Irrational Season 1 Eps 1-6

[shapeshifter]

43 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

• The ash in the paintings from the eruption of Krakatoa even as far away as France was fascinating.

Yes. Perhaps the highlight of the entire show. 
Maybe if this show get axed, JLM can get cast in a show tracking down forgeries. 

45 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

• the two research assistants who are very unfunny comic relief.

So much so. At least the actor who plays Frasier's comic relief nephew on the new reboot is moderately amusing.

[kaygeeret]

The degree to which I really enjoyed the exchanges between Alex and Rose really highlighted how truly awful the ex wife is.  Perhaps partly due to acting, but mostly due to the profoundly boring/stereotypical writing for the character.

Have the ex and the sis get together and then only bring sis back.  Or don't.  I don't care actually.

I kind of like the male assistant (ducking), but truly dislike the female.  The actor sometimes speaks so quickly I miss her lines!  And I am not hard of hearing.

What is it with speaking as if your lines don't matter.  If they don't matter then maybe they should be cut.

Harumph!

[Cress]

On 11/4/2023 at 8:27 PM, statsgirl said:

Are they aging up Kylie to match JLM? There was no way that the actress was in college 20 years ago.

The actress Travina Springer may look young, but she's 41 according to one gossip website. If you don't trust it, her IMDB shows acting credits back to 2009. She's not that young.

Quote

Then she easily opens the secret room used as part of a multi million dollar forgery ring. Did they not bother locking the door or making it otherwise inaccessible?

Then they go to the forger's studio and effortlessly pick the lock?

I assume that Henry's secret room is normally locked, but that he opened it when talking to Evan. Evan, the killer, maybe closed the door imperfectly and didn't know how or care to lock the door. I can assume that Rose saw an opening.

As for picking the door to the forger's art studio, I thought Rose started to pick it, but Alec interrupted her and pushed the door open, because it actually wasn't locked. The forger's dad was inside.

Overall I liked Alec and Rose's chemistry. I hope she's not just there to make an obstacle like Marisa's boyfriend.

Edited November 8, 2023 by Cress

[jah1986]

I really enjoyed the chemistry between Alec and Rose and I hope they bring her back, and that if they bring her back they don't ruin her character. But those scenes proved they don't need the ex-wife story line, they have no chemistry.  They can make Marissa a recurring character for cases that actually require FBI involvement.

I did not know what was going on with Marissa and Kylie's scenes, I was wondering if they had hooked up in the past, or had UST. It was a mess, just to say I miss us hanging out.

I am still annoyed by the interns. I think the female is just a bad actor and so it difficult to understand what her feelings are or what they're supposed to be.

[Trini]

7 hours ago, Cress said:

Overall I liked Alec and Rose's chemistry. I hope she's not just there to make an obstacle like Marisa's boyfriend.

Is that guy even an obstacle? Because that would imply that Alec and Marisa want to get back together at some point, and so far the show has not convinced me that that relationship even matters to either of them. I can get on board with Alec/Rose, though.

[12catcrazy]

I agree with all that the ex-wife is written poorly (but so is the show in general).  I liked Rose but when she and Alec were on their "date", all I could think is that they are both workaholics and how would either really have room in their life for somebody else?  Maybe the point is that they'd be perfect for each other if they teamed up on the same job?   As far as hot and heavy romance, it would be all about the work.  I hope that the show doesn't go in that direction either (I keep thinking of shows like Magnum PI).   

So far, this show seems to be a case of where mediocre writers keep throwing shit against the wall, hoping to find out where it sticks. 

[Trini]

14 minutes ago, 12catcrazy said:

So far, this show seems to be a case of where mediocre writers keep throwing shit against the wall, hoping to find out where it sticks. 

To be fair, it's the first season; I'd expect some unevenness as they figure out what works and what audiences respond to. But in one of the interviews I linked before, the showrunner did say they were trying out different formats/tones, etc..

[statsgirl]

I find that the first season of a show is often one of the best (e.g. Castle, Arrow) because everyone is energized and eager, But this show seems like someone wanted a vehicle for JLM, seized on an idea maybe prompted by a combination of Lie To Me, Perception and Bull, and didn't quite think it through.

The research assistants are especially bad in terms of plotting. This latest "experiment" makes no sense: setting aside the lack of ethical protocols, sit any intelligent person down and ask them "Why would someone pay too much money for something that is a fake?" and I'm pretty sure the explanation "sentimental value" will come up very soon. On the other hand, it did prompt a discussion in my house of whether you need a control group for an experiment (the answer was 'no').

