S1.E3

Open Wide, O Earth

Episode aired May 21, 2019
15
1h 5m

IMDb RATING

9.5/10

51K

YOUR RATING

On this IMDbrief, we'll split atoms of fact from fiction in the stunning HBO miniseries, "Chernobyl."

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Watch How "Chernobyl" Splits Atomic Facts from Fiction

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Drama History Thriller

Valery creates a detailed plan to decontaminate Chernobyl; Lyudmilla ignores warnings about her firefighter husband's contamination.Valery creates a detailed plan to decontaminate Chernobyl; Lyudmilla ignores warnings about her firefighter husband's contamination.Valery creates a detailed plan to decontaminate Chernobyl; Lyudmilla ignores warnings about her firefighter husband's contamination.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

9.5/10

51K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

User reviews61

Featured review

10/10

Stunning

Simply amazing. Do not find any words to describe this episode right at the moment. It is making the series whole as I never seen it before in the entire history of series. The acting once again on the highest level possibly, especially the visual effort was astonishing. All in all, a flawless episode of an amazing series so far. Hope, the last 2 episodes reach the exact limit or even go ahead.

Trivia
It was believed that the three volunteer divers, Alexei Ananenko (mechanical engineer), Valeri Bespalov (senior engineer), and Boris Baranov (shift supervisor), who opened the gates in order to prevent a further catastrophic nuclear meltdown would almost certainly die from severe radiation exposure. It transpired that all three survived after a period of hospitalization, and two were still living at the release of this series. Baranov died of a heart attack in 2005.

Goofs
Mikhail Ivanovich Shchadov, the coal industry minister, is portrayed as a young, weak, and foppish man who allegedly has nothing to do with coal mining and is far apart from the working class. In real life, Shchadov was a strong and rigorous minister who had worked in the coal industry since the age of 15. He was a former miner and mechanic in Siberia.

Quotes
Mikhail Shchadov: The reactor fuel is going to sink into the ground and poison the water from Kiev to the Black Sea, all of it. Forever, they say. They want you to stop that from happening.
Glukhov: How are we supposed to do that?
Mikhail Shchadov: They didn't tell me, because I don't need to know. Do you need to know, or have you heard enough?
Glukhov: [looks at his men, steps up to Shchadov, eyes him over, then pats his shoulder, leaving a big coal dust stain on the minister's nice suit before heading to the truck]
[the other miners follow, all patting on Shchadov's suit and shirt, dirtying them up]
Miner #1: [pats Shchadov's cheek, smearing coal dust on it] Now you look like the minister of coal.