If you are talking about the "Megaton" thermal explosion that was averted by the three divers, yeah, that one is just a lie. This show greatly exaggerated that for sensationalism purposes. Those three divers saved millions of lives, but not the entirety of Europe. That was just an exaggeration by the show.
It wasn't just him, few other workers saw it outside but couldn't belive it. Stuff like this was never supposed to happen, and was beyond your wildest dreams.
I'm American and tbh I knew of the disaster and remember seeing news reports as a kid. But I had no idea just how bad it was not just for Russia, but for all of Europe. I found it heart wrenching to see some of the things that happened and think that a large part of them could have been prevented if they just followed the advice of the scientists who were there I'm not the crying type but seeing the shocking numbers of people who were just thrown to their doom was pretty emotional for me...and makes me afraid because I live really close to the Sequoya Nuclear plant
I know it is difficult to watch, but please give it a try. It is one of the best miniseries i have ever seen, period. It WILL make you angry, and sad, and outraged; but in the end that's a good thing, i think. It's an experience that shows you the lowest of lows and the highest of highs within a people. The acting, cinematography, direction, all of it is incredible. It's worth it to work through to emotions to see it through to the end. Perhaps it hits people harder outside of Europe because we were not directly involved, we haven't lived it or in it's aftermath, but that's the way i see it. As the last line of the miniseries will read (No Spoilers): "For all those who suffered and sacrificed." .
I know you didnt have Mr Rogers in France, but he is basically the best person ever. He had a saying, "Look for the helpers. Whenever there is a catastrophe, always look for the helpers... Because if you look for the helpers, you will know that there is hope." Yes, the Chernobyl incident is a terrible tragedy, but there are many heroes you get to see in this show that a cold emotionless documentary doesnt show you. Also, Anderson Dawes is really really really good.
The staff really believed that the explosion of the reactor is impossible. In fact, no one could even think of it then. But when the accident happened, they did everything they could to fix it. They're all heroes as well as firefighters.
Firefighters did what they must. Their job is a great risk, and they are ready to sacrifice their lives. Firefighters stopped fire to spread to other reactor blocks. Even if they were ready to the situation, they definitely died after maybe not a of radioactive exposure, but of cancer in a few years. P.S.: I have fellow he was 3 years old boy (I myself was 4) and he lived in Pripyat, his grandma was working at nuclear plant, and he spent the most part of his childhood in France, as a Chernobyl kid.
"I can't really get in the show, because I'm so angry." When that's exactly what the show is aiming for you to feel. It's showing you what happened, how it happened, why it happened, and you should be angry. It's about denial, indifference, deception, and dissent. This show is one of the best ever produced. The chronology, the acting, the writing, the editing, the cinematography. I was 12 years old when the accident happened, and I remember that I wasn't allowed to go to school or play outside. I've seen some little bits about Chernobyl over time, and new about a few things. I watched the show with an open mind though, trying to absorb the information presented here. I will admit I was disappointed at first that the dialogue was in English (as we're pretty well accustomed to subtitles in The Netherlands, and I have no issue with watching movies or shows in a language I can't understand). I've watched it about 5 times now (plus numerous reactions), and every time I pick up new nuances.
I look forward to watching the rest of the episodes. Thank you for sticking with the show even though i can tell even this first episode was super hard for you. Also, I am excited seeing you did BSG. I will definitely watch your reactions to that as well.
I think you're right, most people in Europe know about Chernobyl. At least here in Germany I don't know anyone who doesn't know about Chernobyl. Of course, the south of Germany in particular has received radioactive fallout.
Hello ! Yes, I really think that we can't watch the show without having that in mind, all of what we know, we learnt, we heard about Chernobyl since our childhood. It's a cultural hiatus that we have, without really thinking of it.
I know that you posted this video a while ago, but I just barely found your channel, and I've really been enjoying your reactions. And since you asked, I wanted to share my experience with Chernobyl. I live in the United States, and I was 15 years old when Chernobyl happened. I remember seeing reports about it on the news. Back then, we were deep in the midst of the Cold War, and the general American mindset was that the Soviet Union was the Enemy. In our movies and tv shows, they were the bad guys. I remember feeling bad about the people who were impacted, but I never really understood the full scope of the disaster while it was happening because of Soviet secrecy. I remember thinking that I was glad it happened on the other side of the planet, because back then all the kids my age lived in terror of nuclear war. We had shows like "The Day After," that showed what might happen if the Soviets dropped bombs on us, and it gave people nightmares. I read about radiation sickness from books on Hiroshima, and was horrified. My own mom was a "down-winder" which means she grew up near the nuclear test sites in Nevada, and she suffered severe health problems, especially with her thyroid, until she died at age 63. But we had no idea how bad it was in Russia and Europe. Everything about the Chernobyl cloud was downplayed in order to prevent panic. We were told it was nothing for us to worry about, so, as a 15 year old, I didn't. Besides, at the time, America was more upset about the Challenger space shuttle exploding in January, and we were far more invested in finding out why that happened, and the potential end of the space program, than we were in what was happening on the other side of the world to "the bad guys." We didn't think about how Europe was affected because we were told they would be fine. I don't think Americans really started paying attention to what happened at Chernobyl until people started exploring the exclusion zone and bringing back reports of ridiculously high radiation levels and post-apocalyptic landscapes. And even then, the mindset was more of, "Oh, look, isn't this creepy." Personally, like many Americans, I had no real knowledge of what actually happened at Chernobyl until watching this show. And as I watched, I kept thinking, "How did we not know about any of this? How did a disaster of this magnitude go largely ignored?" If it was mentioned at all in school, it was only as a brief note; a few paragraphs in a text book, if that. As I watched this show, one of the first things that really struck me was how, after the reactor exploded and the workers were trying to piece together what happened, one of the men said, "Is it the Americans?" His first reaction was to think we were dropping bombs on them, and I had this moment of clarity, that they -- all the regular people in the Soviet Union going about their daily lives -- were just as afraid of us as we were of them. As the show unfolded the horror of the events, I felt anger at the mistakes made, the lies told. I wept at the suffering of the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of innocent people affected. And I was astonished at the bravery of those who were willing to look a horrific death in the face and still do what had to be done in the hopes of saving others. The heroism they displayed and the sacrifices they made are inspiring. When I think of them, words fail me. Since watching this show, I have watched documentaries and read many first-person accounts of Chernobyl. I have learned even more. I am grateful that this show opened my eyes to what I, as a 15 year old girl living through the Cold War, was oblivious.
