The show up to this point had already been unflinching with it's depictions of the events of Chernobyl but this episode is the emotional peak of the show thus far. this episode follows 2 separate sides of the story, the recruitment of the miners and the irradiated firemen and power plant workers in Moscow. the miner's story although tragic in it's own right, 100s of men given 6 weeks to mine out what all together ends up being hundreds of meters by hand in the worst of conditions imaginable all the while irradiating themselves, somehow ends up being a story of hope. The men are steadfast in their duty and walk into the danger with spirits high, almost every scene with them is inspiring and sometimes even enough to put a smile on your face. On the other hand we finally see the true extent of radiation poisoning, and it's more devastating and haunting than I could have possibly imagined. The makeup in these scenes is incredible, the best I've ever seen in fact. Each time I saw one of the victims I thought like it couldn't get any worse and I couldn't have been more wrong. This show was already not for the faint of heart but this episode pushes even the toughest to their limits I think. Once again the series continues to be outstanding in all aspects, acting, writing, cinematography, effects, costumes, props... the lot. I feel extremely lucky to be able to see this masterpiece unfold week by week as it airs. I'm giving "Open Wide, O Earth" a 9.7 out of 10
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