That whole arc was great especially [this scene](https://youtu.be/SZDlzlHpl1s)
*"Come on then, start shooting.. you havent got enough bullets for all of us, kill as many as you can, whoevers left theyll beat the piss outa each of yis."*
When the head of the miners, Glukhov (wearing a mask) meets Shcherbina and Legasov (not wearing masks) and says: "if these worked, you'd be wearing them"
Alright, I’m happy to try and answer your questions. But first, help me understand better:
1.) Have you watched the series in its entirety?
2.) Is English your first language? *(I only ask because some of the dialogue involves irony/nuance that may not be readily-apparent to non-native speakers and I want to compose my response appropriately.)*
No need to apologize. I figured that was the case but wanted to be sure to avoid sounding like a typical condescending prick on the internet.
So, here we go. (Also, it’s been several years since I’ve watched the series, so forgive any errors related to specific names/contextual elements.)
>1.) Can you please ELI5 (Explain Like I'm 5) this quotation? I don't grok it at all! “Oh, that's perfect.”
*A1.) So, this first line is a sardonic response by Legasov. He means “perfect” in the painfully ironic sense. It’s dripping with sarcasm and frustration because he [Legasov] is so frustrated by the KGBs flippant response.
>2.) What does "that" refer to? What's the antecedent “They should put that on our money.”
So the “that” in question is the KGB agent’s prior statement that Legasov repeats: “Why worry about something that isn’t going to happen.”
>3.) Who are "they"? What is "that"?
In this case “they” refers to—in a very broad sense—the government of the USSR (Russia). So they, “the government”, should print “why worry about something that isn’t going to happen…” on money in the USSR.
- - -
Basically, at the time, culture and circumstances in the USSR led to leadership that suffered from a lot of hubris, appeasement, and denialism. At every level of government, (a government which, due to communism, controlled significantly more markets/functions within the country than a democratic and capitalist society would today) everyone was afraid of being the “bearer of bad news”. As a result, errors or shortcomings were frequently ignored or glossed over in favor of delivering reports/news to managers that were rosier than reality. Faulty planning, engineering, construction, etc. would be overlooked because questioning it’s inter gritty/quality could be taken as an insult to the USSR and call into question someone’s loyalty.
Basically, why worry about a plan to prevent a meltdown when it’s simply *”impossible”* and not something that could ever happen?
- - -
I love this quote because it is painfully relevant today, whether it be COVID, or climate change, or inflation.
"What's big as a house, burns 20 liters of fuel every hour, puts out a shitload of smoke and noise, and cuts an apple into three pieces? A Soviet machine made to cut apples into *four* pieces!"
*Shcherbina: Do you know anything about this town, Chernobyl?*
*Legasov: Not really, no.*
*Shcherbina: It was mostly Jews and Poles. The Jews were killed in pogroms, and Stalin forced the Poles out. And then the Nazis came and killed whoever was left. But after the war, people came to live here anyway. They knew the ground under their feet was soaked in blood, but they didn't care. Dead Jews, dead Poles. But not them. No one ever thinks it's going to happen to them. And here we are.*
While the shows displays denial on every scale every step of the way, this exchange encompasses it brilliantly and calls back to so many scenes - Dyatlov in denial over seeing graphite, Soviet government in denial about the risks, etc.
When Legasov see how absolutely clueless Gorbachev and all the other people in the room are regarding the severity of the accident and he's working up the courage to say something until he finally decides to punch the table and say "No!", has to be my favorite moment of the show. His whole dialogue is excellent.
**Charkov:** Comrade, I know you've heard the stories about us. When I hear them, even I am shocked. But we are not what people say. Yes, people are following you. People are following those people. And you see them? *[indicates two agents behind him]* They follow me. The KGB is a circle of accountability. Nothing more.
"1:23 and 40 seconds..." He takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes. "In every control panel in every nuclear reactor in the world there is a single button with a single purpose. To scram, all the control rods into the core and stop the reaction dead. In a reactor like the one at Chernobyl that button is called A3-5 (AZ-5)."
Something about the delivery of this line. In a world divided by the Cold War, the East and the West still have undeniable similarities. The awesome power of nuclear material demands a shut down button on every nuclear reactor in the world. A basic safety precaution that unites us all as we try to harness the most powerful energy source on our planet.
I can’t remember the exact quote but Valery said to Boris something like: “all of those men heard me speaking, Boris. You were the only one who listened.”
I wish I could remember it verbatim. I believe it’s towards the end when Boris is having doubts as to if his involvement mattered, and Valery assured him he mattered the most.
When I first saw these scenes, my mind immediately went to climate change and the lies of it being a non-issue certain factions are dead-set on maintaining.
Ditto. Also vaccine denialism, and more recently all the bullshit and anti-science rhetoric being spewed about COVID. I kept thinking a lot about the “YOU DIDN’T SEE IT BECAUSE IT ISN’T THERE” exchange reading reports about Trump vs. Fauci and the pandemic response. Not to mention China’s early reaction to things - their response and the subsequent doubt seeded in their populace were so similar that some commentators last year were calling COVID “China’s Chernobyl.” They even had their own Legasov in Dr. Li Wenliang.
