- Just the other day, I was doing
a little Netflix and chill with Bear,
and what do I find?
"Cells at Work!"
I promised that I would do a review of this,
probably like a year and a half ago,
and I sort of forgot about this,
but now that it's on Netflix, I have no excuse.
So I popped it on, season one, episode one is right here.
It's called Pneumococcus, I'm ready, let's get started.
Bee-woop.
(upbeat music)
(heart thumping)
(Narrator speaking in foreign language)
(upbeat music)
(Narrator speaking in foreign language)
(Red Blood Cell speaking in foreign language)
- (laughs) It's so funny.
All right, so, I'm already starting to piece it together
from the intro here that each one
of these characters represents the cells,
and each one of these characters
is like an employee with some sort of job,
and if they're wearing red, they're red blood cells,
which it just gave a great explanation that they carry
oxygen and carbon dioxide throughout the body.
The fact that they're doing it in packages is even funnier,
'cause that has a medical meaning.
(floor cracking)
(people screaming)
(Red Blood Cell speaking in foreign language)
(man speaking in foreign language)
- So the vascular endothelial cells
are the cells that line your blood vessels.
And if they get injured, guess what happens?
Bleeding.
Oh.
(germ speaking in foreign language)
- Oh, they curse here too.
(germ speaking in foreign language)
- Wow.
Oh no.
(germ speaking in foreign language)
(Red Blood Cell screaming)
- Are these bacteria or viruses?
- [Germ] Huh?
(germ screaming)
(White Blood Cell speaking in foreign language)
- Whoa, that was bloodier than I expected.
The irony of this, though, is that there's
a red blood cell person there,
and they're killing the germ and the germ
is bleeding red blood cells. (chuckles)
(White Blood Cell speaking in foreign language)
- Okay, so, this is interesting.
Because this gentleman here is a white blood cell,
part of the Neutrophil Division,
means that he's attacking a bacteria,
'cause neutrophils primarily work against bacteria.
Don't know what U-1146 is, maybe that's his codename.
(Narrator speaking in foreign language)
(Red Blood Cell speaking in foreign language)
- White blood cells and red blood cells
exist within your circulation at all times.
You need both to function.
The red blood cells, obviously the most important
for the oxygen, the white blood cells
are part of your immune system.
In fact, when I do something known as a CBC,
which is a blood test, that's a complete blood count,
the two main numbers that we read on there
are the hemoglobin and the white blood cell count.
If I'm looking to see if you have an infection,
that white blood cell count number can be low or high,
that's important to know.
(germ speaking in foreign language)
- I'm not gonna lie.
These bacteria look pretty badass.
(Red Blood Cell speaking in foreign language)
(Macrophage speaking in foreign language)
- I don't know why she's so lost.
Once the heart pumps, you should be able
to just go in the one direction that it pumps.
(Red Blood Cell speaking in foreign language)
- This is really funny 'cause CO2 is carbon dioxide,
and when you deliver it back to the lungs,
your body exhales it, which is a form of waste.
(Red Blood Cell speaking in foreign language)
(dramatic music)
- (gasps) Bacteria!
(chuckles)
(door thuds)
(germ speaking in foreign language)
(Red Blood Cell screaming) - I love this.
Oh my God.
(White Blood Cell speaking in foreign language)
(Red Blood Cell speaking in foreign language)
(White Blood Cell speaking in foreign language)
- That's true, this is very accurate,
that strep pneumo is one of the most common
bacteria for respiratory infections,
and sometimes ear infections.
Actually, in children, we give the pneumococcal vaccine
in order to decrease the rates of infection,
and if they are to get infected,
hopefully it's a less severe infection.
We also give the same vaccines to those who are over the age
of 65 in some cases also for that same purpose,
decreases rates of pneumonia.
(White Blood Cell speaking in foreign language)
- He's talking about meningitis,
that's an infection of the meninges,
which surround the brain,
that's the padding that surrounds the brain.
Obviously very dangerous not only
because of infection in the brain is not a good idea
but also because that swelling
causes increased pressure, also quite dangerous.
(White Blood Cell speaking in foreign language)
(Red Blood Cell speaking in foreign language)
(White Blood Cell speaking in foreign language)
- I wonder why this body is immunocompromised.
