Happily, Howell finds that The Martian is not a complete slap in the face of science. Sure, the movie fudges the facts when it comes to little trivialities like gravity, that eternal bugaboo of sci-fi flicks. And the movie’s ferocious Martian dust storm is mostly a plot contrivance with little resemblance to reality, as dust storms on Mars are actually kind of lame. But there is good news, too, as Howell gives the film high marks in its portrayal of Mars rovers, space travel, and what the host calls “scientific MacGyver-ing.” Best of all, Howell says, is the positive and realistic way in which The Martian portrays astronauts as normal, level-headed, even-tempered team players, not socially maladroit nerds or risk-taking hotheads. “Hollywood always tries to inject artificial drama, ” says Howell, “by making their astronauts both crazy and stupid.”
Among the worst offenders cited by the host is star Matt Damon’s previous film, Interstellar, and Scott’s Prometheus. For the most part, The Martian gets it right when portraying the men and women in the field of space exploration. Meanwhile, comic relief in the episode is provided by Jeff Daniels, who happily admits that he flunked science and did not bother to read the book upon which The Martian is based.