Critic’s Rating: 4.8 / 5.0
4.8
There were two mysteries to solve on The Irrational Season 2 Episode 3, but they were almost beside the point.
Alec’s investigation of whether a hockey accident was really murder and Kylie’s attempt to find out who was framing her for hacking were vehicles for exploring deeper issues.
The two stories were tied together by the way competition can change people, and the price people often pay for doing the right thing. all while subverting most of the usual TV tropes.
The Irrational Season 2 Episode 3 Reinforced The Theme of Seizing The Day
The story behind the story was all about not taking life or relationships for granted.
The District Attorney and a few others kept accusing Soph of having no remorse over Leah’s death, but the opposite was true.
Soph was living with regret because she never got her friendship with Leah back on track after Leah accidentally broke Soph’s collarbone.
Even knowing that she wasn’t responsible for Leah’s death didn’t help Soph much because she realized how much time she’d wasted keeping this rivalry up unnecessarily, and now it was too late.
Soph couldn’t have predicted Leah’s needless death, so she thought there was plenty of time to forgive her and didn’t want to do it even though, on a deeper level, she did.
She learned the hard way that sometimes time runs out when you least expect it to. Her final scene with Alec was touching because she admitted her mistake and was open to his advice.
Alec had the best take on redemption I’d ever heard, too.
Alec: Redemption doesn’t come in a single act. You went down the wrong path step by step. You have to walk the right one the same way.
That quote belongs in a meme.
Too many people think all there is to redemption is apologizing, and it’s important to realize that it takes work — and to not be hard on yourself if you’re not all the way there yet after one or two attempts at making amends.
Soph wasn’t the only one who had to consider the consequences of their choices, either. The whole show was about that.
Phoebe Has To Find Her Courage
The Irrational Season 2 Episode 3 didn’t feature as much of Phoebe as I’d hoped.
I thought she would be more active in trying to do something about her new boss’s behavior, but instead, she only asked Marisa for advice and confided in her that she wasn’t sure she had the courage to do the right thing.
Phoebe: If someone in a position of authority above you was doing something wrong, but reporting it could get you in trouble, what would you do?
Marisa: You’re asking me that? I went after my FBI mentor and a sitting US Senator. You know that. I don’t think you’re looking for advice. I think you’re looking for permission.
Phoebe: Maybe. What if I’m not as badass as you?
Since the end of Season 1, Phoebe has been conflicted between her desire to be part of something big and her fear of taking risks.
She decided to leave Alec’s employment because she felt it was “safer” to get a job somewhere else. However, it’s obvious she’s not happy playing it safe.
Phoebe keeps inserting herself into the mysteries she feels are bad for her mental health.
She always claims it’s this “one time” to help someone else out, but she’s doing it week in and week out, so she needs to take a harder look at herself and decide what she really wants.
She got close to the truth when she admitted to Marisa during The Irrational Season 3 Episode 2 that she feared she wasn’t enough of a badass woman to do the right thing.
Hopefully, that will be the beginning of Phoebe taking steps to reclaim her courage and stand up against this professor that she feels is taking advantage of students’ hard work.
Is Rachel a plagiarist? I’m not sure.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with ghostwriting, though Phoebe didn’t know that’s what Ava was doing when Ava asked her for help with a project.
The professor should have been more transparent with everyone about her plans, but it isn’t clear that she’s actually stealing anyone’s work.
Phoebe isn’t prepared for the potential plot twist of Ava having signed a contract or otherwise agreed to ghostwrite for Rachel, in which case there would be no plagiarism.
Still, her dilemma dovetailed nicely with Kylie’s on The Irrational Season 2 Episode 3.
Kylie Had To Choose Between Her Friends And Clearing Her Name
Kylie was conflicted throughout the entire episode about Marisa sending her undercover in the coding group to find out who had stolen her code and used it in ransomware.
It sucks that her skill was used against her in so many ways and that the group leader, Angelique, judged her for her undercover investigation on The Irrational Season 2 Episode 3.
Angelique was insufferable.
Of course, she has the right to her political beliefs, including her belief that hacking into banks and insurance companies was no big deal because the CEOs made a lot of money off of people who could barely afford it.
But even if Kylie agreed with that, the hacker had put her name back into the code, which meant that if the real culprit wasn’t found, Kylie would likely do jail time.
Angelique’s complaint that Kylie shouldn’t have spied on the group fell flat when Kylie was facing extreme consequences for something she didn’t do.
Kylie’s need to clear her name wasn’t hard to understand.
Yes, Angelique would have preferred to handle it in-house, but how was that possible when Marisa was trying to find the hacker before Kylie could be officially implicated?
Lots of police procedurals have tried to depict the conflict for people of color who are in law enforcement and viewed as traitors by their community, but The Irrational’s take on it was far more original.
The coding group members weren’t real friends if they’d rather Kylie take the fall than accept the idea of a member getting arrested for breaking the law, but that didn’t make it hurt any less.
Kylie thought she’d finally found her people, only to find they cared more about being able to hack into institutions they disapproved of than her well-being and that their anti-cop attitudes also got in the way.
Rose’s Dilemma On The Irrational Season 2 Episode 3 Was Similar To Phoebe’s
Instead of Rose and Alec being unable to separate their professional and personal relationships, Rose’s presence on the case gave Alec an opening to resolve the issue of her trying to escape her trauma.
The two worked well together despite initially being on opposite sides, and that led Alec to confront Rose about her constant avoidance of him.
It was the opposite of a split for the sake of drama.
Rose wanted to end the relationship because she was afraid of losing Alec to violence, but he was able to explain beautifully why that decision didn’t make sense to him.
Rose: I’m haunted by the image of that man holding a gun to your head because of me.
Alec: Here comes the break up speech.
Rose: It’s the only way to protect you.
Alec: You know, ever since I survived that bombing, every day that I’m still here, is a win. You don’t have to protect me, cause I’m living on borrowed time. And I want to spend that time doing things I’m passionate about with people…
Rose: That you are passionate about?
Alec: That I care deeply for. You’re talking about being haunted by the image of me with a gun to my head, but I saw you in the same situation and I thought, I can’t lose Rose Denshaw.
Rose: I don’t want to lose you either. But it is not safe to be around me, and if I don’t run now, I never will, and I don’t want this to end.
Alec: So don’t end it. Stay.
This conversation again fit into the theme of risk-taking vs. playing it safe.
That’s what I love about The Irrational. Yes, it’s a mostly lighthearted mystery, but it also has this worldview about what it means to be fully alive that speaks to me.
What about you, The Irrational fanatics?
Hit the comments with your thoughts about The Irrational Season 2 Episode 3.
The Irrational airs on NBC on Tuesdays at 10/9c and on Peacock on Wednesdays.
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