Season 1 |
Episode Guide
Wrong Place Wrong Time
No Way Out
Escape
Aftershock: Everest and the Nepal Earthquake is a gripping, absorbing and utterly shocking documentary, depicting the trials and tribulations during and following the Nepal Earthquake in 2015. Also knows as the Gorkha earthquake, this natural disaster killed nearly 9000 people and made 3.5 million more homeless. Entire villages were flattened; centuries-old buildings destroyed; and in Kathmandu, the place looks like a warzone.
Split across 3 episodes, Aftershock brings together survivors from this awful tragedy, giving their first-hand accounts of what happened whilst splitting the focus across three key areas in Nepal. The first follows a number of mountaineers up at Everest, in both Base Camp and Camp 1. Following the earthquake, they find themselves stuck in an impossible situation, and with bodies piling up and scarce resources at hand, all hope lies on rescue.
The second story takes place deep in Kathmandu. After the quake, rescue operations take place to try and find survivors buried under mountains of rubble, but it’s a race against time. As every second counts, will they find anyone alive?
The third and final story takes place in Langtang Valley, a remote part of the mountainous region where a group of survivors find themselves tangling with the locals, in a pressure-cooker situation that looks set to explode at any moment.
All three of these tales are interwoven around an animated map, which flies between the different areas whilst simultaneously showcasing the distance and area these people are spread out across. It’s a neat way of extrapolating how devastating this earthquake actually was, whilst simultaneously bringing in as many different perspectives and takes on what happened as possible.
There’s a lot of raw footage captured from the time, and the show splits its time between that footage, photos snapped by different survivors (most notably from a woman called Athena who tags along with the Israelis in the third story) and intermingled talking head interviews that allow us to get into the mindset of these men and women.
Aftershock’s musical score is also fantastic too and it’s something that’s going to fly under the radar for a lot of people talking about this one. There’s an absolutely devastating moment in episode 2 which sees the music work perfectly. Here, one of the Langtang Village residents mentions all the people he’s lost in this earthquake. The music slowly crescendos until it’s the same volume as his voice, giving gravity to the situation and the awful losses many experienced during this time.
The documentary never outstays its welcome either, although one could argue that the first episode – which clocks in at 38 minutes long – could have been a tad longer to show more raw footage from the earthquake, potentially with news reports to heighten the tension. It’s a minor point though in what’s otherwise a very good series.
Netflix know how to produce excellent documentaries and Aftershock: Everest and the Nepal Earthquake is no exception. This is another shocking nature documentary, and an absolute must-watch.
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Verdict - 8/10
8/10
I have known a lot of Israelis over the years and they were lovely people, but those Israeli tourists were complete degenerates! I’m not calling them that because they are Israeli or because of antisemitism, I’m calling them that because they looted disaster victims hours after a disaster. That is the definition of an amoral degenerate. The upside is they were stupid enough to go on International television and admit to it! I hope this follows them till they die!
However, I’m seriously and deeply disturbed by the comment section that is blaming and being nasty toward an entire nation of people based on the unforgivable, opportunistic greed of three men. They were a group of friends and it’s understandable that they would behave poorly as a group, but that’s not Israeli people as a whole or even any other group of Israelis. Damn, whats wrong with people?
The outlier segment about the 3 or 4 Israelis gave a malaise to my system, and I assume it was presented with the producers knowing its effect on the viewing public. Why? I will not detail the many legitimate objections to the representation, but one…the Nepal chopper left without any Nepal natives on board, and the Israeli rescue chopper did. Maybe the producer found yin and yang in balance there, but the overall effect was harsh. The rest of the film was captivating!
Just watched the series, man I am not surprised by the actions of Israelis. It really aggravated me, they left a woman to die, probably killed her who knows – then they go to a village and steal people’s money. In the interviews, there is no remorse at all – one of them even says “I told him you did nothing wrong!” Bruh you went into a village that was destroyed and you bring back a money, really? Man just the behavior you expect from Israelis, wasn’t surprised at all
To Karl, Never Lied, and Alex: I dare you to post your religions or ethnicities. The other hateful people like you can respond with anti-whatever-you-are, racist comments about you and your entire community. These comments demonizing your groups will be solely based on you three people. I’ve studied and worked with Israelis, including former IDF members, who are the kindest, most generous.
How greedy one must be to go searching for food and end up taking all the money that obviously doesn’t belong to them in spite of knowing that the people owning the money are in near proximity.
The film does a poor job of contextualising some things. Like how unreliable memories are and how meaningless it is that one dude remembers the box as locked and one doesn’t. Maybe he lied but it’s entirely possible he didn’t.
but the comments here are just horrific, accusing the Israelis of all sorts of crap – like abandoning the woman who died b/c they were caring enough to carry her (which I didn’t see anyone else attempt to do anywhere here). Or that they resorted to attacking even though everyone is saying the Nepali men did that (their claim was that it was justified, not that they didn’t do it).
