‘The Irrational’ Recap: ‘The Barnum Effect’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THE IRRATIONAL -- "The Barnum Effect" Episode 103 -- Pictured: (l-r) Brian King as Jace Richards, Maahra Hill as Marisa, Jesse L. Martin as Alec Mercer -- (Photo by: Sergei Bachlakov/NBC)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Three of ‘The Irrational’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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Over the course of its first two episodes, the hit NBC series, The Irrational, has done a phenomenal job of pondering deeply upon… what drives us to do some very stupid things now and again. By having Dr. Alec Mercer examine the power of choice, and the nature of decision and how singular moments and progressive concerns can in fact… bring about irrational decision on our part. The kind that are embarrassing and costly and sometimes devastating, and how… if we just took a minute to pause and process, perhaps those decisions would never come to fruition. In fact, that latter truth is top of mind today, simply because… the next episode in this fascinating journey pondered upon just that. 

Because ‘The Barnum Effect’ was a story that truly made it seem as though, a pilot’s poor decisions resulted in a lot of death and suffering. Because a plane crash near the river took everyone by surprise. Mainly because it didn’t take long to learn that the pilot of the plane, had some off kilter things to say on the black box before he crashed and that led Marisa and her team to believe… this might be a weird act of terror. One that was further reinforced by the fact that a group that some did not care for was aboard his plane. Making it appear as though, he was taking part in a message being sent to the world and well, Alec didn’t buy that for a second.

Simply because, his immediate investigation of the pilot’s life, and through discussions with his broken brother, revealed that this pilot was a good man. Sure, he had his ups and down like anyone else, and was going through a tough personal patch from a romantic standpoint. But no pattern of decision showcased a man that was making the wrong choice time after time. In fact, it seemed as though he was constantly doing the right thing. To the point where Alec came to learn that this man… actually ended up trying to become the hero. For deeper investigation revealed he wanted nothing to do with the group he was supposedly aligned with, and he tried to land the plane instead of crash it.

For he was a logical man that took a minute to look at life objectively and that made him a hero in Alec’s eyes, since half of the plane’s passengers survived and because… he turned his back on radical nonsense. But that did motivate a more fascinating question… why then was the NTSB trying so hard to pin the crash on him? For they were pushing hard the narrative he was at fault. Which in turn allowed for Phoebe and Rizwan to jump in and work with the deceased’s brother to uncover… that there were irrational choices being made. All from a rogue agent at the NTSB, so that a scandal regarding software would never come to light. But of course, that kind of a decision meant that lives were jeopardized in the name of saving grace and that truth… and the evidence uncovered, allowed for one man’s reputation to stand in death and for the unjust to pay the piper.
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But what mattered more, is that this episode really did offer up a dual examination of sorts. One that showcased, that when we don’t just let the moment take over us or lean into darker decisions that benefit others or hide the truth, we can accomplish wonders. We can avoid bad things and bad people, we can in fact… do the right and wondrous thing and that made for a fascinating tale. One that more or less showed us the world as it is. Since it is indeed filled to the brim with people like that pilot and people like that rogue agent, and in between are men like Alec trying to make sense of it all and that made, for one engaging tale. One that captivated us from beginning to end, and it will be interesting to see what other unique lessons and scenarios await us as season one continues along. Until next time.

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