Brainchild (2018) s01e03 Episode Script

Superheroes

A NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES
[whispers]
Come on, down this way.
[man 2, whispers]
I'm coming. I'm coming.
[heavenly chanting]
[loud bang]
-Party's over, fellas.
-Look out! It's Dingbat! Run!
Step aside, Dingy.
Two superheroes?
This looks like a job for Specialman.
Excuse me, boys.
This'll just take a minute.
Is that Fantastic Female?
Hold up. I was here first. I've got this.
But you don't even have
any superpowers.
You're just rich.
First off, I'm super smart.
And at least I'm from this planet.
I coulda had them all lassoed by now.
You two, back me up.
Cool. Where do you want me?
You've gotta be kidding me.
You're out of your element, WaterBoy.
Haha! Water is an element.
Clever!
I told you, I'm super smart.
While you fight,
I'll take care of the
[birds chirping]
bad guys.
-Where'd they go?
Hey! A little help over here.
-I was here first!
-Girl power.
You go, sister.
At some point,
we've all wished we had superpowers,
like these, uh, legally safe knockoffs
of classic superheroes.
Knockoffs?
But as I'm about to show you,
you don't need to know how to fly
or dodge bullets or create new gadgets
or whatever it is you do.
-Hey!
Superpowers are real, and you have them.
And you don't even need a silly cape.
What is wrong with my cape?
Nothing. She's just jelly.
SUPERHEROES
Question: why do we
love superheroes so much?
Is it because we all wish we had
cool powers, like
invisibility?
Wish I wore my contacts.
Or super speed?
Or the ability to move things
with your mind.
Well, it's not just superheroes
who have powers.
You have them, too.
And you use them every day.
Powers like
Super vision.
To find out what we mean,
take a look at these ten shapes.
Can you find the hidden meaning?
It might not look like much now,
but if you close your eyes
for a few seconds, then squint,
you can unlock your super vision.
Did you get it this time?
Super!
Now, take a look at this
and see if you can crack the code.
Can you figure it out?
What does this say?
Did you get it?
The reason you can solve puzzles
like these
is because your brain is equipped
with a superpower,
the ability to recognize patterns.
Despite the fact that we replaced some
of the letters with symbols or numbers,
your eyes and brain
were able to use context
and clues to fill in the visual gaps.
Super vision is one thing,
but there's no way you could also have
instant super strength. Or is there?
Super strength!
While most adults are stronger
than kids, even this guy,
when it comes to super strength,
it's not always about muscles,
as you're about to discover
in this next game.
Grab an adult or a friend
and play along with our volunteers.
The adult's job is to press
their fists together
with all their might,
like these are doing.
Your job is to try
to break apart their fists.
Ready?
Go!
I can't do it!
Seems impossible, right?
Until you unlock your hidden powers.
Because Specialman and I
are about to let you in on a little secret
to show that bigger
doesn't always mean stronger.
When Specialman pushes his fists together,
it creates opposing vertical forces.
So, if I try to pull them apart
this way
it's nearly impossible.
However, if I go at it horizontally
there's no force to counteract it, and
-What?
-Boom!
And the harder Specialman
pushes his fists together,
the easier it is to do.
[kazoo toots]
Go ahead. Give it a try.
-That was way easier.
-Were you able to do it, too?
Nice.
You've discovered a super strength
called leverage.
Leverage is the same force
that lets you lift a friend
on a seesaw and is behind common tools
like pliers
bottle openers
and tweezers.
Of course, if you want to get sneaky
I can't do it.
there's another trick you can use.
Just hold your thumb in your fist,
and no one can break your hands apart.
I was holding my thumb.
Now, what if you were super strong enough
to fly, like Specialman?
Looks like he's soaring
through the air, right?
But it also kind of looks like
he's being cut in half by this column.
So, what is going on here?
Well, remember when your brain filled in
the pattern to solve this puzzle?
That's exactly what's happening here.
Your brain knows Specialman
isn't being cut in half,
so it assumes the rest of him
is just hidden behind this column.
This power of super vision,
called active interpretation,
is the same reason
you don't think these kids
are missing their arms.
It's your brain making an intelligent
guess about what you're seeing.
But sometimes
you can't always believe your eyes,
like in this next illusion from
engineering professor Kokichi Sugihara.
Wait. How is this possible?
How can the stick be in front
of these two legs
and behind these two?
Whoa. Did that totally bend your mind?
That's because your brain relies on cues,
like color, motion, and shadow
to make sense of the information
coming in from your eyes.
But when those things are manipulated,
like in this illusion,
it can totally fool your vision,
no matter how super.
Tricking your brain
with an illusion is cool.
What if you could trick your mind
into not feeling pain?
Sound impossible?
Not if you know how to access
your super-pain-resistance power.
