Possibly the best line in that Legasov-Scherbina moment: "They heard me. But they listened to you." A simple difference but a vital one. It's reinforced by the fact that the Soviets turned to Scherbina immediately for help after the Armenia earthquake tore up that area.
I was going to mention the Armenia earthquake thing, and it happens to be the top comment, thank you for sharing this insight, Scherbina is very revered in Armenia, there are monuments and even a street named after him, he came thru at a very dark time and did far more than his job demanded
Fir the record, even though she wasnt real. Her character was a collection of shared experiences. Everything she says and does was something that at least one of scientists on the project went through.
Rolling it all into a single character makes it easier to dramatize, for the audience to follow. The alternative was to bring in a new scientist character dozens of times throughout the mini-series. More accurate, but more confusing, as the audience is distracted with the question of "Who is this person?" and misses the info the new character is presenting.
Today Legasov`s daughter fights to get her father the recognition what he deserves and she feels that the recognition what President Yeltsin gave was not enough. In her record Legasov when he returned from Chernobyl she described that he came home looking lot older about 10 years older than he actually was, lot thinner and he did not had any appetite and he only ate a sandwich and coffee and he could not sleep at all because he saw night mares and he was so guilt ridden that so many men had to do the things in there.
12:42 Legasov: _"Any one of them could have done what I did. But you... everything we asked for, everything we needed; men, material, lunar rovers. Who else could have done these things? They heard me, but they listened to you. Of all the ministers and all the deputies . . . entire congregation of obedient fools, they mistakenly sent the one good man. For God's sakes Boris, you were the one who mattered the most."_ Great line.
that’s kinda stupid, i mean why is everybody comparing cherbobyl to GoT or BrBa? chernobyl is just a mini-series it has only 5 episodes while GoT is an actual series, there is no point comparing those two things
The part that Ulana said that they wouldn't listen to her wasn't because she was a woman but she wasn't influential and has high credibility like Legasov.
Right. Science was one of the fields where women were much more prevalent in communist countries than in the West (at that time). The character is supposed to reflect that. For example, the first female cosmonaut in space was in 1963. First female American astronaut in space was in 1983.
@@Pebbe496 However scientists weren't looked on very highly by most of Soviet society laborers were often seen as higher. A factory worker was more likely to get permision to own a car than a scientist was. Also the only reason the Russian space program put a woman in space was a report that we were training women to be astronauts(I don't feel like typing out the history in the RUclips comments section if you want to read about it look up Mercury 13)
Especially in comparison to Legasov, who was credited with most of the critical work in providing the solutions of the Chernobyl problems. He was high profile, well respected and known, she would have been easier to discredit and ignore/eliminate.
Ya thats one thing about communism it always preached a complete equality of the sexs. Hell they threw their women in the trenchs right alongside the men in WW2
@@tribuneoftheplebs9948 One of their most decorated heroes from WW2 is a female sniper with 309 confirmed kills, Lyudmila Pavlichenko, she gave Vasili Zaitsev a run for his money.
It should also be noted that Scherbina was in also in charge of dealing with Spitak earthquake in 1988 (huge earthquake in Armenia, more than 30k deaths iirc) and thanks to him soviets actualy accepted help from other countries. P.S. Vechnaya Pamyat means eternal memory in russian
That scene where Legasov tells Boris that he was the one good man and that he was the one person who mattered the most hit me hard :( ... Seeing Rana trying so damn hard to hold it in at the end hit me as well...I was the same way.
That little shot with the caterpillar and Scherbinov saying "oh it's beautiful" was very poetic. But yeah, the credit scene was very emotional. And the song Vichnaya Pamyat was a perfect choice.
""When the truth offends we lie and lie until we can no longer remember it is even there, but it is still there. Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth, and sooner or later that debt is paid." - Valery Legasov
@@mckenzie.latham91 Right, of course, the US has elections. That’s why Robert McNamera, Henry Kissinger, Lyndon Johnson, JFK, and Richard Nixon all suffered consequences for lying about the Vietnam War. Silly me. Studying history has made me a pessimist about justice. The liars rarely suffer the consequences they deserve, and the people who do suffer them often swallow the lies so thoroughly that they don’t even realize what’s true and what’s not, even after it’s too late.
I lost it when they played the epilogue. It makes the series seems so real. That everything that had happened really happened. We did this to our home. We did this to our comrades. It's so sad. I hope we have learned from this mistake. But I think . . . less likely.
It’s because of Legasov and others that we know, his suicide made it impossible for the KGB and state to hide all of the truth...the scientists had access and they raised the questions and today...we know. As long as we have people who will take the risk or make the sacrifice for what it is right, the lies cannot last forever... Putin hated this series...And why its no surprise that a former KGB officer and USSR advocate would hate a series that showed how he and his organization helped the state bury and hide everything Putin himself has participated in historical revisionism too...but still the rest of us know the truth, he can lie about it, but the truth will always exist for anyone who can or will risk finding it.
Nuclear power has advanced quite a bit since then. It's one of the best sources for clean energy and they have many more fail safes nowadays to prevent something like this from ever happening again. Chernobyl however terrifies everyone from seriously considering it and for good reason. Literally one of the most terrifying ways to die.
Even back then, nuclear power was more safe than most realize. Chernobyl was a specific incident, largely caused by the lack of regulation and the arrogance of the Soviet Union. They didn't even get around to fixing the flaw in their RBMK reactors until AFTER Legasov's suicide, and only because they were forced too since the information got out thanks to his tapes. Everybody likes to parrot that nuclear power is "too dangerous," but most don't understand the science of nuclear reactors, nor how politics can often f*** up usual safety standards. But ignoring all that, it's still obvious that nuclear power is safer than most people think because, well, the US and many other countries had dozens upon dozens of nuclear reactors before, during and after Chernobyl, and they continually are improved and fixed should any problems even BEGIN to arise.
"Clean" x "cleaner" is a point of discussion though. Nowadays nuclear waste is what poses the most danger rather than the risk of the reactor itself - Fukushima notwithstanding.
@@ANGRYpooCHUCKER They had plenty of regulation. The problem was the state owned the power plant. The state owned all the businesses. The state was responsible for regulation. But, you had a all power, single party Communist party.
The official Chernobyl Podcasts details that Ulana's character was a woman because scientists were actually heavily female at the time in a country where most occupations were dominated by males. So she was representative of that as well.
Understood. By the end of it I examine that decision closer and ultimately it was a better decision to have her represent all the scientists. Thanks for watching!
@@Thenormies It wasn't heavily female, but I think there were slightly more women among the scientists represented by Khomuk. Also it is a pretty clear nod towards Svetlana Alekseevich, the show is based heavily on Legasov's audio tapes and her book about Chernobyl.
@@Thenormies But they did gloss over the point, all the Soviet scientists knew about the problems with the nuclear power program. The show made it sound like only a few knew. They all knew the program was made on the cheap with shortcuts.
@youstolemywhat "feminist propaganda" because its baseless propaganda and it shouldnt be spread to people who don't have the capability to differentiate feels vs facts?
Legoslav was treated by the USSR the same way Turing was by the British government. Both heroes who their own governments could only see as threats. They truly deserved better.
Legoslav publicly called the soviet state on their lies about the incident as well as the fact they covered up the very knowledge that would have prevented the accident...He was a national hero who was made an enemy of the state because he stood for truth... Turning was more turned on because he was gay, which in the UK in the 1950’s was a crime...they literally had it as a law that homosexuals were sexual deviants and were to be chemically castrated. they turned on one of their greatest minds and heroes because of his sexual orientation... for shame on both governments and RIP with honor the men who endured it.
2:37 driving an agenda? There were female scientists who were given very little credit for their respective achievements in their fields at the time. Emily Wilson's character represents Legasov's team, men and women, who all participated in solving the Chernobyl crisis. The drama of the miniseries would be lessened by having 20 people instead of one person with a connection to the main character, so I imagine that's why they did it. And just having a female character in a story isn't an 'agenda'. Especially since historically women have been shunted out of recognition in academia.
That was a stupid comment calling it an agenda. That’s what corporate America media does to its people. Makes everyone paranoid of everything and everyone
2:43 They do credit them in the end, but most importantly the point of making har female was that the creators wanted to also show that the Soviet Union was in terms of gender equality, at the time, way ahead of the US and the West
Shame how modern Western feminism ruined the feminist revolution. If Feminist movements threw extermists out, there would be better equality between males and females on both ways these days.
@@localshithead7430 Because the principles of marxism emphasized equality of both sexes...Marx and the soviets after him saw that reducing women’s roles to a small list of duties was a waste...that’s why women were allowed and even given grants to go to Russian universities women were used in the factories as well as men, in world war 2 women fought with men and or worked together in trenches and defensive works
As someone living in Sweden, I owe my life and the lives of everyone I love to the heroes of Chernobyl. I am eternally grateful and I am so happy that this show told their stories.
Well, this wild ride is over. Such an amazing mini-series. I've already watched it 2 times (alone/with parents). My father told me, that he once spoke with one of those heroes, who are still alive (i wish, i had a chance like that, too). I'm really happy, that this series is so popular now all over the world. I'm your russian sub. Love from Russia. 8)
I loved the scene between Boris and Legaslov. It reminded me of something Ned Stark said, "you find your true friends on the battlefield", but in this case I would replace the last word with "whilst dealing with a nuclear disaster". Their relationship started adversarial. You could tell Boris didn't particularly like scientists, whilst Legaslov was frustrated by the lack of knowledge and understanding around him. But together they formed a great team. If there is an afterlife, I like to think Boris and Legaslov are now friends forever!
12:29 "I hoped that one day I would matter, but I didn't." That is a sad and beautiful scene. 17:25 Rana's expression, and she is hiding behind the pillow. :) 17:15-17:38 Suraj and that pillow should get a room... 18:41 That ending is so beautifully sad with the music. / Also 19:08-20:15 someone give Rana a hug. :)
The accompanying podcast is really great if you want to know what was fact and what was dramatized. I highly recommend it. Also the USSR was more progressive with respect to women doctors and scientists than the US during this time, surprisingly enough.
Say what you want about the Soviet state and ideology. But I have so much respect for those that had to step up and sacrifice everything because their government failed them. They had balls of lead and did it because it had to be done
@@Nword2000the Soviet State did not sacrifice, it only sacrificed its poor people to save face and put the Party first. Communism is a Cancer, BUT many many of the Soviet people were heros, with unmatched bravery. Lest they never be forgotten ❤
In the soviet union it was policy for trials to be held as close to the crime scene as possible. Thats why it was held in Chernobyl/Prypiat. Women in science was probably the only thing in the soviet union that was ahead of the west. But I am not aware of any women being in the actual group that assisted. If you are interested in the show and what was and was not real, watch the HBO podcast on Chernobyl.
The night of the explosion there were two female guards at the power plant. Both of them died from ARS soon after the accident. They were not even mentioned in the series. 'mUsT bE mENiniST AgENda'... Suraj really emberrased himself in this one.
If you hate Nuclear Energy just because you read about Chernobyl or saw this show then you are still ignorant and blinded. Nuclear Energy is the best alternative we have got to transition our power grid system from coal and petroleum based to clean energy system. Nuclear Energy is the best weapon to tackle Climate Change while maintaining the electricity consumption levels without sacrificing quality of life. I hope people realize this sooner And countries start emphasizing it more because Climate Change is the ultimate threat to all the living beings on Earth, and Nuclear Energy is our best shot at tackling it gracefully.
Comrade You’re right, but solar isn’t always feasible. A mixture of solar, wind, wave, natural gas & nuclear would probably give us the electricity we need, without the atmospheric pollution. Nuclear certainly has some problems, but I’d consider them less than a runaway greenhouse effect.
Comrade Yeah Solar is good too but the problem is it cannot produce a gigantic capacity of electricity that a metropolitan city or thousands of villages require. A single Nuclear Power Plant, however, can do that. Investment in Nuclear Energy would also open up many high-paying jobs that can be economically beneficial.
@@goldenageofdinosaurs7192 actually that's incorrect. Solar is enough by itself. www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2016/09/22/we-could-power-the-entire-world-by-harnessing-solar-energy-from-1-of-the-sahara/amp/
@@ComradeHB I must respectfully disagree, i should lead with I put solar panels on my house and i am saying that. Solar panels are good but right now still cause massive pollution in production and disposal. "Green energy" is the future but right now it costs more and takes longer to generate than nuclear. If Germany spent the same amount of money on nuclear power as it did on green energy it would already be emitting zero carbon, as apposed to approximately 20-30% carbon reduction. It also takes up massive space. I am not saying I am against green energy though.
Deservedly nominated for 19 emmy's one of the best shows i have ever personally seen masterfully written intense heartbreaking and real such a beautiful way to bring to light these heroe's that suffered so greatly the epilogue hit me hard when i first saw it that hauntingly beautiful choir to think that the firefighters clothing still remains in the hospital 33 years later a tomb frozen in time so unbelievably sad
This show was so good. They deserve every award they've been nominated for. That ending part was in my head for days after. Even though there are some inaccuracies here and there that several people point out, I didn't know much about Chernobyl other than it was some sort of nuclear accident. For me, it wasn't really taught in school so this series really made me want to seek more information about the disaster. PS. I caught Suraj's comment about a spirit portal. LOL that was a nice way to break the tension I was feeling.
"You were the one who mattered most." Makes me cry every time. One of the best finales of a show, ever. The flash backs were so well done."What is the cost of lies?" Best close of a show ever. After the end I had to go back to episode one and watch the first few minutes again to go full circle. Such a fantastic show!
I try really hard to like you guys enough to subscribe, but some of you have such shit takes that I can't bring myself to do it, and this is like the 5th series of yours that I've watched.
@2:35 and @22:15 The Soviet Union was actually, relative to other countries at the time, pretty open to women having positions of power (as mentioned, relatively & for the times). So the character representing the scientists in general is not inaccurate in terms of her being female. So while their may have an "agenda" as you say to have more female representation in the show it was not something even vaguely far-fetched. The whole idea in the Soviet form of Marxism - Leninism (and to varying degress in communism in general) of rigid equality was in some ways helpful for women who wanted a career. The sciences were one of those choices.
Also it was in the USSR not in the USA. Women were working in all fields in the USSR while women in the USA could only be housewives. Also there were women helping at the time.
@Octopus maybe you go to Russia and ask some of old women before arguing? Here women WORKED at science a lot, just like in any other areas since revolution, not like in old USA in 50s.
@@ixctu350 You made the absolutely ridiculous claim that women the US were only allowed to be housewives in the 80s. You should eexpect to be shit upon for that fucking moronic comment. In 1985 71% of women in the USA between 25 and 44 were part of the work force.,
13:56 "I wouldn't listen to him a second afterwards." "I would of beat his ass." These statements are of a cowardice mentality. Regardless of the situation, either of you would never turn to your employer and ignore them or attack them. This is the Soviet Union, not America. If you didn't do your job, you got sent to a hard labor camp for 4 years or jail time. And more annoyingly you are all watching and commenting as if people in the Soviet Union had the same freedoms or knowledge that you currently posses. Nuclear energy and processes were / are highly classified and the general public barely knows / understands any of it; pretty much none of it back in the 80s.
Quick question, why is the volume so low on these Chernobyl videos? It's too late now but just curious. I also watch Breaking Bad and Community and volume is fine.
Americans have such a skewed view of Russia. I hope this show will introduce them to the heroism of many ordinary people under the incompetent and ruthless rule of Bolshevism. 60+ years of daily terror created not only millions of victims but also unsung heroes whose names we will never hear about.
Speaking as an American: I have had russian friends and colleagues my entire life, people who moved here or whose parents moved here. It's the russian state, past and now present, which I have a very low opinion of. And that is primarily because of what it does to the russian people.
while Russians have their issues (everyone does), it’s mostly been their governments that has brought the shroud on all of them I have never hated a Russian citizen for being Russian, but i have hated most of their governments... heroes like Boris are to be honored because they did what was needed and what was right, and i had some deep respect for Kruschev and his struggle which can be mirrored by JFK’s as well... but here’s a fact, no government leader has ever solved anything in the Russian nation on their own...Stalin did not save Russia from the germans... the Russian people, their sacrifice and their determination is what saved Russia... it is always the Russian people who accomplish the greatness, its they who sacrifice, it’s they who go when no one else would or will...
That cultural thing of regular people being able to become heroes who can save the nation, was pushed heavily by the state, using the example of the Nazi invasion and reversal. But it did allow for average Russians beibg willing to step up and risk or sacrifice their lives to save their country. I seriously wonder if regular people in the West would have been willing to sacrifice themselves at all to prevent a much greater catastrophe the way we see repeatedly depicted in this show. When I see how much complacency and entitlement goes on these days, I strongly doubt it.
@rusty nuts ""Heroism" like invading Ukraine or shooting down mh17 and then laying about it to this day? Fuck you!" The average russian probably have no more responsibility in that than the average american has for missed drone strikes.
@rusty nuts No, not really... The point was whether the average person had some sort of personal responsibility in what actions the government takes... Beyond voting for those that are that lucky.
Because of the marxist foundations of the country, workers were seen as more important and given more value and or better treatment than scientists...scientists despite the importance they had to the space and nuclear program were not as compatible with the typical propaganda of the “Workers” party its also a fact that over half of scientists in the UUSR were women which is why her character represents that demographic.
Agreed...a persons gender has no bearing on their ability or their knowledge or ability to contribute It’s is their training, and their experience...these guys making reference to the characters gender are reading far too much into things Contrary to what media and twitter and shows would have you believe, not everything is based on racism or sexism...
@@trayolphia5756 oh. There were a A LOT of sexism in the 80s. A LOT. But not necessary in the Soviet union, because of their communist ideology they were far more advanced in gender equality than capitalist countries.
At that time the Soviet Union had a lot more female scientists and doctors too, than most countries, including the United States. They were more progressive in that area. This was not a feminist agenda. Her casting was highly representative and has nothing to do with the show being PC. Maybe you are the one who is being hypersensitive, Suraj.
I understand trying to justify it but female scientists outnumbering male scientists in the Soviet Union does not mean that the majority of those sent to Chernobyl were female. The pictures and videos that we saw at the end would seem to indicate a larger male participation. Khomyuk is a great character, fictional or not. There shouldn't have been any need to justify the choice of the writers. It's just that with the toxic SJW's pushing their agenda in Hollywood, people are now forced to question if every character created is done to push the story or simply created to push diversity.
@@FiremanH16 And here ladies and gentlemen is what I'll like to label as exhibit A. Note that the first thing this person does is throw out an insult and quickly followed it up by calling me a troll. No questions or attempt at civility. Just a quick assumption of what I am based on a paragraph that I wrote. Not willing to debate anything. A person who spreads toxicity and blame others. A perfect example of a modern SJW.
@@luizmarinho6138 Exactly. Chernobyl is not pushing an agenda, but I don't blame Suraj for thinking so because the entertainment industry nowadays is filled with leftist agenda, which leads to people questioning everything they do (and rightfully so)
The thing that makes me sad about watching this react series is that I do not think that these folks used the opportunity of watching the show to actually learn anything about nuclear power. I think they all think they learned enough things from just watching the series, and did not spend any time really reading up on the issue, or even watched any real documentaries about nuclear power or Chernobyl. I hope they did, but my gut tells me that they did not.
This was such a good miniseries. I've never watched anything that elicited such a strong reaction from me. Even though it was already settled history it made me so damn tense. It was amazing.
Legasov's team was scores of people. I think condensing that throng into a single character (almost like a Greek Chorus) is fine, considering we only had 5 hours to tell the story dramatically.
I was born 19.6.1986 in Czechoslovakia (that time) so I'm little bit Chernobyl child. And even nowadays we can find residues of radiation in our country (Czech Republic), especially inside of mushrooms and some animal bodies (like wild boars and other). It's fascinating watching reactions of people living far from our country and learning of this disaster. I know, some things in series were dramatized, but the truth is there and simply reflects the soviet regime. Thank you for your reactions.
Watching the intro discussion and just waiting for the end of the episode where they explain what creative liberties they took. I love the way this show openly shared the process of making it through podcasts and so many interviews - it’s just such a nice change from having to verify every dramatisation of history yourself lol
While she wasnt a real person, the female lead I believe was an incredible addition. Since she represented all the scientists who spoke out against the official statements of the soviet union, she basically represents all the silenced voices in the soviet scientist community who acted as the conscience of that society.
I think there are a shitload of police, firemen, military and coast guard that would take issue with the comment that nobody was trying to help after hurricane Katrina.
i live in the US, the state of Michigan to be exact, where we have nuclear power plants & where On October 5, 1966 the nuclear power plant "Fermi 1" suffered a partial fuel meltdown. Two of the 92 fuel assemblies were partially damaged. According to the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, there was no abnormal radioactivity released to the environment???
They are probably right in saying "was no abnormal radioactivity released to the environment" . If it really was a concern you would have had a Fukushima style exclusion zone set up in that place.
Technically if fuel simply melts on spot, Air works as radiation shielding. What made Chernobyl so bad, was the fire. It spread Alpha and Beta emitters around causing fallout. Gamma emitters are too heavy to spread throught air.
Jared Harris is amazing - you should watch The Terror for another great performance. And the message of the story - the cost of lies - is a very pertinent one today, of course.
What I got from the show was that the cause of the disaster wasn't a 'failed button' as one of you said. It was 1) the delay in the test which led to the build up of Xenon, 2) Dyatlov ignoring the safety rules, and 3) last but not least, the control rods, which were meant to stop the reaction were tipped with graphite which would increase the reaction, and when the shut down button was pressed to lower the control rods the conditions created inside the reactor meant the rods only went in as far as their graphite tips and got stuck at that point and the graphite tips accelerated the reaction instead of shutting it down. It accelerated it to the point of explosion, as there was nothing left that could stop it at that point. 4) Legasov said the nuclear reactors in the Soviet Union at the time were designed this way because it was cheaper. 5) Reactors in the Soviet Union were all of the same type and design but were retroactively refitted to rectify the problem following the Chernobyl disaster. 6) If things do go badly wrong with nuclear reactors the risk to the world can be existential.
RBMK reactors were an inherently flawed design which had far too many chances for incidents to occur. Some were intentional for cost, some were only discovered in hindsight, but all were avoidable by not using the RBMK design. In an environment where the game is a balance of power output and power control, Murphys Law is in full force and if it can go wrong, then it WILL go wrong. The lack of a proper containment vessel, the poor construction of the reactor hall, the use of a single loop of water instead of the dual loop used in other designs, and the lack of experience on those poor controllers led to the perfect cocktail that became the disaster. Its like building your house out of straw and using candle light - Will it work? Sure, but at what cost when the inevitable occurs.
The scene at 12:20 is absolutely beautiful... two men fighting EVERYONE and EVERYTHING and against an enemy that would destroy MILLIONS of lives sit down and have a 'man's moment'. In this minute or so, you see that it was Shcherbina who essentially saved Europe. And almost no one who has not seen this dramatization knows his name.
@27:29 Going to a reactor on a field trip is not too crazy or rare. I grew in Ann Arbor, home to the University of Michigan, and we visited a reactor on the engineering campus in middle school, and pretty much every kid growing up in Ann Arbor in that time period probably did the same. Thd reactor was in the basement of the building and we built in the 50s and was only recently shut down. Also, I think you guys shouldn't be so critical of nuclear power, as when you mentioned showing this to kids. Nuclear power, even including Chernobyl, has accounted for so may fewer deaths since it's inception than coal and other fossil fuels. In fact, coal plants give off more radiation than a working nuclear plant. As they burn their it releases naturally occurring trace radioactivity in it. And nuclear is carbon free which is a huuuuuuge help against climate change which is the much bigger menace.
The trial was in Chernobyl, there was a Soviet law that a trial had to be held near the place where the crime occurred so they brought them back and converted a gym into a courtroom for the trial.
It always makes me laugh how the experts and people think they will have learnt and put all possible precautions in place to stop it ever happening again... all it takes is a natural disaster in the vicinity of a nuclear plant, mother nature doesn't give two hoots and there's no precaution that can contain it!
Do you disagree with any of the science that he's spent most of his life trying to teach to people? If so, which and why? You kinda sound like a Soviet politician here...
@@elbruces Well, the social constructivist ideology that he started trying to teach to children as if it were knowledge is certainly objectionable. I remember him completely botching an explanation of physics from Interstellar also. I would love for you to explain the connection between pointing out the fact that he's not a scientist and sounding like a Soviet politician though.
The new 100-yr sarcophagus they built over the destroyed reactor isn't just to contain it like the original one, it was specifically designed to allow a cleanup operation to commence within it which is happening right now.
The trial was held in the town of Chernobyl, a few miles east of the plant/Pripyat, inside the exclusion zone but not a heavily irradiated area. Under Soviet law crimes must be tried in the closest town to the crime and after Pripyat that was Chernobyl, the town that the region (oblast) is named after.
Shows a lot that they think Ulana's character is "feminist propaganda" just because she's a fictional woman representing a group of real scientists, a group that consisted of both men and women. If the character had been a man, would any of them have cared that it wasn't an accurate representation of the whole group? They talk about finding the facts for yourself yet they jump at the chance to call out propaganda without even knowing the real people behind the character. It was a practical choice for a five episode drama to condense a large group into a single character, not some underhanded conspiracy to oppress the men, you absolute imbeciles.
Well, what do you expect from a bunch of dolts who can't even be bothered to Google the meaning of "vichnaya pamyat"? "It sounds like a curse!" 🤡🤪🙄 The public school system at its finest.
This should be played more in High Schools more because of the political aspect, than the science part. No serious western democracy would make a reactor like the Soviet RBMK because of the flaws caused by the top down pressure and cost cutting of communism.
Another thing to remember about science and knowledge, is that each new generation is like a new wave of barbarians at the gates. Humans don't come pre-built with all the knowledge of our civilization within them, they must be taught and indoctrinated over may years to bring them up to parity with the rest of us. As a result, civilization is only one generation thick. If we fail to pass on our knowledge, it's gone forever. In conclusion, I'm an advocate for all of us being a life-long learners.
They made her a women because they wanted to represent the many women who were scientists in the soviet union. It was the one field where women were prevelant.
Have to give your editor major credit for this video! I would have torn my hair out trying to figure out which parts of Legosov's testimony to keep or delete to stay under the 10 minute mark...
Here are all the power sources I know of and a negative it has or gets 1: hydro power, affects nature heavily 2: wind power, farmers hate them and don't want them 3: solar power, hella expensive 4: geothermal power, deforestation 5: coal power, emission 6: gas power, hella dangerous 7: nuclear power, waste
Solar is actually getting cheaper and cheaper because of tech upgradations and economies of scale as more and more countries increase their usage and production. A bottleneck to solar can be the lack of materials required for cells and panels in the future. Alternative materials would need to be explored (and are being explored)
@Douglas Jr. Windpower kills birds, and bats literally explode due air pressure drop near the blades. + infrasounds cause symptoms for some people + The windmills are loud af.
I am glad there was a retraction on the claims of there being some feminist agenda in this, but great job on inserting your weird bias anyway. The scientist was one of the best characters, fictional or not.
Nowhere on earth was it a feminist propaganda. A HUGE amount of scientists in the USSR were female, as well as doctors, and this is a statistical FACT.
@@Alexandra_Indina no they weren’t... there were actually EXTREMELY few female scientists in the Soviet Union and absolutely zero in nuclear science or any of the higher sciences... also EXTREMELY few if any females were actually doctors or surgeons but a mass number were nurses... learn some actual facts about the Soviet Union before spewing bs. Also Chernobyl wasn’t the first time the Soviet Union had had a massive nuclear incident one had happened before but it happened in different circumstances and involved a lake and water supply (something to do with they had been dumping nuclear waiste into the lake of the town and it was the “swimming hole” of the town and surrounding towns as well as a water supply...look up lake Karachay also look up the town of Ozyorsk (was the city near the lake and where the plant was)
You are correct in that scientists have to compete as entertainers to be listened to, even when they are experts and have dedicated their lives to studying something. Look at the climate change in the US, so many people ignore the experts (because of a multitude of reasons). How can we make climate change entertaining? How can we get people to listen and believe in something that does not have clear story line to dramatise, something they may have to take responsibility for and change their lives for?
Hey Normies, would you mind reacting to a three-part WW2 series called Generation War? I really like your reactions, especially your intricate discussions during and after the episodes. It’s too good to not see you react to a show like this :D
Rob Fraser Yep, exactly that one! I really enjoyed it, and it’s good to see other people liked it as well. Do you know where I can propose the show to the reactors?
The states with the nuclear weapons will never get rid of it, and it doesn't matter what you / we think about it. So it's ok to have at least a lot of energy from the reactor, when you take the risks anyway. The whole thing is that Soviet Union made a cheapest security system but not the best one. Normally, you really have the shutdown button that works in all cases and etc. But yes , when you can have a renewable and secure energy, it is way better.
According to Mikhail Gorbachev, the disaster at Chernobyl in 1986 caused the collapse of Soviet communism. He described the explosion as a “turning point” that “opened the possibility of much greater freedom of expression, to the point that the system as we knew it could no longer continue”. Also, it financially ruined the Soviet Union.
@@jbail2547 That is only true for obsolete reactor design at Fukushima and Chernobyl (they are actually the same age ). It is extremely unlikely that current day modern reactor to experience catastrophic failure like those two and such thin happening with next gen reactor design would literally be physically impossible. On top of that the extent of Fukushima's impact was greatly exaggerated.
@@nightnaughty fukushima was man made as well. not the tsunami ofc but the fact that there was a nuclear disaster. the reactor was past its intended lifetime and the only reason it was still working were the greens who blocked the creating of new ones.
@@hullmees666 I didn't say it wasn't i said the 'It was more of a consequence' of the tsunami. Yes they didn't complay to securtiy mesures and rules, but they got away with that until the tsunami afected them directly. Chernobyl on the other hand was more of a consequence of an absolute disregard from the goverment up until the workers on the reactor for the security and care when dealing with nuclear energy, and it was not the first time like in the case of Lake Karachay and the disater of Kyshtym in 1957.
Someone said that actually Boris is the reason why it happen. Since he in power, he was rushing all parties to finish the reactor although most scientists/engineer was saying it was impossible to finish it with they dateline they were given. To avoid being demote and send to gulag, they sign the completion even they know it was not fully finish to avoid losing their job.
Possibly the best line in that Legasov-Scherbina moment: "They heard me. But they listened to you." A simple difference but a vital one. It's reinforced by the fact that the Soviets turned to Scherbina immediately for help after the Armenia earthquake tore up that area.
I was going to mention the Armenia earthquake thing, and it happens to be the top comment, thank you for sharing this insight, Scherbina is very revered in Armenia, there are monuments and even a street named after him, he came thru at a very dark time and did far more than his job demanded
Fir the record, even though she wasnt real. Her character was a collection of shared experiences. Everything she says and does was something that at least one of scientists on the project went through.
they said that in the video
Rolling it all into a single character makes it easier to dramatize, for the audience to follow. The alternative was to bring in a new scientist character dozens of times throughout the mini-series. More accurate, but more confusing, as the audience is distracted with the question of "Who is this person?" and misses the info the new character is presenting.
Today Legasov`s daughter fights to get her father the recognition what he deserves and she feels that the recognition what President Yeltsin gave was not enough. In her record Legasov when he returned from Chernobyl she described that he came home looking lot older about 10 years older than he actually was, lot thinner and he did not had any appetite and he only ate a sandwich and coffee and he could not sleep at all because he saw night mares and he was so guilt ridden that so many men had to do the things in there.
You bet.
12:42 Legasov: _"Any one of them could have done what I did. But you... everything we asked for, everything we needed; men, material, lunar rovers. Who else could have done these things? They heard me, but they listened to you. Of all the ministers and all the deputies . . . entire congregation of obedient fools, they mistakenly sent the one good man. For God's sakes Boris, you were the one who mattered the most."_
Great line.
History
Game of thrones: We have the greatest series on HBO!
Chernobyl: Every lie incurs a debt to the truth...
Nice one 😂😂😂😂
that’s kinda stupid, i mean why is everybody comparing cherbobyl to GoT or BrBa? chernobyl is just a mini-series it has only 5 episodes while GoT is an actual series, there is no point comparing those two things
@@netko1174 Exactly. Chernobyl is a great miniseries. Breaking bad is a great series. End of discussion
Look the trailer of HIS DARK MATERIALS, WATCHMEN AND WESTWORLD III. Fuck off Game of thrones
Chernobyl: hold my graphite
"Chernobyl" deserves an applause.
So well done, it's a history lesson told in the most amazing way.
@Inappropriate Name FOH it was damn near mostly accurate. In fact, dumbed down. Because in reality, it was far more grim.
@@TheNightKing22 too much to handle
@@TheNightKing22 extremely stupid reply
The part that Ulana said that they wouldn't listen to her wasn't because she was a woman but she wasn't influential and has high credibility like Legasov.
Right. Science was one of the fields where women were much more prevalent in communist countries than in the West (at that time). The character is supposed to reflect that. For example, the first female cosmonaut in space was in 1963. First female American astronaut in space was in 1983.
@@Pebbe496 However scientists weren't looked on very highly by most of Soviet society laborers were often seen as higher. A factory worker was more likely to get permision to own a car than a scientist was. Also the only reason the Russian space program put a woman in space was a report that we were training women to be astronauts(I don't feel like typing out the history in the RUclips comments section if you want to read about it look up Mercury 13)
Especially in comparison to Legasov, who was credited with most of the critical work in providing the solutions of the Chernobyl problems. He was high profile, well respected and known, she would have been easier to discredit and ignore/eliminate.
Ya thats one thing about communism it always preached a complete equality of the sexs. Hell they threw their women in the trenchs right alongside the men in WW2
@@tribuneoftheplebs9948 One of their most decorated heroes from WW2 is a female sniper with 309 confirmed kills, Lyudmila Pavlichenko, she gave Vasili Zaitsev a run for his money.
It should also be noted that Scherbina was in also in charge of dealing with Spitak earthquake in 1988 (huge earthquake in Armenia, more than 30k deaths iirc) and thanks to him soviets actualy accepted help from other countries.
P.S. Vechnaya Pamyat means eternal memory in russian
That scene where Legasov tells Boris that he was the one good man and that he was the one person who mattered the most hit me hard :( ...
Seeing Rana trying so damn hard to hold it in at the end hit me as well...I was the same way.
+ the whole credit scene also hits hard with the chill music
That little shot with the caterpillar and Scherbinov saying "oh it's beautiful" was very poetic.
But yeah, the credit scene was very emotional. And the song Vichnaya Pamyat was a perfect choice.
""When the truth offends we lie and lie until we can no longer remember it is even there, but it is still there. Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth, and sooner or later that debt is paid."
- Valery Legasov
What he forgot to add was that a lie's debt to the truth is almost never paid by the liars.
@@JimmySteller Only if the people don’t hold them to account
@@mckenzie.latham91 And how often do they get the chance to do that?
@@JimmyStellerWell they're called elections
@@mckenzie.latham91 Right, of course, the US has elections. That’s why Robert McNamera, Henry Kissinger, Lyndon Johnson, JFK, and Richard Nixon all suffered consequences for lying about the Vietnam War. Silly me.
Studying history has made me a pessimist about justice. The liars rarely suffer the consequences they deserve, and the people who do suffer them often swallow the lies so thoroughly that they don’t even realize what’s true and what’s not, even after it’s too late.
I lost it when they played the epilogue. It makes the series seems so real. That everything that had happened really happened. We did this to our home. We did this to our comrades. It's so sad. I hope we have learned from this mistake. But I think . . . less likely.
It’s because of Legasov and others that we know, his suicide made it impossible for the KGB and state to hide all of the truth...the scientists had access and they raised the questions and today...we know.
As long as we have people who will take the risk or make the sacrifice for what it is right, the lies cannot last forever...
Putin hated this series...And why its no surprise that a former KGB officer and USSR advocate would hate a series that showed how he and his organization helped the state bury and hide everything
Putin himself has participated in historical revisionism too...but still the rest of us know the truth, he can lie about it, but the truth will always exist for anyone who can or will risk finding it.
Why worry about something that isn't going to happen?
*We should put that on our money.*
Glad to see this "quoting lines" thing doesn't get the top comment here like it does all over youtube. Never made sense to me...
@@titusorelius9458 this is RUclips, you mean like they do on Reddit?
Nuclear power has advanced quite a bit since then. It's one of the best sources for clean energy and they have many more fail safes nowadays to prevent something like this from ever happening again. Chernobyl however terrifies everyone from seriously considering it and for good reason. Literally one of the most terrifying ways to die.
Even back then, nuclear power was more safe than most realize. Chernobyl was a specific incident, largely caused by the lack of regulation and the arrogance of the Soviet Union. They didn't even get around to fixing the flaw in their RBMK reactors until AFTER Legasov's suicide, and only because they were forced too since the information got out thanks to his tapes.
Everybody likes to parrot that nuclear power is "too dangerous," but most don't understand the science of nuclear reactors, nor how politics can often f*** up usual safety standards.
But ignoring all that, it's still obvious that nuclear power is safer than most people think because, well, the US and many other countries had dozens upon dozens of nuclear reactors before, during and after Chernobyl, and they continually are improved and fixed should any problems even BEGIN to arise.
"Clean" x "cleaner" is a point of discussion though. Nowadays nuclear waste is what poses the most danger rather than the risk of the reactor itself - Fukushima notwithstanding.
@@ANGRYpooCHUCKER They had plenty of regulation. The problem was the state owned the power plant. The state owned all the businesses. The state was responsible for regulation. But, you had a all power, single party Communist party.
@@douglas2938 Yeah, the problem right now with fission is the waste left because of it! I hope we get to fusion soon instead of fission!
Plus those clothes that can be classed as low level waste
The official Chernobyl Podcasts details that Ulana's character was a woman because scientists were actually heavily female at the time in a country where most occupations were dominated by males. So she was representative of that as well.
Understood. By the end of it I examine that decision closer and ultimately it was a better decision to have her represent all the scientists. Thanks for watching!
@@Thenormies It wasn't heavily female, but I think there were slightly more women among the scientists represented by Khomuk. Also it is a pretty clear nod towards Svetlana Alekseevich, the show is based heavily on Legasov's audio tapes and her book about Chernobyl.
@@Thenormies because it was cheaper.
@@Thenormies But they did gloss over the point, all the Soviet scientists knew about the problems with the nuclear power program. The show made it sound like only a few knew. They all knew the program was made on the cheap with shortcuts.
@youstolemywhat "feminist propaganda" because its baseless propaganda and it shouldnt be spread to people who don't have the capability to differentiate feels vs facts?
Legoslav was treated by the USSR the same way Turing was by the British government. Both heroes who their own governments could only see as threats.
They truly deserved better.
Unfortunately every country can point to an individual, or more, that they have treated terribly, but who should have been celebrated.
Legoslav publicly called the soviet state on their lies about the incident as well as the fact they covered up the very knowledge that would have prevented the accident...He was a national hero who was made an enemy of the state because he stood for truth...
Turning was more turned on because he was gay, which in the UK in the 1950’s was a crime...they literally had it as a law that homosexuals were sexual deviants and were to be chemically castrated.
they turned on one of their greatest minds and heroes because of his sexual orientation...
for shame on both governments and RIP with honor the men who endured it.
@@mckenzie.latham91look to REALLY intervew of Legasov
0:25 She's right you know, Eternal memory
Why can't we hear anything? I can barely understand it with my headphones on...
@JohnnyGotHisGun perhaps only Patreons can hear them now... lol
@@BUTANTANNN that made me literally LOL!🤣
Watch the series lol
@@roberts.8389 We already watched the fucking series, that's why we're here, to see a reaction, but how can we if we can't hear shit?
@@roberts.8389 i already have twice. I can't understand what they are reacting to when i can't hear the audio.
2:37 driving an agenda? There were female scientists who were given very little credit for their respective achievements in their fields at the time. Emily Wilson's character represents Legasov's team, men and women, who all participated in solving the Chernobyl crisis. The drama of the miniseries would be lessened by having 20 people instead of one person with a connection to the main character, so I imagine that's why they did it.
And just having a female character in a story isn't an 'agenda'. Especially since historically women have been shunted out of recognition in academia.
That's literally a fucking agenda.
That was a stupid comment calling it an agenda. That’s what corporate America media does to its people. Makes everyone paranoid of everything and everyone
2:43 They do credit them in the end, but most importantly the point of making har female was that the creators wanted to also show that the Soviet Union was in terms of gender equality, at the time, way ahead of the US and the West
Way ahead is a huge overstatement
@@vallano8970
Why is that?
It definitely was from the forties to the seventies. However, by the eighties, I think, the difference wasn’t that enormous.
Shame how modern Western feminism ruined the feminist revolution.
If Feminist movements threw extermists out, there would be better equality between males and females on both ways these days.
@@localshithead7430 Because the principles of marxism emphasized equality of both sexes...Marx and the soviets after him saw that reducing women’s roles to a small list of duties was a waste...that’s why women were allowed and even given grants to go to Russian universities
women were used in the factories as well as men, in world war 2 women fought with men and or worked together in trenches and defensive works
As someone living in Sweden, I owe my life and the lives of everyone I love to the heroes of Chernobyl. I am eternally grateful and I am so happy that this show told their stories.
rusty nuts haha
I hate Communist but the PEOPLE of the USSR were so noble
For the love of God turn the volume up on your videos!
movieman175 Yeah, it’s hella annoying.
It helps with fair use lol
The volume is fine
Off i tought it was my rig, i watched this on 100 volume
I had this ep playing on my tv and it STILL wasnt loud enough at 30
Well, this wild ride is over. Such an amazing mini-series. I've already watched it 2 times (alone/with parents). My father told me, that he once spoke with one of those heroes, who are still alive (i wish, i had a chance like that, too). I'm really happy, that this series is so popular now all over the world.
I'm your russian sub. Love from Russia. 8)
Well Suraj you werent supposed to know she wasnt real till you finished the miniseries
tell that to the people spoiling in the comments
@@BhBc8f8 man i hate people
I loved the scene between Boris and Legaslov. It reminded me of something Ned Stark said, "you find your true friends on the battlefield", but in this case I would replace the last word with "whilst dealing with a nuclear disaster". Their relationship started adversarial. You could tell Boris didn't particularly like scientists, whilst Legaslov was frustrated by the lack of knowledge and understanding around him. But together they formed a great team.
If there is an afterlife, I like to think Boris and Legaslov are now friends forever!
12:29 "I hoped that one day I would matter, but I didn't." That is a sad and beautiful scene.
17:25 Rana's expression, and she is hiding behind the pillow. :)
17:15-17:38 Suraj and that pillow should get a room...
18:41 That ending is so beautifully sad with the music. / Also 19:08-20:15 someone give Rana a hug. :)
The accompanying podcast is really great if you want to know what was fact and what was dramatized. I highly recommend it. Also the USSR was more progressive with respect to women doctors and scientists than the US during this time, surprisingly enough.
Say what you want about the Soviet state and ideology. But I have so much respect for those that had to step up and sacrifice everything because their government failed them. They had balls of lead and did it because it had to be done
Yeah, some people fucked up greatly, then others had to sacrifice themselves. Overall it's nothing to brag about. Nothing at all.
the soviet state sacrificed it self to correct it's own failure, wtf are you talking about?
@@Nword2000the Soviet State did not sacrifice, it only sacrificed its poor people to save face and put the Party first. Communism is a Cancer, BUT many many of the Soviet people were heros, with unmatched bravery. Lest they never be forgotten ❤
Give chernobyl all the emmys it deserve, please
In the soviet union it was policy for trials to be held as close to the crime scene as possible. Thats why it was held in Chernobyl/Prypiat.
Women in science was probably the only thing in the soviet union that was ahead of the west. But I am not aware of any women being in the actual group that assisted. If you are interested in the show and what was and was not real, watch the HBO podcast on Chernobyl.
Thought I saw a woman in one of the pictures at the end
Why whould anyone watch a video about a show, before watching the last episode of it? I swear man, the normies are just something else.
The night of the explosion there were two female guards at the power plant. Both of them died from ARS soon after the accident. They were not even mentioned in the series. 'mUsT bE mENiniST AgENda'... Suraj really emberrased himself in this one.
If you hate Nuclear Energy just because you read about Chernobyl or saw this show then you are still ignorant and blinded. Nuclear Energy is the best alternative we have got to transition our power grid system from coal and petroleum based to clean energy system. Nuclear Energy is the best weapon to tackle Climate Change while maintaining the electricity consumption levels without sacrificing quality of life.
I hope people realize this sooner And countries start emphasizing it more because Climate Change is the ultimate threat to all the living beings on Earth, and Nuclear Energy is our best shot at tackling it gracefully.
Solar is the best option. We've come along way in that tech as well.
Comrade You’re right, but solar isn’t always feasible. A mixture of solar, wind, wave, natural gas & nuclear would probably give us the electricity we need, without the atmospheric pollution. Nuclear certainly has some problems, but I’d consider them less than a runaway greenhouse effect.
Comrade Yeah Solar is good too but the problem is it cannot produce a gigantic capacity of electricity that a metropolitan city or thousands of villages require. A single Nuclear Power Plant, however, can do that. Investment in Nuclear Energy would also open up many high-paying jobs that can be economically beneficial.
@@goldenageofdinosaurs7192 actually that's incorrect. Solar is enough by itself.
www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2016/09/22/we-could-power-the-entire-world-by-harnessing-solar-energy-from-1-of-the-sahara/amp/
@@ComradeHB I must respectfully disagree, i should lead with I put solar panels on my house and i am saying that. Solar panels are good but right now still cause massive pollution in production and disposal. "Green energy" is the future but right now it costs more and takes longer to generate than nuclear. If Germany spent the same amount of money on nuclear power as it did on green energy it would already be emitting zero carbon, as apposed to approximately 20-30% carbon reduction. It also takes up massive space. I am not saying I am against green energy though.
Deservedly nominated for 19 emmy's one of the best shows i have ever personally seen masterfully written intense heartbreaking and real such a beautiful way to bring to light these heroe's that suffered so greatly the epilogue hit me hard when i first saw it that hauntingly beautiful choir to think that the firefighters clothing still remains in the hospital 33 years later a tomb frozen in time so unbelievably sad
This show was so good. They deserve every award they've been nominated for. That ending part was in my head for days after. Even though there are some inaccuracies here and there that several people point out, I didn't know much about Chernobyl other than it was some sort of nuclear accident. For me, it wasn't really taught in school so this series really made me want to seek more information about the disaster. PS. I caught Suraj's comment about a spirit portal. LOL that was a nice way to break the tension I was feeling.
"You were the one who mattered most." Makes me cry every time. One of the best finales of a show, ever. The flash backs were so well done."What is the cost of lies?" Best close of a show ever. After the end I had to go back to episode one and watch the first few minutes again to go full circle. Such a fantastic show!
I try really hard to like you guys enough to subscribe, but some of you have such shit takes that I can't bring myself to do it, and this is like the 5th series of yours that I've watched.
They held the trial near Pripyat because Soviet law would demand trials be held in the town or city it took place in.
@2:35 and @22:15 The Soviet Union was actually, relative to other countries at the time, pretty open to women having positions of power (as mentioned, relatively & for the times). So the character representing the scientists in general is not inaccurate in terms of her being female. So while their may have an "agenda" as you say to have more female representation in the show it was not something even vaguely far-fetched. The whole idea in the Soviet form of Marxism - Leninism (and to varying degress in communism in general) of rigid equality was in some ways helpful for women who wanted a career. The sciences were one of those choices.
This series did honour to the medium of television. A fantastic watch.
No evidence of a women helping at that time?? They talk about this like it was the 50s 😂 it was the 80s
Also it was in the USSR not in the USA. Women were working in all fields in the USSR while women in the USA could only be housewives. Also there were women helping at the time.
@Octopus You got something valuable to say buddy?? Or are you just being a dick for no reason? Probably the latter...
@Octopus It's factual, women had to pick up where many men who died in WWII left off.
@Octopus maybe you go to Russia and ask some of old women before arguing? Here women WORKED at science a lot, just like in any other areas since revolution, not like in old USA in 50s.
@@ixctu350
You made the absolutely ridiculous claim that women the US were only allowed to be housewives in the 80s. You should eexpect to be shit upon for that fucking moronic comment. In 1985 71% of women in the USA between 25 and 44 were part of the work force.,
13:56 "I wouldn't listen to him a second afterwards." "I would of beat his ass."
These statements are of a cowardice mentality. Regardless of the situation, either of you would never turn to your employer and ignore them or attack them. This is the Soviet Union, not America. If you didn't do your job, you got sent to a hard labor camp for 4 years or jail time.
And more annoyingly you are all watching and commenting as if people in the Soviet Union had the same freedoms or knowledge that you currently posses. Nuclear energy and processes were / are highly classified and the general public barely knows / understands any of it; pretty much none of it back in the 80s.
I absolutely love you guys reacting to this more serious and historically series. Are you gonna do more of these? Like, for example, Band of Brothers?
Quick question, why is the volume so low on these Chernobyl videos? It's too late now but just curious. I also watch Breaking Bad and Community and volume is fine.
it's a serious problem.
I had to use headphones so I could hear it...
So its not only me eh?
Americans have such a skewed view of Russia. I hope this show will introduce them to the heroism of many ordinary people under the incompetent and ruthless rule of Bolshevism. 60+ years of daily terror created not only millions of victims but also unsung heroes whose names we will never hear about.
Speaking as an American: I have had russian friends and colleagues my entire life, people who moved here or whose parents moved here.
It's the russian state, past and now present, which I have a very low opinion of. And that is primarily because of what it does to the russian people.
while Russians have their issues (everyone does), it’s mostly been their governments that has brought the shroud on all of them
I have never hated a Russian citizen for being Russian, but i have hated most of their governments...
heroes like Boris are to be honored because they did what was needed and what was right, and i had some deep respect for Kruschev and his struggle which can be mirrored by JFK’s as well...
but here’s a fact, no government leader has ever solved anything in the Russian nation on their own...Stalin did not save Russia from the germans...
the Russian people, their sacrifice and their determination is what saved Russia...
it is always the Russian people who accomplish the greatness, its they who sacrifice, it’s they who go when no one else would or will...
That cultural thing of regular people being able to become heroes who can save the nation, was pushed heavily by the state, using the example of the Nazi invasion and reversal. But it did allow for average Russians beibg willing to step up and risk or sacrifice their lives to save their country.
I seriously wonder if regular people in the West would have been willing to sacrifice themselves at all to prevent a much greater catastrophe the way we see repeatedly depicted in this show. When I see how much complacency and entitlement goes on these days, I strongly doubt it.
@rusty nuts ""Heroism" like invading Ukraine or shooting down mh17 and then laying about it to this day? Fuck you!"
The average russian probably have no more responsibility in that than the average american has for missed drone strikes.
@rusty nuts No, not really... The point was whether the average person had some sort of personal responsibility in what actions the government takes... Beyond voting for those that are that lucky.
I don't care what gender the scientist had... it's a representation and I liked her believes.
Because of the marxist foundations of the country, workers were seen as more important and given more value and or better treatment than scientists...scientists despite the importance they had to the space and nuclear program were not as compatible with the typical propaganda of the “Workers” party
its also a fact that over half of scientists in the UUSR were women which is why her character represents that demographic.
Agreed...a persons gender has no bearing on their ability or their knowledge or ability to contribute
It’s is their training, and their experience...these guys making reference to the characters gender are reading far too much into things
Contrary to what media and twitter and shows would have you believe, not everything is based on racism or sexism...
@@trayolphia5756 oh. There were a A LOT of sexism in the 80s. A LOT. But not necessary in the Soviet union, because of their communist ideology they were far more advanced in gender equality than capitalist countries.
I can barely hear anything
At that time the Soviet Union had a lot more female scientists and doctors too, than most countries, including the United States. They were more progressive in that area. This was not a feminist agenda. Her casting was highly representative and has nothing to do with the show being PC. Maybe you are the one who is being hypersensitive, Suraj.
I understand trying to justify it but female scientists outnumbering male scientists in the Soviet Union does not mean that the majority of those sent to Chernobyl were female. The pictures and videos that we saw at the end would seem to indicate a larger male participation.
Khomyuk is a great character, fictional or not. There shouldn't have been any need to justify the choice of the writers.
It's just that with the toxic SJW's pushing their agenda in Hollywood, people are now forced to question if every character created is done to push the story or simply created to push diversity.
@@FiremanH16
And here ladies and gentlemen is what I'll like to label as exhibit A.
Note that the first thing this person does is throw out an insult and quickly followed it up by calling me a troll. No questions or attempt at civility. Just a quick assumption of what I am based on a paragraph that I wrote. Not willing to debate anything. A person who spreads toxicity and blame others. A perfect example of a modern SJW.
If the show were PC, it would try to sugarcoat the horrors of Communism. Instead, it was laid bare.
I can't blame him, even though he was wrong. The entertainment industry is heavily leftist and political.
@@luizmarinho6138 Exactly. Chernobyl is not pushing an agenda, but I don't blame Suraj for thinking so because the entertainment industry nowadays is filled with leftist agenda, which leads to people questioning everything they do (and rightfully so)
The thing that makes me sad about watching this react series is that I do not think that these folks used the opportunity of watching the show to actually learn anything about nuclear power. I think they all think they learned enough things from just watching the series, and did not spend any time really reading up on the issue, or even watched any real documentaries about nuclear power or Chernobyl. I hope they did, but my gut tells me that they did not.
This was such a good miniseries. I've never watched anything that elicited such a strong reaction from me. Even though it was already settled history it made me so damn tense. It was amazing.
Legasov's team was scores of people. I think condensing that throng into a single character (almost like a Greek Chorus) is fine, considering we only had 5 hours to tell the story dramatically.
I was born 19.6.1986 in Czechoslovakia (that time) so I'm little bit Chernobyl child. And even nowadays we can find residues of radiation in our country (Czech Republic), especially inside of mushrooms and some animal bodies (like wild boars and other). It's fascinating watching reactions of people living far from our country and learning of this disaster. I know, some things in series were dramatized, but the truth is there and simply reflects the soviet regime. Thank you for your reactions.
Watching the intro discussion and just waiting for the end of the episode where they explain what creative liberties they took. I love the way this show openly shared the process of making it through podcasts and so many interviews - it’s just such a nice change from having to verify every dramatisation of history yourself lol
P.s. you guys watching this show a year later than everyone else and I’m watching y’all 2 years later after everyone else’s lmao :’)
@@mayursoowamber7549 not everyone. I watched it 4 days after you did :P
Chernobyl is better than Game of Thrones season 8. Well done HBO
A very low bar, to be fair
Anything good is better than GoT S08. So it's not a fair comparison
No shit
They have nothing in common, pointless comparison.
After the evacuation, people went back to steal bricks from the area to build their new homes.
While she wasnt a real person, the female lead I believe was an incredible addition. Since she represented all the scientists who spoke out against the official statements of the soviet union, she basically represents all the silenced voices in the soviet scientist community who acted as the conscience of that society.
Just watched every episode with you guys. Really enjoyed the experience, reminded me of being a student again.
I'm really thankful this series was made cause it shines a light on this whole thing I never even knew Chernobel was a thing until this show
I think there are a shitload of police, firemen, military and coast guard that would take issue with the comment that nobody was trying to help after hurricane Katrina.
i live in the US, the state of Michigan to be exact, where we have nuclear power plants & where On October 5, 1966 the nuclear power plant "Fermi 1" suffered a partial fuel meltdown. Two of the 92 fuel assemblies were partially damaged. According to the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, there was no abnormal radioactivity released to the environment???
They are probably right in saying "was no abnormal radioactivity released to the environment" . If it really was a concern you would have had a Fukushima style exclusion zone set up in that place.
Technically if fuel simply melts on spot, Air works as radiation shielding.
What made Chernobyl so bad, was the fire.
It spread Alpha and Beta emitters around causing fallout. Gamma emitters are too heavy to spread throught air.
You lost me at the "feminist agenda" comment though. That's not what it was but well.
found the feminist, that was a joke
@@proffesionalweredog7426 Found the MRA.
@@MaureenLycaon shut the fuck up, "maureen". you sound like a librarian
8:50 “I don’t want to do this” has never been an option in this show. That’s not how USSR works.
Jared Harris is amazing - you should watch The Terror for another great performance.
And the message of the story - the cost of lies - is a very pertinent one today, of course.
Valery Legasov was a hero to all humanity. There should be a statue of him in every major city of the world
Great reaction! This was quite the series! Very impactful!
I honestly think this is the first time I've seen and heard Suraj generally emotional, what a way to do it buddy, great show and historic remembrance.
What I got from the show was that the cause of the disaster wasn't a 'failed button' as one of you said. It was 1) the delay in the test which led to the build up of Xenon, 2) Dyatlov ignoring the safety rules, and 3) last but not least, the control rods, which were meant to stop the reaction were tipped with graphite which would increase the reaction, and when the shut down button was pressed to lower the control rods the conditions created inside the reactor meant the rods only went in as far as their graphite tips and got stuck at that point and the graphite tips accelerated the reaction instead of shutting it down. It accelerated it to the point of explosion, as there was nothing left that could stop it at that point. 4) Legasov said the nuclear reactors in the Soviet Union at the time were designed this way because it was cheaper. 5) Reactors in the Soviet Union were all of the same type and design but were retroactively refitted to rectify the problem following the Chernobyl disaster. 6) If things do go badly wrong with nuclear reactors the risk to the world can be existential.
RBMK reactors were an inherently flawed design which had far too many chances for incidents to occur. Some were intentional for cost, some were only discovered in hindsight, but all were avoidable by not using the RBMK design. In an environment where the game is a balance of power output and power control, Murphys Law is in full force and if it can go wrong, then it WILL go wrong. The lack of a proper containment vessel, the poor construction of the reactor hall, the use of a single loop of water instead of the dual loop used in other designs, and the lack of experience on those poor controllers led to the perfect cocktail that became the disaster. Its like building your house out of straw and using candle light - Will it work? Sure, but at what cost when the inevitable occurs.
They fed irradiated steam into the turbines? The rascals!
They were upfront about the woman being fictional though... In the after episode scene when she was introduced. They explained it all. 😅
The scene at 12:20 is absolutely beautiful... two men fighting EVERYONE and EVERYTHING and against an enemy that would destroy MILLIONS of lives sit down and have a 'man's moment'. In this minute or so, you see that it was Shcherbina who essentially saved Europe. And almost no one who has not seen this dramatization knows his name.
@27:29 Going to a reactor on a field trip is not too crazy or rare. I grew in Ann Arbor, home to the University of Michigan, and we visited a reactor on the engineering campus in middle school, and pretty much every kid growing up in Ann Arbor in that time period probably did the same. Thd reactor was in the basement of the building and we built in the 50s and was only recently shut down.
Also, I think you guys shouldn't be so critical of nuclear power, as when you mentioned showing this to kids. Nuclear power, even including Chernobyl, has accounted for so may fewer deaths since it's inception than coal and other fossil fuels. In fact, coal plants give off more radiation than a working nuclear plant. As they burn their it releases naturally occurring trace radioactivity in it. And nuclear is carbon free which is a huuuuuuge help against climate change which is the much bigger menace.
