‘The Irrational’ Recap: ‘Cheating Life’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THE IRRATIONAL -- "Cheating Life" Episode 109 -- Pictured: Jesse L. Martin as Alec Mercer -- (Photo by: Sergei Bachlakov/NBC)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Nine of ‘The Irrational’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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One particular truth about the human condition that we’ve learned via the lessons put forth in the brilliant NBC series, The Irrational, is that there are a great many trigger elements in the world that make us… that title. For love can make us do wild things that are nonsensical and stupid, but so can money and pressures untold. But of the many aspects of life that can drive us to do some supremely awful things, there is one above all that can push us into that madness; the fact that we all have a time limit on this Earth and will someday expire. Which may seem silly, since one would think that fact would bring us peace and a drive and desire to live life to the fullest, and for most folks, that particular truth does. But not everyone subscribes to such concepts and well… they take quite the path instead when they come to understand death waits for us all.

For instance, they may use their fear of death as an excuse to do the opposite and not live life. They’ll just hide away from the world in effort to avoid human contact and the reality that those they love will depart from this life, which is unhealthy and irrational. And if by chance, their fear of death is supremely overpowering, well… then they may be driven to do outright nasty things in the name of tomorrow as evidenced by the show’s next episode. For ‘Cheating Life’ saw a wildly popular health guru die during a live stream in a shocking manner. As though he was caught up in a hit and run. But since Kylie was a fan and watched this in front of Alec, who had a lot of questions about those final moments… they dove into the investigation with the local police and uncovered quite the set of surprises.

Such as the fact that there was a love triangle between the deceased, named Vincent, and his bodyguard Johan and Vincent’s wife, Tori, and that… put forth potential for motive from either Tori or Johan and that’s when this case became even stranger in nature. Because the more it seemed as though Johan was responsible for running down his boss, the more it seemed as though… Johan was not. Because he disappeared without a trace after Vincent’s passing and left no clues or trail regarding where he might have gone. Which left Alec thinking that something was quite amiss in this case, as though the whole point of this mess was to throw people off the trail and keep a secret hidden away and that was indeed the case.

Because one clever clue that Alec and his task force discovered, led them to a hidden away clinic. One where it was discovered that they only catered to high rolling clientele who wanted to keep their cancer battles a secret, and Vincent, was a patient in this place. Because to make it known publicly that his health regiment and snake oil products failed him, would be too big a cross to bear, as would a healthy man dying in general. In fact, that terrified him the most, so he in essence… gave into those fears of death and those concerns regarding humiliation to fake his own death. All by hiring a ringer that adored him, would be intimate with Tori, and was so eager to please he would essentially give his life so that Vincent could go on.

Which was the perfect way to explore how a fear of death, of its inevitable power, can transform us into a person that barely resembles the person we see in the mirror. Since Vincent truly gave into that fear and truly became a monster in a desperate attempt to cheat that which we cannot cheat. A move that speaks to the importance of acceptance, and the importance of living in the moment. So that when our number is called, there is peace instead of terror, giving rise to a deep and philosophical tale, one that is clearly going to give way… to bigger moments. Since Jace and Marisa clearly brought about one hell of an unsettling breakthrough in the Mathias case, and it will only be a matter of time now before the truth comes to bear. Until next time.

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