‘King of the Nerds’ season 2 spotlight: Will Nicole Evans create formula for success?
Is it weird that whenever we think of science, we also now think of Brian Cranston? We’re sure that Nicole Evans has probably been asked about “Mr. White” on more than one occasion since taking on chemistry as a job, and once the season premiere of “King of the Nerds” premieres on TBS, we’re sure that at least a few subreddits are probably going to be all over her with questions about her job. (Yes, internet, because all chemists automatically know how to make meth.)
Rather than spend the entirety of this article discussing “Breaking Bad” , let’s actually get to addressing the real question here: Is this chemist and “Doctor Who” superfan going to pull a Dalek and exterminate the competition? Or, is she going to fall through a tear in time, and never to return to the show? While The Doctor operates with his own set of rules / the Tardis, we have the Nerd Scale to lend us a helping hand. While it may not have the ability to travel through time and space (sadly), it will at least give us the foundation to judge Nicole like those same people on Reddit are probably going to do every week..
Nerd Pros – First of all, the costume. Cheers to her for wearing it, and cheers for the show actually being able to clear the Third Doctor for television. We referenced our Auron – “Final Fantasy X” costume in the Kelsey spotlight, and we were told on “Beauty and the Geek” not to wear it since it wasn’t cleared. (Ironically, they still put it on TV.) This is an example of TBS going the extra mile, and in between this and her extensive history of “Doctor Who” knowledge in the bio, she may actually know more about the character than some people who have actually played The Doctor. If Clara was ever injured on the field of battle, she could step in and lend Peter Capaldi a helping hand.
Also, love the references in the bio to classic Square games (“Xenogears”), a mention of the “they’re taking the Hobbits to Isengard!” meme, and a mention of “Legends of the Hidden Temple” as a favorite game show. If she had mentioned the Silver Snakes, probably every single Nerd Con would have been automatically forgiven. Also, as someone who briefly had a Tauren on “World of Warcraft” named Narfmeister, she has solid grasp when it comes to the Blizzard universe. She also references Ozymandias the “Watchmen” character, and that makes us want to go right back down the “Breaking Bad” rabbit hole again.
Nerd Cons – Let’s talk about roller derby for a second. Can you be nerdy about roller derby? Sure, if you’ve got autographs and various memorabilia from various teams like it’s an obsession. But, the way that Nicole talks about roller derby is like she is about to “Mortal Kombat” – finishing move someone. Almost half of her video is spent talking about something that we don’t typically think most nerds would have the athletic ability / confidence to physically take someone down. Then again, based on everything that we know about the way that she plays roller derby, she makes it just about as nerdy as someone possibly can.
Literally, though, there’s nothing else. Read her bio. It’s very entertaining.
Nerd Scale – 9 out of 10. The only minor deduction is for roller derby, mostly because we feel like internet deathmatches are the only time that most nerds traditionally think about the utter destruction of another in the field of battle. But still, these scores may only be as valuable to “King of the Nerds” as an individual Dalek in an army. She could do very well on the show; our major concern (or our “master” chief concern, is that too much of a stretch?) is that she will come across too competitive, and become a target that competes in every Nerd-Off possible. To compare this to “Legends of the Hidden Temple,” if you go in aggressively, eventually you’re going to get in a room where one of the Temple Guards grabs you.
There are two contestants left in Xander and Zachary, we’ll present their spotlights on Monday and Tuesdays. Nerds have to recharge the batteries sometimes.