Courageous Nerd

More than a decade after he left Law & Order, Jesse L. Martin returns to NBC with new procedural The Irrational.

While Jesse L. Martin in an NBC procedural drama may sound familiar, The Irrational shakes up the audience’s expectations of his role.

Rather than play a cop like Law & Order and The Flash, Martin’s new character Alec Mercer is a professor who has a much more complex dynamic with law enforcement in this series.

Although not an officer of the law himself, Alec acts as a consultant to the FBI. To complicate things further, his former wife Marisa happens to be an FBI agent.

Martin completed a nine season run as Joe West on The Flash in 2023.

Having left Central City behind, let’s see who joins Martin each week on The Irrational.

Jesse L Martin as Professor Alec Mercer

As mentioned, Professor Alec Mercer is a world-renowned expert in behavioural psychology. While he doesn’t work in law enforcement (“it pays crap”, in Alec’s own words), he is often called by law enforcement agencies to provide his expertise. This essentially sets up the show’s premise.

Rather than just being “the smart guy”, Alec also has trauma to deal with. Years prior to the present day, he received serious burns following a church arson attack. This leaves permanent facial scarring, giving Alec a distinctive look for the series.

The arsonist’s parole hearing plays a major role in the pilot episode.

Jesse L. Martin, who plays Alec is best known for TV runs as Detective Ed Green on Law and Order, as well as Captain Joe West on The Flash.

Also a singer, Martin starred in the original Broadway cast of Rent, playing Tom Collins.

Maahra Hill as Marisa

Marisa is Alec’s former wife and an FBI agent. The two met through the church bombing, which was Marisa’s first case.

While she and Alec are no longer a couple, they maintain a working relationship. She is shown to trust his judgment when it comes to making decisions about people’s behaviour.

She is now in a relationship with colleague Jace Richards, played by Brian King.

Prior to The Irrational, Maahra Hill’s previous credits include episodes of Black-ish, How To Get Away With Murder and Speechless.

Arash DeMaxi as Rizwan

Rizwan is an enthusiastic psychology grad student, who becomes an apprentice of sorts to Alec Mercer.

With his counterpart Phoebe, the two work dutifully under Alec. They are effectively the ‘Doctor Watson’-esque character to Alec’s version of Sherlock Holmes.

According to the Deadline Hollywood article announcing Arash DeMaxi’s casting, the character was originally named “Owen”. This article described the character as “a grad student of psychology with a playful sense of humour and natural curiosity”.

Arash DeMaxi’s previous credits include episodes of The Blacklist, The Equalizer and Chicago Med.

Molly Kunz as Phoebe

Phoebe is Alec Mercer’s grad student assistant and like Rizwan, she can often be found at Alec’s side.

Deadline Hollywood announced Molly Kunz’s casting on June 6, 2022.

Their description of Phoebe was, “A protégé of Alec and conscientious graduate student pursuing her Master’s degree in psychology”.

Before landing the role of Phoebe, Molly Kunz appeared in episodes of The Resident, Chicago Fire and Colony.

Travina Springer as Kylie

Kylie is Alec Mercer’s younger sister and now roommate following his separation from Marisa. She is also a skilled hacker, which is bound to come in handy as The Irrational continues.

As the younger sister, roommate and tech support to the lead character, Kylie fulfils several roles in the show.

Springer previously had a recurring role on Ms Marvel and lent her voice to 2020’s We Bare Bears: The Movie.

The Irrational airs Mondays on NBC.

Follow writer Conor O’Brien on Twitter