Heroes S3E1 (2008) - "See If the Enzymes Attach to the Cortisol"

Spoiler Level – Low-to-moderate

The Show – A small group of people scattered across the globe begin to realize they have superpowers. Some becomes heroes, others villains. None of them are very good in their chosen roles, but Jack Coleman is awesome.

Heroes is one of the few shows that has a geneticist as a main character, so I really wanted to like this show and like the scientist specifically. Unfortunately, he spends most of his time misrepresenting evolution and using jargon that doesn't actually make any sense. The nonsense reaches its peak in the first episode of the third season.

The Scene – The geneticist, Mohinder Suresh, has a sudden insight that the superpowers are connected to adrenaline and runs some tests on one of the heroes. He narrates, "I've separated the tyrosine and combined that with the dopamines produced by your adrenals. We wait a few seconds and see if the enzymes attach to the cortisol." He's looking at little floating ovals on a microscope slide.  When the ovals develop dark bands, he announces, "I've isolated the genetic building blocks of these abilities!" None of this makes any sense.

I don't even have the slightest idea what I'm looking at here. From Heroes.

The Science – Those are all real words, but they aren't arranged in logical sentences. There is some sort of method to the madness. Adrenaline, dopamine, and cortisol are all chemicals produced in the adrenal glands, and tyrosine is used in the production of these chemicals. However, an enzyme is just any protein speeds up the rate of a chemical reaction. None of things he's described are large enough to be the ovals that can be seen with a microscope. None of this relates to genetic building blocks.

This gets to a basic issue of science communication. It wouldn't make any difference to the average viewer if those words were used in a proper manner or just thrown out in a nonsensical matter. When the goal of the dialogue is to show that the character is smarter than everyone else, using dialogue no one can understand is a cheap way to achieve this.

Jargon is important for science. Many English terms have multiple uses, but scientists need to avoid the ambiguity this creates. They do this by creating new terms that the general public would be unfamiliar with. Scientists also deal with chemicals that most people never think about, and therefore more uncommon words  are added to their vocabulary.

Because of this, it's unavoidable that science dialogue will not be understood by most audiences. Still, I think it's important to keep the dialogue accurate. If someone is interested in what TV scientists are saying, they should be able to look up the topic and find out more. If the dialogue is gibberish, they won't be able to understand enough to research it. That creates the sense that the science is just too difficult to understand. And one of my main goals here is to show that anyone can understand science.

Fixing the Scene – In my previous post, I said there are three ways to deal with superhero origins. Personally, I'm drawn toward inventing new science but being vague. Let's stick with the theme the show uses. Instead of throwing out the names of known chemicals, just say, "I've discovered that your adrenals produce a previously undiscovered class of neurotransmitters. They cause you brain to behave in amazing new ways, giving you your powers. Once I discover the genes responsible for making these chemicals, I'll know the genetic building blocks of these abilities!" We'll also need an appropriate visual to replace the banded ovals. I suggest video of neurons firing. It looks cool and is related to neurotransmitters produced by the adrenal glands.

Neurons. Cooler than ovals and more appropriate for the theme. From Wikimedia Commons.

Bonus Pet Peeve – Shortly after this scene another character references the familiar claim that we only use 10-20% of our brains. This has no basis in reality.

Next Week – Let's discuss viruses with an early episode of Fringe.