Pilot

This pilot was outstanding. I could have rated it a 10, but for Jesse Martin but it's a good thing. I'm a huge fan of Mr Martin but he kept getting in the way. I was so caught up in/with his role I kinda lost track of everything else. Jesse Martin was outstanding.

I said to my wife that his role and the plot reminded me of The Mentalist. He changed his story of his facial burn a couple times, has he not come to terms with it?

I think this show has a huge upside, much promise. I knew from the start I was going to like it, and I did. Are the next episodes going to build on the pilot or are they going to be stand alone.

With the writers going on I was ready for something other than reality shows and repeats of shows that I have already seen.

Am looking forward to the next episode.

Good start for the show. I was pleased this character is not similar to his Law & Order role. Jesse Matin's role as a professor of behavioral science is nicely done. He does not have over-the-top magical powers. Good balance between law enforcement and behavior science. The only potential downside is the storyline of him, chasing the person who inflicted the burns on his face. I would not want to watch a show each week of him chasing the same person. Hopeful that storyline will not last long. The ex-wife as an FBI agent seems to work well. They are evenly matched intellectually. The daughter's role has not been fleshed out yet at this point. The District attorney role hinted at a possible romantic involvement. Overall, great first show, lots of potential.

This show and "Will Trent" ought to be on back to back; they both feature unusually perceptive men who are dealing with deep personal trauma born of events from decades past. Each man comes across as likeable, with Jesse L. Martin's "Alec Mercer" having a bit of an edge there (but Robert Rodriguez' "Will Trent" is catching up over the episodes of his show IMO). Both men are surrounded by coworkers and friends who realize their genius and let them run with their theories, for the most part.

Episode 1 covered quite a bit of exposition and backstory through dialogue and flashbacks, so we learned a lot right away, with a promise of some additional mystery as the main characters make sense of a developing larger picture. So far, so good. I'll watch.

Now if only someone will bring back "Poker Face." That one was great!

The self-assured, calm and authoritative manner of Jesse L. Martin (series exec producer and star) draws one immediately to an offbeat mystery concept. As a psych professor and extremely inquisitive individual, he explores his psychological theories by investigating real-life mysteries. It's a wonderful dramatic approach and won me over rather quickly.

As Jesse tries to piece together all sorts of disparate clues to come to some feasible theories as to what really happened and whodunit, in this case primarily to solve the murder mystery of a popular social influencer, the audience follows along in the same process. He's shrewd and of course a master of psychology, but unlike say a Columbo, who the audience is given a head start in each episode by the reveal of the culprit at the beginning of the show, here we have the fun of surprise as each clue is resolved according to Jesse's ability to piece together the underlying psych connections. And the gradual revelations about his character Alex's back-story -how he was severely burned in a bombing incident, are most intriguing, i.e., compel one to want to keep tuning in to find out more.

With the delays in launching many new shows caused by the writers and ongoing actors strikes, the playing field is opened for this series to succeed (as flashier and more expensive, large-scale new competition is either delayed or not made) so "The Irrational" logically is set for success in attracting an audience.