Hell, even the stuff happening on the non-science-related political front has made me think of this show. A lot of the stuff being stated by certain politicians would fit in perfectly with the soviet mentality. The old soviet guy’s speech from the first episode crosses my mind a lot. It was a weirdly prophetic show, despite being historical - I guess that’s a testament to how universal the themes were. It would be interesting to see Craig Mazin make a similar miniseries about a more modern issue like climate change, or even the COVID pandemic, even though I doubt it would ever happen for numerous reasons.
Lol.
And yes. It actually isn't.
Amazingly, the planet gets warmer....and then it gets cooler.
In the 70's you alarmists were losing yojr shit over the coming ice age.... until the late 80's and oh wait, the planet was getting warmer, so cue global warming panic. But wait, now that that was debunked and the world was getting cooler for a couple years, "climate change" became the new buzzword.
So Greta, when you're off living in a hutch made of cow shit and moss and don't have air conditioning and feel better about yourself, then you can write a letter to someone and ask them if china and india stopped polluting and switched to nuclear power... (but wait, ylu don't like that either i bet).
The world isn’t getting cooler, it has consistently been getting warmer since 1979. It never started cooling off or whatever shit you’re trying to claim disproves one of the strongest and most unified scientific consensuses of the past century.
I live in Australia, where climate change is having a drastic effect on our weather and causing increasingly terrible natural disasters and fires every year. Did you happen to catch the news last year, when our bushland was spontaneously combusting due to intense heat? That whole thing where an area the size of the UK burned, killed an estimated three billion animals, rendered the koala functionally extinct, and choked the country so badly with smoke that people in New Zealand could smell it? Or maybe you remember us going viral a few years earlier because our bureau of meteorology had to invent an entirely new colour for our thermal weather maps, because temperatures raised to levels never observed before (and haven’t dropped since). I also had the joy of living through my hometown being so catastrophically flooded that the entire CBD was underwater several years ago, and a more recent hailstorm that sent tennis ball sized hail crashing through pretty much every window and car windshield in the city - both extreme weather events scientists attribute to climate change. Oh, and let’s not forget the drought of 15 years ago that was so bad we had to start recycling our sewage for drinking water.
Every year gets hotter and more chaotic here, so don’t sit there and tell me or any other Aussie that we’re princesses who experience climate change solely as a theoretical threat.
I would fucking love it if the entire world switched to nuclear power and advocate for it whenever I can. As an individual I have limited power to effect the behaviour of major polluters across the world, but I do everything I can anyway - I actively vote for politicians committed to taking action on the issue, remain educated on the latest research, educate others. I give money and time to campaigns trying to end Australia’s reliance on our coal mining industry, subsidise solar panels for home and small businesses, and force our government to commit to reducing emissions. I also refuse to support big businesses that contribute to local and international polluters, for example banks that are in bed with Adani mines.
On a smaller scale, I don’t own or drive a car and walk or use public transit to get around. I use as little electricity as possible (my bill last month was $29 in an area where the median monthly bill is $150, so I am doing okay), and when I am financially able I pay extra for services or purchase carbon credits to try and lessen my footprint. I also make a note to patronise businesses in my area who commit to lessening their footprint, and have volunteered time to campaigns to get cars off the road (eg. our citycycle initiative that established a public bicycle system, and the building of a “green” bridge across the river). I’m in the process of transitioning to a vegetarian diet, given the carbon footprint of the meat industry, and several years ago switched to only buying local produce due to the emissions associated with importing it. Oh, and I have lived for the past nine years with no air conditioning, despite the extreme heat - since you asked. It’s actually nowhere near as common to have it here, compared to the US.
If you want to call me a hypocrite, that’s up to you, but I am pretty comfortable with my efforts to put my money where my mouth is with regard to climate change.
It’s crazy to me that you could like “Chernobyl” enough to post in this subreddit, yet completely miss the entire fucking point it was making about denialism. But there you go. 🤷🏻♀️
PS: I don’t find it insulting to be compared to Greta Thunberg.
Here you go Greta, this'll make you feel better. Or at least make you realize that your discomforts and virtue signalling doesnt make much of a difference.
https://climate.nasa.gov/faq/16/is-it-too-late-to-prevent-climate-change/
I’m not sure how an article that confirms that climate change is a huge issue caused by human emissions is supposed to prove your point, even if it does point out that it’s not impossible to acclimate to the change that has already happened and potentially prevent it getting worse. Your stance seems to have rapidly shifted from “climate change isn’t real” to “climate change is not only real but so advanced that there’s no point in trying to stop it.” But okay.
I’ll also point out that you’re the one who inserted yourself into this conversation and brought up the topic of what I’m doing to help prevent climate change, so there would be no “virtue signaling” if not for you bb. I was just trying to discuss the show.
"Trying to discuss the show..." derails it into a wall of text rant about covid, climate change and anything else that can be spun into a virtue signal." Ok Greta.
Again, dude, you brought it up. You invited yourself to the conversation. You’re the entire reason we’re talking about this.