There are some really good podcasts about the series on youtube where the series creator talks about the making of each episode and decisions they made in the storytelling.
I live like 250 km away from that thing and i know that a lot of people basically berried it with their bodies so i really appreciate this kind of reaction. It's really not that bad right now, the thing that fascinates me the most is how nature adapted to it, right now it's all green, full of wild animals, hell there's even mushrooms that eat radiation.
Your reaction shows the power of your soul--that you care. Thank you. All the hope of the world lies in the fact of how you and others react to things like this--indignation, horror, rage. Thank you, again. I am not European but American. I was in my twenties when Chernobyl happened, and I remember feeling chilled at the initial news reports. This series gave me a much fuller perspective.
I'm from Poland and was 5 when Chernobyl happened. They were giving people Lugol's iodine, which was an unusual step in the Eastern Bloc and at least an attempt at mitigating the consequences. It was really interesting to see the reactions of people around the world to the story many of them never heard. I'm glad you started watching the show, even though you know the history. It's worth it.
Very good reaction. I think the writers did an excellent job of personalizing this disaster and showing that real people were involved - even with faults and egos, but also just ordinary folks who did the best they could in an unprecedented disaster. Looking forward to your episode 2 reaction.
It is very hard to watch stubborn people send good innocent people to die. That being said it is a very good show, episode 3 and 4 are the hardest to watch, but it is worth it to humanize the situation because I never knew about a lot of things this show depicts from the little they taught in school
British. Born in 83. This show hits hard. It can be a very difficult show to watch. But I'm so glad I did. I think being so close to it makes it hit home that little bit harder. We were all so close to great tragedy, only averted by great sacrifice. The first episode is nothing short of infuriating at points, and anger only gives way to heartache as the show progresses. But these are important emotions just as any other and we shouldn't shy from them.
Hello ! Thank you for your comment ! Yes, like I explained during my (too long) review, I think that it's the first time that I had a cultural and personal hiatus when I was watching the show, and it impacted my way of watching it. Like, normally, I'm not so angry 🙈
@@LauraReactions given what we see, from the state, from the people in positions of power, anger is exactly what you should feel. So much human tragedy could have been avoided. This show definitely doesn't paint the Soviet regime in a good light.
I lived in East Asia in Taiwan, like halfway around the world at that time, and the Chernobyl disaster still affected us. It effectively put a full stop of nuclear power development here. Just a year before the disaster, the 3rd nuclear power plant was built in 1985, where the construction of the 4th one delayed for more than a decade till 1999, and it never got finished. Whether to resume the nuclear power plant building remains a hot political issue here to this day, and still being brought up in every election.
1:58 - There wasn't any choice but to call the fire brigade. The plant was on fire and it needed to be extinguished quickly as there was another undamaged reactor in the same building. Specialist units would have taken at least 24 hours to deploy and faced the same dangers. A terrible sacrifice, but the heroism of those firefighters prevented an even worse disaster.
Keep in mind that you're watching these events unfold in 2019, with FULL INFORMATION on what just happened and what will happen in the following days/months. It's easy to get mad at their decision-making with that kind of information in mind, but just remember that these people don't have the information you have. They don't know the reactor just exploded, and based on their knowledge at the time, it WAS a technically impossible event (not just improbable, but impossible), that's why they dismiss the reports of those who went in the reactor room and said it exploded (and part of the story will be to understand how it was, in fact, possible). That's why they didn't immediately evacuate the power plant, almost none of them really grasped the full magnitude and severity of the accident. Same goes for the decision to call the fire brigade : first they don't know how big the danger is, and second, what other decision could they have taken anyway ? Let the fire burn, spread, and destroy the whole power plant (including the other three reactors) ? Your outrage is more understandable regarding the decisions taken in the next few days, such as not evacuating the nearby city immediately, but the decision-making and the managment of the incident in the minutes/hours that followed the explosion are perfectly understandable and reasonable once you take into account the information (or lack thereof) that was aviable to them and upon which they based their decisions. The fact that these decisions had terrible consequences (such as the first response teams and firemen being exposed to high amount of radiations) is regrettable and unfortunate, but it can't be blamed on anyone or anything else than bad luck and a f*cked-up situation to begin with. (un compatriote qui avait 6 ans et vivait près de la frontière Franco-Suisse en 86 ;) )
That guy on the phone was prof legasov.. Valery legasov the guy who hung himself in the beginning of the first eposide.. He is the hero of chernobyl ❤️
Laura, your anger and sadness are a wonderful sight. You see the lies and denials by the soviet socialist government. I notice you have watched all 5 episodes so there is nothing that I can say except all those people who lost their lives, especially the men who knowingly risked their lives and gave their lives. One must also remember this happened about 40 years ago when the general public and obviously politicians were not aware of the dangers and effects of radioactivity. Thank you for sharing your reactions.