I hope this is shared at least with the filmmakers and other filmmakers, to see how portrayals of some people are taken by the ignorant and hateful general public
(Even if you dislike the Israeli dude. Though it’s amazing how people decide a person’s character based on movie editing)
Amazing! The small, beleaguered state of Israel is one of the first countries to arrive on site, to provide urgently needed medical assistance and emergency aid, and the producers of this documentary totally ignore this, and only focus on the questionable actions of an Israeli tourist. These portions of the documentary can best be described as a hatchet job on Israelis, and presumably the entire state of Israel. With the rise of anti-Semitism in the world – often masked as political criticism of Israeli actions to defend itself – it is not surprising to see such distortions. This bias has been especially prevalent in liberal circles, including the main-steam media and the entertainment industry, which look for any opportunity – based on any real or fictional events – to harm Israel.
The ability – and sympathy – of Israel to help in such situations is unfortunately due to its experiences in needing to react to man-made catastrophes, resulting from those that seek to destroy this small country. Netflix and the producers of this documentary should be ashamed of themselves, as their product will, if anything, encourage such attempts, whether by political or military means, including terrorism.
For those who are calling the Israeli’s out for immoral acts. If you were trying to steal something, would you put it in a clear plastic bag and walk it into the “lion’s den”?
The heart of this documentary, working to touch the reality of what happens to us as human beings under incredible stress, is outstanding. The weakness and selfishness inherent of any life trying to survive was remarkable to see. The truth was refreshing.
Well done Netflix.
It’s absolutely AMAZING how many people are calling telling the truth about those low life Israelis “Antisemitism”! People are tired of you all using that, AND your idiotic false equivalent narratives to support your inability to stfu and listen to your own issues, and you’ve got MANY! The more you people do that, the less and less credibility you’ll have in the future.
That group of Israeli who went looking for food but took money, maybe they can eat money. That plump Israeli should be ashamed of himself. I think his name was not shown. Entire family perished and all you can think of is how to pilfer the disadvantage people and worse, self righteous with your BS Intention. Hell has a special place for people like you. His friend who had the cheek to say “oh u did nothing wrong”? But scared to death begging for people to come save him. What a joke.
To the American who want to makes his money worth, stupidity really knows no bound.
And the police guys only cares about optics. Who cares who is leading the rescue?? Which is more important? Savings lives or the face of your government?
That self titled ‘gangster’ guy comes across as so selfish. At the end of the day he is the wimpiest of everyone despite working so hard for tough guy status. Also, his poor wife having to run the hotel which she didn’t want in the first place. He promised he would run it and went back on his word. And taking him first because he had HIV over seriously injured people. What a weak man.
Interesting stories intertwined..they covered it all. Life, death, greed, courage, compassion and more. Re: the part about the Israeli man who took the money & belongings from a locked box in the town that was destroyed, I must’ve missed something. What happened to the money he took? Was it given to the Nepali relative at the camp? That part was confusing. At the end, when the Israeli helicopter came and they offered to rescue everyone…it came full circle to show the power of compassion for all.
I was very happy to our NDRF personnel working during the search and rescue operations. No matter how much NETFLIX wanted to hide the facts, but it was Operation Amity, led by our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which played a critical role after the earthquake. Indian Air Force rescued all those who were stranded after the Everest avalanche, including the deadbodies.
Karl. It might not be antisemitic to report on the actions of specific Israelis, but damn are you antisemitic as f***. Israelis are not some monolithic block that moves and acts as one towards the same goal. You sound like an inbred mountain man ranting about Aaaarabs after 9/11. Be fucking normal man.
Tanah orang dicuri begitu saja. Apadehal dengan duit orang kampung? Curi sajalah.
The Israelis did intend to steal the life savings from those poor people who had lost everything – I absolutely understand the reaction of the Nepalese villagers. He literally got caught in two lies, firstly, saying that he was bringing the property of the trekkers and 2 that he broke the lock – it’s indefensible! I’m stunned that ANYONE thinks that’s okay – shame on you and shame on them! The fact that he brought it in a clear plastic bag simply shows his arrogance the scumbag. What I hated was as that one of the Israelis said he did nothing wrong (well let’s steal your life savings and see how you feel then) and that Athena brushed it off as an “indiscretion” if wasn’t an indiscretion, it was a crime from a bunch of self-important, selfish wankers.
Karl – yes what you said is absolutely anti semitic you soubd like an alt right nutjob. You are disgusting. Nobody has a choice in what their countries do, not even democracies. For instance As an American or Christian I can assure you it does not matter to the US especially the evangelical right-wing nutjobs what the citizens or peaceful Christians think in their wars for oil. The allegedly Christian US goes around killing (mostly brown) people and the entire country is based on the genocide of brown people who lived here and the country then built on the enslavement of other brown people dragged here. Does that mean if 1 American tourist shoplifts something in Kenya or robs a guy in Tibet it has some geopolitical or ethnic significance?
NO! He’s an asshole.
One asshole stole something, his friends told him not to. He did it because he was an asshole or maybe a Borderline asshole but also affected by traumatic stress and delusions of matching the money to the ppl in photos. He apparently had wavering morality and was an opportunist. Even then it’s not clear if his intention was well meaning trying to match it to the pictures. He didn’t intend to steal it at least HE MUST NOT HAVE at first HE CARRIED IT IN A SEE THRU BAG WITH THE PHOTOS OF THE PPL IT BELONGED TO. He could’ve stuffed the wads of cash in his clothes and left the pics. He’s suspicious for sure of course.
