Tuesday nights are already too quiet now that The Irrational is on its midseason hiatus.
I love neuroscience, and I’m a huge fan of Jesse L Martin, so I was thrilled that this series about a behavioral science professor and detective got a second season.
While it hasn’t been perfect (what show ever is?), it’s been highly entertaining. Let’s dive right into The Irrational Season 2 Midseason report card and discuss what’s so brilliant about this series.
The Irrational burst onto the scene during the writers’ and actors’ strikes when it was one of the only shows that filmed episodes prior to the beginning of the work stoppage, which meant that Season 1’s schedule was super wonky.
NBC broadcast what it had and then waited months for the rest.
Fortunately, The Irrational Season 2 follows a similar schedule to other NBC shows, so we won’t have to wait until March or April for the second half of the season!
Best Episode – “Anatomy of A Fall” (The Irrational Season 2 Episode 5)
In some ways, the “best episode” category for this show is meaningless.
There were no bad episodes of The Irrational. Even my least favorites were highly enjoyable, even if they had so many plot holes they felt like they were made out of Swiss cheese or weren’t as exciting as some other stories.
That said, The Irrational Season 2 Episode 5 spoke to me more than any other story this season.
I’m a sucker for mysteries set on college campuses. I write them, read them, and love them on TV.
I especially love it when detectives have to navigate the politics of the institution, which Alec did to a degree during “Anatomy of A Fall.”
The episode was about a girl who supposedly jumped to her death from a college building but was actually pushed, and Alec had to work with a college administrator who was reluctant to push too hard for answers because she didn’t want the school to look bad.
She also didn’t want her son involved in the investigation even though he was Alec’s newest research assistant, which made things more interesting.
This episode gets high marks on our The Irrational Season 2 Midseason Report Card because of that fantastic setup. Strangely, Simon’s mother had no reaction when she found out her son was continuing to investigate despite her instructions to the contrary.
That was the only blip in an otherwise perfect episode, though.
I loved that this story exposed the dark side of (some) sororities, the way academic pressure can affect some students, and other serious issues related to college life in 2024.
It also used Wylton University, where Alec works, instead of the fictional Hudson University, which has the highest crime rate of any college ever because it has been used in every crime drama involving a college campus.
Best of all, “Anatomy Of A Fall” ended with Phoebe back in Alex’s lab, where she belonged, instead of trying to work for an unethical professor, and we finally learned her last name.
Now we just need Rizwan’s!
For all these reasons, this story got exceptionally high marks on our The Irrational Season 2 Midseason Report Card.
Worst Episode – “Stan By Me” (The Irrational Season 2 Episode 7)
Although I love The Irrational, the final episode of the fall season didn’t make a great impression.
The Irrational Season 2 Episode 7 broke from the usual format by having Alec work with Rose instead of with the FBI, for the most part.
There’s nothing wrong with that, per se, and Alec and Rose’s paths had already crossed on a previous case. Still, something about this episode didn’t work as well.
There wasn’t a class lecture at the beginning that played into the solution to the mystery, and the case of the week wasn’t all that exciting.
The ending was as inspirational as always, with the falsely accused K-pop star realizing she could be successful by being herself instead of listening to her manager, but something felt off about this episode.
It didn’t help that Marisa had a silly subplot revolving around a new boss who was overly eager to prevent burnout by cutting her hours and forcing her to socialize.
That story was (thankfully) wrapped up by the end of the episode, but it was a waste of time, leading to surprisingly low marks on our The Irrational Season 2 Midseason Report Card.
Best Story – Phoebe Finding Her Way Back To Alec
Before the season began, there was a lot of speculation about what was going to happen with Phoebe.
She had quit her job as a research assistant for Alec because she felt his constant need to get into dangerous situations to solve the case of the week was bad for her mental health, yet Molly Kunz promised she was not leaving the show and that there was more to come for her character.
Phoebe’s journey back to Alec wasn’t dragged out past the point of ridiculousness and was an engaging story in its own right.
At first, Phoebe was merely bored at her new job. Her new boss wanted her to relax and, therefore, gave her nothing to do.
That was odd, but it seemed to make sense in the world of The Irrational, so okay.
However, the second half of this story was much stronger. Phoebe discovered that this professor was having research assistants do all the work while she took all the credit.
Sadly, that’s so common in academia that it wasn’t clear the professor was doing anything wrong. The student involved, Ava, didn’t care that she was being used as a ghostwriter, but it bothered Phoebe, and it got to the point where she wasn’t any less anxious than she was while working for Alec.
The short version of the story was that Phoebe became a whistleblower, got her boss fired, and then couldn’t find a new job because the plagiarizing professor made sure no one would hire her. Thus, she ended up returning to Alec’s department.
However, this story gets such high marks on our The Irrational Season 2 Midseason report card because it gives Phoebe a new best friend and ally: Kylie.
Alec’s sister has a much bigger role this season, which is a good thing. Her relationship with Phoebe is one of the most fun parts of the show.
Kylie helped Phoebe to understand the cost of becoming a whistleblower and later, convinced her that she couldn’t outrun her anxiety and that it might be best for her to ask Alec for her old job back.
These two have become close this season, and I hope there’s more of that to come in the second half!
Worst Storyline – Alec Tries To Stop A Train Collision By Standing On The Tracks
I enjoyed most of the story on The Irrational Season 2 Episode 6, but the climax needed some work.
The case was VERY different but fun. A woman who used datasets to predict disasters and other major events was worried that there was a high probability of a train collision due to a hack into a system that was supposed to keep trains safe.
Alec was able to get online and subtly warn people to evacuate commuter trains, but the problem still remained because freight trains were still moving, and an engineer the FBI spoke to refused to slow down or stop no matter what Alec said.
Exciting, right?
However, the climax gets a D at best on The Irrational Season 2 midseason report card because of Alec’s ridiculous solution.
He played a high-stakes game of chicken with the engineer, getting on the tracks at the point where the train needed to stop and hoping the engineer blinked first.
This felt as unrealistic as it was dangerous.
It was hard to believe that a train going at an extremely high speed could stop on a dime, especially since the engineer wouldn’t even slow down until it was clear he would kill Alec if he didn’t.
The episode redeemed itself by having Kylie yell at Alec about taking unnecessary risks and get him to see this dangerous behavior was the wrong way to deal with his leftover trauma from surviving that bombing years ago.
The ending was strong, too, as Alec decided he’d rather keep his scars than get them surgically removed after his conversation with Kylie.
Still, that train chicken scene felt like danger for the sake of danger. There had to have been another solution!
Honorable Mention: Rizwan’s Growth
During The Irrational Season 1, Rizwan had major stage fright. He enjoyed doing research behind the scenes and helping Alec solve cases, but he was terrified of teaching students himself.
When asked to take over one of Alec’s lessons, he froze, stammered, and rambled, and his underwhelming performance put the students to sleep.
That’s not the case anymore. Rizwan now regularly demonstrates Alec’s points to the class, even playacting sometimes to help with a demonstration.
His increased confidence makes him a much more enjoyable character. I’m loving Rizwan this season. A+!
Over to you, The Irrational fanatics.
What grade would you put on The Irrational Season 2 midseason report card?
Vote in our poll, and then hit the comments with your thoughts!
The Irrational airs on NBC on Tuesdays at 10/9c and on Peacock on Wednesdays. New episodes will return on January 7, 2025.
Watch The Irrational Online