I liked this series for how faithful it was to what actually happened, I am a chemical engineer and I know a lot about the Chernobyl authorities and how radiation affects health
Yeah you're right, I also believe the European countries had suffered more consequences in the aftermath of the Chernobyl accident. For example in Italy, my country, before the accident we had 4 Nuclear Power Plants running, but in 1987, a referendum declared the shutdown of all 4 plants. The shutdown brought a spike in electricity costs to the Italian families and industries. Even now, in 2020, Italy has one of the highest $/Kw prices in Europe. Anyway your review/reaction was great! 😉😊😊
Excellent reaction, as I would expect from you. I grew up in Canada during the period, though I was very young at the time. It was heavily in the news, but not in the same way as it would have been in Europe, where you had to deal with the direct consequences of the accident. My family being Irish and spending alot of time in Ireland, I would have taken a deeper interest in the event than the average Canadian, plus at the time, I had a fascination with the Soviet Union. But having said that, I learned so much about the event from this series, and about how we avoided an even bigger catasprophe. Those scientists insisting the core was still there, just couldn't comprehend what happened. The show does a great job explaining the events, but one thing I find fascinating and scary at the same time, is that while the show shows what caused the explosion, to this day, we are not sure what the actual explosion was. This isn't really touched on in the show, but debates go on to this day about the actual nature of the explosion itself. Whether it was from the heat and steam, or whether it was in fact a small nuclear explosion like an atom bomb, and various other theories. Nuclear power, scares the hell out of me for this reason. We are playing with the very fundamental forces of the universe, and forces that due to small human mistakes can unleash such power and devastation. Living in Ireland, soon after 9/11 I remember there was alot of worry about the Sellafield Nuclear site in England and what would happen if there was a terrorist attack on it, and every house was sent Iodine tablets. It was viewed as a bit of a joke by us at time, getting this little box with a weeks supply of tablets. My only criticism of this show, and its not really the shows fault, but the way people respond to it, is that it could be dangerous in that many people view this as an accident that could only happen in somewhere like the Soviet Union with its secrecy and particular politics etc, and that such an accident could never happen in the West. One only has to look at the incident at 3 Mile Island in the US around the same time. It wasn't anywhere near as serious, but if things had gone slightly differently it could have been. And that was caused mainly because a gauge got stuck, and this was only discovered when a technician tapped the gauge with his finger and dislodged the needle. Looking forward to the rest of your reactions.
Hello ! Thank you for the big review ! (I knew that I could count on you for that 😊) Yes, with this show, like I explained during my reviews, I really think that each person has a different way of watching it, according to his/her culture, origin and personal story, really, and that's why, for once, I think that my reaction video can be "interesting", for those who want to have an european point of view on it, maybe.
Peadar Ruane - this was great to read! I can tell you one important difference between this and the ‘79 incident at 3 Mile Island, though. We were immediately warned about a possible evacuation... my mother had our bags packed and was waiting for the word.
Il y aura des scènes BEAUCOUP plus dures à regarder mais ca vaut vraiment le coup je pense, autant pour la qualité de la série que l'importance du message. Je te conseil de continuer! :)
I grew up and still live in Texas, so I was kinda far away from the incident in Chernobyl. They didn't teach us about it at all in our schools, or if they did, I must not have been paying enough attention. I think it should be taught in schools, because much could be learned from the mistakes that were made. I did find out about it in documentary's later and educated myself. The show is hard to watch for me because unlike other shows, these people and their story's are not made up. The fact that people actually had to go through this, and knowing how unnecessary it was makes me sad and angry. Seeing their stories play out on this show pulls at my heart strings. I feel empathy for all of these people. Even Anatoly Dyatlov, whom I think this show maybe portrays as more of a monster than the man actually was. I don't think he could even comprehend that this disaster could have happened. I'm sure the rest of his life he was haunted by it. I think this show is good because it puts faces on and humanizes the events of that tragedy. The show is really well made, but I have to warn you that it gets even more intense as it goes on. Also, Jared Harris (Anderson Dawes from The Expanse) is an outstanding actor.
I think everyone should see this show. It’s hard to watch, that’s true but it tells an important story. I was angry watching it as well. You feel like we’re right there with them. I was like 22 when it happened and I remember watching the news about it from America but I can only imagine how scary it was for Europeans. Try to continue watching. You will learn new things that weren’t shared widely about how close we came to an even worse situation. It was far worse than we were told....and it continues to affect people living near the nuclear plant. I think nuclear power is too dangerous to use. It might be “cleaner” day to day BUT the waste is a problem. And the accidents and negligence is horrible for living organisms. Good reaction....just take it slowly. ❤️
Hi there :) It's an amazing show but very intense to watch, it definitely messed me up and got me very upset while watching some episodes. I'm from Brazil and didn't know much about it, just that it was a nuclear disaster, so the story really got to me as a person just learning what happened. If you decide to continue please be aware that it doesn't get "lighter", specially visually (the make up department deserves an Emmy), but anyway, I love your reactions but thought you should know in case you decide to continue someday, stay safe :)
I was born in Romania in 84 just two years before, we are neighbors with the Ukraine we would have been dead if they didn't fix it. Also I heard there was an increase in cancer cases in the north of my country in the years that followed.
