Wow. Just wow. My stomach is literally turning after watching this show. And I can't get it out of my head.
I think that I should mention that I was born in Lithuania when it was part of the USSR. I was born a year after the disaster. It's not like I wasn't aware of it. I just didn't think about how far reaching the consequences of the disaster are. I can't help thinking about everyone I know who is from the former USSR who got cancer, and now I wonder if it from old age or simply from exposure. It is not possible to know, but it is a hunting thought.
This show is authentic to an unbelievable degree. Usually I roll my eyes at all Western descriptions of the USSR. This is super accurate. Everything just looked familiar. From the ugly caps, to the ugly sinks, to the ugly wallpapers that looked awful with the ugly tiles. It felt like my house at the time, it felt like everyone's house. Also when I saw the buildings from the flying view at the beginning of the first episode, they looked oddly familiar, it looked like Lithuania. And I was right, the show was filmed in Lithuania. But really all the construction in the USSR was very similar everywhere from what I understand. When it came to regular housing neighborhoods at least. So yeah, this show represents the USSR in a totally accurate way. Plus almost everyone did have a cat or dog, mostly cats.
The acting is top-notch. Sure almost everyone is British and they don't try to hide their accents, but it is way better than fake Russian accents. Jared Harris is brilliant as Valery Legasov, he carries the entire show on his shoulders. Stellan Skarsgård is equally brilliant as Boris Shcherbina, his part is more difficult as he becomes disillusioned with the USSR policy. Emily Watson as Ulana Khomyuk is also outstanding, as her performance represents all of the scientists that worked with Legasov with honor.
Now, to the show itself. Wow. Everything about it is just amazing. First of all, amazing filming. Every shoot in the show is brilliant. There are no wasted opportunities. It feels like it makes the most out of every frame. And making the most to make sure we understand how horrifying everything is. From the moment radiation hits the air every shoot just emphasizes the horror and tragedy of it all. I never thought that a loving hug could look so frightening, but this show did just that. It is both beautiful and horrifying. Plus with the eerie sounds choices the atmosphere is bleak and horrifying as it should be.
Despite all of the criminal negligence that was involved, the show honored everyone. It did everything not to skip anyone. From the brave firefighters, to the brave man who tried to stop the disaster from escalating with their own hands. To the brave scientists who risked their lives by speaking up against USSR policy which was "state first". It felt like it took its time to honor everyone. Well, except for the people who were guilty of course. It also did everything to make sure that we understand that this is a disaster of a different scale by comparing it to a war. You can survive war, but you cannot survive this silent killer.
It also did a great job with dumbing down the physics of it all. How a nuclear reactor, well that particular nuclear reactor worked. And how the disaster happened. Not just the human error, but why the physics of it and the problem with the construction itself. It also does a pretty good job at explaining and showing what radiation poisoning does to you and it is not pretty. It's not like you don't understand that radiation is bad now. But you've never been explained how bad it is this way.
There is no appropriate trigger warning for this show. It does not shy away from anything at all. There is unbelievable horror there. This is not for the faint hearted. I watch horror movies for fun and I had to look away at some points, because reality is at times more horrifying than anything you can imagine. Just don't eat while you're watching this show. Probably shouldn't watch it with a full stomach either. My stomach is still turning just from thinking about some of the things I saw there.
But it is a must see show. It a visual masterpiece that is perfect in every aspect. And it is also an important historical lesson and a cautionary tale. Shows this great don't come along so often, you have to see it.