disaster and I was surprised that the (admittedly disputed) death toll directly related to the disaster was only a few dozen. Indirectly some counts bring the total to 90,000+ throughout the years; from cancer and radiation exposure etc... but I had always thought the initial death toll from the radiation was much much higher.
Was totally enjoyed the first episode. It seems now that only wolfs live in the chernobyl...that I find mind blowing.
finished second episode,totally riveting TV...kind of restores my faith in the medium after the GOT core meltdown.
What was the reasoning? Just caught up with the first two episodes and I agree about the jarring accents. It seems strange to have gone into so much depth and detail on the nuances of 80's cold war Russia only to be hit with the English accents. Only made worse with the use of unsubtitled Russian announcements. Personally would've preferred a hint of cliched Russian and the same for the announcements to help continuity and give it a sense of place. Apart from that, it's an eye-opener for sure! 'Everything's fine!'
May I recommend "A slow Death: 83 Days of Radiation Sickness" about extreme exposure from beginning, to end. An absolutely terrifying book.
Just wanted to mention that E3 was full-on, unflinching about the first victims' slow live burning to death. As a grown-ass man, this show managed to get me misty eyed the second time in the series. My other personal favorite series about nuclear/radiation effects was Threads. Not as honest imho as Chernobyl, still.. btw, my first tear-up scene was when Harris' character (I can't remember character names or be bothered to look 'em up..) laid out the worst case reality for the rest of Europe. Again, the human tragedy for me is what these actors making more real than the failings of Soviet apparatchiks.
This is such an absolutely tense show it's crazy. I find it utterly fascinating, all these bad decisions that just compound one another because no one wants to admit they screwed up. Would love to see one about Fukushima
this is a fascinating watch for anyone viewing the Chernobyl series... a very dark tale of our own near catastrophic nuclear meltdown in the UK.
