The Irrational is one of the best new shows of the season, and it’s hard to believe we’re to the finale already. We’re so invested in the journeys Alec (Jesse L. Martin), Marisa (Maahra Hill), and the rest of the team(s) have taken this year, we were thrilled to have an opportunity to sit down with producer Arika Lisanne Mittman about what’s in store for the show – and for our favorite characters.
Part of what makes The Irrational so fun is the way it delves into illogical nature of human beings. Every phenomenon they discuss on the show is founded in human psychology. It’s entertainment, but it’s also educational, and the more you understand just how easily our brains can be tricked – and can trick us – the more it changes the way you perceive the world around you.
It certainly does for Alec, who can’t help but analyze everyone around him. In fact, Mittman suggested that tendency of his to observe an analyze human behavior may be part of why his marriage to Marisa didn’t work out. It would be difficult to feel like you’re living under a microscope all the time. And, sure, sometimes you might feel like you’re being paranoid. But is it paranoia if it’s actually true? As much as Alec loved (and loves) Marisa, sometimes his head gets in the way of his heart. He seems to have all the answers so much of the time, but he also can’t “turn it off.”
Mittman may not be in quite his shoes, but she admitted working on the show has changed the way she perceives the world, as well. As she explained, “I definitely throw around terms like paradoxical persuasion and outcome bias and all sorts of random things come out of my mouth now when I’m in regular conversation with normal people.” I don’t know about you, but I would go to literally any party where that was the conversation.
There are so many interesting facets of psychology, I asked Mittman how they decide which to tackle from week to week. Do they start with an aspect of behavioral analysis they want to explore and build from there? Or do they choose the “crime of the week” and then look for the analysis which fits the bill?
According to Mittman, it can be a bit of both. “We try not to make it too formulaic or stick to one rule about we always do it this way or we always start with this. Every episode comes from a different place. We’ve had episodes that start with, what aspect of behavioral psychology do we want to dive into this week?
“We’ve had episodes that start with a really interesting, unique crime that presents an unusual puzzle for Alec. We start with an irrational question like, why would someone confess to a murder he didn’t commit? We get our ideas from any number of places, whatever sparks us to start with. Then, of course, we fill in the rest of the missing pieces once we have that.”
Speaking of irrational behavior…we at Fangirlish are shippers (which Alec would probably proclaim to be an inherently illogical exercise). But The Irrational has us somewhat flummoxed. As we told actress Maahra Hill, who plays Marisa, in our interview, we really love the relationship that’s been built between ex-spouses Marisa and Alec. We love seeing such a positive, loving representation of exes, showing that just because a relationship has ended doesn’t mean there can’t still be love there. At the same time, you know…we kinda want the two characters to make out sometimes. We’re very conflicted, okay?
Mittman acknowledged it’s a different dynamic than we see in most television shows. But that’s also kinda the point. “I feel like we’ve seen so many stories, so many detective shows with the will they or won’t they for the two main characters. I thought it would be really interesting to come in with a story where they already did, been there, done that, married, divorced.”
As she explained, it also lends a different dynamic to the show, as these two characters try to figure out how to navigate this new relationship together. They’re mature enough not to want to let any pettiness or bitterness about the past come between them. At the same time, they can’t just put the past behind them and pretend it didn’t happen. Particularly since they have such a strong working relationship, and there still is love there between them. Frankly, it’s more complicated trying to be adult and move forward together than it would be to just walk away.
For Mittman, the key is – at least in part – to acknowledge the weirdness without giving in to the pettiness. “I think watching them [navigate their relationship] in an adult way and not get petty and resentful and angry and watch them say, ‘Oh, you know what? This is weird seeing you in a new relationship. This is weird to watch. At the same time, I’m also happy for you because I want the best for you because we still love each other on some level.’ I did feel like it wasn’t a dynamic that we’ve seen 100 times on TV.”
It absolutely lends to a more mature way of handling relationships than we sadly often see on television. It also opens the door to shippers getting their hopes up that a divorce doesn’t have to be forever, right?
That shippers exist (and do what shippers do) wasn’t a surprise to Mittman. In fact, she admitted that they’re intentionally cultivating it. Which doesn’t necessarily mean that Marisa and Alec getting back together is in the cards. But the potential is there. So any shippers out there can keep their hopes up.
She teased, “Is it over? That is definitely an open question. I think as they continue to be in each other’s lives, we will see as they evolve. Because both of them are characters who are continuing to grow. … It’s possible…that they may start to see each other in a new light. You never know what could happen in the future. That’s what I’ll say.”
And “growth” isn’t just something we’re seeing from Alec and Marisa this year. One of the biggest subplots of the season has involved Alec’s sister, Kylie (Travina Springer) as she searches for her calling. We’ve also recently seen her and Marisa start to find their new footing and what they mean to each other post-divorce. Mittman confessed this is an incredibly important relationship to her.
“One of the other things that happens, when people get divorced is it doesn’t just affect the two people who are getting divorced. When we do marry someone, especially, you have a marriage for 15 years, your family becomes their family. Then when this couple gets divorced, it affects everybody else. I wanted to explore the relationship between these two women who are like sisters.
She also promised there’s more to come for Marisa and Kylie and that dynamic. The show will explore how these two can work together in different ways. There’s so much unrealized potential in Kylie’s character – and so much drive and focus in Marisa’s. We can only imagine how much both can flourish from the other’s influence.
Before wrapping up the interview, we had to ask about the payoff to the church bombing arc we’ve been following all season. Anything she can tease about that as we head into the finale? While she didn’t want to spoil too much, she had this to say:
“What I can say about that is that the finale, I think, will provide satisfying answers to the question of what happened to Alec in his past. It will definitely be satisfying for the audience and it will definitely give Alec some closure to that piece of his past.”
We can’t wait.
The Irrational‘s season finale airs tonight on NBC.
