They tried to extinguish reactor number 4 by dusting but failed. (A scene from the HBO miniseries.) (source: Courtesy of HBO)
Every year, it is reported that certain movies, after having their premiere during the Cannes festival, receive a standing ovation that lasts minutes. Both the Coen brothers’ Inside Llewin Davis and Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom received five-minute-long standing ovations, while the current record is held by Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth with a reported 22-minute ovation.
Well, as far as I know, there is no such thing for TV series; they are experienced in a much different way. However, if such a thing was a custom, Chernobyl deserves an ovation of its own. How much time you ask? About the same time you would applaud an orchestra after a touching rendition of your favorite suite.
What an episode to end a remarkable series this was.
Most serious accusation comes at the end
Of course, it makes so much narrative sense after watching this last episode that the accident itself was never shown in any of the first four episodes. After you have developed an attachment to these characters and have seen the consequences of the disaster, it has a bigger emotional impact to see how it all happened - to understand at least partially how many times and in how many different ways this horrible tragedy could have been avoided.
