Every year feels like an appropriate year to watch Chernobyl. The five part TV series pre-dates COVID, but it might be the perfect parable for the political cowardice, anti-intellectualism, and manufactured doubt during the pandemic. This year we had five people killed in an easily preventable submarine disaster, and that fits the parable perfectly too. It turns out that for as long as we refuse to learn from our history, Chernobyl will remain a timeless show.
Chernobyl is a historical drama in a similar sort of mould as the film Dunkirk. The adversary is more like a horror movie villain than a disaster. We are shown Chernobyl's victims, maimed and killed by a terrifying, unknown, invisible force. Standing against it are stern men who are trying to achieve the impossible and contain the beast. As viewers, we feel equal parts infuriated by the villains and elevated by the heroes. We have self-serving, arrogant politicians and bosses on one side of the nuclear disaster, and humble folk on the other, who saw what needed to be done and walked into certain death. In both cases, these are haplessness people let down by the system that reinforces ignorance.
The story is also a political intrigue. Chernobyl begins with a mysterious suicide of what we later learn will be our main character. The cause of his suicide is another mystery that drives the plot, alongside investigating how the powerplant disaster happened in the first place. We have all the ingredients of a Cold War spy plot, with Soviet boardrooms, KGB operatives, paranoia, secrecy, there's even an effort to stop a doomsday device from destroying the planet. Despite all those sensational elements, Chernobyl presents them as mundane details in a banal real world situation. Our heroes aren't dashing men in tuxedos, they are meek engineers and toiling labourers.
The series perfectly balances the storytelling needs for drama with the need to be respectful and honest about the subject. Chernobyl feels utterly authentic, even to those who know there are plenty of inaccuracies deliberately written into the show. At no point does it feel bogged down by accurately portraying the events, nor does it feel lurid or tasteless. The result is something that is consistently thrilling, but equally miserable. It's probably not a surprise to anyone that a drama about the worst nuclear disaster in history is going to be somewhat depressing, but Chernobyl doesn't pull any punches. Through all the death and suffering, the sad reality is that what the World got was the happy ending. It certainly doesn't feel like it watching the show.
Series Why Worry About What Won`t Happen?
Every year feels like an appropriate year to watch Chernobyl. The five part TV series pre-dates COVID, but it might be the perfect parable for the political cowardice, anti-intellectualism, and manufactured doubt during the pandemic. This year we had five people killed in an easily preventable submarine disaster, and that fits the parable perfectly too. It turns out that for as long as we refuse to learn from our history, Chernobyl will remain a timeless show.
Chernobyl is a historical drama in a similar sort of mould as the film Dunkirk. The adversary is more like a horror movie villain than a disaster. We are shown Chernobyl's victims, maimed and killed by a terrifying, unknown, invisible force. Standing against it are stern men who are trying to achieve the impossible and contain the beast. As viewers, we feel equal parts infuriated by the villains and elevated by the heroes. We have self-serving, arrogant politicians and bosses on one side of the nuclear disaster, and humble folk on the other, who saw what needed to be done and walked into certain death. In both cases, these are haplessness people let down by the system that reinforces ignorance.
The story is also a political intrigue. Chernobyl begins with a mysterious suicide of what we later learn will be our main character. The cause of his suicide is another mystery that drives the plot, alongside investigating how the powerplant disaster happened in the first place. We have all the ingredients of a Cold War spy plot, with Soviet boardrooms, KGB operatives, paranoia, secrecy, there's even an effort to stop a doomsday device from destroying the planet. Despite all those sensational elements, Chernobyl presents them as mundane details in a banal real world situation. Our heroes aren't dashing men in tuxedos, they are meek engineers and toiling labourers.
The series perfectly balances the storytelling needs for drama with the need to be respectful and honest about the subject. Chernobyl feels utterly authentic, even to those who know there are plenty of inaccuracies deliberately written into the show. At no point does it feel bogged down by accurately portraying the events, nor does it feel lurid or tasteless. The result is something that is consistently thrilling, but equally miserable. It's probably not a surprise to anyone that a drama about the worst nuclear disaster in history is going to be somewhat depressing, but Chernobyl doesn't pull any punches. Through all the death and suffering, the sad reality is that what the World got was the happy ending. It certainly doesn't feel like it watching the show.