The Irrational

• 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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• Title: The Irrational – Pilot
• IMDb: link

The Irrational is the latest entry in the long line of police consultant procedurals with college professor Alec Mercer (Jesse L. Martin) helping the FBI, and his ex-wife (Maahra Hill), on cases the first of which is a former soldier confessing to the murder of his ex-girlfriend (Soma Chhaya) who Alec is convinced is innocent. The setup takes elements from various detective and consultant shows over the years, who often explains to others (and the audience) what he sees that they are missing, while also  including a dark personal mystery which haunts out genius professor and will likely be the thread woven in over the course of the series. 

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