Episode 3

"Episode 3" (originally: "Open Wide, O Earth") is the third episode of Chernobyl. It was written by Craig Mazin and directed by Johan Renck. The episode first aired on May 20, 2019 on the US pay TV channel HBO.
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== Summary ==
The risk of a thermal explosion has been averted. But Shcherbina and Legasov are now faced with a new problem: the reactor core is melting faster than initially assumed.
== Plot ==
The water in the basement was successfully drained, but a meltdown has now begun which may result in groundwater contamination. Shcherbina and Legasov convince Gorbachev that cooling under the core is necessary. For this, miners from Tula will be recruited by Mikhail Shchadov, who will be led by Glukhov. They are supposed to bore a tunnel under the power plant under extreme conditions and with their bare hands. Shcherbina warns Legasov that they are under KGB surveillance. Legasov sends Khomyuk to the Moscow hospital to interview the survivors. Dyatlov behaves uncooperatively. But she finds out from the dying Toptunov and Akimov that the power plant exploded after Akimov pressed the emergency shutdown button. This is a scenario that was thought impossible. Lyudmilla bribes hospital staff and conceals her pregnancy in order to see her terminally ill husband Vasily. She ignores instructions, stays in the room longer and touches her husband. After Vasily dies, Khomyuk finds Lyudmilla. She threatens Lyudmilla to report everything to the Central Committee and is arrested by KGB staff. After Legasov intervenes, she is released again. Shcherbina and Legasov present their decontamination plan to the Central Committee, which requires the mobilization of masses of "liquidators". Meanwhile, Lyudmilla stands alongside other dead who have succumbed to radiation sickness. Vasily is buried in a welded zinc coffin in a mass grave, which is then sealed with concrete. 
== Deaths ==
*Vasily Ignatenko
Category:Episodes
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