Summary
- The Irrational season 1 has a total of 11 episodes and has already been renewed for a second season.
- Jesse L. Martin, known for his role in Law & Order and The Flash, leads the cast as Alec Mercer, a world-renowned human behavior professor. He brings personal experiences into his work, making the show unique.
- The show explores Alec's personal life and relationships, including his ex-wife and new girlfriend. Alec's own unresolved mystery has shaped his passion for solving cases.
After a three-month hiatus, The Irrational season 1, episode 8, "Scorched Earth" aired on NBC on January 29. The procedural's first season will have a total of 11 episodes and has already been renewed by the network alongside Found. With only a handful of installments left, the truth about Alec's accident will hopefully come to light in one way or another. However, nothing about The Irrational is ever cut and dry, making it safe to assume that the repercussions of the tragic event will continue to play into the show's second season.
Law & Order alumni Jesse L. Martin leads the cast as world-renowned human behavior professor, Alec Mercer. In addition to his long-term role as Detective Ed Green in NBC's legal drama, Martin is most well-known for his time in the Arrowverse. He portrayed Joe West in The CW's The Flash and remained involved with the DCTV series until it wrapped in 2023. The Irrational also stars Maahra Hill, Travina Springer, Molly Kunz, and Arash DeMaxi.
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Screen Rant interviewed Jesse L. Martin about Alec's passion for solving mysteries and how his own may unravel, as well as keeping in touch with The Flash cast.
Jesse L. Martin Talks The Irrational
Screen Rant: Looking back on the season as a whole, how do you think Alec feels about helping the police? Is he doing this out of obligation, or do you think he has a real passion for it?
Jesse L. Martin: I think he definitely has a passion for it. What I'm learning as an actor, and getting into this character as we go forward—I have played detectives before, obviously. In those cases, it was more just the facts. You never went home with this guy. You never knew how these cases affected him personally. In this case, with Alec, all of these things play personally. Everything's personal. What I do love, and I hope that it becomes a staple in our show, is working through these cases, being the consultant and behavioral psychologist.
How that plays out in his personal life is a big deal to me, and how it plays out in the classroom is a big deal to me. How I can turn my work and my personal experiences into lessons. I think that's something that our audience picks up on and maybe loves. Everybody gets to learn something, and I get to learn something every single week, every single day. It comes from real great source material, Dan Ariely, who this character is loosely based on, but mostly the show is based on his work.
I get to learn all these fantastic things. You know this world where there's a huge audience for crime docu series, right? Everybody wants to figure out crimes. Sitting on your couch, figuring out why people behave the way they do, and why crimes happen. They can solve the crime at home. Our show is a scripted show, obviously, but we're in the same vein where people get to learn why people do the things they do. I love that this is a character that I get to play now.
Touching on what you just said, do you think part of the reason why Alec is so invested in solving these mysteries is because his own hasn't been solved?
Jesse L. Martin: Absolutely, for sure. What happened to Alec so long ago in that church bombing literally catapulted him into this work. There's a world where, even though it was a tragic situation, he's grateful that he went through this situation, because it led him to the work that he does now. How I put that out there to my students is a really big deal. As an actor, I'm really hyped about it becoming these didactic moments where I get to teach.
I think somewhere in my life, I probably wanted to be a teacher because it feels so natural for me to do it now. I love the moments where I get to teach in the show. I'm hoping for many, many more moments where these cases, not only solve themselves, or I get to solve them, with all the characters that are involved, but how those cases become lessons is a big deal to me.
In 107, we learned about how important Marisa and Kylie were in one another's lives. Do you feel that Alex still wants them to maintain a relationship despite everything that he and his ex-wife have been through?
Jesse L. Martin: Absolutely. And it's funny that I get to do this now, because, like I said before, I played these characters where you didn't really see them at home. You just saw the work that they did. But now I have all these interpersonal relationships that get to play out on a regular basis. It's great work for an actor.
How I work with my sister, how I work with my ex-wife, how I work with my new girlfriend, how these things play out in the midst of solving crimes, if you will, and being a procedural. I get to go home, take my shoes off, and how that affects the character on a daily basis is way, way, way interesting to play as an actor. So, yes. All the personal relationships playing out is great fodder for me to work with.
On that note, would you ever want Alec and Marisa to give their relationship another shot? Or do you think they left it in a good place?
Jesse L. Martin: I think we left it in a good place. I love the idea that we're still very much in each other's lives, but I do think there's a world where she needs someone else, and I need someone else. How we play those things together and being in each other's lives with other relationships is way more interesting to me than just getting back together. I think we should always have a thing for each other, but we never actually come back together with it.
Where do you want his relationship with Rose to go? It's still very early on, but do you have hope for them?
Jesse L. Martin: I absolutely have a lot of hope for that because there's something to be played out where intellect is really sexy. She's an equal in a way when it comes to the work she does and the intellect she has. I think it's a great space for Alec when it comes to romance, because he's still hurt by leaving his marriage. He's still hurt by it.
The only way he's going to be in any sort of romantic situation is somebody who really intrigues him intellectually, and Rose is all that all day. Not to mention, she's a fantastically beautiful woman and a really cool person, personally. Karen David is an absolute dream to work with. So the idea of us getting into an intellectual space that becomes a relationship space is really interesting to me.
Thankfully, we know we have a season 2, so are there any storylines that you would like to see explored?
Jesse L. Martin: Like we were just talking [about], I certainly am interested in what could happen with Rose. Is he able to hold down a real relationship outside of the marriage that he had? I'm really interested in how these cases play themselves out in the classroom. I like the idea of personally being involved in these cases, helping solve these cases, and how that becomes a lesson in the classroom, because I think that's what makes our show quite interesting. How it can become a lesson for each episode. I'm hoping that we do more of that—get back into the classroom.
Do you have any idea when you'll start shooting season 2?
Jesse L. Martin: In March, we're going back in.
While I have you, we have a lot of The Flash fans, so I'd love to get your thoughts on how the series ended.
Jesse L. Martin: First of all, it was a great run. A fantastic run. What I am really hyped about now is, first of all, Grant Gustin is probably one of the most talented people on the planet. And what Grant has been wanting to do forever was to get on stage and, God bless, he's now going to make his Broadway debut in Water for Elephants, which I cannot wait to see. And I can't wait to see what happens with all the other characters even in the further Arrowverse. Everybody's spread out and doing their thing. But I'm particularly interested in seeing Grant get his final joy to be on Broadway. I can't wait to see that.
Do you still keep in contact with Grant and Candice and the rest of the cast?
Jesse L. Martin: Yes. Those two in particular. I talk to Candice almost every other day.
About The Irrational Season 1, Episode 8
Alec takes a case involving a young burn victim and arson that forces him to confront some trauma from his past; Phoebe and Rizwan compete for an important research grant.
Check out our previous interview with Jesse L. Martin as well as our interviews with The Irrational crew:
The Irrational returns to NBC on Monday, January 29 at 10pm ET and is available to stream the next day on Peacock.
Source: Screen Rant Plus
The Irrational
Based on the novel by Dan Ariely, The Irrational is a crime drama series created by Arika Mittman. Alec Mercer, a behavioral psychology professor, is enlisted for his uncanny ability to profile and analyze people. Helping to solve several cases for governing bodies, Mercer's world is shaken when he finally meets his equal in a female suspect in a domestic terror case.