The Irrational – Episode 2 ” Dead Woman Walking” Recap & Review

Dead Woman Walking

The Irrational episode 2 starts with Alex experimenting with a bunsen burner to trigger his memory of the fire. He tells his sister, Kylie, that he is trying to remember the floral scent he smelled that fateful night. He is hoping his memory will return and he will get to help the case. 

He shares with Kylie that the FBI doesn’t have much about the man who scared Wes at his parole hearing. Wes is so scared he got himself locked in solitary and is refusing to cooperate with the FBI. Alec hopes Marisa will help him look into the logo he remembered from the last episode. Kylie questions whether he is using the case to stay close to Marisa. Alex argues that although he and Marisa are divorced, they still make great crime investigative partners.

Alec receives a message that someone is waiting for him at the office, and he asks Kyle for a ride. He is surprised to get there to see CJ Wright, a respectable journalist, waiting for him. He is even more shocked when CJ says she needs help solving her own murder. CJ has been poisoned with a rare and deadly nerve agent. Although she and Alec don’t get along, he is willing to help her. 

He asks if she has looked into treatment, but CJ is not interested in being part of experimental treatment; she wants to find out who is planning to kill her. They start by narrowing down the list of possible suspects. CJ believes her upcoming piece on a Belarusian man with ties to the Russian mob might be their guy. She was working with an informant named Yuri and had lunch with him that previous Tuesday. She thinks she was poisoned during that lunch meeting. 

Unfortunately, Yuri has since gone MIA, and they are unsure if he is involved or another victim. CJ believes Yuri might also have been the target, and she was simply collateral damage. She starts coughing, and Alec asks if they should inform anyone about her state. She insists they should only tell her writing partner, Gene. She is adamant that her estranged daughter, Nicole, should be left in the dark. She doesn’t want Nicole to watch her die. Alec asks her to reconsider her wishes. She faints before they can continue the conversation and is rushed to the hospital.

At the hospital, Marisa cautions Alec that the case is too high profile and every agency is getting involved. Alec maintains he needs to help CJ. They spot Gene and update him on CJ’s condition. They ask him questions about the lunch, and Gene worries he might have also been poisoned. He also fears he might be in danger and asks for police protection. He gives them a lead on Yuri, saying the man loves to play chess. 

Alec uses this tip and recruits Rizwan and Phoebe’s help to trick Yuri into revealing his location. They email Yuri, acting like they are from a chess website Yuri loves. They offer Yuri a free gift, one he can’t resist and wait for him to take the bait. It doesn’t take long before Yuri replies and reveals his address. As they wait, Phoebe asks why CJ won’t let her daughter say goodbye. Alec says he promised CJ to respect her wishes. 

After getting Yuri’s address, Alec heads over and asks Marisa to meet him there. Marisa is late, so Alec gets curious and starts looking around. He hears a gunshot on Yuri’s boat, and then Yuri comes out clutching his stomach. He asks Alec to run as the shooter keeps shooting. Alec tries to use logic to negotiate with the assassin. The FBI starts closing in, but the shooter refuses to let up. This forces Alec to jump into the water.

Later, Alec informs Maris that he doesn’t think the assassin is the best. He argues a Russian mob official can afford to hire the best assassins; therefore, the man is not their guy. He also believes Yuri was not the target, but he saw something the day CJ was poisoned.  

In the meantime, Phoebe and Rizwan trck down Nicole and update her on the situation. Nicole is not exactly happy to hear this and asks to be left alone. She is still angry at her mom for putting he career before her.  

Alec visits  CJ at the hospital and asks what she remembers about the lunch. She mentions a couple who got engaged. The proposal was a distraction to allow the assassin to switch the teapot on CJ’s table. CJ is surprised she didn’t notice, and Alec uses an experiment to show how misdirected attention works. The FBI and Alec find the couple and learn they were hired to stage a proposal.  

Marisa and Alec work on identifying the client who hired the fake couple. As they work, Alec suggests they take the weekend to work on the Wes case, but Marisa says it is a bad idea. She admits the divorce has been hard on her and asks Alec to see her side, too. As they investigate, they find a new possible suspect who CJ outed for selling nicotine to kids. After the news was out, the company fired the VP, Brandon. The poison used on CJ can also be found in tobacco leaves. 

They use an interview ruse to get Brandon to boast about his work at the former company. It turns out that Brandon is not their killer. He is not angry at CJ for getting him fired. He, however, drops a bombshell about Gene. Alec realises the answer was right in front of them. Unfortunately, they need proof before arresting Gene. 

Nicole has a change of heart and visits Phoebe at the office. Phoebe admits that she regrets being estranged from her mom when she died. Nicole decides she doesn’t want to live with regrets and opts to set things straight with her mom. 

In the meantime, Alec visits Gene and informs him that CJ is taking a turn for the worse. He subtly touches on how CJ’s death might have a silver lining for Gene. As expected, Gene tries to be humble, and Alec talks about how the mastermind is a genius. However, he says it is a pity that the mastermind will never get to brag about how he took the great CJ down. 

Motivated by Alec’s talk, Gene visits CJ, who is allegedly in a coma and confesses everything. He is shocked when CJ wakes up and shows him the recording of his confession. Before he can grab it, Marisa charges in with her gun blazing and arrests him. Nicole visits her mom and convinces her to get the experimental treatment, which works out. 

Alec checks in on Phoebe and comforts her. He advises her to stop living with the what-ifs, and remember the good times instead. He uses CJ’s story to teach a lecture in his class on how most killers are narcissists and how this trait helps to catch them.

The episode ends with Alec remembering something from the night of the fire.

The Episode Review

Alec is a terrific boss who takes time to look after the people around him. This episode’s main takeaway is embracing second chances to fix things with our loved ones. It is a pity that Alec has yet to fix things with Marisa, but hopefully, they will get there. Even if they don’t get back together, seeing them in a place of less hurt will be good. 

CJ’s story is a reminder that it is always those who we trust that end up stabbing us in the back. It is good that Gene didn’t get away with it, and CJ survived. Overall, this was an entertaining episode, and we can’t wait to see what Alec remembered from the night of the fire.