The will they/won't they with Alec's ex is an overused trope.

8 hours ago, Cress said:

The actress Travina Springer may look young, but she's 41 according to one gossip website. If you don't trust it, her IMDB shows acting credits back to 2009. She's not that young.

That's interesting. I wonder where I got the impression that Kylie was just out of college .... maybe the lack of a job or relationship, maybe that she first came out to Marissa since the split between Alec and Marissa seems fairly recent.

[Dowel Jones]

On 11/7/2023 at 8:39 AM, cfinboston said:

Then she easily opens the secret room used as part of a multi million dollar forgery ring.

The writers should have at least required some sort of passkey to open the room, say, removing a book from the shelf about Cezanne's paintings, or perhaps a copy of Perfectly Irrational by Dan Ariety, just to make an inside joke.

[MarylandGirl]

Alec's sister and ex have much more chemistry than Alec and his ex. I think the chemistry he had with Rose also made that apparent. How much attention do showrunners pay to chemistry in casting? I feel this is a common problem with couples or exes on shows.

I admit I kind of liked the assistants in the beginning, but now they just seem pointless. Either figure out a way to have them better involved in cases, come up with more interesting side stories than listing a guitar on eBay, or cut them. If the show survives to a second season, a new set of assistants could make sense. I don't mind the guy as much though, as others have said.

[Johannah]

Probably my least favorite episode.  Not because of the case, but because I found the date and sister/ex storylines boring.  The interactions between both "couples" seemed awkward, and not the kind of awkward they were trying to convey, more like poor acting or something. And I generally don't have a problem with the acting here.

 

[AheadofStraight]

I turned this on and my husband came into the room and watched. He thought it was some of the worst acting and dialogue he's ever seen and couldn't understand how I was watching the show lol.

[buckboard]

Speaking of bad writing, the ex comes to the sister's house to ask her if she wants to go with her to a show, since she unexpectedly has an extra ticket.  (A phone call would have been more practical, no?)  Was this just an excuse to see her?

Then ex gets called away for a case, but doesn't leave the promised ticket(s). 

[statsgirl]

15 minutes ago, buckboard said:

Speaking of bad writing, the ex comes to the sister's house to ask her if she wants to go with her to a show, since she unexpectedly has an extra ticket.  (A phone call would have been more practical, no?) 

That's what I thought! If you have an extra ticket, you phone and see if the person is busy, and if they're not and want to go with you, you give them time to change and get dressed (between 1 and 2 hours for me although Kylie's hair would take less time to fix than mine), you don't just show up at the door. And good point about leaving with the tickets.

I'll be here at my table for one about disliking the male research assistant Not the actor but the writing makes him unrealistically clueless about research, about teaching, about protocols. Anyone who was accepted by "The Professor" as a research assistant would have done at least one if not more research internships before getting into graduate school. And graduate students call their advisors by their first name, not "the professor" or even "professor Mercer".

 

[chessiegal]

31 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

And graduate students call their advisors by their first name,

I never did, with both of my advisors and neither did any of their assistants.

[shapeshifter]

6 hours ago, statsgirl said:

And graduate students call their advisors by their first name,

6 hours ago, chessiegal said:

I never did, with both of my advisors and neither did any of their assistants.

At the college where I was a librarian for almost 20 years, most of the professors were addressed by their students by last names only, often shortened if they were long names of non-English languages. Like "Dr. D" or "Googs." But sometimes "Professor Kash." I don't recall first names being used by students, but they were undergrads, so maybe it's different with graduate students?

 

[chessiegal]

2 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

At the college where I was a librarian for almost 20 years, most of the professors were addressed by their students by last names only, often shortened if they were long names of non-English languages. Like "Dr. D" or "Googs." But sometimes "Professor Kash." I don't recall first names being used by students, but they were undergrads, so maybe it's different with graduate students?

 

When I got my Master and PhD degrees, we all addressed our advisors as Dr. Last Name. 

And that was at 2 different universities, so it wasn't cultural.

[statsgirl]

Could it vary by discipline?

In psychology and sociology, undergrads always used "Professor X" but as grad students we only addressed as "Professor X" those profs we didn't know well and/or wanted something from (like access to their class for a research study) and even then when talking amongst ourselves we called them by their first names. Never as "Doctor" unless it was using third person in a clinical setting (e.g. I'm going to ask Dr. X your question).

[AnimeMania]

The Irrational’s Next Episode Won’t Air for a While — Here’s Why

The Irrational aired all of the episodes that they had ready, so new episodes will not be airing any time soon.