The other Israeli guys said to leave it there, he didn’t listen to them. Also they went out of their way to try to rescue a woman when NO ONE ELSE DID. Once she stoppe d breathing they left her. You must be very privleged or naive to think such help is normal or expected, on Everest in fact it is the rule to step over the dying (though some do stop and help).
In fact the stealing guy was the ONLY ONE in their team WHO DID NOT WANT TO RESCUE HER he said it was “stupid”. Makes it very clear that they were fine normal guys except this one guy was a bit sketchy.
Who cares about the nationalities of the person who lied and stole? We do not represent everyone in our nation, we are each an individual. it is easy to forget this when dealing with just a few people from various nations. The guy caught in a lie was a douchebag, it has nothing to do with his nation or religion. The Guy who climbed bcus he paid was insensitive but its become fairly normal to step over the dying on ANY the everest ascent, thats pretty much the social norm of altitude mountaineering, the only diffrence was this time the dead werent other mountaineers. Of course tourist’s wanted to leave,they had to leave regardless, they had no resources to offer and no connections there. Why should they stay.
Wow, powerful documentary. The ex Israeli soldiers who stole money after saying it belonged to a trekker was fascinating. How they dealt with people who had lost their entire village was telling. How they requested rescue for just themselves and were quite happy to use armed conflict was fascinating. Regardless of wether Jewish people went back later to rescue or help the villagers was irrelevant to the actions of these particular people. This is not antisemitism, this was their own words, caught in a lie. I might add that the crime of looting in a disaster zone is usually to be shot. Considering that this documentary was so sad and disturbing the actions of these particular people was disturbing in the extreme. Thank god for people like yochai who can stand as a beacon for his people.
Hey rude. The Iranian gal ended u being the first Iranian female to reach the top this year.
I was riveted and enjoyed every minute. The only turn off for me was the Israeli chap caught in a lie when they interviewed him.
Great documentary. The Everest climbers are often narcissists. The good and bad showed their colors in this event in 2915. The Nepalis showed great courage and support (except for the military’s refusal to pick up on their helicopter some of the stranded). The three Israelis were complete jerks, immoral, dishonest — but redeemed by their Israeli rescuer who promised to save everyone. One American thought it was ok to climb Everest while bodies were being collected. I’d like to find his name to shame him. The Iranian-American woman was a relief — and although she was pursuing her goal, she showed a good moral backbone. Overall, great photography and story.
That part about the broken lock and the Israeli guy lying about it. And that Israeli guy saying bring guns to rescue us. Meanwhile villagers have all lost their families. You get an understanding of how lots of the world don’t like Jews. Can’t quite put your finger on it, but they leave a bad taste in your mouth. Also, that American guy who still wants to climb after all that because he paid good money. Imagine running into these types of tourists.
How the yellow jacket guide built the pink Hotel?
Here’s the part I find disgusting, a true picture of selfishness. The gentleman who reveals to the people rendering medical aid that he is HIV positive says he does so that they can take precautions. Then he states he was hurt because they listed the medical information on the tape on his head. Which is commonly done in military settings, field settings, basically any triage that are away from hospitals. So this offends him but when the helicopter shows up and he’s taken first (in his own words) before the most critically injured, he’s the fine with his label and to this day he’s happy he was taken first. Then the 3 hikers, 1 of which stole cash he found and then the guy who still wanted to climb because he couldn’t get his money back. Just ridiculous! Everyone out for themselves, well not everyone!! Awful!
Racist garbage comment by Nuno! The Israeli climbers made the very difficult decision to risk their lives and the the lives of others to try to SAVE the injured woman- all during reoccurring aftershocks and avalanches!!! When the woman succumbed to her injuries, no one would risk many lives to then transport a deceased person through highly treacherous terrain. That’s why Mt. Everest is covered with decaying bodies. Do your research Nuno!
Good documentary indeed. I was absolutely shocked to hear of how the selfish Israelis acted throughout this critical period. It is said that a person’s true character comes to the fore when they sre put into life and death situations. Well these Israelis certainly showed what total pieces of shit they were at that time. Watch it and see for yourself!
How about that American climber who wants his money’s worth and is bound and determined to keep on climbing even though people have died. That being said, No one knows how they will react to these kind of circumstances.That’s why it was such an interesting documentary.
This was a heart wrenching documentary. Seeing the different perspectives in survival mode, was bone chilling. Everyone handles catastrophe differently, and seeing it documented shared the reality of what individuals had to be faced with. I would recommend everyone watch this. I cried the whole time, only because of the bravery these individuals exuded and all who experienced this tragedy. The decisions made during this time period had to be hard to live with, and reflect on. The best is the hope offered in humanity and the endless endurance to keep surviving.
The Israelis and the Iranian want to be climber are douchebags! they should have never been there. The iranian is a want to be climber!!!! Helicopter brings her down the mountain instead of injured climbers? She is a horrible person. Egotistical piece of shit!!!