Some TV characters like to go out and get into the action, and some like to hide away in their labs behind the scenes. Both roles are important and play their part in a successful storyline.
These brainiacs work their magic in science labs, crime labs, or computer labs, and in those labs is where they truly shine.
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Sometimes they leave their labs when necessary to help the go-getters, but they would much rather be in the safety of their labs, surrounded by the equipment that makes them feel secure and useful.
Here are 19 nerds who love their life in their lab, and wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Read on to find out if your favorite lab rat made a list!
Penelope Garcia – Criminal Minds
If she had her way, Garcia would spend all her time behind a computer screen, surrounded by her colorful and fuzzy knickknacks. Even though she leaves her computer lab when her BAU team needs her, she’s most helpful working her tech magic to catch the bad guys.
Melinda Warner – Law & Order: SVU
Although Melinda does some time in the field, the medical examiner’s office is her jam. She takes great pride in her spotless record. When Benson put that record at risk, she let her have it. Don’t mess with Warner.
Temperance Brennan – Bones
Brennan runs around to solve crimes with Booth, it’s true, but in her lab is where she loves to be. The bones speak to her. Every mark tells her the story of their lives, and she understands their language. It’s kind of magical to watch.
Walter Bishop – Fringe
With every discovery in his lab, Walter’s face lights up like a kid’s on Christmas morning. His innocence might drive Peter crazy, and he might seem crazy himself, but get him in his lab, and he does amazing things. He just might have to do some LSD or some mushrooms to get his juices flowing.
Abby Sciuto – NCIS
Quirky Abby also does her best work in an altered state of mind. Bring her a Caf-Pow, and she’ll give you the answers you’re looking for. She gets so excited to share what she’s figured out; she whizzes around the room, pigtails a-flyin’ to help Gibbs & company solve their NCIS crime.
Amy Farrah Fowler – The Big Bang Theory
Amy is a neurobiologist and Ph.D., so naturally, she loves her time in the lab. She also a perfect match for Sheldon, which is the reason why Raj and Howard set the two up. Don’t they look cute in the lab together?
Dana Scully – The X Files
Even though Mulder does everything he can to pull Scully into believing in what they see, she’s all about the science. She’s the skeptic of the pair, trying to keep Mulder’s feet on the ground, which is a tough job. So tough that even her scientific brain can’t explain some of the things they see in the X-files, and she gets dragged right into the impossible.
Walter White – Breaking Bad
Walter White started out innocent enough. A chemist turned high school chemistry teacher, he was worried about making ends meet for his family, so of course, he went rogue! The next logical step was for him to use those chemistry skills in his beloved lab to make meth for the drug trade. Obviously. What else was he going to do, ask for a pay raise?
Data – Star Trek The Next Generation
Data doesn’t live in the lab; he IS the lab, so we include him on our list. A modern-day Spock-ish figure, he doesn’t have to deal with pesky emotions (much) and can help the crew by spitting out complex computations on the go. He’s like a smartphone, only bigger.
Sam Beckett – Quantum Leap
Sam Beckett spent so much time in the lab on Quantum Leap; he created his own personal Hell. Proof that too much of one thing can’t be good. He stuck himself in the time travel loop because of his experiments, and he spends the show trying to stop. Way to go, Sam. Way to go.
Felicity Smoak – Arrow
Computer Nerd, Felicity Smoak, was going to make damn sure she didn’t end up as a waitress in a cocktail bar. (That much is true.) She graduated summa cum laude from MIT with a computer degree and hadn’t looked back. It would be fun to see Felicity and Penelope Garcia go toe to toe with their hacking skills.
Eugene Porter – The Walking Dead
The only reason Eugene doesn’t spend his life in a lab is that of the whole zombie situation won’t allow it. Given him the opportunity, and Eugene shines solving apocalyptic problems with the scraps remaining on the earth. Wherever Eugene ends up when the apocalypse is over, we’re sure there will be a lab waiting with his name on it.
Miranda Bailey – Grey’s Anatomy
Bailey’s a general surgeon and loves to spend her time in the operating room, and teaching less experienced doctors what’s what. She’s also the one scientist on Grey’s who spends tons of time in the lab, trying to stay ahead of the medical game and help her patients. She’s like a dog with a bone and won’t stop until she solves her medical puzzle.
Ravi Chakrabarti – iZombie
Ravi is the highly energetic medical examiner human turned zombie nerd of iZombie. He’s brilliant, and like any good scientist, he’s searching for a cure to the pesky virus running rampant around King County. If anyone can figure it out, he can.
Sebastian Lund – NCIS New Orleans
Forensic scientist, Sebastian Lund, helps solve Naval crimes in New Orleans, both in the field and in the lab. When he goes out with the team to help them on a case, somehow he always finds himself back in the lab examining the evidence. You can take the man out of the lab, but you can’t take the lab out of the man.
Caitlin Snow – The Flash
Caitlin is highly intelligent and loves her work as a bio-engineer. If she could spend more time in the lab, she would, but ever since Caitlin started developing her cryo abilities, she’s been a little busy. We’re not sure Killer Frost digs the lab as much as Caitlin, but if she can sort that split personality thing out, she’ll be back there in no time.
Lynn Pierce – Black Lightening
Lynn, besides being a highly intelligent neuroscientist and doctor, she finds time to raise her two daughters. Although she’d rather spend time in her lab because that’s where she loves to be, having a family and an ex-husband who is Black Lightning makes that challenging to do. But she does her best.
The Doctor – Star Trek Voyager
The doctor might be just a hologram, but don’t hold that against him. All he’s ever known is the lab because he’s built into every Starfleet ship’s sickbay. He’s everywhere you need him to be, and he gets to spend all his time in his lab. His part-time emergency status turned into a full-time gig, and we think he likes it that way.
Edward Nygma – Gotham
Our forensic investigators do love their labs, and Ed Nygma is no different. All of the lab rats don’t have to be good guys, as the Riddler proves, but just because he’s a bad guy doesn’t mean he loves the lab any less. His scientific brain is just the thing that makes him the most dangerous.
