THE IRRATIONAL: Maahra Hill Previews Marisa’s ‘Journey of Self-Reflection’

THE IRRATIONAL returns for its sophomore season on Tuesday, October 8 (at 10/9c), as the team tries to help save a kidnapped Rose (Karen David). 

The case is personal for Alec (Jesse L. Martin), a professor specializing in human behavior, who has been dating Rose for the past few months. That also makes it important for FBI agent Marisa (Maahra Hill), Alec’s ex-wife—and occasional work colleague.

“She’s been an agent for 15 years, so I think her fallback is always going to be, ‘Let’s make sure that we handle this appropriately,’” Hill tells Give Me My Remote. “She’ll do her due diligence and check in with everyone that she needs to make sure that everything is handled in the way that it should.”

Recent history, however, is making things a bit more complicated. “Because it’s a personal relationship, I think she definitely wants to make sure that Alec doesn’t experience what she did at the end of the [last] season,” Hill says, referring to the murder of Marisa’s boyfriend, Jace (Brian King), in her home. “So she’s going to put her best foot forward and make sure that everything is resolved in a way [that is] harmoniously, peacefully. She wants him to be okay, primarily, so she puts all the resources that she can behind it to make sure that that’s the outcome.”

The show’s sophomore season will find Marisa in a new place, content with her “unique friendship” with Alec, and adjusting to a new normal after Jace’s death—and the revelation her former mentor, Bob (Garry Chalk), the FBI head of intelligence, was heavily involved in the conspiracy that injured Alec years earlier. (The case also brought Alec and Marisa together, initially.) 

“The thing that Marisa goes through after the closure of the case—that has been a relationship-long case with her and Alec—is a journey around grief, a little bit of grief,” Hill notes. “Everyone handles that differently. We see the way that she goes into it does open her heart up in a way that exposes her to a part of her past that creeps up in ways that are surprising to her, and I think that will also be for the audience.”

“She’s going into a journey of self-reflection and discovery in a way that is kind of a ride…but then she intentionally starts to participate in it in a way I think that is helpful for her own evolution,” she continues. “So she and Alec still are very close. They’re still working closely together. They have this yin-yang relationship throughout the season: She’s the facts and the evidence, and he brings all of the unique talent and gifts around observation and psychological analysis that helps to resolve the cases. So that’s not changed at all, but the way that they are in [the] relationship is unique and different.”

THE IRRATIONAL will also be diving further into one of the unexpected joys of the first season: Marisa’s dynamic with Kylie (Travina Springer), Alec’s sister.

With Kylie now employed by the FBI—and working with Marisa—she “has this level of expertise that is very much valuable to the FBI,” Hill teases. “So she’s going to have our own journey there, where she goes into whether it’s a fit for [her to be working for] the FBI and all of the strict black-and-white guidelines and restrictions that are there, and the law enforcement of it all.”

“But for Kylie and Marisa, them being able to explore this friendship and this sisterhood within this dynamic of work, I think it is beautiful,” she continues. “I think that we don’t look at friendship and sisterhood enough in the ways that celebrate them or that also consider what breakups are like…I’m glad to see that they’re putting more time into it and that they get to spend more time together.”

As a bonus for Hill, “I love Travina, who plays Kylie…it’s always so fun to be with her and work with her,” she says. “I’m just grateful for that because I love her. But as far as Kylie and Marisa go, I just think it’s a safe place for them both. And for Marisa, [in a space] that’s been torn apart a bit, to have this softer place to land is very much needed and appreciated. And for Kylie, she’s got someone who can guide her into this new area she’s sorting out her feelings about.”

THE IRRATIONAL, Season Premiere, Tuesday, October 8, 10/9c, NBC

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