The Irrational

• Title: The Irrational – Point and Shoot
• IMDb: link

With Alec Mercer (Jesse L. Martin) helping a legal team rather than the FBI for an episode, “Point and Shoot” almost feels like a different show. I wonder if this plot was a hold over from a slightly different pitch for the series, since the FBI involvement is minimally shoehorned in as a separate B-story. The main story involves the death of Kylie’s (Travina Springer) friend in a police raid gone wrong and the court case by the victim’s husband looking for justice. Malcolm-Jamal Warner stars as an expert witness for the other side whose involvement in the case convinces Alec to sign on leading to some interesting back and forth between the experts on the stand and a frank discussion about the use of experts in court cases.

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• Title: The Irrational – Lucky Charms
• IMDb: link

While on a trip to Las Vegas to help out an old student, “Lucky Charms” offers the show’s most fun episode of the season but also one where it’s trademark use of psychology is less overt than normal leading to a more generic feeling episode. When Camille Lawson (Jocelyn Hudon), Alec Mercer (Jesse L. Martin) former teaching assistant turned professional poker player, reaches out in need of help when she believes another player in the tournament is cheating, Alec, Phoebe (Molly Kunz), and Owen (Arash DeMaxi) all head to Vegas to offer their services and help prevent her from getting her legs broken by the easily manipulated members of the mob.

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• Title: The Irrational – Zero Sum
• IMDb: link

Alec Mercer (Jesse L. Martin) is hired by a couple whose teenage daughter (Rhinnan Payne) is kidnapped and ransomed for a price they can’t possibly afford. Connecting the kidnapping to the missing girl’s connection to the wealthy family her mother once worked for, Alec eventually connects to dots and uncovers the identity and motivations of the kidnapper (Ben Cockell) who mistakenly believes his father’s (Vincent Gale) affection for the girl somehow means he loves him less. The episode is notable for Owen (Arash DeMaxi) teaching a pair of lectures in the professor’s absence, the first of which crashes and burns, and guest-starring Karen David as a K&R expert who takes an immediate shine to Alec. More of her, please.

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• Title: The Irrational – The Barnum Effect
• IMDb: link

Three episodes in the show seems to have found its formula with the FBI being completely clueless about a crime, ready to place blame on the wrong suspect, and utterly reliant on Alec Mercer (Jesse L. Martin) to find the truth. The case of the week involves a plane crash authorities are all too willing to blame on pilot error, although thanks to some sleuthing by Alex, his assistants, and the victim’s brother, someone far more sinister is eventually uncovered. Highlights continue to be how the show works in psychological experiments into the show’s premise while the breadcrumbs of Alec’s past tragedy and who his wife is currently aren’t nearly as engaging.

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• Title: The Irrational – Dead Woman Walking
• IMDb: link

The concept of a poisoned client hiring a detective to solve their murder comes up more often than you would expect in detective fiction. Elementary played with versions of the idea more than once including “Possibility Two.” In “Dead Man Walking,” Alec Mercer (Jesse L. Martin) is hired by a well-known investigative journalist (Amy Aquino) to discover who has poisoned her with a radioactive biproduct for which there is no known cure. The case is hampered by a lack of suspects making it all too easy to guess her partner (Fred Ewanuick) is our killer, although it takes our characters longer to come to that conclusion. The story hits home for Alec’s assistant Phoebe (Molly Kunz) allowing the show to fill in a bit of her backstory as well. A fine, if not too memorable, episode (although the grizzly bear experiment is a nice use of the show’s concept).

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