The Monkey Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 The first episode of the new HBO/Sky mini-series Chernobyl premiered earlier this week, and it's pretty fantastic. The episode filled me with dread the way few shows have ever accomplished. Everything feels so realistic and genuine, from the acting to the sets to the bureaucracy (if you can overlook the fact that Russians and Ukrainians speak English). If the first episode is any indication, this show will be one for the ages. Trailer: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
State Trooper Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 Agreed, it's very good and really grim. Those poor people I know what you mean about the accents as well, and all I kept doing was going, I know him, she was in so and so! Soon got used to it though and can't wait for the next episode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martini Sigil Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 I really dug Ep1.... it watched like a good horror film... everything is so friggin' dreary.... and the fact that --as horrific as the early stage radiation poisoning is-- its hovering in the air that this is going to get much much worse.... The incompetence, finger pointing, and denial in the face of the horror --the signatures of communist Russia-- keep adding layers to the story.... I have a good feeling about this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HexMachina Posted May 11, 2019 Share Posted May 11, 2019 Very tense, very creepy, great atmosphere. Didnt mind the choice with accents after the initial reactiom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Monkey Posted May 14, 2019 Author Share Posted May 14, 2019 Episode two retained the high quality. They manage to make radiation a more frightening antagonist than the murderer in almost any horror movie. Excellent portrayal of Soviet bureaucracy as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebla Posted May 15, 2019 Share Posted May 15, 2019 On 5/14/2019 at 2:52 PM, The Monkey said: Episode two retained the high quality. They manage to make radiation a more frightening antagonist than the murderer in almost any horror movie. Excellent portrayal of Soviet bureaucracy as well. It reminded me a lot of another HBO work, "Citizen X" which was about a serial killer inside the Soviet Union. There too the authorities hindered the investigation because "This doesn't happen in the Soviet Union". This show is phenomenal. It's smart, scary, and has a really good cast. Jared Harris and Stellan Skarsgard are two of my favorite character actors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGP Posted May 16, 2019 Share Posted May 16, 2019 I was tired, and had lots of shit to do the next morning after I dropped the girls at school, so just short of midnight Monday night I climbed into bed with little more determination than to read maybe a chapter of Tad Williams new book. Several chapters in I realized that the 2nd episode of Chernobyl dropped, so I dropped the book. Maybe a bit, I figured. Get a taste, consume the rest tomorrow. Riiiiight. I'm still not sure if I ended up actually sleeping. Yeah. I felt witness to some dread parable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mashiara Posted May 16, 2019 Share Posted May 16, 2019 I watched both episodes today. What a superb show! I'm watching with mounting dread and sorrow, appreciating the realism and the attention to detail. 13 hours ago, Triskele said: I also confess that a part of what's riveting is that I only sort of know the broad strokes of the history. I don't know the details, so just starting to get these details filled in but also while being so thoroughly entertained is very satisfying. Trisk, I remember Chernobyl. I was 10. Old enough to know something was seriously wrong but not old enough to understand why all the grownups were frantically discussing this, wondering what the danger was for us, whether we were being told the whole truth. I remember not eating fresh fruit and veggies for months afterwards, not drinking fresh milk for years. Was it paranoia or a wise precaution? I don't know. I never gave it much thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen'ari Posted May 16, 2019 Share Posted May 16, 2019 Damn I've not seen it yet!, I saw the trailer and thought this is something I can't miss, think I will have to tray and catch up this weekend, how many episodes have there been?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGP Posted May 16, 2019 Share Posted May 16, 2019 Two so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red snow Posted May 16, 2019 Share Posted May 16, 2019 It's excellent. I made a few posts in the "watching" thread and what i love about it is that it feels almost SF/horror in places which when you think about it was what happened - something on the fringes of our science went wrong. The glowing ozone pillar of light, the way people's face go red but they aren't aware of it only us. The scene with the helicopters. It's so well executed and that's before you add the communism getting in the way. If there's a scarier more disturbing scene than the end of episode 2, this year, I'll be very impressed (and scared/disturbed). I like how russians appear to be from the north of england too although i think i prefer this over fake russian accents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
State Trooper Posted May 16, 2019 Share Posted May 16, 2019 Outstanding TV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martini Sigil Posted May 16, 2019 Share Posted May 16, 2019 Shcherbina's (Stellan Skaarsgard) face --and everything that was unspoken-- when that helicopter went down conjured myriad emotions... you know he'd never give Legasov (Jared Harris) credit for being right... in fact, he's angry that he was right, and he still takes it out on him... Christ they're all assholes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramsay B. Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 Yes, a horrifying but excellent episode. Learning that the effects of radiation sickness recedes for a day or two then basically goes into overdrive(at least in severe cases) was particularly hellish. Amazing how close this was to being a much bigger disaster too. The perfect storm of incompetence, government denial, chaos, etc. Pretty fucking scary. I knew the actress playing the wife, Jessie Buckley, looked familiar. She was a standout in Taboo, and I need to watch Beast now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebla Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 What made the body horrors even more terrifying was the reveal that they couldn't even give the worst victims pain medicine because of the breakdown of cell structure.The agony they must have felt is the thing of nightmares. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 Jared Harris is an incomparably brilliant actor in everything he does (including Mad Men, Fringe, The Expanse and The Terror) but it feels like this show is the one that will catapult him into the big leagues. It takes a lot to stand there going toe-to-toe with Stellan Skarsgard and Emily Watson for scene after scene after scene, but he is tremendous. Quote I knew the actress playing the wife, Jessie Buckley, looked familiar. She was a standout in Taboo, and I need to watch Beast now. Jessie Buckley was the second-best thing in Taboo, after Tom Hardy's Hat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen'ari Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 I’m up to date on this now,it’s brilliantly acted and made, really great show, yes it’s grim and depressing as fuck but it makes me empathise so much with many of the characters. I’m not very knowledgable about radiation sickness but could the wife have become sick from touching the husband even though he wasn’t in contact with anything radioactive anymore?. Also why on earth weren’t the people better protected after they knew the reactor was open?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramsay B. Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 1 hour ago, Bittersweet Distractor said: I’m not very knowledgable about radiation sickness but could the wife have become sick from touching the husband even though he wasn’t in contact with anything radioactive anymore?. From a quick search it is said that a person who is internally contaminated, like the husband, can spread the radioactive material through his blood, sweat or urine. So hugging and touching him was in fact somewhat dangerous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaxom 1974 Posted May 24, 2019 Share Posted May 24, 2019 Jesus this show. That this isn't something that's talked about more is unbelievable. I remember fringes of it being talked about on the news when I was in junior high, but I had no idea. And Jared Harris is spectacular. How he's "under the radar" is mind boggling... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaxom 1974 Posted May 24, 2019 Share Posted May 24, 2019 Just now, Triskele said: I mean all I can think of is a combination of hitting stride a bit later in life, not a "leading man" type....but he's so great in everything I've seen him in, this show as much as anything. I just IMBD's him and am worried about my cognition because I'd totally forgotten about The Expanse, and I have no recollection whatsoever of him playing US Grant in Lincoln. I am usually thinking of Mad Men, The Terror, and The Crown. His role as Grant wasn't large, but it's actually one of my favorites...and his turn as Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes Game of Shadows... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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