The BEST episodes of The Irrational

Every episode of The Irrational ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of The Irrational!

Alec Mercer is a world-renowned professor of behavioral science who offers up his unique and unexpected approach to understanding human behavior to help solve an array of high-stakes cases involving governments, law enforcement and corporations.

Last Updated: 4/14/2025Network: NBCStatus: Continuing
The Overview Effect
star
7.66
148 votes

#1 - The Overview Effect

Season 2 - Episode 16 - Aired 3/11/2025

With an astronaut trapped in space, Alec is tapped to evaluate whether the pair of astronauts assigned to rescue them—a married couple—can safely complete the mission, until an accident during a training exercise puts the mission at risk.

Directors: Anna Mastro
Writer: Mark Goffman
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Reciprocity
star
7.65
287 votes

#2 - Reciprocity

Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 2/19/2024

Alec and Marisa are close to finding the culprit of the church bombing. Kylie gets an interview with the FBI, but is pulled into the investigation. Rose tracks down a witness. Phoebe and Rizwan make a discovery that sheds light on the truth.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Conversation Games
star
7.64
156 votes

#3 - Conversation Games

Season 2 - Episode 15 - Aired 2/25/2025

When Kylie and Marisa find evidence that a tech billionaire may be a serial killer, Alec quickly determines the only way to prove the killer's guilt is for Alec to extract a confession, which leads into a dangerous game of cat and mouse.

Directors: Cherie Nowlan
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Suddenly, Alec
star
7.61
141 votes

#4 - Suddenly, Alec

Season 2 - Episode 17 - Aired 3/18/2025

In order to solve an actor's murder, Alec and Rose must go undercover to infiltrate a community theater production of "Little Shop of Horrors," but joining the cast may put them right in the killer's crosshairs.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Barnum Effect
star
7.60
394 votes

#5 - The Barnum Effect

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/9/2023

After a passenger plane crashes into the Potomac River, suspicions focus immediately on the pilot. Professor Mercer and the team are asked to investigate the pilot’s personal motivations and piece together clues in the hopes of revealing the truth.

Directors: John Terlesky
Writer: Mark Goffman
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Straight From the Heart
star
7.59
147 votes

#6 - Straight From the Heart

Season 2 - Episode 12 - Aired 2/4/2025

Renee seeks Alec's help after she has a dream containing details about a murder that actually happened. The case grows more intriguing when they realize the victim was Renee's heart transplant donor. Marisa is surprised by a visitor from her past.

Directors: Rebecca Moline
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Exchange
star
7.58
134 votes

#7 - The Exchange

Season 2 - Episode 18 - Aired 3/25/2025

When Alec is recruited to assist with a multi-national prisoner exchange that has gone awry, he sees an opportunity to rescue a wrongfully imprisoned colleague. The case pulls Alec and Rose into the dangerous world of international espionage.

Directors: Dawn Wilkinson
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Bombshell
star
7.58
301 votes

#8 - Bombshell

Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 2/12/2024

Alec and his team come face to face with the man who was put away for the church bombing 20 years earlier. Marisa and Kylie work together to save Alec, Phoebe and Rizwan. Jace makes a critical break in the case that changes everything.

Directors: Jesse Warn
Watch Now:Amazon
The Milgram Experiment
star
7.55
155 votes

#9 - The Milgram Experiment

Season 2 - Episode 14 - Aired 2/18/2025

Alec helps Rose when an attorney general is threatened by a scandalous deep fake video that puts lives in danger. The head of Rose's firm arrives from Europe and gets entangled in their case work, leading Alec to do an experiment.

Directors: Jesse Warn
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Bad Blood
star
7.55
220 votes

#10 - Bad Blood

Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/22/2024

When a rising star on Wall Street is killed during her hockey game, Alec must determine if it was an accident or murder. Alex and Rose find themselves on opposite sides of the case as they try to get to the heart of the victim's cutthroat world.

Directors: Jeffrey W. Byrd
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Scorched Earth
star
7.54
321 votes

#11 - Scorched Earth

Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 1/29/2024

Alec takes a case involving a young burn victim and arson that forces him to confront some trauma from his past. Phoebe and Rizwan compete for an important research grant.

Directors: Maja Vrvilo
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Anatomy of a Fall
star
7.51
203 votes

#12 - Anatomy of a Fall

Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/12/2024

Simon's mother asks Alec to help stop a suicide contagion when a third student death strikes the campus. Alex asks Marisa to help when he thinks there might be more to the case. Phoebe struggles with her next career move.