Edited November 13, 2023 by AnimeMania

[shapeshifter]

25 minutes ago, AnimeMania said:

The Irrational’s Next Episode Won’t Air for a While — Here’s Why

In the past when shows had long, unplanned breaks due to strikes (or even the pandemic), shows that weren't doing well in the ratings have not returned, despite announcements like this.

But maybe this show will benefit from the gap, giving the writers and TPTB a chance to reflect on what works and what doesn't, and tweak it accordingly.

[MarylandGirl]

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

In the past when shows had long, unplanned breaks due to strikes (or even the pandemic), shows that weren't doing well in the ratings have not returned, despite announcements like this.

But maybe this show will benefit from the gap, giving the writers and TPTB a chance to reflect on what works and what doesn't, and tweak it accordingly.

Yeah, I just saw that and was wondering whether it will actually return. But I think this had been doing pretty well in the ratings, right? Though the real test will be how it does when most of the regular shows are back on the air, which I assume is when it would return. I just saw that FBi is set to return Feb. 13, for example.

I hope they do take the opportunity to consider what is and isn't working, like you said.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, MarylandGirl said:

Yeah, I just saw that and was wondering whether it will actually return. But I think this had been doing pretty well in the ratings, right? Though the real test will be how it does when most of the regular shows are back on the air, which I assume is when it would return.

Yes, the show's seemingly inflated ratings give it a second chance at survival. 

[Trini]

3 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

But maybe this show will benefit from the gap, giving the writers and TPTB a chance to reflect on what works and what doesn't, and tweak it accordingly.

I'm begging!

[CheshireCat]

I caught the previews for the show and now managed to watch. I liked the pilot then wasn't sure I'd continue after ep2 but I'm glad I did as I really liked the episodes after that.

I'm not sure they need the ex-wife angle but it does create an interesting dynamic between the characters and it does give them options to explore the characters. And I'm enjoying the fact that they're on good terms. Yes, divorces can get ugly but they can also be like this.
The only thing I hope and fear I won't get is that I want them to make up their mind beforehand where they want to go with the ex-es, eg, are they supposed to end up back together or find others. I don't care either way, I just want them to decide.

Another thing I hope is that they won't drag out the bombing story. They've introduced so many angles to it already that I'm sure that they'll use it for the entire season but hopefully, it won't go beyond that.

I do like the story that it gives Alec, though. I also like the layers the characters have and that the show takes crime show into a bit of a new direction.

 

 

[Trini]

A little bit of news; 11 episodes for the first season:

https://deadline.com/2023/11/the-irrational-extra-episode-lopez-vs-lopez-order-cut-nbc-1235617738/

Quote

NBC has increased the order of new drama series The Irrational by one episode. Originally picked up for 10 episodes, the series starring Jesse L. Martin will now produce 11 episodes in its first season. ...

<...>

The Irrational had filmed 7 episodes when the strike suspended production. The drama is scheduled to resume production next week in Vancouver. It was initially supposed to shoot the three remaining episodes, now that number has gone up to four.

 

[shapeshifter]

3 hours ago, Trini said:

A little bit of news; 11 episodes for the first season:

https://deadline.com/2023/11/the-irrational-extra-episode-lopez-vs-lopez-order-cut-nbc-1235617738/

 

One extra episode often means a wrap-up before cancelation, right?

[DanaK]

The first season will return on Monday, January 29 at 10pm ET for the last 4 episodes of the season

http://thefutoncritic.com/news/2023/11/20/new-series-premiere-and-favorites-return-as-nbc-midseason-lineup-features-edge-of-your-seat-unscripted-fare-hilarious-star-driven-comedy-and-dramas-that-inspire-549010/20231120nbc01/

16 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

One extra episode often means a wrap-up before cancelation, right?

I wouldn't automatically assume that in this case as things are pretty unusual right now given the strikes

[Trini]

14 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

One extra episode often means a wrap-up before cancelation, right?

Not necessarily; I've seen various explanations around. If NBC wanted to cancel it, I don't think they'd give them an extra episode just for that.

[CheshireCat]

On 11/20/2023 at 2:40 PM, shapeshifter said:

One extra episode often means a wrap-up before cancelation, right?

Nope 🙂

https://deadline.com/2023/11/found-the-irrational-renewed-season-2-nbc-1235643621/

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, CheshireCat said:

Nope 🙂

https://deadline.com/2023/11/found-the-irrational-renewed-season-2-nbc-1235643621/

Huh.
Maybe that last episode will introduce some retooling?
(kill off characters, change characters' jobs, etc.)

