Now we are in Japan, circa the same time period as the previous scene. We pan over a decently sized city that is precariously nestled between an ominous volcanic-looking mountain and a nuclear power plant. Not an ideal location. I’m really not sure that is the first place I would choose to live. Joe Brody, rather clumsily played by Bryan Cranston, is all upset about some seismic activity that no one else in the entire area seems to care about. That means that of course a disaster is about to happen. He works at the nuclear power plant and sets up some sort of meeting to discuss shutting it down. We also learn that a) it is his birthday; b) he is a self-involved dad that doesn’t even notice that his son made him a “Happy Birthday” sign; and c) his wife also works at the plant. Apparently she is a little more of a hands-on employee than he is, and Joe tells her to take a team and stroll down into the reactor zone to find out if there is any damage.
Okay … wouldn’t there be electronic and/or computerized reporting to tell them whether or not something is damaged or not running correctly, or that a wall or ceiling or plutonium bin is cracked? It seems like a team would be necessary IF damage is confirmed, but this nuclear plant is apparently really so low-tech that employees have to actually visually confirm (oh, how I love that phrase in this movie – watch for it again!) if there is a problem.
In the previously scheduled meeting, Joe tries to convince everyone else that there is something stranger going on than just aftershocks from earthquakes in the Philippines. (Hmmm…sound familiar?) Fittingly, at that exact moment, the plant just starts shaking violently. Joe is yelling to shut down the plant when another tremor hits. Red lights and sirens are going off because the reactor has been breached. See? Again, there really wasn’t a reason for the wife-led team to venture down there because if there was a breach, there’d be alarms and….well, you get my point. To sum up, Joe tries to hold off on sealing the doors until his plot-device wife and her team can make it back. They are running from the radiation that comes in the form of a red cloud. Much cloud out-running ensues, everyone is freaking out, and Joe is forced to shut the door to save everyone who chose to live in such a dangerous city in the first place. There is a sad little scene of husband-wife goodbyes when his wife gets to the window of the sealed door.
We jump over to the school where the Joe’s son Ford (CJ Adams) attends. Power goes out and alarms sound. Apparently the “nuclear plant is collapsing” drill calls for the teacher and all the children to just run outside. Ford stays behind (because there are no adults on the back end of the drill making sure all children are safely out in the open) and watches the towers of the plant dissolve into radioactive dust.
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