Directors: Darnell Martin
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Murder She Rode
star
7.51
152 votes

#13 - Murder She Rode

Season 2 - Episode 13 - Aired 2/11/2025

After a champion horse throws and kills its rider, Alec and Phoebe are called up on to save the horse from being euthanized. Their investigation reveals what happened isn't at all as it appears.

Directors: Jon Huertas
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Lucky Charms
star
7.48
333 votes

#14 - Lucky Charms

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/23/2023

Alec and the team head to Las Vegas to help Camille, a former colleague turned expert poker player who's been lured into danger. They must take some risks to solve a gambling mystery before Camille gets hurt. Marisa makes a significant discovery.

Directors: Amanda Tapping
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Dead Woman Walking
star
7.47
429 votes

#15 - Dead Woman Walking

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/2/2023

Professor Mercer is approached by old friend CJ, a prominent investigative journalist, who asks for his help after she’s poisoned with a rare and deadly nerve agent. With time running out, Mercer pieces together scant clues.

Directors: Jesse Warn
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Cheating Life
star
7.47
299 votes

#16 - Cheating Life

Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 2/5/2024

After witnessing a hit and run during a friend's livestream, Alec and Kylie aim to prove it wasn't an accident. As Marisa and Jace continue their investigation into the church bombing, they set their sights on a prominent senator.

Directors: Carl Seaton
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
A Kick in the Teeth
star
7.45
219 votes

#17 - A Kick in the Teeth

Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/15/2024

The FBI needs Alec and his team to help stop a serial killer terrorizing the suburbs. As the bodies pile up, Alec helps the police uncover what's really driving this murderer to his choice of victims.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Formal Ties
star
7.45
198 votes

#18 - Formal Ties

Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/29/2024

Alec and Marisa attend the wedding of a mutual friend's daughter located inside a foreign embassy, where the father of the bride has been ensonced for diplomatic reasons. Their night off quickly turns into a murder investigation.

Directors: Jesse Warn
Writer: Katie Wech
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Now You Don't
star
7.45
167 votes

#19 - Now You Don't

Season 2 - Episode 10 - Aired 1/21/2025

Alec brings Rose on a date to a magic club he frequents where a friend is the headliner. The evening turns deadly when an audience volunteer is inexplicably killed onstage, and seemingly by magic.

Directors: Jesse Warn
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Ghost Ship
star
7.44
158 votes

#20 - Ghost Ship

Season 2 - Episode 11 - Aired 1/28/2025

Alec and Marisa investigate a mysterious ghost ship that has washed up on the shores of his hometown. This forces him to revisit his past and spend time with his father with whom he has a fraught and complicated relationship.

Directors: Jesse Warn
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Pilot
star
7.44
510 votes

#21 - Pilot

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/25/2023

Professor of behavioral science Alec Mercer is called upon to investigate the murder of a fashion influencer whose boyfriend, a decorated soldier and son of a senator, has confessed to the crime. Mercer suspects there’s more to the story than meets the eye.

Directors: David Frankel
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Zero Sum
star
7.42
371 votes

#22 - Zero Sum

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/16/2023

Alec and the team take on a kidnapping case at the request of a desperate father. Their investigation is hampered by a complicated family dynamic that slowly reveals everyone's hidden motivations.

Directors: Janice Cooke
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Point and Shoot
star
7.42
334 votes

#23 - Point and Shoot

Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/30/2023

Alec agrees to testify as an expert witness in a wrongful death trial for a friend of Kylie's. As he faces an old nemesis, he discovers competing emotions around an accidental shooting. Marisa reaches a decision about the bombing investigation.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Another Man's Treasure
star
7.38
185 votes

#24 - Another Man's Treasure

Season 2 - Episode 9 - Aired 1/14/2025

Alec and Marisa investigate a museum heist, and a curator and his son might hold the key. The case raises ethical questions about the controversial practice of buying and selling cultural artifacts, which brings old memories for Marisa.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Collateral Damage
star
7.37
227 votes

#25 - Collateral Damage

Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/8/2024

When Rose goes missing, Alec quickly discovers this is no ordinary kidnapping. While Rose plays a dangerous game to stall for time, Alec takes matters into his own hands to find her.

Directors: John Terlesky
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV