Mystery

The Irrational – Zero Sum

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

The Irrational - Zero Sum

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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The Irrational – The Barnum Effect

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

The Irrational - The Barnum Effect

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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The Deep Blue Good-by

  • Title: The Deep Blue Good-by
  • wiki: link

“I found I had taken an irrational dislike to Junior Allen, that smiling man.”

Throwback Tuesday takes us back nearly 60 years to John D. MacDonald‘s first Travis McGee novel which would eventually span 21 novels taking place over the next two decades. Private investigator adjacent, McGee is, in his own words, a salvage consultant working out of his houseboat on the Florida coast. When in need of money, and for the right client, McGee will offer his services for half the value of whatever he can recover and is often the only recourse for those who have no legal remedy.

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Found – Pilot

  • Title: Found – Pilot
  • IMDb: link

Found - Pilot

NBC’s Found falls into the genre of increasingly bizarre police consultant shows. Prodigal Son offered us an unstable profiler making some questionable calls by often making use of his serial killer father. Found goes even further down the rabbit hole with Gabi Mosley (Shanola Hampton) secretly keeping her childhood kidnapper (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) chained up her basement using his experience to help with her team who operate with, but outside of, law enforcement in their search for missing children. While the “Pilot” episode keeps the reveal of her house guest a surprise for its final scene, every commercial and promotion gave away this pair being the primary dysfunctional relationship on the show.

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Only Murders in the Building – Sitzprobe

  • Title: Only Murders in the Building – Sitzprobe
  • wiki: link

Only Murders in the Building - Sitzprobe

The big rehearsal for the musical arrives and with it so too Detective Williams (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) and the police to interrogate every member of the play as a potential murder suspect. “Sitzprobe” also offers some revelations about Loretta‘s (Meryl Streep) scrapbook and her connection to someone tied to the play who, when they come under scrutiny by the police, decides to throw herself on the sword and admit to Ben’s murder. By the end of the episode the police will have a suspect in custody, but likely not the murderer.

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