Fringe S1E11 (2009) Part II - "It's Viral"

Spoiler Level – Low

A Note on Fringe Science

In my previous post, I said that the pseudoscience in Fringe bothers me in ways that other bad science doesn’t, and now I want to expand on what makes this show particularly damaging. Where most shows simply present false facts, Fringe presents a false sense of how science works.

Fringe S1E11 (2009) Part I - “Giant, Slimy, Spiky, Slug”

Spoiler Level – Low

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

Spoiler Level – Low-to-moderate

A Note on Superheroes

The realism of superpowers is not going to be something I discuss. The vast majority of superpowers are flat out scientifically impossible. Many of them are exaggerations of real phenomena (and can serve as fun learning tools for real world science), but they can't exist in our universe. However, I don't mind unrealistic superpowers for the same reason I don't mind the wizards in Lord of the Rings. I consider it magic occurring in a universe with different physical properties than our own. So I engage suspension of disbelief, sit back, and enjoy.

What does bother me, and what I will talk about, is superhero origins. Many times superpowers are explained using real world science, and things tend to go terribly wrong here. Next week, I'll talk about how the TV show Heroes attempts to do this very thing and ends up giving us indecipherable gibberish. As I see it, there are three ways out of the superhero origin problem (short of outright calling it magic):

Mission to Mars (2000) Part II - "It's Missing the Last Pair of Chromosomes"

Spoiler Level – Moderate-to-high

Mission to Mars (2000) Part I - "That DNA Looks Human"

Spoiler Level – Moderate-to-high

Introduction and Mission Statement

I enjoy bad science in movies and television.  Mostly for the same reasons some people love bad acting and bad dialogue. It has a so-bad-it’s-good quality that makes it funny. But now that I’m nearly a fully trained molecular biologist, I feel I have something of a responsibility to do more than point and laugh. Mainly, I want so many viewers to be pointing and laughing that producers are embarrassed to let such bad science stand.