Reviewer Rating: 4/5.0
4
Am I the only one who guessed the answer to this amazing mystery just by looking at the credits?
Irrational Season 2 Episode 10 delivered one of the most light-hearted murder mysteries yet, but the guest list gave it away.
Still, the story is entertaining, even if the last ten minutes are a bit silly.
Some of the magic is unbelievable, but that’s okay
It makes sense that Alec trumpets how magic can simply exploit neuroscientific principles, such as distracting the audience.
However, the magic that Charles used to cover his tracks was much more than that.
I prefer it to the standard chases in programs like FBI, but I’d rather he got caught at the end without that silliness.
I don’t think it’s unrealistic for the magic box to emit purple smoke to interfere with the police investigation, and Charles’s attempt to escape is even more ridiculous.
The case itself is interesting, though.
Even if the trailer didn’t show it, I knew something bad had to happen during the magic show, otherwise the episode wouldn’t make sense. But this is the first time I don’t mind a long cold open.
The magicians Alec and Rose interact with are very interesting, and it’s unclear who will end up being the victim until something happens.
In some ways, this would have been a more interesting case if Helen herself had been killed during the show, although I don’t think that would make sense given how it was done.
Alec wants to avenge his friend’s death, and it’s only logical that a rival would want to eliminate her.
Despite some flaws, Irrational Season 2 Episode 10’s premise remains compelling
To my surprise, Helen randomly selected someone from the audience to perform the trick. You might think that with something like this, she’d want a plant in the audience who fully understands how the boxes work and what they’re supposed to do.
Her “random” choice of Adelaide helps illustrate Alec’s point about the chosen building, so something would be lost if she were a plant.
Still, there’s no guarantee that an audience you’ve never seen before will understand how to perform this type of trick. It could easily be ruined by someone standing behind the box making noise or exposing themselves prematurely.
Tricks using specialized equipment are very different from simple card tricks, where volunteers don’t have to do anything special.
If you ignore the implausibility of picking someone at random, the setup is solid, with one exception.
Smoke or not, if someone snuck onto the stage and stabbed someone, then left, I think someone would hear or see something. At the very least, Adelaide should be screaming.
It would make more sense to put something where the volunteer leaves the box so that she gets stabbed while spinning without the killer having to be present.
Either way, it’s the perfect way to frame Helena and ruin her career, although it’s unclear whether the police actually have enough to arrest her after the initial investigation.
They didn’t learn of Helena’s underlying motives until later, and all they had was a prop that was destroyed before they could examine it. The fact that she was on stage with the victim was accidental.
Yet somehow, she ended up in jail after it happened.
This raised the stakes and gave Alec extra motivation to investigate – even though he didn’t need any – but it seemed to come out of nowhere, unless I was missing something.
Why is it so obvious that Charles did this?
In the golden age of cozy suspense, the joke was that if someone known for playing the good guys was listed as a guest star in the opening credits, they would probably do just that.
Charles Shaughnessy had a reputation as a good guy. He has played Shane Donovan on “Days of Our Lives” on and off for about 40 years, and he also played Mr. Sheffield on the 1990s sitcom “The Babysitter.”
So when I saw his name in the end credits, I started to wonder if he was going to be the villain, and when he first appeared on screen, I had a feeling I was right.
I didn’t expect him to be a sexual predator who wanted to silence Adelaide because she was about to expose him, but the friendly mentor persona he presented seemed to make it clearer that he wasn’t who he claimed to be.
Maybe I was subconsciously aware of his ability to open magic boxes with his supposedly arthritic fingers, but I think it was more that I recognized his name in the closing credits.
Plus, guest stars with British accents tend to be bad guys on TV.
Kelly’s silly storyline reflects on Alec and Rose’s relationship
I usually enjoy Kelly subplots, but this one was just ridiculous. I mean, it’s nice that she got a bunch of stolen phones back, but Marissa and I are on the same page on this one.
The FBI has better things to do than find a lost cell phone, and it’s definitely not looking for a suddenly silent date.
I want Kyle to be happy, but this would make me depressed. I feel like people who go to these extremes because I haven’t called in a few days might be a little unstable.
Still, I’m glad this story has a happy ending where Kelly and Joyce can talk about Joyce’s insecurities.
While Kelly’s insistence on tracking Joyce (and later her phone) does go a bit too far, in a way, her relationship mirrors Alec and Ross’s.
Rose was often hesitant to commit to Alec because of her trauma, and he had to convince her to take a chance on him.
Likewise, Joyce gets cold feet and nearly runs away from Kelly before her phone disappears.
I like that both parties can discuss these things. This is rare on television, as drama often stems from misunderstandings and unnecessary jealousy.
I’m also glad that Alec and Kelly have gotten happy endings in their relationships so far. Alec especially needed this after all the trauma he’d been through.
I knew he didn’t want to take his shirt off because of the scar. It’s a very different situation, but his behavior is similar to Charlie in “Heart Stops” who never thought of taking his shirt off because of his body dysmorphia.
Regardless, Rose’s reaction to his reluctance to take off his shirt was so sweet. I used to be neutral on this couple, but now I have a strong opinion on them.
Over to you, irrational fanatic.
What did you think of Irrational Season 2 Episode 10? Did you solve the mystery before Alec did?
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