Please Remain Calm

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Lore & Background

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 than what they expected, risking the lives of millions 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.

In Their Own Story

In Pripyat, the hospital is overloaded with firefighters and citizens suffering from acute radiation syndrome (ARS). After a nurse realizes the firefighters have severe radiation burns, she has her staff remove their equipment and dump their soiled clothing in a locked room in the basement. A distressed Lyudmilla Ignatenko manages to bypass the security of the hospital but finds out that her husband is being air lifted to another hospital in Moscow alongside other ARS patients. In Moscow, Valery Legasov becomes concerned after reading a report that details events occurring after the explosion. During the committee meeting, the members disregard the severity of the explosion because they were told the radiation level was not dangerous. Legasov points out several mistakes in the report and suggests that the levels of radiation could be higher than expected if the core is exposed. Convinced of Legasov's expertise, Mikhail Gorbachev sends him to investigate Chernobyl alongside a skeptical Boris Shcherbina. While traveling in the helicopter, Legasov realizes the core is exposed after seeing the blue glow of radiation-ionized air and nuclear graphite on the roof. Outside the plant, Legasov and Shcherbina confront Viktor Bryukhanov and Nikolai Fomin about the incident. After they accuse Legasov of spreading misinformation, Shcherbina inquires about the graphite and radiation exposure. When they cannot answer, Shcherbina decides to test radiation levels using a high-range dosimeter. General Vladimir Pikalov drives around the plant taking readings, which reveal that radiation levels are not 3.6 roentgen, but 15,000. Finally realizing Legasov was correct, Shcherbina has Bryukhanov and Fomin arrested. Legasov suggests putting out the fire with sand and boron. The next day, a squadron of helicopters flies 5,000 tons of sand and boron to the reactor. One of the helicopters crashes into the core, but Shcherbina orders the helicopters to continue to drop the sand and boron. Dissatisfied that the city has not been evacuated, Legasov tells Shcherbina that despite their distance from the core, they are still absorbing high-levels of radiation and will likely be dead in five years. A shocked Shcherbina receives a phone call, which informs them that the radiation has been detected as far away as Germany and Sweden and that the Americans have taken satellite images of the disaster. With the knowledge that Western governments now know of the disaster, the city of Pripyat is finally evacuated. Arriving in Pripyat, Khomyuk meets Legasov and Shcherbina and tells them about the risk of a bigger steam explosion from contact between hot nuclear material and water in the basement underneath the reactor, which occurred due to both the attempts to put out the fire and the opened water valves. If the explosion were to occur, the blast would destroy the three remaining reactors, decimating the surrounding area and spreading high levels of radiation across all of Eastern Europe. Legasov and Shcherbina return to Moscow with Khomyuk and inform Gorbachev of the impending disaster and their solution: to send three plant workers with knowledge of the plumbing systems into the basement of the plant to close the valves and drain the water. As the basement is highly contaminated, it will be a suicide mission. Gorbachev grants Legasov permission to go ahead with the plan. At the Chernobyl plant, Legasov and Shcherbina meet with plant workers who initially refuse to volunteer even with promises of large bonuses. When Shcherbina tells of the consequences if it is not done, Alexei Ananenko, Valeri Bezpalov, and Boris Baranov volunteer. The three are sent to the basement where their flashlights start to fail, leaving them in darkness.

Reader's Guide

The episode received critical acclaim with praise towards the performances of Harris and Skarsgård, script, cinematography, direction, atmosphere, musical score, and the portrayal of the aftermath of the explosion. The initial broadcast of the episode through HBO drew over 1 million viewers in the United States, while in the United Kingdom though Sky UK it managed to attract over 891,000 viewers. The episode won three Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Skarsgård's performance. 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. Despite the show portraying the events mostly accurately, some artistic licences were taken for dramatic purposes. In the episode, a helicopter crashes while attempting to throw sand on the exposed reactor. While the crash indeed happened, it was two weeks after the explosion. 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." The scene of the crash was not originally in the episode, as it was added during the post-production of 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."

Did You Know?

• The episode aired on HBO in the United States on May 13, 2019 and on Sky Atlantic in the UK and Ireland on May 14, 2019.
• General Vladimir Pikalov's readings revealed radiation levels were not 3.6 roentgen, but 15,000.
• A squadron of helicopters flew 5,000 tons of sand and boron to the reactor.
• The helicopter crash depicted in the episode actually happened two weeks after the explosion in real life.
• The three volunteers who went into the basement were Alexei Ananenko, Valeri Bezpalov, and Boris Baranov.