While searching for a missing tennis star, Marisa opens up to Rose about her past in The Irrational season 2, episode 8. It’s time to look back at the event of the episode.
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS from The Irrational season 2, episode 8.
Everyone has an origin story, and that’s certainly the case for Marisa. Only Alec knew about her history, but she opened up to Rose while on the hunt for a missing tennis star.
Meanwhile, Alec had to sit on the sidelines as he suffered from a sudden illness. Of course, he couldn’t just sit it out.
Why would a tennis star run in The Irrational season 2, episode 8?
The big question to start the episode was why a tennis star would just up and leave. Why would she leave her dog behind? There were a few ideas, but nothing explained it fully. Well, it didn’t take too long to get all the answers.
Shanae, the tennis star, had suffered an injury that was career ending. She made a Ulysses pact with herself to find another way to compete at a sport. That led to her getting a cab out to the woods, which was 26.6 miles away from her home. She was going to run a marathon.
However, things didn’t go to plan. The path that was supposed to be viable had washed out. The maps just hadn’t been updated, and so Shanae had to find another path. She had been injured while running, but fortunately Marisa and Rose were out there searching for her.
Once they got to her, there were gunshots. What was going on? Why did someone want Shanae dead?
It all comes down to life insurance
When Kylie realizes that someone had been following Shanae in the weeks leading up to her disappearance. Was he responsible for shooting at her?
Not at all. He was actually an insurance auditor, but not to make sure she was actually sick. It was to make sure she was still capable of playing tennis. The life insurance policy was for her future earnings, but when she couldn’t play tennis, she wouldn’t be valued as highly and the policy would be void.
It wasn’t Shanae who had set up her own death. Her stepdad, who struggled to find coaching jobs after being let go as Shanae’s coach years earlier, decided that he would take the benefits of the life insurance policy. He was the one trying to call her. With all the information, Alec was able to get a message to Marisa and Rose to help them take the stepdad down.
Why wasn’t Alec on the case in The Irrational?
Alec spent the episode in the hospital after suffering from trauma-induced appendicitis. He refused medication knowing that he would like them too much, so he just tried to power through.
This was a great chance to get Alec to just slow down. Kylie and Marisa pointed out that he’s always putting himself in danger. And while Rose pointed out that he does it for the people he cares about, we know that isn’t always the case. Alec does have a bit of a savior complex, and while it comes from a place of good, it’s still a problem.
Will this be the change needed for him? Will this point out that he’s not invincible? Remember that he always knows that he is also rationally irrational. He has never said that he is better than everyone else, so I don’t expect to see this change.
However, he has learned that the people around him are capable of helping people. I would like to see him lean on people more.
Marisa opens up to Rose in The Irrational season 2 midseason premiere
While Marisa was the one to end her marriage to Alec, I did question about whether she had fully accepted Rose in Alec’s life. This episode was that turning point for her.
Rose has never been mean to Marisa. She knows who Marisa is, and I do think there’s a part of her that feels somewhat inferior. However, the two are on the same side when it comes to Alec. They want him to be happy, and Rose is the one who is his significant other at this point. There’s a chance for a healthy friendship between the two women moving forward.
That’s certainly something I suspect we’ll start to see in the series after Marisa opened up about her past. She got pregnant at 17 and gave the baby up for adoption. She made her own Ulysses pact by making sure the records were closed so she couldn’t go searching for the baby. While she knew her mother would have raised the baby, but Marisa knew that wasn’t fair on her mother and couldn’t let it happen.
However, Marisa realized that she needed to change for her own good. That was the point she turned to the FBI.
Alec is the only other person who knows this, and he calls it Marisa’s origin story. I love that Alec kept that secret. As someone who had a secret similar to that shared by my ex-husband, seeing someone be able to respect wishes and just honor being told is refreshing. This is why Alec is such a good guy. And I’m sure we’ll see that Rose honors the wish as well.
Overall, the episode brought a great case that ended up just being a catalyst for character development of our lead characters. Having Alec sidelined for it was refreshing. We had a chance to see Marisa and Rose spend time together and save the day. Yes, Alec did still do a lot of the work from his bed, but he couldn’t be there to put himself in danger and he couldn’t keep the women apart.
The Irrational airs on Tuesdays at 10/9c on NBC. Catch up the following day on Peacock.
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