by Joseph Davis, Contributing Writer
In terms of TV series of the past half decade, in my humble opinion, none can compare in terms of tension and drama produced to the HBO miniseries Chernobyl. From beginning to end, it does a phenomenal job of depicting the worst nuclear accident known to mankind — the first ever to be ranked at a seven on the nuclear event scale — and the efforts put forth in the aftermath to contain the disaster. I bring this series up because, while it may have been the first disaster ranked at a seven on the INES, it by no means is the only one. This second event, which I know many of you will be able to remember, is Fukushima, and is the subject of the first series I’m covering with the Out of Market: The Days on Netflix. In many ways, I want to compare it to the HBO series, but in others, it’s a far more complex and different story to cover.
One thing that sets apart The Days from Chernobyl is, in itself, the differences between the Fukushima event and the Chernobyl event. With Chernobyl reactor four, you have a story where something catastrophically occurs with next to no warning, but where the failures are squarely upon the shoulders of man. With Fukushima, there is far more to unpack. The Days does a good job of approaching the situation that the Japanese nuclear industry found itself in. Early on, in response to the Tōhoku earthquake and resulting tsunami, you see the depiction of the response of the workers inside the plant, as they begin procedures to shut down the plant. Yet as the tsunami hits the plant (which is honestly the most harrowing part of the first episode), it becomes clear that the standard procedure cannot predict everything. For that, I commend the series for its depiction. It gives the true air that was in the aftermath of the earthquake itself, along with the resulting tsunami: that this is only the beginning of something much worse.
Another thing I really like about this series is how each episode unfolds. For example, in the second episode, as the reactor is depicted as a ship sailing in the blind, it feels very much like a case where you know something is going to go off, but you don’t know when or how bad it is going to be. It builds upon itself to the eventual endpoint gradually, only to ramp up the pressure as more information is gleaned, and you realize that what was originally bad was in fact much worse than you expected. This feeling is even conveyed on the actors’ faces, as a feeling of uneasiness and confusion turns into what can be described as borderline panic as the situation continues to deteriorate beyond what could be expected. It increases the tension already being felt as each episode progresses, and makes it even more fascinating to see what happens next.
I want to say one thing before I conclude this discussion. I approached The Days not to discuss any opinion on nuclear power or to find out who was right or wrong, nor do I think any of you should either. Instead, I approach it to view and to see a depiction of what went wrong, with a lesson to be learned. In many ways, I feel like the lesson that could be taken away from this series should be simple: No matter how much one can prepare for the conceivable, the inconceivable can never be accounted for. It could also be argued that the conclusion should be that one should act decisively, assume and enact the worst, as opposed to hoping for the best. Either way, I believe The Days does a fantastic job of depicting the events leading up to the meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and its aftermath.
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