I think this was a really great mini-series worth every episode. Points for a super interesting setting, in the city of Pripyat, located a little over a mile from the nuclear plant, and inhabited mostly by power plant workers and their families. Today the city remains a sort of urban jungle, since it was evacuated the day after the explosion, giving residents little or no time to pack belongings and despite the risk, since the HBO's show's debut, tourism has increased exponentially, for those wishing to view the post-apocalyptic ruins of Chernobyl.

I was kind of at the edge of my seat because I learned about Chernobyl in school as a child, but I never actually had any formal education as to what happened to those exposed to nuclear reactors and the politics involved domestically within Russia. This series brought to light many stories that I think westerners are unfamiliar with and also gives a decent science run-down of how the incident actually happened i.e. The flaws behind the original RBMK nuclear reactors which were later retrofitted. There is a touch of some dark comedy as well, but its a mostly serious and sometimes terrifying take on an important event in modern history. Not only was this a riveting tale fascinating in-and-of itself (a lesson in the humanities), but the way its creators chose to tell the story was really brilliant. For example, the story starts off with the main characters suicide 2 years to-the-day after Chernobyl transpires, and then jumps backwards it explain all the events and characters that tie into the prologue. Also interesting, the last episodes that start in a wistful memory of the people affected by the catastrophe a day before, before giving away the final ending of the series, was spot on. If we would have seen that imagery before and/or closer to the beginning it would have felt cliche, but after you know the end, so see these humans in their former glory was a very heartening and mystifying experience: life unfolding unhindered by the tragedies which are to come. I also felt the story felt very authentically "Russian", and I believe the writers and producers put in a great deal of research to make that a reality, even asking survivors of Chernobyl to read parts of the script. Last, I think the message of the series is just as important today: a message on the importance of Truth. I could make a case that the themes imbued in this humble series, are even more important today than they were back then. Of the more interesting quotes, I've listed some of my favorites below. Perhaps they'll peak your interest and push you towards that stream button...

1. "You think the right question will get you the truth? There is no truth."

2. ". . . the core is open. It means the fire we're watching with our own eyes is giving nearly twice the radiation released by the bomb in Hiroshima. And that's every single hour. Hour after hour, 20 hours since the explosion, so 40 bombs worth by now. Forty-eight more tomorrow. And it will not stop. Not in a week, not in a month. It will burn and spread its poison until the entire continent is dead!"

3. "Have you ever spent time with miners?" "No." "My advice: tell the truth. These men work in the dark. They see everything. "

4. "You came off like a naive idiot. And naive idiots are not a threat."

5. "What is the cost of lies? It's not that we'll mistake them for the truth. The real danger is that if we hear enough lies, then we no longer recognize the truth at all."

6. "These are the most important ninety seconds of your lives. Commit your task to memory, and do your job."

7. "You put a bullet in someone, you are not you anymore. You will never be you again. But then you wake up the next morning and you are still you. And you realise, that was you all along."

8. " Why worry about something that isn't going to happen? Oh, that's perfect. They should put that on our money."

9. "I've known braver souls than you, Khmoyuk. Men who had their moment and did nothing. Because when it's your life and the lives of everyone you love, your moral conviction doesn't mean anything. It leaves you. And all you want at that moment is not to be shot." - Boris Shcherbyna

10. "When the truth offends, we lie and lie until we can no longer remember it is even there, but it is still there. "

11. "We're still wearing the f$%&ing hats." - naked Mineworker

12. To be a scientist is to be naive. We are so focused on our search for truth, we fail to consider how few actually want us to find it. But it is always there, whether we see it or not, whether we choose to or not. The truth doesn't care about our needs or wants. It doesn't care about our governments, our ideologies, our religions. It will lie in wait for all time. And this, at last, is the gift of Chernobyl. Where I once would fear the cost of truth, now I only ask: "What is the cost of lies?" ~ Valery Legasov.