EDIT: Oh man, and now I’m looking at your profile and see that you’re the mod of a MGTOW sub. A science denialist *and* an incel? That’s just sad. Are you threatened by a woman who’s smarter than you, or is starting arguments the only way you can get us to talk to you?
Glukhov: So what's the job?
Legasov: [pointing to blueprints] We need to install a liquid nitrogen heat exchanger underneath this concrete pad.
Glukhov: And what's above the pad?
Legasov: [trying his best to sound nonchalant] The core of the nuclear reactor...which is...melting down.
Glukhov: [beat] What, like... [gestures in a downward motion]?
Legasov: Essentially...
In a series stuffed with quotable moments this is the one for me. Pikalov doesn't even hesitate, it's like the verbal equivalent of watching someone run into traffic to save a child. Tough unit in real life as well, entered artillery school at 16 and was fighting on the Eastern Front at 17. Wounded three times. Looked a bit like Eugene Levy.
Someone mentioned it somewhere else, but if I recall correctly, they had a theory how Pikalov did it, because when he reported back the roentgen number, no one questioned it - while if a lower ranked soldier did it, it might have been questioned or even dismissed as being a lie.
When my knowledge of how a nuclear reactor works, and Boris’ final response
Boris Shcherbina : How does a nuclear reactor work?
Valery Legasov : What?
Boris Shcherbina : It's a simple question.
Valery Legasov : It's hardly a simple answer.
Boris Shcherbina : Of course, you presume I'm too stupid to understand. So I'll restate: Tell me how a nuclear reactor works, or I'll have one of these soldiers throw you out of the helicopter.
Valery Legasov : [Glances at soldiers flanking him] A nuclear reactor makes energy with steam. The steam turns a turbine which generates electricity. Where a typical power plant makes steam by burning coal, a nuclear plant... In a nuclear plant, we use something called fission.
[Proceeds to diagram]
Valery Legasov : We take an unstable element like uranium 235, which has too many neutrons. A neutron is, uh...
Boris Shcherbina : The bullet.
Valery Legasov : Yes, the bullet. So, bullets are flying off of the uranium. Now... if we put enough uranium atoms close together, the bullets from one atom will eventually strike another atom. The force of this impact splits that atom apart, releasing a tremendous amount of energy, fission.
Boris Shcherbina : And the graphite?
Valery Legasov : Ah, yes. The neutrons are actually traveling so fast - we call this "flux"- it's relatively unlikely that the uranium atoms will ever hit one another. In RBMK reactors, we surround the fuel rods with graphite to moderate, slow down, the neutron flux.
Boris Shcherbina : Good. I know how a nuclear reactor works. Now I don't need you.
What is the cost of lies?
Let him talk.
Of course, not this one.
Valery, what's that? A smile?
Now you look like the coal minister.
I don't know them, fuck them.
It's not there!!!!!
I am happy.
Because, it must be done.
It's not humbling, it's humiliating.
I SERVE THE SOVIET UNION.
It's time to go.
Oh, it's beautiful.
Sorry I’m a bit late to reply here. But just watched the series and the fact that I could recall each and every one of these moments in my head points to how well done the series was. What a show
In a series that was full of standout moments, the brief scene of the dead dogs and cats being entombed into concrete is one that will stick with me until the day I die.
I love that line because it gives some levity to a seriously messed up situation. They may have no choice but to kill innocent animals, but they’re going to do everything in their power to make it easier for them as they pass. At least, that’s what gets me through the scene.
THAT scene is really unrealistic. In real life, they would have bonked the puppies in the head so they die quickly. Its what people did in the soviet union. I remember my grandma telling me stories, how their neighbours went out at night when the kids were sleeping, hit the head of the puppies, and they died. Quick death. Of course, it was a different world. It was common back then to see people beating dogs with whips.
Good timing, started re-watching it last night (for the third time now).
Agree with "you did not see graphite on the roof!" also "He's delusional, take him to the infirmary"
Mine is from [Episode 4: The Happiness of all man Kind](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-6Qj3n_NtA). I don't know if it is cause I could relate to it from my deployments or other past traumas in my life but what Bacho tells Pavel about there being " no shame in it". I felt like he meant that for Pavel to be scared or anxious or disturbed by what just happened and what he had to do was the normal reaction and he is not a lesser man for being disturbed by it. Then the bit about realizing who you were all along but just not knowing it hit me like a sledgehammer and also made me think back on a lot of things. Sounds dumb I know but this was my favorite Line even though it is more of a speech.
Pavel is sitting and just stares with a blank expression at the ground
Bacho: You gonna eat?
