Reviewer Rating: 4.7/5.0
4.7
Irrational Season 2 Episode 4 has Alec out of the classroom and working on a different kind of case—one where both he and Marissa are supposed to be guests, not lead detectives.
A wedding is a classic setting for a murder mystery, so naturally, both people end up dead.
This case feels more like an old-fashioned whodunnit than most episodes of Irrational , but it’s an interesting change of pace.
Irrational Season 2 Episode 4 May Have Political Motives
This case is a perfect fit for FBI: International.
We have a wedding at the Italian embassy, where one of the potential victims is a Romanian with a shady past, and an ambassador who doesn’t want to take Lewis’ murder seriously until someone shoots Cosmo.
Louis himself is a distracting figure, and ironically, he ends up dead, but the father of the bride is the real target, and the clues are carefully constructed to make the murder look like a political one.
The biggest red herring, though, isn’t the petition to expel Cosmo from the embassy. This is the ambassador’s security chief.
Before his first attempt to kill Cosmo, he refused to protect Cosmo because Marissa was “just a guest” when she asked him to do so.
After a while, he tried to blame the attempted murder on Alec because he reported finding a gun in the hallway, but no one believed this.
I was convinced the security guard shot Cosmo himself in Irrational Season 2 Episode 4 until Alec discovered the killer was disguised as a paramedic helping Lewis.
This is the best kind of red herring—one that makes perfect sense but ultimately has nothing to do with the crime.
That red herring – and what Rizwan reveals about the political movement to get rid of Cosmo – is just the beginning of what makes this such a perfect mystery.
The case is progressing rapidly and there are many suspects, each of whom has strong detective abilities, including Rizwan, who works as an undercover waiter.
It also ties in nicely with the lesson Alec taught at the beginning of the hour. This happens all the time, but I didn’t figure out what was going on until it happened.
The actual motivations are somewhat confusing
Alec and Rizwan use the nonverbal communication principles they discussed in Alec’s class to figure out the ambassador’s relationship with his secret boyfriend.
But at first, it was unclear why their relationship would serve as a motive for the murders. Cosmo did not threaten to drive them away or otherwise interfere with their relationship.
This makes sense after Alec confronts them in the climactic scene of Irrational Season 2 Episode 4, so I’m guessing the confusion is intentional as it makes Alec’s character in the episode There’s a lot more to explain before I wrap up.
Still, not wanting the ambassador to continue working doesn’t seem as strong a political factor, but maybe that’s just me.
I was also fascinated by the original murder. I love a good poisoning story, especially if it involves using someone’s food allergies against them, and am looking forward to learning how this happens.
For this reason, it’s somewhat disappointing that Lewis’ murder turned out to be a distraction and was not investigated further after the true story came to light.
Still, the poisoning’s purpose is to distract everyone from the real crime, which is done well.
Inattentional blindness—the tendency to not notice things you’re not paying attention to—is one of my favorite neuroscience concepts, so I love that Alec cited it as the reason a fake paramedic was able to sneak into a hotel and try to kill Cosmo .
Phoebe’s dilemma is well done
While Rizwan is busy helping Alec investigate, Phoebe faces her own dilemma.
This conflict about Rachel’s immoral behaviorstarting from “Irrational” Season 2 Episode 2, This will soon prompt Phoebe to return to Alec’s job.
It has to be, because she probably won’t be working with Rachel for much longer.
Either Rachel realizes that Phoebe is the one who ratted her out and fires her, or Phoebe ends up losing her job because Rachel is suspended or fired.
Even if that didn’t happen, there was no reason why she couldn’t go back to Alec’s office.
She left that job because she felt it was too risky, but it’s clear that’s where her heart is.
Even before learning about Rachel’s suspicious activities, she didn’t want to be just a receptionist or secretary—and she certainly didn’t want to meditate or otherwise waste her time,
This is the second time Phoebe has sought advice from Kelly about Rachel’s situation.
I hope that even if Phoebe gives up on Rachel, she will continue to look to Kelly for advice.
There aren’t enough female friendships on TV, and I especially liked how Kelly was mostly the one giving advice.
Friendship is a give and take thing, and there’s bound to be a day when Kelly asks Phoebe her opinion on something, too.
But Kelly deserves to be considered an expert, and she’s a better mentor for Phoebe than the unscrupulous Rachel!
Kelly: Just because it’s the right thing to do doesn’t mean there won’t be consequences. You may lose friends, but you’re lucky if that’s all you lose.
Phoebe: That’s not a very good pep talk.
Kelly: I’m just telling the truth. There will be consequences no matter what. You just have to decide what you can tolerate.
Kelly makes the most of her horrific experience in the coding club by advising Phoebe that doing the right thing has consequences, but so does not doing the same.
Being a whistleblower is never easy, and I hope Phoebe does it in a way that doesn’t make it obvious that she ratted out Rachel.
But in the end, she made the right choice. It’s surprising that Rachel’s performance is so low, but since she’s using students’ work to line her own pockets, someone needs to take a stand.
Phoebe seems to have done this in the most tasteful way.
Part of me is kind of petty and wish Phoebe had messed up the presentation slides so Rachel’s theft of Ava’s work could be projected onto the big screen, but if Phoebe wants to save her career, that’s probably not the best idea .
Over to you, irrational fanatic.
What did you think of Irrational Season 2 Episode 4?
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Irrational airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on NBC and Wednesdays on Peacock.
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