The fourth episode of HBO’s “Chernobyl” aired Monday night, leaving viewers stunned at the level of cleanup necessary to contain the worst man-made disaster in human history. If you haven’t started the five-part miniseries, now is the time.

With each episode coming in at just over an hour long, a four-hour binge will have every episode of “Chernobyl” knocked out. The last installment of the series airs Monday at 8 p.m. CST. The series, which focuses on the immense cleanup effort following the explosion of Reactor 4 at Chernobyl, premiered on May 7 and features mostly British actors.

Reviews of the series’ first four episodes have been stellar, with “Chernobyl” breaking IMDB’s record for the highest-rated show in history with a 9.7/10 score based off of over 76,000 reviews. The series’ cast includes Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgard and Emily Watson.

Harris plays the role of Valery Legasov spectacularly, showing every bit of concern and hopelessness that those in the real situation must have felt. Knowing he has been exposed to massive amounts of radiation that will cut his life expectancy in half, Legasov spends the entirety of the series feeling unheard and hopeless.

The Chernobyl power plant’s executives and chief operators prove to be extremely frustrating in the first two episodes of the series. The power struggle between Legasov and vice-chairman of the Council of Ministers, Boris Shcherbina, in the series’ second episode is an extremely tense and eye-opening look into the world of Soviet socialism.

The set design of “Chernobyl” is exemplary, capturing every dreary, uniform Pripyat apartment and radiation-affected animal with great detail. It is because of this attention to detail that “Chernobyl” has such a gut-wrenching effect on viewers. Seeing innocent men, women and children with their whole lives in front of them being exposed to unsurvivable amounts of radiation makes for a horrific and helpless experience.

Episode four of “Chernobyl” followed a slower pace than the episodes previous to it. However, the episode, titled “The Happiness of All Mankind,” features some of the series’ saddest and most unimaginable moments. The tragic tale of Lyudmilla Ignatenko, Vasily Ignatenko and their unborn child show the effects that 10,000 roentgens of radiation can have on children and those who were closest to the explosion.

Shcherbina and Legasov’s struggle with using a lunar rover to clear debris from the roof of Chernobyl’s Reactor 4 gives audiences a glimpse into how dire the months following Chernobyl truly were.

With unheard-of amounts of radiation being blown across Europe and the world’s oceans, the Soviet Union had to turn to adversaries like West Germany to acquire equipment to remove debris.

Of all the depressing and unfortunate events that unfold in four episodes of “Chernobyl” available, none hit home more than the loss of innocent life. Over 750,000 Russian men in the show are recruited by the government to help in cleaning up radioactive debris, oftentimes within 100 yards of the reactors core.

Although men were offered full protective gear, two minutes on the building’s roof cuts their life expectancy in half, with three minutes being fatal. Watching hundreds of thousands of young men and women being exposed to a failure caused by the government makes for an extremely heartbreaking viewing experience.

While “Chernobyl” is defined by tales of bureaucratic failure and massive losses of life, it manages to make each character have at least some redeemable qualities. Shcherbina initially comes off as gruff, uninformed and self-centered, but ends up becoming a close companion of Legasov, who knew that RBMK reactors could explode years prior to Chernobyl’s ignition.

If you haven’t started “Chernobyl,” start a free trial or subscribe to HBO, because “Chernobyl” is a must-watch.

Verdict:

9.5/10