"Chernobyl" is a Triumph

The success of HBO's "Chernobyl" miniseries came as a surprise. However, it's definitely deserving of all its good press, and I'm thrilled that it seems to have had a real cultural impact. Much of the show's success comes from the approach that the creators decided to take with it. First, the series takes aim at the lies and the misinformation that contributed to the tragedy, rather than the stickier controversies about the use of atomic power, avoiding "China Syndrome" style fearmongering. Secondly, though the USSR government doesn't come off well, "Chernobyl" gives them credit where it's due, and takes pains to honor and spotlight the heroism of the individuals involved.

Created by Craig Mazin, the miniseries follows the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster from the moment that the initial explosion occurred, to the massive cleanup efforts, and later to the struggle to assign accountability and ensure reform. The series positions scientist Valery Legasov (Jared Harris) and bureaucrat Boris Shcherbina (Stellan Skarsgaard), who spearheaded the containment and cleanup efforts, as our leads. A third protagonist, nuclear physicist Ulana Khomyuk (Emily Watson), is wholly invented, and intended to represent all the scientists who helped during the disaster. All three are lionized considerably, mostly to help give the show a more dramatic narrative, but it never feels too egregious. We also see many smaller stories play out. One subplot follows Lyudmilla (Jessie Buckley), the wife of one of the firefighters, Vasily (Adam Nagaitis) who suffers from radiation poisoning. Another concerns the engineers present during the disaster, Akimov (Sam Troughton), Sitnikov (Jamie Sives), and Toptunov (Robert Emms), whose warnings were ignored by the reckless chief engineer Dyatlov (Paul Ritter). Other memorable figures include mining chief Glukhov (Alex Ferns), a young cleanup "liquidator," Pavel (Barry Keoghan), and a frustrated Mikhail Gorbachev (David Dencik).

There's been some debate as to why "Chernobyl" is so effective, and why it has elicited such a response. I think it comes down to the creators' success at humanizing all these characters facing the most horrific industrial disaster of all time. Sure, there's the uneasy thrill of watching the disaster unfold like a horror film in the early hours, but the drama is so much more moving when you see imperfect individuals struggling to process their existential despair, and summoning up the strength to try and fix things. Harris and Skarsgaard are absolutely stellar here as Legasov and Shcherbina, who are the ones who finally confirm the extent of the damage and its implications. They're perhaps portrayed as too heroic, but I think the audience needs such hopeful figures to help guide them through the utter hell of Chernobyl's aftermath. They embody all the sacrifice and bravery that the Soviets showed when it counted, counterbalancing the corruption and incompetence that lead to the tragedy.

And the depiction of the systemic corruption is very effective. The most sobering part of "Chernobyl" is how woeful the initial reaction and mitigation efforts were. The first two episodes that deal with the early response to the Chernobyl explosion and fire are immensely frightening. It's not because of the severity of the disaster or the impressive scale of the production, but because almost nobody we see in those initial hours understands or is prepared for the danger from the radiation, and in many cases seek to downplay or hide it. It's the dosimeters that are kept in the safe. It's the hospital that doesn't stock iodine pills. It's the bureaucrats whose first instinct is to find someone else to blame. The culture of secrecy and denial are shown to contribute heavily to dooming so many people to horrible deaths, attitudes that are sadly too familiar in the current political climate.

I found the second half of "Chernobyl" a step down from the first half, especially the way that the creators frame the conflict and invent a lot of courtroom theatrics to create a moral victory for the main characters. However, it's very impressive to see the scope and the ambition of the series as it tries to tackle many different aspects of the disaster and tell stories from many points of view. Also, clearly a lot of work went into getting the little details right, from home decor to protective gear and emergency vehicles. So on the macro and micro levels, the series is very strong, which makes it easier to forgive the dramatic liberties. In the end, "Chernobyl" does something that no other piece of media has managed - it's put a human face on the tragedy at last.
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