7 Reasons Why You Should Be Watching Chernobyl

We know Chernobyl really happened. Even if the show doesn’t exactly unfold entirely as depicted, knowing this horror was actually experienced by scientists and civilians makes it much more gripping.

However, the show so far has walked a very thin tightrope expertly. Part of Chernobyl is that the victims were just like us; part of it is that they’re nothing like us. Set against the backdrop of the Cold War, the characters are both everymen and examples of how disparate life was in the U.S.S.R.

Skarsgaard’s character walks around like he’s constantly about to shoot somebody, but this is not the half cocked, gung-ho, American action hero kind of about to shoot you. This is cold, measured, deliberate. I outrank you. I can shoot you. I will get away with it.

Chernobyl dives into the secretive nature of Soviet politics during the height of the Cold War. There’s nothing so cliche as bad versus good happening here. Everything exists in a state of snow covered grey.