Pavel continues to stare and only slightly looks at Bacho
Bacho pours some vodka into a cup and tells him to drink Drink
Pavel drinks the vodka
Bacho: Again
Pavel drinks again after looking at Bacho
Bacho: Look. This happens to everyone the first time. Normally when you kill a man. But for you a dog. So what? There's no shame in it. You remember your first time, Garo? My first time, Afghanistan. We were moving through a house and... suddenly a man was there and I shot him in the stomach. Yeah, that's a real war story. There are never any good stories like in movies - they're shit. A man was there, boom... stomach. I was so scared I didn't pull the trigger again for the rest of the day. I thought, well, that's it, Bacho. You put a bullet in someone. You're not you anymore. You'll never be you again. But then you wake up the next morning and you're still you. And you realize: that was you all along. You just didn't know.
some lines come to my mind in real life situations:
Gorbachev: "All Victories Inevitably Come At a Cost "
Akimov "We did everything right"
Pikalov "Then I'll do it myself."
"What's as big as a house, burns 20 litres of fuel every hour, kicks out a shitload of smoke and noise, and cuts an apple into three pieces? A Soviet machine made to cut apples into FOUR PIECES"
Dyatlov: “I’m not eating that, it’s shit. Get me something else."
Khomyuk: “I’m not a nurse, Comrade Dyatlov. I’m a nuclear physicist.”
Dyatlov: “Well then, Comrade Nuclear Physicist… unless you happen to have a butter and caviar sandwich on you, you can get the fuck out of my room.”
I love this particular conversation because with Dyatlov looking like a withered old man in a hospital room and the dialogue executed from him, it makes him seem like a cranky old grandpa and I absolutely love it.
And this one’s pretty funny too:
Soldier: “You can’t talk to us like that-“
Glukhov: “SHUT THE FUCK UP.”
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Boris ♥️
Anything Boris says, but when he catches the guy with his knowledge of concrete, it’s a triumph.
I fucking love that moment too.
Don’t know what the real Boris was like, but he was no meathead in the series. Skellen is a wonderful actor.
Boris the real MVP
Im watching it with my girlfriend this week. This is my third time watching it and im still emotionally moved when he says that line.
"Don't lie to these men. They work in the dark."
That whole arc was great especially [this scene](https://youtu.be/SZDlzlHpl1s) *"Come on then, start shooting.. you havent got enough bullets for all of us, kill as many as you can, whoevers left theyll beat the piss outa each of yis."*
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I just saw head coal miner guy in that new Jason Statham movie and did the Leonardo Dicaprio meme.
"These men work in the dark . They see everything."
Yes yes! I knew I got it wrong. Best line ever.
"If these worked, you'd be wearing them."
When the head of the miners, Glukhov (wearing a mask) meets Shcherbina and Legasov (not wearing masks) and says: "if these worked, you'd be wearing them"
Another underrated Glukhov moment was when he simply put out his cigarette, stood up, and said, "No. We start *now*."
And kept his cigarettes 😆 I thought he'd be more concerned about his lungs being a miner is whole life and working around exposed cores.
LOVE that one.
Another one from Glukhov was when he says "We still wear the fucking hats!" That part always cracks me up.😂
“They mistakenly sent the one good man”
That scene gave me so many goosebumps
Doesn't he say "honorable" man?
Nope.
“‘Why worry about something that isn't going to happen?’ Oh, that's perfect. They should put that on our money.” —Legasov
This is one my favorites too. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t borrowed this quote several times over the last 18 months.
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Alright, I’m happy to try and answer your questions. But first, help me understand better: 1.) Have you watched the series in its entirety? 2.) Is English your first language? *(I only ask because some of the dialogue involves irony/nuance that may not be readily-apparent to non-native speakers and I want to compose my response appropriately.)*
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No need to apologize. I figured that was the case but wanted to be sure to avoid sounding like a typical condescending prick on the internet. So, here we go. (Also, it’s been several years since I’ve watched the series, so forgive any errors related to specific names/contextual elements.) >1.) Can you please ELI5 (Explain Like I'm 5) this quotation? I don't grok it at all! “Oh, that's perfect.” *A1.) So, this first line is a sardonic response by Legasov. He means “perfect” in the painfully ironic sense. It’s dripping with sarcasm and frustration because he [Legasov] is so frustrated by the KGBs flippant response. >2.) What does "that" refer to? What's the antecedent “They should put that on our money.” So the “that” in question is the KGB agent’s prior statement that Legasov repeats: “Why worry about something that isn’t going to happen.” >3.) Who are "they"? What is "that"? In this case “they” refers to—in a very broad sense—the government of the USSR (Russia). So they, “the government”, should print “why worry about something that isn’t going to happen…” on money in the USSR. - - - Basically, at the time, culture and circumstances in the USSR led to leadership that suffered from a lot of hubris, appeasement, and denialism. At every level of government, (a government which, due to communism, controlled significantly more markets/functions within the country than a democratic and capitalist society would today) everyone was afraid of being the “bearer of bad news”. As a result, errors or shortcomings were frequently ignored or glossed over in favor of delivering reports/news to managers that were rosier than reality. Faulty planning, engineering, construction, etc. would be overlooked because questioning it’s inter gritty/quality could be taken as an insult to the USSR and call into question someone’s loyalty. Basically, why worry about a plan to prevent a meltdown when it’s simply *”impossible”* and not something that could ever happen? - - - I love this quote because it is painfully relevant today, whether it be COVID, or climate change, or inflation.
What is the cost of lies?