THE COLD SEA
Watch closely.
First, we're gonna see how long
participants can handle
the torture of ice-cold water.
Then, we're gonna test a simple hack
that may give them, and you
super pain resistance.
Ready? Here comes our first volunteer.
Well, that looked difficult.
Feel like I just went outside
with no gloves.
And our other players
didn't do any better.
It's really cold!
I can't do it anymore.
Do you think anything can help
them more than double
their time? What if we let them
wear something
to shield them from the cold?
No, not those.
One of these.
They're putting on their biggest smiles.
Research shows that smiling
can actually help you withstand pain.
Sounds crazy, right?
Let's see if it works.
Super smile!
Remember, all of these kids could
only handle the ice water
for nine to 12 seconds the first time.
Ready?
Go!
Wow! All these people
almost doubled their previous time.
So, it looks like smiling actually helped.
When I smiled,
I could handle more pain.
It was weird. It felt like when I smiled,
I could keep there for a lot longer.
But why?
I was focusing more on smiling
than my hand, so it lasted longer.
Imagine that. By using
the super power of smiling,
your brain's attention
was distracted from the pain.
There is another way to activate
your anti-pain super power
that we can't quite put into words.
[muffled swearing]
CENSORED
So, why does swearing work?
I think 'cause I was able
to fight the cold with my words.
But really, any kind of yelling works.
Arrrgh!
But we suggest you just grin and bear it.
And don't worry.
This guy wasn't really
cursing in a crowded mall food court.
Wowsa gimmel bibo sagit
bubuneegarrrrrgh!
[male voice over]
Oh, my!
But not only did this challenge unlock
the power of smiling,
it also exposed another hidden superpower.
Any idea what it could be?
I'm gonna let our science friend,
Alie Ward, explain.
If you've ever been swimming in a pool,
or taken a long, hot bath,
or stuck your hand
in ice water for a minute
Huh huh!
So cold.
You may have noticed
that your fingers
got all wrinkly or prune-like.
But do you know why?
You might think
that pruny fingers are a weakness,
but it's actually the opposite.
Like the treads on car tires,
which allow better traction
and more tire to be in contact
with the road,
wrinkled fingers and toes may have helped
our ancient ancestors gather food from
wet vegetation or streams
and given them better footing
while crossing slippery rocks.
Today, when you stay
in water a long time,
your body assumes this is your new,
permanent environment.
And adapts to it.
Think if it like your super lizard power.
We've shown you how to unlock
some of your hidden powers,
but there's one superpower
you don't even need to unlock
and you're using it right now.
X-ray vision!
Take a look at the "S"
on Specialman's chest.
Now close one eye
and raise your thumb up like this.
Make sure you position your thumb so you
can't see the "S" with your open eye.
Got it? Okay.
Keeping your thumb exactly where it is,
open your closed eye.
Can you suddenly see the "S" again? Good.
But did you happen to notice you're also
looking through your own thumb?!
Boom! Your X-ray vision hard at work.
Okay, so technically,
it's not X-ray vision,
but it is your brain giving you
the tools you need to succeed.
Your vision is binocular,
meaning you have two eyes
that each see
a slightly different image.
Your brain stitches these two images
into a single 3-D picture.
This allows you to slightly see
around an obstacle
without actually having to move.
Super helpful, right?
But wouldn't it also
be helpful to have the strength
of ten grown men?
Turns out you already do,
but only under special circumstances.
You may have heard the story
of a mother lifting up a car
to save her child trapped underneath.
MOM POWER!
So, where does the super strength
come from?
Physicians once believed it was adrenaline
flooding your system that caused
an extra boost to the muscles,
but it's actually
your body's entire stress response
that contributes to superhuman potential.
It's the release of multiple enzymes
and proteins and especially
endorphins from your brain that overrides
signals like
fear, fatigue, and pain,
and gives you
superhuman speed
strength
and agility
to fight, run away,
or help another person.
But it doesn't take an emergency
to activate your body's superpowers.
As you're about to discover,
there are some you can use right now.
Have you ever done this?
Brain freeze!
It's the worst, right?
So, what causes this insta-headache?
When you eat something really cold,
like ice-cream or a popsicle,
it sets off an alarm in your brain
that says,
"Oh, no, I'm gonna freeze!"
In response, your brain causes blood
to rush into your head to warm it up.
This rush of blood triggers the headache
known as brain freeze.
But all you got to do to stop it is
preth your thon
thoo the woof of your nouth.
Sorry. Press your tongue
to the roof of your mouth.
Doing this warms up your mouth
and signals to your brain
that the freeze threat is over,
stopping the headache
And this nifty body hack can not only
let you eat as much ice cream as you want,
it can also help you stifle a sneeze
so you don't end up like this
[squeaky voice] One second.
