The Irrational, Season Two, on NBC

Last season, Dr. Alec Mercer overcame his own personal biases and the “halo effect” to undercover a liberal politician’s involvement in the deadly bombing that left him physically scarred. Perhaps this season, he might heal in other ways as well. However, Dr. Mercer must first deal with the cliffhanger that ended the first season finale when creator Arika Lisanne Mittman’s Irrational returns tonight, on NBC.

One of the things that went right for Mercer last season was his increasingly romantic relationship with Dinshaw, so he would presumably be distressed to see her snatched off the street and bundled into a van. Of course, it rather follows that the kidnapping would be related to her previous work as a MI-6 agent. Fortunately for her, Mercer deduces her distress sooner rather than later. He also has a direct line into the FBI. In addition to his ex, Marisa Clark, who often calls in Mercer to consult, his formerly slacker sister Kylie also works at the Bureau as a contract cyber-crime specialist.

As a result, the season premiere, “Collateral Damage,” is less of a whodunit and more of ticking clock rescue operation. Lead Jesse L. Martin has solid chemistry with Keren David, which helps sell the drastic step Mercer takes to find Dinshaw. Meanwhile, his long-suffering teaching assistant Rizwan Asadi must endure several clinical experiments exploring the overwhelming desire for revenge.

Indeed, Mercer’s investigative methods are often the best elements of each episode. This is very definitely true of the next installment, “A Kick in the Teeth,” a crisply paced hunt for an apparent serial killer (nicely helmed by experienced horror genre director Ernest Dickerson), but the mystery is undercut by the episode’s limited cast of characters.

However, it announces an increased role for supporting character, Simon Wilton, the well-heeled replacement for Mercer’s other assistant, Phoebe Duncan, a Gen Z’er “stressed out” by Mercer’s crime-fighting productivity. Wilton both embarrasses and redeems himself. However, unlike other students of his generation, he takes responsibility in a smartly written scene, featuring Max Lloyd-Jones as Mercer’s new TA-gofer-sounding board.

Hockey fans will have unpleasant flashbacks to real-life tragedies on the ice, when a grudge-match in a Wall Street league turns deadly, at the start of the following episode, “Bad Blood.” Ironically, Mercer and a recurring character find themselves on opposing sides of the investigation, but they deal with it like mature professionals. It also features David’s appealing jazz-cabaret-style rendition of “Someone to Watch Over Me,” so definitely stay for the full episode, if you start watching (despite a somewhat annoying subplot for Mercer’s sister, whose reaction to a considerable data breach sounds weirdly ambivalent).

Irrational remains a solid procedural anchored by Martin’s charismatic and reassuring presence. He has a lot of accrued goodwill from Law & Order and The Flash, but so far, Irrational’s head-shrinking sleuthing has been solidly entertaining, so his audience credit continues to compound interest. It is a solid network offering, but it benefits from a more complex case that carries over across multiple episodes. Nevertheless, all three episodes are still easily recommended for unwinding-after-work viewing when the second season of Irrational starts tonight (10/8) on NBC (and streams the next day on Peacock).