The Irrational

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????

After only a couple of episodes, I'll continue to tune in. The psychology is intriguing, and we'll have to see if the story lines hold up as the series progresses. It certainly provides a lot of food for thought, and a refreshing, original slant on mystery shows.

The first episodes may have stretched reality a bit, in terms of interactions and results, but they pulled it off. If you're into such shows as "The Mentalist", this may be a good choice for you.

I'll definitely continue watching and hope that they flesh out some of the support characters as the show develops. There's a lot of potential here.

Had to speak up after seeing the pro reviews that gave this new series a rotten rating elsewhere. Those critics seem to have gotten pretty jaded. Maybe watching one too many procedurals? None, repeat none, of these tried and true TV tropes have ever been perfect. But to damn "The Irrational" for being what it is, is, well, NOT rational. The show's an example of a pretty familiar but often successful format and its pilot masterfully established both its star and premise with panache and in record time. It set itself apart from other murder mysteries for me, as much for its arguably endearing and interesting star turn as the very real science the character's mini-storytelling makes accessible. I suspect that the more I watch this series the more I'm going to like it -and the more I'll learn about my OWN motives!

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.

Ever since Tim Roth stopped playing Cal Lightman in Lie to Me (2009) I've been craving a smart psychologist fighting crime.

Then came Perception (2012), but Erick. McCormacks character was just a tad too crazy.

I had big hopes for. Mind Games (2014), but Christian Slater played an extremely annoying role, so it was cancelled as no one could stand watching it.

Enter The Irrational (2023) where an expert in human behavior helps law enforcement. We are immediately exposed to his backstory, which I am sure we will further explore in forthcoming episodes.

The crime he solves in the pilot is okay. We are not as audience convinced that he's a genius (yet), but he does drop a few interesting tidbits from time to time.

My wish list for future episodes: Writes, take a look at "The Mentalist" and "Lie to Me" and see if you can add a bit of that magic to the show.

I will continue watching.

... and so I did. Just finished watching episode 10 of season 1, which is the weakest so far. Something has been bugging me and that's how the writers makes professionals do or say things that a real professional would never say or do. These kind of shows works because they have a foundation. There really is such a thing as behavioral science. But it''s not just the science - sometimes law enforcement agencies are involved, and there we see a multitude of small errors. Calling CIA officers for agents. Wrong use of weapons and tactics, etc.

Both Lie to Me and The Mentalist had real, bonafide professionals helping them with the science. That would be a great step going forward if this show should have a future.