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Critic’s Rating: 4.8 / 5.0
4.8
The Irrational Season 2 Episode 6 had everything that makes me love this show.
University politics can be crappy, especially when a student’s death is inconvenient for the school’s reputation, but Alec handled the situation — and Simon’s mother — perfectly.
I also appreciated how sensitively it handled the topic of suicide, which always risks over-sensationalism and the spreading of misinformation. [Note: This article will talk extensively about that subject, so if that is a trigger for you, proceed with caution.]
The Irrational Season 2 Episode 6 Dealt Sensitively With The Idea of “Suicidal Contagion.”
Amelia Wylton was concerned mostly with the image of the school, but her biggest fear was that students would imitate Kenzie’s alleged suicide by throwing themselves off clock towers.
The Irrational Season 2 Episode 6 handled this delicate subject well.
While it emphasized that most of the time, suicidal thoughts aren’t contagious, it also pointed out that there are some aspects of how suicide is handled that can encourage others to do the same thing.
This is something that isn’t talked about a lot because people don’t want to spread misinformation.
Most people who end their own lives are in pain. They don’t do it because they think it’s cool or because someone else did it.
However, I’d never thought about the fact that candlelight vigils and other public memorials could romanticize suicide or make someone desire that kind of attention after their death.
It was important to strike a balance. Other students needed to mourn for Kenzie without the school encouraging self-destructive behavior, and the same is true in real life.
The Irrational Should Use Amelia More Often
I like the idea of a school administrator who isn’t a bad person but is overly concerned with optics.
That’s a realistic antagonist who isn’t a villain but who nevertheless gets in the way of Alec’s investigations.
Strangely, Amelia had no real reaction to Alec allowing Simon to join the case against her wishes.
I’m not sure if she knew about it, but I’m guessing she didn’t because there wasn’t any drama over Alec disregarding her explicit wish regarding her son.
Simon: Did my mother order you to bench me?
Alec: She requested it.
Simon: Then, respectfully, I’m requesting the opposite.
It was less surprising that Simon’s brother died of suicide and not an accident than it was that Amelia ignored that Simon was investigating when she didn’t want him to.
Simon’s not good at bluffing or hiding the truth. The monologue he gave about suicide not being contagious gave away that someone he loved had ended their own life.
As much as it was a trigger for him, Simon was determined to help solve this case, and he couldn’t be talked out of it.
Fortunately, it didn’t cause him a mental health issue, though I’m sure Alec was monitoring him more carefully than it seemed.
The Irrational Season 2 Episode 6 Provided Insight Into The Dark Side Of Sorority Life
I was never into Greek life when I was in college, so I don’t know how accurate this was, but the sorority of high-achieving mean girls seemed plausible.
Kenzie died because of an alum who wanted to silence her before she could blow the whistle on people paying to get ahead on the transplant list, but it was unsurprising the girls were suspects.
They didn’t do themselves any favors by trying to hide what happened to Kenzie.
Summer had enough legal knowledge to demand a search warrant before Marisa looked in Kenzie’s room but not enough to know how to help herself not look guilty.
The sorority deserved to lose its charter for offering drugs to members as well as for the bullying it likely was engaging in behind closed doors.
Kenzie’s situation was tragic for a number of reasons, but one of them was that there is apparently no Good Samaritan law where they live (assuming Summer had learned about such laws in her pre-law classes).
In New York, we currently have a law that says a person who reports an overdose cannot be charged with drug possession or similar crimes.
The idea is to encourage people to call 911 in these situations so that overdose victims don’t die unnecessarily.
That kind of law would have allowed the girls to call for help when they found Kenzie dead, which would have solved half of their problem.
Phoebe Is Finally Back Where She Belongs
The best part of The Irrational Season 2 Episode 6 is that Phoebe is finally back in Alec’s department.
Also, she now has a last name. It’s Duncan.
Phoebe’s story was an interesting parallel to Kenzie’s.
Like Kenzie, she wanted to do the right thing, and in her case, she survived long enough to expose Professor Myers as a fraud.
Phoebe was never in danger of actually being murdered, but Myers thought she was going to kill Phoebe’s academic career.
Myers: I have decided that to save the school further embarrassment I will resign from my position.
Phoebe: I’m sorry to hear that.
Myers: Thank you. Unfortunately, that means the grant will no longer be in existence. So that means you will have to look for your… how many research positions is this?
Phoebe: Third. This will be my third.
Myers: That’s an awful lot of department shuffling. People do value loyalty to their team. But I’m sure you’ll find someone to sign off on your PhD. After all, you have such impeccable ethics.
Once Myers made that threat, the most logical thing to do was for Phoebe to ask Alec for her old job back. He wasn’t going to blacklist her for telling the truth about unethical practices.
With an assist from Kylie, Phoebe finally realized that no job was going to stop her from having anxiety attacks.
Hopefully, she’ll deal with the root cause now that she’s back with Alec.
But in the meantime, the idea that you can’t solve anxiety by running from it was a strong message that might have resonated deeply with the audience. I know it did with me.
Over to you, The Irrational fanatics.
What did you think of The Irrational Season 2 Episode 6?
Vote in our poll to rank the episode, and then hit the comments with your thoughts.
The Irrational airs on NBC on Tuesdays at 10/9c and on Wednesdays on Peacock.
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