L'irrationnel

Too many tropes in this show to enumerate. There's the brilliant college proffessor who does this crime-fighting thing as a sideline. Of course he has a dark past with some damage, in this rare case visible to the naked eye. He drives an oddball car that stands out. He is well respected by his (naturally) ex-wife and students, but not so much by other professionals in various disciplines. And on, and on, and on.

This thing is kinda predictable, like a not-well-written Columbo episode with the clowns all dropping their hints flat on the floor in front of the audience -- and the coppers. I don't think I'll have the patience to struggle through another episode of this show. The first one was enough to turn me away.

Conclusion: not terrible, but not good either. I just don't have the time in my limited entertainment budget to waste on bland pate like this.

Alec Mercer (Jesse L. Martin) teaches and does research in Behavioral Science at Wylton University. He is sometimes called in to consult with law enforcement when they need his professional talents.

This show has the bones of a police procedural, but it is more than that. Mercer can help solve cases because he is observant and he understands human psychology. But he also deals with criminals in hostage situations or any time the police think an understanding of human psychology might help in dealing with a crisis. Because local government officials know of him, he may also be used behind the scenes in delicate situations where public relations are top priority.

But one of the most interesting facets of this series is that Mercer explains the psychology behind his decisions, often citing well-known behavioral experiments. And he can use his academic resources to help conduct his own experiments to test theories.

Jesse L. Martin is perfecting suited to this role. And he is surrounded by a good cast. The first two episodes were about interesting cases, but viewers who like learning about human psychology may enjoy this series most.

It is always great to see academics utilized for a television show, but this a shallow version compared to Numb3rs. That show had depth in storyline, characters, and overall purposes.. Numb3rs actually educated and presented storylines involving critical thought, philosophy, personal psychological and even spiritual growth. This show barely delivers anything on behavior psychology, the supporting characters drift by , and half way into the show I wasn't really sure what the episode was about.

Jessie Martin does a fine job with what he has to work with, but he is so much better than others that it is notable. Martin has no buddy smart guy to riff off of, and the others mumble their meaningless lines.

The first few episodes made the show seem compelling, but by episode 4, the show started to become less adult focused and more cartoony. The characters seemed to be slowly becoming flat, yet stereotypical and the writing seems to increasingly insult my intelligence with each successive episode. Initially I expected this to be a bit more of an Americanized and more exciting, stylized version of a Professor T. Certainly, casting the charismatic Jesse Martin in this role could more than pull that off. However the supporting characters are exaggerated and the side story arcs feel like time fillers. This is really a shame - I was really excited for this series.

It's predictable, simple and somewhat interesting. The expected jokes and one liners about cops and murder cases done in a light and cheery atmosphere perfectly suited for a television audience.

The characters and actors are generally competent in portraying the subject matter and the baddies are of the usual made for tv genre.

This is the show that could go on for 2-3 seasons, letting out tidbits every now and then in order to solve an underlying case involving the main character. Overall it's just an average show, with no shocking or big reveals.

It is not serious enough of a cop show to hold my interest and this reminds me of the series Unforgettable with a woman and a her photographic memory. The interesting bits just are not enough to carry the entire show.

5/10 as there is little else to go on besides the main character and his story. A one and done for me.

Please don't mention Dan Ariely in your reviews about subjects involving psychology. He is a confirmed fraud, multiple times, with none of his experiments being repeatable. I was a fan; but who knew that in order to have counterintuitive experiment results you had to fudge all the data????