Nick Szalinski (Robert Oliveri)

Character Analysis

Nick is pretty much his dad's mini-me. An uber-nerd with an obsessive interest in science, this kid is a quark off the old electron, if you catch our drift.

Nerd Alert

Oddly, however, Wayne doesn't show much interest in fostering this mutual love of science. Just look at how he reacts when Nick shows him a tiny scale replica of his shrink ray:

NICK: Look, I finished mine. It looks just like yours, huh?

[...]

WAYNE: [absentmindedly] That's great, Nick.

In many ways, this mirrors the relationship between Big Russ Thompson and his youngest son Ron. Both kids have a strong connection with their dad—Nick with science and Ron with sports—but both fathers ignore these connections because of their own insecurities.

Still that doesn't mean that the two kids relate.

RON: Hey Szalinski, ever do anything normal like play baseball?

NICK: Nope. Baseball's for mortals.

In true nerd fashion, Nick is the member of the group most often in danger during their quest across the Skalinskis' yard. He gets plopped in a flower, which doesn't sound like a big deal, but the kid's allergic to pollen (because of course). He even gets snagged by a roving bee.

In both of these instances, Nick is saved by his sister Amy and neighbor Russ, showing him that the world of social interaction isn't as scary as it might seem.

Baby Einstein

In the end, Nick is the one who realizes that it was Ron's errant home run that smashed his dad's shrink ray into working. And this helps him get closer to his pops, who has realized through this experience that he needs to be more present in his kids' life.

Take a look:

NICK: I was right, wasn't I? It was the ball, wasn't it?

WAYNE: You were right. You were brilliant.

Let's just hope that these two continue to use their mutual genius for the good of society. With all that brainpower, they'd make a diabolically dynamic father-son supervillain team.