Oh, my.
But there's another hidden superpower
that all of us mere mortals share
that you might not even realize you have.
Feast your eyes and ears on this.
Thirsty? Well, behind each letter
is an empty glass,
which we are gonna fill with water.
One will be piping-hot,
the other freezing-cold.
Think you can identify which is which?
Here's glass "A."
Now, could you tell if it was hot or cold?
Okay, here's glass "B."
What'd you think?
Could you tell the difference?
Did you say glass "A" was cold
and glass "B" was hot?
If so, great job.
Between 80% and 90% of people
get this right.
And what your super ears are doing
is hearing the difference
between water molecules.
Cold water has a higher viscosity,
which you can hear
in the way it's pouring.
Hot water, on the other hand,
has more bubbles in it
which affects the frequency of the sound.
Now, the reason you can hear
the difference between the types
of water is that you unconsciously
train your brain every time you pour
a cold glass of water
or a hot cuppa tea.
That's your ears and your brain
looking out for you
to make sure you don't get burned.
Of course, there are some superpowers
you can't access
CRASH
the kinds reserved
only for the superheroes
we read about in comics
or see in the movies.
Party's over, fellas.
But where did the idea
of superheroes come from?
Would you believe
Greece?
No, not that kind of grease.
Ancient Greece.
[traditional Greek music]
The Greek gods.
Take, for example, Zeus.
He could fly and had unlimited strength.
Does that remind you of anyone?
Poseidon commanded the oceans
and sea creatures.
Athena was a warrior
of wisdom and justice.
Hermes had lightning-fast speed.
They all sound pretty superhero-y to me.
So, if you could have
any one superpower, what would it be?
Mine would be to time-travel.
I think it would be to freeze time.
If I could be really warm on days
when it's really cold outside,
'cause we work outside.
-Good answer.
-I would want to fly
but not in a plane,
'cause I hate planes.
Reading minds.
It might get a little testy living in,
like, a city like New York or LA.
-It's a lot of minds to read.
-A lot of minds.
Yeah, maybe just fly.
While most superpowers sound awesome,
the bad news is, they would actually
create massive problems
in the real world
due to some pesky properties of physics.
[male voice over]
Sorry. Bye!
Super strength seems super cool.
Dent!
I'll be right there, Chief!
Until you realize you'd super-crush
anything you super-touch.
Oh! That's the third door this week!
Oh, no! I'm late!
Super-speed might save you lots of time.
But who cares about tardiness when
you're on fire?
-I'm on fire!
Moving that fast, the friction
would cause you to burst into flames.
Water, sir?
Of course, you can't think of superheroes
without thinking of their nemesis,
supervillains.
But when it comes to good versus evil
[demonic voice]
can you really tell which one is which?
Let's see how your superpower
to tell good from evil
is working in this next game.
Take a look at this image.
What does it say?
Now, we're not saying
if you see the word "evil,"
you're a bad person,
but wouldn't you rather see
the word "good"?
And when it comes
to how you view the world,
good and evil tend to be a little more
clear-cut. Want to see what we mean?
Let's play another game.
-Take a look at these two animals.
- [Miaow!]
Which is good, and which is evil?
Now take a look at these plants.
Which is good, and which is evil?
-How about this pair?
-[dolphin laughs]
And finally, take a look at these two.
Which is good, and which is evil?
Okay, that last one was a little tricky.
Parents might say broccoli is good.
Eat your vegetables.
But most kids would say broccoli's evil.
But we bet you chose flower,
kitten and dolphin, for good,
and cockroach, cactus and shark, for evil.
So, why is that?
It's in your DNA to choose safe
over dangerous in order to survive.
Sometimes it's based on appearances
[growls]
which can be deceiving.
But for the most part, your brain is
hardwired to choose things that look safer
and less threatening.
And nature is designed
to warn us about who to trust
and who to stay clear of.
You.
As you've seen, you already have powers
like super vision, super hearing,
and even super strength,
just like your favorite superheroes.
But there are plenty
of real-life superheroes
helping to make the world
a better and safer place.
Good speech. But let's be honest,
no real superpowers,
you're not a real hero.
For once, I agree with old muscle breath.
He kind of has a point.
Quick! Get him back in the water!
He seems to be caught
in some kind of death-ray.
This could be the work of Dr. Danger.
SHRIMP!
Guess I bit off more than I could chew.
You saved me. She's a real hero.
THE END
Or superhuman strength.
[producer]
Quick reset! Quick reset!
It'll go faster if I use my su--
Brain freeth!
Wath I thupposed to
Oh, this is my freestyle dance part.
Great. Waiting all day.
Owww!
Ouchy!
Azder vuvva beyaaah!
Previous EpisodeNext Episode