Hello ! Yes, in all Europe it had an impact on people with cancers but also problems for some new born babies... It was hard. Those in the area of Prypiat suffered a lot more, with a lot of deaths and health issues, but, in different levels, all Europe was impacted.
@@LauraReactions Yes as you know there are still impacts and restrictions in some parts of Europe even now. Here in the UK (for example) some hill farms are still affected due to contamination. Someone has already recommended the HBO podcasts that are associated with each episode (in fact there are six they recently added another one) I second that recommendation. When I saw this fantastic miniseries I bought two books Voices from Chernobyl (or Chernobyl Prayer) which contains first hand accounts - the story of the wife and fireman features in this book - but be warned parts of the book are a very tough read, it had me in tears. The other book was published this year and is called Midnight in Chernobyl subtitled "The Untold Story of the Worlds Greatest Nuclear Disaster" a great deal of research has been undertaken by author into the Chernobyl disaster. At time of Chernobyl I was at a University and since we only had TV and Newspapers as sources of information, people asked the physicists for what was really going on! Naturally what they said didn't cheer anyone up! I remember as the cloud passed over the UK, tried to minimise the time out in the open and hope that it didn't rain and apart from the hill farms on high ground it didn't. I totally agree with you, my reaction watching the first episode was anger and I was saying WTF on a regular basis. I'm glad that the miniseries was made because it shows the unbelievable sacrifices that many people made in order to prevent the whole of Europe from being totally uninhabitable for (the very least) hundreds of years. Just to say I absolutely loved your reactions and thank you for sharing them with everyone!
Politics in the USSR at its best. I was in the UK military at the time and we started getting issued with Nuclear & biological warfare clothing also iodine tablets.
Well, I am European, I'm Polish and I also knew a lot about Chernobyl before I watched the series. And I lived through it. It doesn't mean I can't watch it. Quite the contrary, I was aware of the lies and mistakes, so what is the point of overreacting? Do you react that way if there is a well made film or any kind of programme about anything horrid, annoying, stupid that happened in the past? That's just ridiculous. The particular lesson from this series has been said in the beginning of the episode but you talked over it. The core message is: what is the cost of lies? I'm sorry if my comments are harsh but you emphasise a lot how difficult it is for you to watch it because you're European. The series is not a pleasant watch altogether but it is important and in my opinion should be mandatory. In the current climate of unashamed lies at the highest levels of many governments and deliberate ignoring of scientists' warnings about climate, that series presents it beautifully how dangerous it is. I personally particularly like phenomenal production. The clothes, the look of flats where they lived, incredible attention to detail e.g. wedding ring worn on the right hand like we do in the Eastern Europe, show extremely well how we lived and looked like behind the Iron Curtain at that time.
Le pire c'est que les pompiers sont pas les seuls à être mort de manière horrible, la majorité des employés de la centrale sont morts dans les mêmes circonstances.
LOL, and sorry. I told you this would make you angry, and not just you. I think everybody who's seen this episode gets very angry about what is going on. It's not going to be easy to watch but you have to watch all the episodes to get all the answers as to why this happened and why some people reacted the way they did. You might have missed it but the main question has already been asked, "How does an RBMK reactor explode?"
Again, calm down. The old man who ordered that phone lines be cut and city by locked down was, at that point of time, not wrong. Understand that he was a firm believer in Soviet Communism. He was told by the chief engineers of the nuclear plant that it was safe. And he assumed it to be safe and took his decisions based on that. So please don't demonize him. It was a mistake to lock down the city and cut the phone lines, but that decision was made due to him being given the wrong information and due to the very nature of the ideology he believed in. Soviet Communism was a much bigger culprit here because that system only left one recourse for a sane leader: that to believe on the state and its experts. Had it been Valery standing there, explaining how they all need to evacuate, the old man would have made the decision to evacuate. Instead, his counsel was Dyatlov who was (at this point) wrongly trying to paint a reactor core explosion as a mild contamination due to contaminated feed water leak. And this, Dyatlov said was not a serious threat. And so the old man made his decision.
This show is hard to watch but I love that it shows the heroes that nobody knows saved Europe pretty much
And doomed it.
If you are talking about the "Megaton" thermal explosion that was averted by the three divers, yeah, that one is just a lie. This show greatly exaggerated that for sensationalism purposes. Those three divers saved millions of lives, but not the entirety of Europe. That was just an exaggeration by the show.
It is OK to be mad. It's appropriate. This show is a punch in the stomach and it is relentless. Good luck on your journey.
4:28 - Dyatlov was the first to see graphite on the ground but yet after all he still deny
It wasn't just him, few other workers saw it outside but couldn't belive it. Stuff like this was never supposed to happen, and was beyond your wildest dreams.
I'm American and tbh I knew of the disaster and remember seeing news reports as a kid. But I had no idea just how bad it was not just for Russia, but for all of Europe.
I found it heart wrenching to see some of the things that happened and think that a large part of them could have been prevented if they just followed the advice of the scientists who were there
I'm not the crying type but seeing the shocking numbers of people who were just thrown to their doom was pretty emotional for me...and makes me afraid because I live really close to the Sequoya Nuclear plant
I know it is difficult to watch, but please give it a try. It is one of the best miniseries i have ever seen, period. It WILL make you angry, and sad, and outraged; but in the end that's a good thing, i think. It's an experience that shows you the lowest of lows and the highest of highs within a people. The acting, cinematography, direction, all of it is incredible. It's worth it to work through to emotions to see it through to the end. Perhaps it hits people harder outside of Europe because we were not directly involved, we haven't lived it or in it's aftermath, but that's the way i see it.
As the last line of the miniseries will read (No Spoilers):
"For all those who suffered and sacrificed."
.
Fair warning, each episode gets harder and harder to watch, except for the last one in my opinion
I live in Norway, I remember my mum not wanting us to go out and play.
I know you didnt have Mr Rogers in France, but he is basically the best person ever. He had a saying, "Look for the helpers. Whenever there is a catastrophe, always look for the helpers... Because if you look for the helpers, you will know that there is hope." Yes, the Chernobyl incident is a terrible tragedy, but there are many heroes you get to see in this show that a cold emotionless documentary doesnt show you. Also, Anderson Dawes is really really really good.
Watching Mr. Rogers now makes me cry sometimes. He was such an amazing person.
The staff really believed that the explosion of the reactor is impossible. In fact, no one could even think of it then.
But when the accident happened, they did everything they could to fix it. They're all heroes as well as firefighters.
Firefighters did what they must. Their job is a great risk, and they are ready to sacrifice their lives. Firefighters stopped fire to spread to other reactor blocks. Even if they were ready to the situation, they definitely died after maybe not a of radioactive exposure, but of cancer in a few years.
P.S.: I have fellow he was 3 years old boy (I myself was 4) and he lived in Pripyat, his grandma was working at nuclear plant, and he spent the most part of his childhood in France, as a Chernobyl kid.
"I can't really get in the show, because I'm so angry." When that's exactly what the show is aiming for you to feel. It's showing you what happened, how it happened, why it happened, and you should be angry. It's about denial, indifference, deception, and dissent. This show is one of the best ever produced. The chronology, the acting, the writing, the editing, the cinematography. I was 12 years old when the accident happened, and I remember that I wasn't allowed to go to school or play outside. I've seen some little bits about Chernobyl over time, and new about a few things. I watched the show with an open mind though, trying to absorb the information presented here. I will admit I was disappointed at first that the dialogue was in English (as we're pretty well accustomed to subtitles in The Netherlands, and I have no issue with watching movies or shows in a language I can't understand). I've watched it about 5 times now (plus numerous reactions), and every time I pick up new nuances.
I look forward to watching the rest of the episodes. Thank you for sticking with the show even though i can tell even this first episode was super hard for you. Also, I am excited seeing you did BSG. I will definitely watch your reactions to that as well.
I think you're right, most people in Europe know about Chernobyl. At least here in Germany I don't know anyone who doesn't know about Chernobyl. Of course, the south of Germany in particular has received radioactive fallout.
Hello ! Yes, I really think that we can't watch the show without having that in mind, all of what we know, we learnt, we heard about Chernobyl since our childhood. It's a cultural hiatus that we have, without really thinking of it.
I read a lot about Chernobyl too. Anger is exactly what I felt as I watched this horror.
I know that you posted this video a while ago, but I just barely found your channel, and I've really been enjoying your reactions. And since you asked, I wanted to share my experience with Chernobyl.
I live in the United States, and I was 15 years old when Chernobyl happened. I remember seeing reports about it on the news. Back then, we were deep in the midst of the Cold War, and the general American mindset was that the Soviet Union was the Enemy. In our movies and tv shows, they were the bad guys. I remember feeling bad about the people who were impacted, but I never really understood the full scope of the disaster while it was happening because of Soviet secrecy. I remember thinking that I was glad it happened on the other side of the planet, because back then all the kids my age lived in terror of nuclear war. We had shows like "The Day After," that showed what might happen if the Soviets dropped bombs on us, and it gave people nightmares. I read about radiation sickness from books on Hiroshima, and was horrified. My own mom was a "down-winder" which means she grew up near the nuclear test sites in Nevada, and she suffered severe health problems, especially with her thyroid, until she died at age 63.
But we had no idea how bad it was in Russia and Europe. Everything about the Chernobyl cloud was downplayed in order to prevent panic. We were told it was nothing for us to worry about, so, as a 15 year old, I didn't. Besides, at the time, America was more upset about the Challenger space shuttle exploding in January, and we were far more invested in finding out why that happened, and the potential end of the space program, than we were in what was happening on the other side of the world to "the bad guys." We didn't think about how Europe was affected because we were told they would be fine.
I don't think Americans really started paying attention to what happened at Chernobyl until people started exploring the exclusion zone and bringing back reports of ridiculously high radiation levels and post-apocalyptic landscapes. And even then, the mindset was more of, "Oh, look, isn't this creepy."
Personally, like many Americans, I had no real knowledge of what actually happened at Chernobyl until watching this show. And as I watched, I kept thinking, "How did we not know about any of this? How did a disaster of this magnitude go largely ignored?" If it was mentioned at all in school, it was only as a brief note; a few paragraphs in a text book, if that.
As I watched this show, one of the first things that really struck me was how, after the reactor exploded and the workers were trying to piece together what happened, one of the men said, "Is it the Americans?" His first reaction was to think we were dropping bombs on them, and I had this moment of clarity, that they -- all the regular people in the Soviet Union going about their daily lives -- were just as afraid of us as we were of them.
As the show unfolded the horror of the events, I felt anger at the mistakes made, the lies told. I wept at the suffering of the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of innocent people affected. And I was astonished at the bravery of those who were willing to look a horrific death in the face and still do what had to be done in the hopes of saving others. The heroism they displayed and the sacrifices they made are inspiring. When I think of them, words fail me.
Since watching this show, I have watched documentaries and read many first-person accounts of Chernobyl. I have learned even more. I am grateful that this show opened my eyes to what I, as a 15 year old girl living through the Cold War, was oblivious.
my father was the liquidator of the Chernobyl accident. The show is not so much true facts , but overall a good series. If that pardon my bad English.
Your accent is so cute.
There are some really good podcasts about the series on youtube where the series creator talks about the making of each episode and decisions they made in the storytelling.
I live like 250 km away from that thing and i know that a lot of people basically berried it with their bodies so i really appreciate this kind of reaction.
It's really not that bad right now, the thing that fascinates me the most is how nature adapted to it, right now it's all green, full of wild animals, hell there's even mushrooms that eat radiation.
Your reaction shows the power of your soul--that you care. Thank you. All the hope of the world lies in the fact of how you and others react to things like this--indignation, horror, rage. Thank you, again.
I am not European but American. I was in my twenties when Chernobyl happened, and I remember feeling chilled at the initial news reports. This series gave me a much fuller perspective.
Your accent is the greatest thing ever...
Cette série est un chef d'œuvre , je sais que c'est dur de la regarder mais essaye de la terminer c'est vraiment incroyable comme série.
I'm from Poland and was 5 when Chernobyl happened. They were giving people Lugol's iodine, which was an unusual step in the Eastern Bloc and at least an attempt at mitigating the consequences.
It was really interesting to see the reactions of people around the world to the story many of them never heard. I'm glad you started watching the show, even though you know the history. It's worth it.
Its very distressing to watch this, but please keep watching it. Its an important part of our history that shouldn't be forgotten
Very good reaction. I think the writers did an excellent job of personalizing this disaster and showing that real people were involved - even with faults and egos, but also just ordinary folks who did the best they could in an unprecedented disaster. Looking forward to your episode 2 reaction.
Hello ! The reaction video for the episode 2 is already online and the others are gonna come soon 😊
It is very hard to watch stubborn people send good innocent people to die. That being said it is a very good show, episode 3 and 4 are the hardest to watch, but it is worth it to humanize the situation because I never knew about a lot of things this show depicts from the little they taught in school
British. Born in 83. This show hits hard. It can be a very difficult show to watch. But I'm so glad I did. I think being so close to it makes it hit home that little bit harder. We were all so close to great tragedy, only averted by great sacrifice. The first episode is nothing short of infuriating at points, and anger only gives way to heartache as the show progresses. But these are important emotions just as any other and we shouldn't shy from them.
Hello ! Thank you for your comment ! Yes, like I explained during my (too long) review, I think that it's the first time that I had a cultural and personal hiatus when I was watching the show, and it impacted my way of watching it. Like, normally, I'm not so angry 🙈
@@LauraReactions given what we see, from the state, from the people in positions of power, anger is exactly what you should feel. So much human tragedy could have been avoided. This show definitely doesn't paint the Soviet regime in a good light.
4:33 - 5:40 Now that anger, is justified.
I lived in East Asia in Taiwan, like halfway around the world at that time, and the Chernobyl disaster still affected us. It effectively put a full stop of nuclear power development here. Just a year before the disaster, the 3rd nuclear power plant was built in 1985, where the construction of the 4th one delayed for more than a decade till 1999, and it never got finished. Whether to resume the nuclear power plant building remains a hot political issue here to this day, and still being brought up in every election.
1:58 - There wasn't any choice but to call the fire brigade. The plant was on fire and it needed to be extinguished quickly as there was another undamaged reactor in the same building. Specialist units would have taken at least 24 hours to deploy and faced the same dangers. A terrible sacrifice, but the heroism of those firefighters prevented an even worse disaster.
Keep in mind that you're watching these events unfold in 2019, with FULL INFORMATION on what just happened and what will happen in the following days/months. It's easy to get mad at their decision-making with that kind of information in mind, but just remember that these people don't have the information you have. They don't know the reactor just exploded, and based on their knowledge at the time, it WAS a technically impossible event (not just improbable, but impossible), that's why they dismiss the reports of those who went in the reactor room and said it exploded (and part of the story will be to understand how it was, in fact, possible). That's why they didn't immediately evacuate the power plant, almost none of them really grasped the full magnitude and severity of the accident. Same goes for the decision to call the fire brigade : first they don't know how big the danger is, and second, what other decision could they have taken anyway ? Let the fire burn, spread, and destroy the whole power plant (including the other three reactors) ?
Your outrage is more understandable regarding the decisions taken in the next few days, such as not evacuating the nearby city immediately, but the decision-making and the managment of the incident in the minutes/hours that followed the explosion are perfectly understandable and reasonable once you take into account the information (or lack thereof) that was aviable to them and upon which they based their decisions. The fact that these decisions had terrible consequences (such as the first response teams and firemen being exposed to high amount of radiations) is regrettable and unfortunate, but it can't be blamed on anyone or anything else than bad luck and a f*cked-up situation to begin with.
(un compatriote qui avait 6 ans et vivait près de la frontière Franco-Suisse en 86 ;) )
That guy on the phone was prof legasov.. Valery legasov the guy who hung himself in the beginning of the first eposide.. He is the hero of chernobyl ❤️
Laura, your anger and sadness are a wonderful sight. You see the lies and denials by the soviet socialist government. I notice you have watched all 5 episodes so there is nothing that I can say except all those people who lost their lives, especially the men who knowingly risked their lives and gave their lives. One must also remember this happened about 40 years ago when the general public and obviously politicians were not aware of the dangers and effects of radioactivity. Thank you for sharing your reactions.
I liked this series for how faithful it was to what actually happened, I am a chemical engineer and I know a lot about the Chernobyl authorities and how radiation affects health
Yeah you're right, I also believe the European countries had suffered more consequences in the aftermath of the Chernobyl accident. For example in Italy, my country, before the accident we had 4 Nuclear Power Plants running, but in 1987, a referendum declared the shutdown of all 4 plants. The shutdown brought a spike in electricity costs to the Italian families and industries. Even now, in 2020, Italy has one of the highest $/Kw prices in Europe. Anyway your review/reaction was great! 😉😊😊
Excellent reaction, as I would expect from you.
I grew up in Canada during the period, though I was very young at the time. It was heavily in the news, but not in the same way as it would have been in Europe, where you had to deal with the direct consequences of the accident. My family being Irish and spending alot of time in Ireland, I would have taken a deeper interest in the event than the average Canadian, plus at the time, I had a fascination with the Soviet Union.
But having said that, I learned so much about the event from this series, and about how we avoided an even bigger catasprophe. Those scientists insisting the core was still there, just couldn't comprehend what happened. The show does a great job explaining the events, but one thing I find fascinating and scary at the same time, is that while the show shows what caused the explosion, to this day, we are not sure what the actual explosion was. This isn't really touched on in the show, but debates go on to this day about the actual nature of the explosion itself. Whether it was from the heat and steam, or whether it was in fact a small nuclear explosion like an atom bomb, and various other theories.
Nuclear power, scares the hell out of me for this reason. We are playing with the very fundamental forces of the universe, and forces that due to small human mistakes can unleash such power and devastation.
Living in Ireland, soon after 9/11 I remember there was alot of worry about the Sellafield Nuclear site in England and what would happen if there was a terrorist attack on it, and every house was sent Iodine tablets. It was viewed as a bit of a joke by us at time, getting this little box with a weeks supply of tablets.
My only criticism of this show, and its not really the shows fault, but the way people respond to it, is that it could be dangerous in that many people view this as an accident that could only happen in somewhere like the Soviet Union with its secrecy and particular politics etc, and that such an accident could never happen in the West. One only has to look at the incident at 3 Mile Island in the US around the same time. It wasn't anywhere near as serious, but if things had gone slightly differently it could have been. And that was caused mainly because a gauge got stuck, and this was only discovered when a technician tapped the gauge with his finger and dislodged the needle.
Looking forward to the rest of your reactions.
Hello ! Thank you for the big review ! (I knew that I could count on you for that 😊) Yes, with this show, like I explained during my reviews, I really think that each person has a different way of watching it, according to his/her culture, origin and personal story, really, and that's why, for once, I think that my reaction video can be "interesting", for those who want to have an european point of view on it, maybe.
Peadar Ruane - this was great to read! I can tell you one important difference between this and the ‘79 incident at 3 Mile Island, though. We were immediately warned about a possible evacuation... my mother had our bags packed and was waiting for the word.
Il y aura des scènes BEAUCOUP plus dures à regarder mais ca vaut vraiment le coup je pense, autant pour la qualité de la série que l'importance du message. Je te conseil de continuer! :)
I grew up and still live in Texas, so I was kinda far away from the incident in Chernobyl. They didn't teach us about it at all in our schools, or if they did, I must not have been paying enough attention. I think it should be taught in schools, because much could be learned from the mistakes that were made. I did find out about it in documentary's later and educated myself.
The show is hard to watch for me because unlike other shows, these people and their story's are not made up. The fact that people actually had to go through this, and knowing how unnecessary it was makes me sad and angry. Seeing their stories play out on this show pulls at my heart strings. I feel empathy for all of these people. Even Anatoly Dyatlov, whom I think this show maybe portrays as more of a monster than the man actually was. I don't think he could even comprehend that this disaster could have happened. I'm sure the rest of his life he was haunted by it.
I think this show is good because it puts faces on and humanizes the events of that tragedy. The show is really well made, but I have to warn you that it gets even more intense as it goes on.
Also, Jared Harris (Anderson Dawes from The Expanse) is an outstanding actor.
I think everyone should see this show. It’s hard to watch, that’s true but it tells an important story. I was angry watching it as well. You feel like we’re right there with them. I was like 22 when it happened and I remember watching the news about it from America but I can only imagine how scary it was for Europeans. Try to continue watching. You will learn new things that weren’t shared widely about how close we came to an even worse situation. It was far worse than we were told....and it continues to affect people living near the nuclear plant. I think nuclear power is too dangerous to use. It might be “cleaner” day to day BUT the waste is a problem. And the accidents and negligence is horrible for living organisms. Good reaction....just take it slowly. ❤️
Hi there :) It's an amazing show but very intense to watch, it definitely messed me up and got me very upset while watching some episodes. I'm from Brazil and didn't know much about it, just that it was a nuclear disaster, so the story really got to me as a person just learning what happened. If you decide to continue please be aware that it doesn't get "lighter", specially visually (the make up department deserves an Emmy), but anyway, I love your reactions but thought you should know in case you decide to continue someday, stay safe :)
Hello ! Thank you for your comment and yes, I continued to watch the show, the next episodes are gonna come during this week and the next one 😊
I'm sorry but why are you talking over the important dialogue?
4:33 - 5:40 Now that anger is justified.
I was born in Romania in 84 just two years before, we are neighbors with the Ukraine we would have been dead if they didn't fix it. Also I heard there was an increase in cancer cases in the north of my country in the years that followed.
Hello ! Yes, in all Europe it had an impact on people with cancers but also problems for some new born babies... It was hard. Those in the area of Prypiat suffered a lot more, with a lot of deaths and health issues, but, in different levels, all Europe was impacted.
@@LauraReactions Yes as you know there are still impacts and restrictions in some parts of Europe even now. Here in the UK (for example) some hill farms are still affected due to contamination. Someone has already recommended the HBO podcasts that are associated with each episode (in fact there are six they recently added another one) I second that recommendation. When I saw this fantastic miniseries I bought two books Voices from Chernobyl (or Chernobyl Prayer) which contains first hand accounts - the story of the wife and fireman features in this book - but be warned parts of the book are a very tough read, it had me in tears. The other book was published this year and is called Midnight in Chernobyl subtitled "The Untold Story of the Worlds Greatest Nuclear Disaster" a great deal of research has been undertaken by author into the Chernobyl disaster. At time of Chernobyl I was at a University and since we only had TV and Newspapers as sources of information, people asked the physicists for what was really going on! Naturally what they said didn't cheer anyone up! I remember as the cloud passed over the UK, tried to minimise the time out in the open and hope that it didn't rain and apart from the hill farms on high ground it didn't. I totally agree with you, my reaction watching the first episode was anger and I was saying WTF on a regular basis. I'm glad that the miniseries was made because it shows the unbelievable sacrifices that many people made in order to prevent the whole of Europe from being totally uninhabitable for (the very least) hundreds of years. Just to say I absolutely loved your reactions and thank you for sharing them with everyone!
I was born 70 miles from Chernobyl, and it was a very sad thing that happen that should not have happen.
Will you watch again and listen to the plot? Yeah, this show is a highlight of this year. 3.6 Röntgen memes were so much fun.
Hello ! Yes, I watch all of the season and the videos are gonna be published during this week and the next one ! 😊
The soundtrack of this show is based on samples recored in a real nuclear power plant.
Not just any nuclear plant, the samples were recorded at Ignalina, Chernobyls sister plant.
please watch til end... it´s worth it
Hello ! I did it, the reaction videos are gonna come during this week and the next one 😊
Politics in the USSR at its best. I was in the UK military at the time and we started getting issued with Nuclear & biological warfare clothing also iodine tablets.
4:12 "no"
hahahahahaha
Well, I am European, I'm Polish and I also knew a lot about Chernobyl before I watched the series. And I lived through it. It doesn't mean I can't watch it. Quite the contrary, I was aware of the lies and mistakes, so what is the point of overreacting? Do you react that way if there is a well made film or any kind of programme about anything horrid, annoying, stupid that happened in the past? That's just ridiculous. The particular lesson from this series has been said in the beginning of the episode but you talked over it. The core message is: what is the cost of lies? I'm sorry if my comments are harsh but you emphasise a lot how difficult it is for you to watch it because you're European. The series is not a pleasant watch altogether but it is important and in my opinion should be mandatory. In the current climate of unashamed lies at the highest levels of many governments and deliberate ignoring of scientists' warnings about climate, that series presents it beautifully how dangerous it is. I personally particularly like phenomenal production. The clothes, the look of flats where they lived, incredible attention to detail e.g. wedding ring worn on the right hand like we do in the Eastern Europe, show extremely well how we lived and looked like behind the Iron Curtain at that time.
Nice Series.
Nice woman.
That anger you are feeling. I'm going to guess that you are going to explode around episode 5
Hello ! I already published all the episodes : if you want, you can check it on the playlist "Chernobyl" on my channel ! 😊
Le pire c'est que les pompiers sont pas les seuls à être mort de manière horrible, la majorité des employés de la centrale sont morts dans les mêmes circonstances.
LOL, and sorry. I told you this would make you angry, and not just you. I think everybody who's seen this episode gets very angry about what is going on. It's not going to be easy to watch but you have to watch all the episodes to get all the answers as to why this happened and why some people reacted the way they did. You might have missed it but the main question has already been asked, "How does an RBMK reactor explode?"
Hello ! No, I didn't miss it and you'll see it during the next reaction videos 🙂 I had to make some choice during the editing, that's all.
Again, calm down. The old man who ordered that phone lines be cut and city by locked down was, at that point of time, not wrong. Understand that he was a firm believer in Soviet Communism. He was told by the chief engineers of the nuclear plant that it was safe. And he assumed it to be safe and took his decisions based on that. So please don't demonize him. It was a mistake to lock down the city and cut the phone lines, but that decision was made due to him being given the wrong information and due to the very nature of the ideology he believed in. Soviet Communism was a much bigger culprit here because that system only left one recourse for a sane leader: that to believe on the state and its experts. Had it been Valery standing there, explaining how they all need to evacuate, the old man would have made the decision to evacuate. Instead, his counsel was Dyatlov who was (at this point) wrongly trying to paint a reactor core explosion as a mild contamination due to contaminated feed water leak. And this, Dyatlov said was not a serious threat. And so the old man made his decision.
J'espère que vous avez assez de vin à boire tout en regardant. Vous en aurez besoin!
I dont like when someone talking into the movie like every minute
Then wouldn't it make more sense to just watch the show and not a reaction?
Don't watch reaction channels then.