The trial was in Chernobyl, there was a Soviet law that a trial had to be held near the place where the crime occurred so they brought them back and converted a gym into a courtroom for the trial.
It always makes me laugh how the experts and people think they will have learnt and put all possible precautions in place to stop it ever happening again... all it takes is a natural disaster in the vicinity of a nuclear plant, mother nature doesn't give two hoots and there's no precaution that can contain it!
Why the heck would you watch a video about the show before you finish it? Even if the show is based in reality.
Bill Nye isn't a scientist. He's an engineer that became a celebrity.
He is still a scientist lol. Just because someone is famous doesn’t make them no longer something else
Since when engineers aren't scientists?
Do you disagree with any of the science that he's spent most of his life trying to teach to people? If so, which and why? You kinda sound like a Soviet politician here...
@@elbruces Well, the social constructivist ideology that he started trying to teach to children as if it were knowledge is certainly objectionable. I remember him completely botching an explanation of physics from Interstellar also.
I would love for you to explain the connection between pointing out the fact that he's not a scientist and sounding like a Soviet politician though.
Is it just me or is the volume extremely low
The fact that this happened a little over 30 years ago…
The new 100-yr sarcophagus they built over the destroyed reactor isn't just to contain it like the original one, it was specifically designed to allow a cleanup operation to commence within it which is happening right now.
The trial was held in the town of Chernobyl, a few miles east of the plant/Pripyat, inside the exclusion zone but not a heavily irradiated area. Under Soviet law crimes must be tried in the closest town to the crime and after Pripyat that was Chernobyl, the town that the region (oblast) is named after.
Shows a lot that they think Ulana's character is "feminist propaganda" just because she's a fictional woman representing a group of real scientists, a group that consisted of both men and women. If the character had been a man, would any of them have cared that it wasn't an accurate representation of the whole group? They talk about finding the facts for yourself yet they jump at the chance to call out propaganda without even knowing the real people behind the character. It was a practical choice for a five episode drama to condense a large group into a single character, not some underhanded conspiracy to oppress the men, you absolute imbeciles.
Well, what do you expect from a bunch of dolts who can't even be bothered to Google the meaning of "vichnaya pamyat"? "It sounds like a curse!" 🤡🤪🙄 The public school system at its finest.
I stood next to that sculpture in 2011, before the containment structure was completed. It was as close as they would let visitors.
7:00 she's based on a real first responder MD/PhD. shes still alive, thr is a vanity fair interview. the actor looks *exactly* like her.
-jc
The edit was really good (about the choose and scenes cuts)
This should be played more in High Schools more because of the political aspect, than the science part. No serious western democracy would make a reactor like the Soviet RBMK because of the flaws caused by the top down pressure and cost cutting of communism.
You were all for the invasion of Iraq huh?
The Expanse season 4 trailer dropped!
Honestly your reactions to the Expanse are what I like best.
Yeah, Rana and Nahid need to react to that trailer. :)
Another thing to remember about science and knowledge, is that each new generation is like a new wave of barbarians at the gates. Humans don't come pre-built with all the knowledge of our civilization within them, they must be taught and indoctrinated over may years to bring them up to parity with the rest of us. As a result, civilization is only one generation thick. If we fail to pass on our knowledge, it's gone forever. In conclusion, I'm an advocate for all of us being a life-long learners.
They made her a women because they wanted to represent the many women who were scientists in the soviet union. It was the one field where women were prevelant.
hey man, this is gonna sound weird but do you know the show chris talked about in 3:20? im not able to hear it right.
@@eumemo46 That AMC show called The Terror. Where in the show its a monster, in real life they just became crazy and cannibals.
Have to give your editor major credit for this video! I would have torn my hair out trying to figure out which parts of Legosov's testimony to keep or delete to stay under the 10 minute mark...
You should do some of HBO's other historical series, Band of Brothers for example.
Using the word 'historical' loosely there, I see.
Really good series, glad you managed to get through it
Here are all the power sources I know of and a negative it has or gets
1: hydro power, affects nature heavily
2: wind power, farmers hate them and don't want them
3: solar power, hella expensive
4: geothermal power, deforestation
5: coal power, emission
6: gas power, hella dangerous
7: nuclear power, waste
Solar is actually getting cheaper and cheaper because of tech upgradations and economies of scale as more and more countries increase their usage and production. A bottleneck to solar can be the lack of materials required for cells and panels in the future. Alternative materials would need to be explored (and are being explored)
@Douglas Jr. Windpower kills birds, and bats literally explode due air pressure drop near the blades.
+ infrasounds cause symptoms for some people + The windmills are loud af.
I am glad there was a retraction on the claims of there being some feminist agenda in this, but great job on inserting your weird bias anyway. The scientist was one of the best characters, fictional or not.
Nowhere on earth was it a feminist propaganda. A HUGE amount of scientists in the USSR were female, as well as doctors, and this is a statistical FACT.
@@Alexandra_Indina no they weren’t... there were actually EXTREMELY few female scientists in the Soviet Union and absolutely zero in nuclear science or any of the higher sciences... also EXTREMELY few if any females were actually doctors or surgeons but a mass number were nurses... learn some actual facts about the Soviet Union before spewing bs. Also Chernobyl wasn’t the first time the Soviet Union had had a massive nuclear incident one had happened before but it happened in different circumstances and involved a lake and water supply (something to do with they had been dumping nuclear waiste into the lake of the town and it was the “swimming hole” of the town and surrounding towns as well as a water supply...look up lake Karachay also look up the town of Ozyorsk (was the city near the lake and where the plant was)
You are correct in that scientists have to compete as entertainers to be listened to, even when they are experts and have dedicated their lives to studying something. Look at the climate change in the US, so many people ignore the experts (because of a multitude of reasons). How can we make climate change entertaining? How can we get people to listen and believe in something that does not have clear story line to dramatise, something they may have to take responsibility for and change their lives for?
The places near chernobyl power plant are still radioacttive to this very day,the effects still remain even after 34 years.
Hey Normies, would you mind reacting to a three-part WW2 series called Generation War? I really like your reactions, especially your intricate discussions during and after the episodes.
It’s too good to not see you react to a show like this :D
That the German show? I loved that.
Rob Fraser Yep, exactly that one!
I really enjoyed it, and it’s good to see other people liked it as well.
Do you know where I can propose the show to the reactors?
The states with the nuclear weapons will never get rid of it, and it doesn't matter what you / we think about it. So it's ok to have at least a lot of energy from the reactor, when you take the risks anyway.
The whole thing is that Soviet Union made a cheapest security system but not the best one. Normally, you really have the shutdown button that works in all cases and etc.
But yes , when you can have a renewable and secure energy, it is way better.
According to Mikhail Gorbachev, the disaster at Chernobyl in 1986 caused the collapse of Soviet communism. He described the explosion as a “turning point” that “opened the possibility of much greater freedom of expression, to the point that the system as we knew it could no longer continue”. Also, it financially ruined the Soviet Union.
now to think of it Dyatlov actor did such a wonderfull job.
fukushima was 2011, accidents happen
The only difference is that Chernobyl was a man made disaster and Fukushima it was more a consequence of the earthquake
@@nightnaughty aye I agree but the result will be the same, its dangerous- not even mentioning during terroism, war and sabotage.
@@jbail2547
That is only true for obsolete reactor design at Fukushima and Chernobyl (they are actually the same age ). It is extremely unlikely that current day modern reactor to experience catastrophic failure like those two and such thin happening with next gen reactor design would literally be physically impossible.
On top of that the extent of Fukushima's impact was greatly exaggerated.
@@nightnaughty fukushima was man made as well. not the tsunami ofc but the fact that there was a nuclear disaster. the reactor was past its intended lifetime and the only reason it was still working were the greens who blocked the creating of new ones.
@@hullmees666 I didn't say it wasn't i said the 'It was more of a consequence' of the tsunami. Yes they didn't complay to securtiy mesures and rules, but they got away with that until the tsunami afected them directly. Chernobyl on the other hand was more of a consequence of an absolute disregard from the goverment up until the workers on the reactor for the security and care when dealing with nuclear energy, and it was not the first time like in the case of Lake Karachay and the disater of Kyshtym in 1957.
Someone said that actually Boris is the reason why it happen. Since he in power, he was rushing all parties to finish the reactor although most scientists/engineer was saying it was impossible to finish it with they dateline they were given. To avoid being demote and send to gulag, they sign the completion even they know it was not fully finish to avoid losing their job.
That is not so far fetched as Boris was the minister of energy (or whatever the title was) and the reactor was less than 4 years old.
Three Mile Island accident near Harrisberg! What could have been! That is not a state problem rater the opposite a corporate nuclear accident.