Chernobyl episode 5 live stream: Watch online

How do you end a story which is still in the process of unfolding? The HBO Chernobyl season finale will explore the implications of narrative versus truth.

It seems Chernobyl will be bookended with Valery Legasov’s stories; the premiere begins with the story he confesses to his audio tapes, and it seems the series will end with the story that he initially tells the world.

Exploring the potential gaps between those two things—what he may choose to leave out in the official recounting compared to the most honest and person version he reveals just before his death—is an important element of Chernobyl as a whole.

Watch the promo for tonight’s episode here:

When considering that so much of the Chernobyl disaster was the result of the various bureaucratic failings both before and after the explosion, it is fitting that the final episode should heavily center around the politics of the Soviet Union. The demand to gloss over the negative consequences in order to present a stronger front to the world at large was part of what caused and exacerbated the incident in the first place. Now the question is whether Legasov will follow Khomyuk’s call to reveal the truth about the accident, or bow to pressure to hide the truth.

As in previous episodes, a topical answer to this question requires only some brief Googling. However, what makes the show so interesting is the way the history will fit in to the narrative of the show itself—a narrative which itself is very focused on the idea of narratives. It’s fittingly meta.

Of course, we already know that Chernobyl is a tragedy on every level. What remains to be seen is not the ending, which we already known, but rather a rumination on how it all fits together; and what it all means for our future.

Here are all the details you need to watch Chernobyl tonight:

"Date: Monday, June 3Start Time: 9 p.m. ETEpisode: “Vichnaya Pamyat”TV Channel: HBOLive Stream: Watch on HBO and HBO Go, as well as Hulu and Amazon Prime."

Chernobyl airs Monday, June 3 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.

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