A similar drama could be on the cards.
Despite the fact that we’re just at the halfway stage of 2019, it’s very likely that no other show will be able to beat Chernobyl in terms of quality, drama, and impact.
Aside from being incredibly respectful and informative, the performances from the likes of Jared Harris, Emily Watson, and Stellan Skarsgård were pitch perfect.
Immersive, dramatic, and claustrophobic, a large reason why the show really resonated is that it’s practically impossible to categorise it as a ‘type’ of show.
At moments, it felt like you were watching a horror film unfold right in front of your eyes – especially the scenes when the scientists, divers, and miners had to continue work despite the fatal conditions.
Elsewhere, the tone was more akin to a political drama as the iron curtain that covered the truth was being torn down. The season finale was more about the failings of Soviet bureaucracy and the pursuit of justice than anything else.
Ultimately, by faithfully retelling the stories of those affected by the tragedy – with some dramatic licence taken – the show was an emotional gut punch. However, it never felt voyeuristic. It felt necessary and poignant.
Since the show has ended, Craig Mazin has been doing his very best to inform the public about the ways they can learn about and help the people of Chernobyl, but with his professional reputation never higher, plenty of people have been curious about his next project.
In fact, viewers would like him to make a similar drama.
When asked by The Hollywood Reporter if there’s another historical event he’d like to examine, Mazin said: “I want to do a million things. If every day could be 70 hours and I didn’t have to sleep, because I’m really just a student and I get fascinated with things.
“The one thing I can say is I’m going to continue in this vein of making a show about something that matters, that is real. I probably won’t try and duplicate what I did with Chernobyl — I think down that road is failure.”
“We’ve actually had a tremendous response from India, and a lot of people have tweeted at me from India saying, ‘Tell the story of Bhopal’, which is an incredible story,” he added.
“That’s something that I would encourage somebody else to tell, because I just don’t want people to think, like, ‘Oh, he’s just trying to play his hits’. You have to write a new song! I know the next thing I’m going to do is something that is about now, and is about here, in the United States, and for better or for worse, I’ll approach it with the same insistence on truth over narrative.
In another interview with Decider, Mazin said he’s optimistic that if he was to make a similar show to Chernobyl, HBO would listen to what he has to say.
“If I came to HBO and said ‘I want to do another season of Chernobyl, except it’s gonna be about another terrible tragedy,’ whether it’s Bhopal or Fukushima or something like that, I would imagine they at least would give me polite interest,” he said.
In terms of a direct sequel to Chernobyl, Mazin said that his answer is a definitive no. However, the idea of making an anthology show (True Detective, American Horror Story) does appeal to him.
“If I were to continue this anthologically, probably it would be another investigation of another aspect of Soviet life because that part is something that is fascinating to me and kind of exciting to view again,” he said.
Whatever project Mazin decides to do next, we’re going to be watching it with interest.
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