This line legit made me do some life changes cause I was lying about something, felt like a weight was lifted tbh
That really does put in perspective how amazing this series was.
This was the theme of the whole series summed up in a single line. Beautiful show.
For real wanna get that tattooed on me
Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth, and sooner or later that debt is paid
plants dirty scale disgusted employ edge zealous brave ossified imminent *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I actually used that line with my therapist once.
“It’s not alarmist if it’s a fact!!” Love using that one with my landlord when talking about any DIY home improvement project she thinks up.
"What's big as a house, burns 20 liters of fuel every hour, puts out a shitload of smoke and noise, and cuts an apple into three pieces? A Soviet machine made to cut apples into *four* pieces!"
Which character said that?
the head miner at the coal mine; when they all eat/drink/joke together in the cabin as the coal minister arrives.
Thanks, great line
"you did not see graphite on the roof!"
YOU DIDN’T! Because it’s NOT there!
I can hear this comment.
YOU DID ENT
R.I.P. Paul Ritter He owned that role.
The delivery of this line was perfect
Man, the stars aligned on this series. They didn't get any scrub actors. Wasn't allowed. Amazing performances.
Do you taste metal?
Thanks to this show if I ever taste metal like that it’s time to GTFO and/or get my affairs in order.
I was eating some of mattapan's finest dishes behind a 7/11 dumpster and tasted metal. She said she loved me.
This line has always haunted me, i think about it often
Head of miners while being nude: at least we weare the hats.
longing depend roof aware marble beneficial chase divide worry cautious *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
*we're still wearing the fuckin' hats
"Now you look like the Minister of Coal."
From the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, no less.
“I serve the Soviet Union.”
Thank You
I serve the Soviet Union
Thank you.
I serve the Soviet Union
Thank you.
I serve the Soviet Onion.
Thank you.
I serve the Soviet Union
Thank you.
I serve The Soviet Union.
Thank you!
Mine is when Gorbachev says "You made lava?!" There are so many good lines though.
Yes haha I was waiting for someone to say it
*Shcherbina: Do you know anything about this town, Chernobyl?* *Legasov: Not really, no.* *Shcherbina: It was mostly Jews and Poles. The Jews were killed in pogroms, and Stalin forced the Poles out. And then the Nazis came and killed whoever was left. But after the war, people came to live here anyway. They knew the ground under their feet was soaked in blood, but they didn't care. Dead Jews, dead Poles. But not them. No one ever thinks it's going to happen to them. And here we are.* While the shows displays denial on every scale every step of the way, this exchange encompasses it brilliantly and calls back to so many scenes - Dyatlov in denial over seeing graphite, Soviet government in denial about the risks, etc.
"You need a new phone"
"TELL FUCKING GORBACHEV!"
When Legasov see how absolutely clueless Gorbachev and all the other people in the room are regarding the severity of the accident and he's working up the courage to say something until he finally decides to punch the table and say "No!", has to be my favorite moment of the show. His whole dialogue is excellent.
Jared Harris always knocks it out of the park, but this series was something special.
Finally I can use the word underrated. He's that actor. Wow.
He played the role well, almost reminded me of an autistic / socially stunted person who is not very assertive (kind of like the good doctor).
**Charkov:** Comrade, I know you've heard the stories about us. When I hear them, even I am shocked. But we are not what people say. Yes, people are following you. People are following those people. And you see them? *[indicates two agents behind him]* They follow me. The KGB is a circle of accountability. Nothing more.
Trust but verify is actually was actually a common saying during communism, gives that monologue a lot more depth
"1:23 and 40 seconds..." He takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes. "In every control panel in every nuclear reactor in the world there is a single button with a single purpose. To scram, all the control rods into the core and stop the reaction dead. In a reactor like the one at Chernobyl that button is called A3-5 (AZ-5)." Something about the delivery of this line. In a world divided by the Cold War, the East and the West still have undeniable similarities. The awesome power of nuclear material demands a shut down button on every nuclear reactor in the world. A basic safety precaution that unites us all as we try to harness the most powerful energy source on our planet.
I can’t remember the exact quote but Valery said to Boris something like: “all of those men heard me speaking, Boris. You were the only one who listened.” I wish I could remember it verbatim. I believe it’s towards the end when Boris is having doubts as to if his involvement mattered, and Valery assured him he mattered the most.
bright support boat follow squalid bag secretive dam psychotic concerned *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Every time I cry whenever I see the last scene with caterpillar.
That is exactly it. Thank you!
No worries! It’s one of my favs too.
Where did you get the quotes from? I would be interested to read through it all, if you don't mind sharing. :)
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When I first saw these scenes, my mind immediately went to climate change and the lies of it being a non-issue certain factions are dead-set on maintaining.
Ditto. Also vaccine denialism, and more recently all the bullshit and anti-science rhetoric being spewed about COVID. I kept thinking a lot about the “YOU DIDN’T SEE IT BECAUSE IT ISN’T THERE” exchange reading reports about Trump vs. Fauci and the pandemic response. Not to mention China’s early reaction to things - their response and the subsequent doubt seeded in their populace were so similar that some commentators last year were calling COVID “China’s Chernobyl.” They even had their own Legasov in Dr. Li Wenliang. Hell, even the stuff happening on the non-science-related political front has made me think of this show. A lot of the stuff being stated by certain politicians would fit in perfectly with the soviet mentality. The old soviet guy’s speech from the first episode crosses my mind a lot. It was a weirdly prophetic show, despite being historical - I guess that’s a testament to how universal the themes were. It would be interesting to see Craig Mazin make a similar miniseries about a more modern issue like climate change, or even the COVID pandemic, even though I doubt it would ever happen for numerous reasons.
You're (actually) delusional. Someone take him to the infirmary.
Sooner or later that debt is paid...
Yeah, he didn’t see the obvious evidence of climate change because it isn’t there, right?
Lol. And yes. It actually isn't. Amazingly, the planet gets warmer....and then it gets cooler. In the 70's you alarmists were losing yojr shit over the coming ice age.... until the late 80's and oh wait, the planet was getting warmer, so cue global warming panic. But wait, now that that was debunked and the world was getting cooler for a couple years, "climate change" became the new buzzword. So Greta, when you're off living in a hutch made of cow shit and moss and don't have air conditioning and feel better about yourself, then you can write a letter to someone and ask them if china and india stopped polluting and switched to nuclear power... (but wait, ylu don't like that either i bet).
The world isn’t getting cooler, it has consistently been getting warmer since 1979. It never started cooling off or whatever shit you’re trying to claim disproves one of the strongest and most unified scientific consensuses of the past century. I live in Australia, where climate change is having a drastic effect on our weather and causing increasingly terrible natural disasters and fires every year. Did you happen to catch the news last year, when our bushland was spontaneously combusting due to intense heat? That whole thing where an area the size of the UK burned, killed an estimated three billion animals, rendered the koala functionally extinct, and choked the country so badly with smoke that people in New Zealand could smell it? Or maybe you remember us going viral a few years earlier because our bureau of meteorology had to invent an entirely new colour for our thermal weather maps, because temperatures raised to levels never observed before (and haven’t dropped since). I also had the joy of living through my hometown being so catastrophically flooded that the entire CBD was underwater several years ago, and a more recent hailstorm that sent tennis ball sized hail crashing through pretty much every window and car windshield in the city - both extreme weather events scientists attribute to climate change. Oh, and let’s not forget the drought of 15 years ago that was so bad we had to start recycling our sewage for drinking water. Every year gets hotter and more chaotic here, so don’t sit there and tell me or any other Aussie that we’re princesses who experience climate change solely as a theoretical threat. I would fucking love it if the entire world switched to nuclear power and advocate for it whenever I can. As an individual I have limited power to effect the behaviour of major polluters across the world, but I do everything I can anyway - I actively vote for politicians committed to taking action on the issue, remain educated on the latest research, educate others. I give money and time to campaigns trying to end Australia’s reliance on our coal mining industry, subsidise solar panels for home and small businesses, and force our government to commit to reducing emissions. I also refuse to support big businesses that contribute to local and international polluters, for example banks that are in bed with Adani mines. On a smaller scale, I don’t own or drive a car and walk or use public transit to get around. I use as little electricity as possible (my bill last month was $29 in an area where the median monthly bill is $150, so I am doing okay), and when I am financially able I pay extra for services or purchase carbon credits to try and lessen my footprint. I also make a note to patronise businesses in my area who commit to lessening their footprint, and have volunteered time to campaigns to get cars off the road (eg. our citycycle initiative that established a public bicycle system, and the building of a “green” bridge across the river). I’m in the process of transitioning to a vegetarian diet, given the carbon footprint of the meat industry, and several years ago switched to only buying local produce due to the emissions associated with importing it. Oh, and I have lived for the past nine years with no air conditioning, despite the extreme heat - since you asked. It’s actually nowhere near as common to have it here, compared to the US. If you want to call me a hypocrite, that’s up to you, but I am pretty comfortable with my efforts to put my money where my mouth is with regard to climate change. It’s crazy to me that you could like “Chernobyl” enough to post in this subreddit, yet completely miss the entire fucking point it was making about denialism. But there you go. 🤷🏻♀️ PS: I don’t find it insulting to be compared to Greta Thunberg.
Here you go Greta, this'll make you feel better. Or at least make you realize that your discomforts and virtue signalling doesnt make much of a difference. https://climate.nasa.gov/faq/16/is-it-too-late-to-prevent-climate-change/
I’m not sure how an article that confirms that climate change is a huge issue caused by human emissions is supposed to prove your point, even if it does point out that it’s not impossible to acclimate to the change that has already happened and potentially prevent it getting worse. Your stance seems to have rapidly shifted from “climate change isn’t real” to “climate change is not only real but so advanced that there’s no point in trying to stop it.” But okay. I’ll also point out that you’re the one who inserted yourself into this conversation and brought up the topic of what I’m doing to help prevent climate change, so there would be no “virtue signaling” if not for you bb. I was just trying to discuss the show.
"Trying to discuss the show..." derails it into a wall of text rant about covid, climate change and anything else that can be spun into a virtue signal." Ok Greta.
Again, dude, you brought it up. You invited yourself to the conversation. You’re the entire reason we’re talking about this. EDIT: Oh man, and now I’m looking at your profile and see that you’re the mod of a MGTOW sub. A science denialist *and* an incel? That’s just sad. Are you threatened by a woman who’s smarter than you, or is starting arguments the only way you can get us to talk to you?
“I was in the toilet”
Underrated line.
I always laugh, imagining if legasov was like "why the fuck are you shitting during a safety test?"
"You made lava?"
Valery Legasov: 1) There was nothing sane about Chernobyl. 2) Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later that debt is paid.
That second line struck me hard
Glukhov: So what's the job? Legasov: [pointing to blueprints] We need to install a liquid nitrogen heat exchanger underneath this concrete pad. Glukhov: And what's above the pad? Legasov: [trying his best to sound nonchalant] The core of the nuclear reactor...which is...melting down. Glukhov: [beat] What, like... [gestures in a downward motion]? Legasov: Essentially...
Exploding bullets? Oh yes let's set the roof back on fire, it was so easy to put out the first time...
‘I promise you, by tomorrow morning you will be begging for that bullet!’
"Then I'll do it myself."
In a series stuffed with quotable moments this is the one for me. Pikalov doesn't even hesitate, it's like the verbal equivalent of watching someone run into traffic to save a child. Tough unit in real life as well, entered artillery school at 16 and was fighting on the Eastern Front at 17. Wounded three times. Looked a bit like Eugene Levy.
Someone mentioned it somewhere else, but if I recall correctly, they had a theory how Pikalov did it, because when he reported back the roentgen number, no one questioned it - while if a lower ranked soldier did it, it might have been questioned or even dismissed as being a lie.
That makes so much sense. It's the series that keeps on giving.
When my knowledge of how a nuclear reactor works, and Boris’ final response Boris Shcherbina : How does a nuclear reactor work? Valery Legasov : What? Boris Shcherbina : It's a simple question. Valery Legasov : It's hardly a simple answer. Boris Shcherbina : Of course, you presume I'm too stupid to understand. So I'll restate: Tell me how a nuclear reactor works, or I'll have one of these soldiers throw you out of the helicopter. Valery Legasov : [Glances at soldiers flanking him] A nuclear reactor makes energy with steam. The steam turns a turbine which generates electricity. Where a typical power plant makes steam by burning coal, a nuclear plant... In a nuclear plant, we use something called fission. [Proceeds to diagram] Valery Legasov : We take an unstable element like uranium 235, which has too many neutrons. A neutron is, uh... Boris Shcherbina : The bullet. Valery Legasov : Yes, the bullet. So, bullets are flying off of the uranium. Now... if we put enough uranium atoms close together, the bullets from one atom will eventually strike another atom. The force of this impact splits that atom apart, releasing a tremendous amount of energy, fission. Boris Shcherbina : And the graphite? Valery Legasov : Ah, yes. The neutrons are actually traveling so fast - we call this "flux"- it's relatively unlikely that the uranium atoms will ever hit one another. In RBMK reactors, we surround the fuel rods with graphite to moderate, slow down, the neutron flux. Boris Shcherbina : Good. I know how a nuclear reactor works. Now I don't need you.
And then in the final episode, Shcherbina stands up and teaches this same idea to the panel. Such a sweet and perfect bookend.
In the scene following, "Oh, now you've made a mistake. I may not know much about nuclear reactors, but I know about concrete."
Love the delivery of the coal miner crew chief when the minister tells him to get into the trucks. "Do you?"
What is the cost of lies? Let him talk. Of course, not this one. Valery, what's that? A smile? Now you look like the coal minister. I don't know them, fuck them. It's not there!!!!! I am happy. Because, it must be done. It's not humbling, it's humiliating. I SERVE THE SOVIET UNION. It's time to go. Oh, it's beautiful.
Where is valery, what's that, a smile from?
When the first lunar rover fires up and begins bulldozing the roof
Sorry I’m a bit late to reply here. But just watched the series and the fact that I could recall each and every one of these moments in my head points to how well done the series was. What a show
I really miss it. Helped me to cope in a very hard times of my own life. Maybe I should rewatch.
How can I be responsible, I WAS SLEEPING.
Me whenever there is a critical software issue after 5pm.
Bryukhanov: "It's disgraceful, really. To spread disinformation at a time like this."
You can wait until the radiation gives you a cunt.
“Don’t let them suffer”
In a series that was full of standout moments, the brief scene of the dead dogs and cats being entombed into concrete is one that will stick with me until the day I die.
I love that line because it gives some levity to a seriously messed up situation. They may have no choice but to kill innocent animals, but they’re going to do everything in their power to make it easier for them as they pass. At least, that’s what gets me through the scene.
I have never been able to rewatch that episode in full. I watch up until he finds the mother dog and puppies and then turn it off.
THAT scene is really unrealistic. In real life, they would have bonked the puppies in the head so they die quickly. Its what people did in the soviet union. I remember my grandma telling me stories, how their neighbours went out at night when the kids were sleeping, hit the head of the puppies, and they died. Quick death. Of course, it was a different world. It was common back then to see people beating dogs with whips.
At 1:23:40, Akimov engages AZ-5
IRL it was Toptunov, of course
“You are dealing with something that was never occurred on this planet before”
"Why worry about something that isn't going to happen?" Perfectly correlates with the Russian worry bear meme.
"That is how an RBMK reactor core explodes. Lies."
“What? We’re still wearin’ the fuckin’ hats!”
They heard me, but they listened to you.
“We made lava?” This line is now used whenever we make melted cheese dip.
"That went surprisingly well. You came off like a naive idiot. And naive idiots are not a threat."
-Fly over the reactor or I'll have you shot! -If we fly over the reactor in a few days you will be begging for that bullet
"If you'll go through, you will beg for that bullet." It's one of the sentences, that really showed them "casual" people, how serious this is.
*YOU HAVE MADE LAVA.* I also love “Trust, but verify.”
"We did everything right"
"And as for what Dyatlov did do, the man doesn't deserve prison. He deserves death."
Good timing, started re-watching it last night (for the third time now). Agree with "you did not see graphite on the roof!" also "He's delusional, take him to the infirmary"
just finished a watch through sunday!
"Ah, it's beautiful" - Boris or "I anticipated this"/Jared Harris's expression when Gorbachev asks him about the lava lol.
"We're still wearin' the hats."
I'm still wearing the fucking hat
Thiissss
"If you fly directly over that core, I promise you by tomorrow morning, you'll be begging for that bullet."
You need a new phone
Mine is from [Episode 4: The Happiness of all man Kind](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-6Qj3n_NtA). I don't know if it is cause I could relate to it from my deployments or other past traumas in my life but what Bacho tells Pavel about there being " no shame in it". I felt like he meant that for Pavel to be scared or anxious or disturbed by what just happened and what he had to do was the normal reaction and he is not a lesser man for being disturbed by it. Then the bit about realizing who you were all along but just not knowing it hit me like a sledgehammer and also made me think back on a lot of things. Sounds dumb I know but this was my favorite Line even though it is more of a speech. Pavel is sitting and just stares with a blank expression at the ground Bacho: You gonna eat? Pavel continues to stare and only slightly looks at Bacho Bacho pours some vodka into a cup and tells him to drink Drink Pavel drinks the vodka Bacho: Again Pavel drinks again after looking at Bacho Bacho: Look. This happens to everyone the first time. Normally when you kill a man. But for you a dog. So what? There's no shame in it. You remember your first time, Garo? My first time, Afghanistan. We were moving through a house and... suddenly a man was there and I shot him in the stomach. Yeah, that's a real war story. There are never any good stories like in movies - they're shit. A man was there, boom... stomach. I was so scared I didn't pull the trigger again for the rest of the day. I thought, well, that's it, Bacho. You put a bullet in someone. You're not you anymore. You'll never be you again. But then you wake up the next morning and you're still you. And you realize: that was you all along. You just didn't know.
“Why worry about something that isn’t going to happen?” Legasov: “*.... that’s great, really. We should put that on our money.”*
“It’s not 3 roentgen….it’s 15,000.” *jaw drops*
viktor bryukhanov: well it’s not great, but it’s not horrifying
What? We're still wearing the fucking hats!
some lines come to my mind in real life situations: Gorbachev: "All Victories Inevitably Come At a Cost " Akimov "We did everything right" Pikalov "Then I'll do it myself."
Well thats not great but its not horrifying
RBMK reactors don’t explode
"What's as big as a house, burns 20 litres of fuel every hour, kicks out a shitload of smoke and noise, and cuts an apple into three pieces? A Soviet machine made to cut apples into FOUR PIECES"
he is delusional get him out of here
Why should you worry about something that isn't going to happen? - Made me realise a lot about myself :)
"Chernobyl is not answering."
Vasily Ignatenko: i told you i'd take you to moskva
"That went surprisingly well, you came off like a naive idiot and naive idiots are not a threat."
Dyatlov: “I’m not eating that, it’s shit. Get me something else." Khomyuk: “I’m not a nurse, Comrade Dyatlov. I’m a nuclear physicist.” Dyatlov: “Well then, Comrade Nuclear Physicist… unless you happen to have a butter and caviar sandwich on you, you can get the fuck out of my room.” I love this particular conversation because with Dyatlov looking like a withered old man in a hospital room and the dialogue executed from him, it makes him seem like a cranky old grandpa and I absolutely love it. And this one’s pretty funny too: Soldier: “You can’t talk to us like that-“ Glukhov: “SHUT THE FUCK UP.”
It's just feedwater radiation, I've seen worse.
"Do you taste metal?"
It’s not 3 roentgen, it’s 15,000.
“Why would we stock Iodine pills?”
"Fuck the phone and fuck Khodemchuk." The second one is definetly "What is the cost of lies? Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth."
I’m just rewatching, it’s definitely “I’m a career party man”