Immunocompromised means
that their immune system's not functioning well.
This usually happens as a result of a medication
that they're taking, other illnesses that they have,
for example those who have HIV or AIDS,
those are immunodeficient states,
meaning that they're immunocompromised to infections.
Very commonly if someone's getting an organ transplant,
they take medications to make them immunocompromised,
there's all sorts of situations for that,
but I wonder which one they're using here.
(White Blood Cell speaking in foreign language)
- It's funny, they're using almost like the lack
of policing resources as a representation
for immunocompromised, I love that.
(platelets speaking in foreign language)
(White Blood Cell speaking in foreign language)
(Red Blood Cell speaking in foreign language)
- Aw.
(Red Blood Cell speaking in foreign language)
(White Blood Cell speaking in foreign language)
- Aw, platelets are so cute in this, which is kind of funny
'cause platelets are supposed to be big.
Platelets are the white blood cells
that actually clump and start the clotting process.
They actually clump together and start the clotting process.
So if you ever get a cut, it's your platelets
that are responsible for stopping the bleed.
(dramatic music)
Oh, the killer T cells are here.
The immune-mediated response is a-coming.
Through the lymphatic vessel.
(Killer T Cell speaking in foreign language)
- I love that it says KILL on the hats.
(Killer T Cell speaking in foreign language)
- [All] Yes, sir!
(Red Blood Cell speaking in foreign language)
(White Blood Cell speaking in foreign language)
- This is so much pathophysiology right now,
this is like above my pay grade right now.
The fact that pneumococcal bacteria are hemolytic in nature,
that they're gonna go after the red blood cells,
is something I haven't studied in ages, this is amazing.
(Red Blood Cell speaking in foreign language)
- So, capillaries are so thin that they only allow
a single stream of red blood cells through
in order to have diffusion between them and the alveoli.
(door creaks)
(Red Blood Cell speaking in foreign language)
- I have a feeling she's gonna run into him.
(box rattling)
(blade whirring)
(Red Blood Cell gasps)
Oh no.
(germ speaking in foreign language)
- Oh no, the red blood cell helped him get there.
(dramatic music)
Oh, the capsule blocked him.
He's an encapsulated bacteria.
(White Blood Cell speaking in foreign language)
(explosion booms)
(germ speaking in foreign language)
- I'm gonna make a little prediction right now
that all three of these are gonna get coughed out
(laughs) in the mucus.
(germ speaking in foreign language)
(Red Blood Cell screams)
(alarm blaring)
(metal whirring)
(woman speaking in foreign language)
(man speaking in foreign language)
(germ speaking in foreign language)
- He's about to get coughed out.
Sneezed, he's about to get sneezed out. (laughs)
(woman speaking in foreign language)
(germ speaking in foreign language)
(dramatic music)
- The platelets are just looking on.
(White Blood Cell speaking in foreign language)
(person speaking in foreign language)
- You know what's funny?
Germs actually have hang time.
So when you sneeze and they're outside of your body,
they actually can hang around in the air.
So you can walk into a room that someone sneezed in,
they're not in there anymore,
and you could still get sick.
(Red Blood Cell speaking in foreign language)
(triumphant music)
- Are we getting a "Grey's Anatomy" moment
inside "Cells at Work!"?
Come on now.
(White Blood Cell speaking in foreign language)
(Red Blood Cell speaking in foreign language)
(White Blood Cell speaking in foreign language)
(Red Blood Cell speaking in foreign language)
(White Blood Cell speaking in foreign language)
(Red Blood Cell speaking in foreign language)
(white blood cells yelling)
(White Blood Cell speaking in foreign language)
- Now I understand why you guys
have been pushing me to watch this.
It's well done, it's entertaining, it's funny.
For nerds like myself who love learning about the human body
and refreshing some of their knowledge from medical school
and the in-college days, this is brilliant.
It's creative, you gotta give 'em that.
If you want me to watch another episode of these,
maybe you can recommend like the best episode
and I can watch that one.
As you know, I love watching all sorts
of TV shows and dramas, and all that stuff.
In fact, I put a special playlist together
for you right here, wait no, right here, right here,
click on that bad boy, we're gonna watch it together
while staying happy and healthy.
Where's Bear?
(upbeat hip hop music)