[Trini]

I really hope they do some retooling and the show improves. There's potential, but also a lot of stuff that's not really working.

[Cress]

hooray for the renewal!

[Raja]

On 10/13/2023 at 11:55 AM, proserpina65 said:

The one guy was at the crash site at the beginning, but I gave up after the first commercial break, so it might not have been mentioned again.  Which is just that much more horse shit since the NTSB generally takes the lead in the investigation of transportation incidents.  Unless, of course, it's very clearly terrorism.  (Like I said, way too many Air Disasters episodes.  It's my fallback show when nothing else is on.)

I was thinking that the entire premise was built with an unrealistic time pressure. The biggest bad thing that could have happened was that the FBI would be left with egg on its face for announcing a murder suicide before the NTSB actually finished their report maybe years later.

And then we are hit with the one NTSB investigator had somehow got paid off by the manufacturer and had  somehow covered up a previous incident 

[Trini]

The show comes back next Monday, and there's a forum for the show, so I made a topic for the next episode.

[snarktini]

On 10/24/2023 at 8:49 PM, statsgirl said:

I could figure out why the woman was rigging her own game either.

This seemed pretty straightforward to me -- she rigged it so that she (or her organization) only has to pay out 20% to the "winner". She keeps the rest. All of the publicity and revenue of a big tourney, without having to pony up the award.

On 11/2/2023 at 7:54 AM, Johannah said:

What about what Alec said to the 2nd cop made him tell the 1st cop to leave?  I didn't think it was anything profound and he must have used a Jedi mind-trick or something...  these are not the droids you want...

Nah, I think it's more basic than that. The cop messed up by mentioning the sister, so all Alec had to do was call that out as well as note that targeted intimidation could be bad PR. Hearing it said out loud was enough for the cop to realize they were doing something dumb that could blow back on them. (The other guy wasn't so conscientious, he wouldn't have cared!)

[jason88cubs]

fun show

[love2lovebadtv]

On 10/31/2023 at 1:14 AM, Trini said:

It was nice to see Malcolm-Jamal Warner here as a rival for Alec; but it's interesting how Jesse seems older in general when both actors are only about a year-and-a half apart in age. (I looked it up!)

Jesse L Martin has always had a mature look. Some people just do, which is why it's so annoying to me that people keep saying his sister looks more like she would be his daughter. JLM was only in his 20s and 30s when he was on Law & Order.

On 11/4/2023 at 9:27 PM, statsgirl said:

Are they aging up Kylie to match JLM? There was no way that the actress was in college 20 years ago.

I think it's more than reasonable that Kylie could be at least 37/38, which would mean she's the right age for someone who was a traditional-age college student 20 years ago. They could have also made her character a little younger, and that have worked, too. 

On 10/31/2023 at 1:01 PM, cfinboston said:

The first witness claims the warrant contained a "typo" but the clerk then said it was handwritten. How did she not at some point say that she wrote the correct address?

Oh and obviously it's TV but how do these people afford the houses? Alec's sister is literally never shown working but she can afford that showplace? 

They said manual, which I interpreted as not automated - not handwritten. But I have no knowledge of how warrants are generated so I don't know that my interpretation makes any sense. 

I thought it was implied that Kylie works in tech and is likely paid well for her professional expertise without needing to be in a head-down from 8 to 5 type of job. 

On 11/8/2023 at 2:42 PM, statsgirl said:

That's interesting. I wonder where I got the impression that Kylie was just out of college .... maybe the lack of a job or relationship, maybe that she first came out to Marissa since the split between Alec and Marissa seems fairly recent.

I never got the impression that Kylie is younger than her late 30s, which is part of what I love about her character. I've never seen a character quite like her. She's a tech-savvy Black woman who's 35+ and she's also fun, smart, and loving. I don't know her exact job but she appears to work in tech and has her own place. And it looks like she's experienced enough to have a flexible work setup (i.e., not an early-career newbie still in training). Kylie not being in a relationship makes sense so that we get to see more of her and Alec interacting and it leaves room for her character to date or get into a relationship later on.

Kylie talking about coming out doesn't happen until the next episode. She said she told Marisa before telling the rest of the family, so I didn't think it was something that happened post-divorce.

As far as Kylie appearing younger, I think it's because of the big brother/little sister relationship. Also, Jesse L Martin has always looked mature and I think he's playing a character who's younger than he is in real life.