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The Irrational only teases a more exciting version of itself

Unfortunately, the NBC procedural’s second season is mostly business as usual

By LaToya Ferguson  |  October 8, 2024 | 7:00am
Jesse L. Martin as Alec Mercer (Photo: Sergei Bachlakov/NBC)
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The Irrational only teases a more exciting version of itself
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It’s difficult not to compare Found and The Irrational, considering both procedurals premiered on NBC in the same television season, have prominent Black leads (Shanola Hampton and Jesse L. Martin, respectively) front and center, and are set in the Washington, D.C. area (by way of Atlanta and Vancouver). And in terms of scope, both also tackle issues like race relations and social justice. But where those issues are somewhat intrinsic to Found—a series, at its most basic, about finding those marginalized individuals who don’t tend to be looked for—The Irrational’s “scientific” approach to things can divorce itself from them altogether. After all, the majority of The Irrational’s first season drove home the idea that the church bombing which led to Martin’s Professor Alec Mercer having burns on 60-percent of his body was the result of a hate crime—only for that to end up not being the case. 

Based on the 2008 non-fiction book by Dan Ariely, Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions, The Irrational follows Mercer, a world-renowned behavioral psychologist who uses his years of research to, usually, help the FBI out with cases. As Alec explains throughout the series, humans are (much like the book said) “predictably irrational,” which is the key to him understanding what makes them tick even if it doesn’t necessarily make sense. Basically, The Irrational’s “scientific”—or, really, “rational”—approach to matters comes in the form of Alec (and his research team) rattling off pop psychology fodder—or, to quote the show itself, “pop culture joke science.” It’s not a particularly natural way for a character to speak and remains one of the weakest aspects of the show. But it is a slight twist on the typical know-it -all dialogue that comes from the genre’s genius (or genius-adjacent) consultant characters.

Unlike Found, The Irrational is far more concerned with just being a straightforward genius-consultant procedural, with Alec’s “beautiful mind” for behavioral psychology guiding him (and often the FBI) on his weekly quest to solve the mysteries and crimes that come his way. While season one had the ongoing arc of Alec and his ex-wife/FBI partner Marisa (Maahra Hill) trying to get to the bottom of the aforementioned church bombing, overall The Irrational proved itself to have a simple week-to-week concept: Jesse L. Martin spouts pop psychology at series regulars, guest stars, and day players, and when all is said and done, his character’s surface-level analysis (for example, using the Trolley Problem to determine that someone’s not a psychopath) always ends up being correct. It’s the type of situation where you have to have someone as charming and prolific as Martin to make it work, which means that The Irrational’s job was technically done the moment Martin was cast as the lead.

One thing The Irrational is not—even with bombs and shootings and arsons and kidnappings—is an exciting, action-packed procedural. But as the series makes its return for season two, it attempts to temporarily live in a reality in which it can possibly be just that. The Irrational’s series premiere ended with a “six weeks later” epilogue in which Karen David’s former MI6 agent-turned-fixer (and Alec’s girlfriend) Rose was kidnapped, seemingly out of nowhere. This season’s premiere catches Alec & Co. up to that fact, leading to an episode that both feels like a backdoor pilot for what could be quite the entertaining Rose spin-off (set either in the present day or during her MI6 days) and a bait and switch for a more exciting, high-octane version of The Irrational altogether. As enthralling as the season premiere can be for the majority of its runtime, it’s notably enthralling because it’s not a typical episode of The Irrational.

Eighty percent of the installment focuses on arguably the most interesting character on the show (who’s also only a guest star). The remaining 20percent consists, unfortunately, of scenes that throw a bone to Alec’s (present and former, as of the end of season one) research assistants, Rizwan (Arash DeMaxi) and Phoebe (Molly Kunz), who seemingly exist to be the episode’s rare moments of levity. It’s worth noting that The Irrational is also not a quirky procedural, despite its semi-regular attempts to dip its toes into that well, often with said research assistants. So as The Irrational returns with its high-octane premiere—before, no worries, going back to its standard and less adrenaline-pumping cases-of-the-week—the weakest aspect of the series from the beginning is only made more apparent with this large chunk of narrative real estate. And as the series seems determined to pivot more into Alec’s work with the FBI—having made his sister Kylie (Travina Springer) officially join that world as a freelancer by the end of the first season—the inclusion of his research assistants only becomes more extraneous.

Ultimately, it’s difficult to criticize The Irrational as the show that it is versus the show that it could be. Throughout the first season, the series’ lack of commitment to pinning down Alec’s consultant work—as it remained mostly for the FBI, despite an initial (and dropped) pilot set-up to work with the District Attorney’s office—felt like a conscious choice not to pin down the character in the world of law enforcement…only to end with Alec’s pro-BLM sister joining the FBI too, making it all a complete family affair. This time around (only two episodes were screened for critics), we get the sense that it’s trying to be far more thrilling, only to return things back to the safe norm. The Irrational isn’t too dark or gritty to be more than light fare (although this season does have a killer who murders people in a shockingly brutal fashion), but it also isn’t fun and humorous enough (even in Martin and Springer’s brother-sister scenes together) to be a quirky procedural. Instead, The Irrational seems to exist in a constantly shifting-yet-suspended middle state. But at least it still has Jesse L. Martin. 

The Irrational season two premieres October 8 on NBC  

 
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