Please Remain Calm (Chernobyl)
| "Please Remain Calm" | |
|---|---|
| Chernobyl episode | |
| Episode no. | Episode 2 |
| Directed by | Johan Renck |
| Written by | Craig Mazin |
| Cinematography by | Jakob Ihre |
| Editing by | Jinx Godfrey |
| Original air date | May 13, 2019 |
| Running time | 65 minutes |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"Please Remain Calm" is the second episode of the historical drama television miniseries Chernobyl, which details the nuclear disaster that occurred on April 26, 1986, and the consequences that everyone involved faced. The episode was directed by Johan Renck and written by the series creator Craig Mazin, and it was aired on HBO in the United States on May 13, 2019, while in the United Kingdom it was aired on Sky UK on May 14, 2019. The episode takes place seven hours after the explosion detailing the consequences of the the explosion of the reactor 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Inorganic chemist Valery Legasov and a Council of Ministers' deputy chairman Boris Shcherbina are sent to Chernobyl to investigate the incident where they discover that the situation is way worse what they expected, risking the live of million including the citizens. Meanwhile, Ulana Khomyuk finds out about the incident and realizes that unless actions are taken, a second explosion could happen due to the contact between hot nuclear material and pooling water in the basement of the nuclear plant.
Mazin started to research for the project in 2014, reading several books and government reports that detail the events that happened during the explosion and its aftermath. He also interviewed nuclear scientists and former Soviet citizens to understand how a nuclear reactor works and get a better idea of the culture in 1986. A companion podcast for the miniseries for each episode was released alongside the release of each episode, with the second one being with "Please Remain Calm" being released on May 13, 2019.
The episode received critical acclaim with praise to the perfomances of Harris and Skarsgård's, script, cinematography, direction, musical score, and the portrayal of the aftermath of the explosion. The initial broadcast of the episode through HBO drew over 1 million viewers viewers in the United States, while in the United Kingdom though Sky UK it managed to attract over 891,000 viewers. The episode won four Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards and one Primetime Emmy Award for Skarsgård.
Plot
Production
Development
When Craig Mazin expressed interest on creating a show based on the Chernobyl disaster, he wanted to portray it in the most accurate possible was for which he started to read books and interview nuclear scientists.[1] While researching for the show he stated: "Well, at the heart of this story is a question about what happens when we disconnect from the truth. And the Soviet system was essentially an enormous monument to the useful lie. They made lying an art: They lied to each other, they lied to the people above them, they lied to the people below them, and they did it out of a sense of survival. Ultimately, it just became expected, and the truth was debased. When it did kind of peek its head out, it was attacked. So I thought the worst possible thing I could do in telling a story like that would be to contribute to that problem by over-fictionalizing, over-dramatizing."[2] The show development started in 2017, when HBO and Sky UK ordered the production of the series with Johan Renck set to direct the five episodes of the show.[3][4]
Despite the show portraying the events mostly accuratly, some artistic licences where taken for dramatic purposes. The episode an helicopter suffers a crash as an attempt to throw sand to the exposed reactor with the hopes of turning of the fire. While the crash indeed happened, it happened two weeks after the explosion and not inmediately like in the series is portrayed while Mazin stated: "I wanted people to know that this was one of the hazards that these pilots were dealing with — an open reactor. Radiation was flying over it."[5] The scene of the crash wasn't originally added for the episode, as it was added during the post-production of the series. The series lead actor Jared Harris said "It's something that's not there, but you both need to be doing it in synchronicity, so you have to be doing it at the same time, looking at the same thing, and you have to understand what's happening."[6]
Another
Casting
Filming
Title meaning
Reception
Ratings
Critical response
Accolades
References
- ^ "Five-Part Miniseries Chernobyl, An HBO/Sky Co-Production Starring Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgård and Emily Watson, Written and Created by Craig Mazin, and Directed by Johan Renck, Debuts May 6 on HBO". HBO. April 10, 2019. Archived from the original on May 31, 2019. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
- ^ Schwartz, Drew (June 3, 2019). "Craig Mazin's Years-Long Obsession with Making 'Chernobyl' Terrifyingly Accurate". Vice. Archived from the original on 2022-08-09. Retrieved 2022-08-09.
- ^ Littleton, Cynthia (July 26, 2017). "HBO Sets 'Chernobyl' Miniseries to Star Jared Harris". Variety. Archived from the original on May 12, 2019. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
- ^ Littleton, Cynthia (2017-07-26). "HBO Sets 'Chernobyl' Miniseries to Star Jared Harris". Variety. Retrieved 2023-04-06.
- ^ Bendix, Aria. "HBO's 'Chernobyl' just won 10 Emmys — here's what it gets right (and wrong) about the world's worst nuclear power plant accident". Business Insider. Retrieved 2023-04-06.
- ^ Romano, Evan (2019-05-14). "How 'Chernobyl' Pulled Off That Shocking Helicopter Crash". Men's Health. Retrieved 2023-04-06.