After three episodes of watching the Chernobyl series, I have not been able to stop making connections between the situation portrayed in the show and our current battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. There were various gruesome scenes in this episode, as well as incredibly frustrating character interactions, which has become a recurring theme in the show so far. Several characters, specifically the pregnant woman, continuously avoided the advice and warning of medical professionals telling them not to go near the intensive care patients because of their exposure to dangerous radiation. Those scenes reminded me of the groups of people in our country who refuse to listen to science and deny the terrible consequences of COVID, which just leads to an increase of cases and a further deviation from normality. At the end of the episode, there was a powerful moment where a beautiful day filled with blue skies was contrasted with a ‘mass funeral’ of caskets being lowered into the ground and covered with cement. This could also be seen as a metaphor for our lives in the midst of the pandemic. As tempting as leading a normal life may be, COVID is still sadly the biggest threat the world is facing and millions of human lives are being lost.
I love the connection you made between COVID and Chernobyl. I am not that far in the series myself, but I definitely agree with the parallels you have drawn.
Episode 3 hit pretty hard in that respect, yeah… It’s disheartening to see things play out now in a similar way. I thought the way politics tied into the whole thing was interesting to look at too.