THE IRRATIONAL Post-Mortem: Arika Lisanne Mittman Breaks Down the Big Marisa Reveal in ‘Lost Souls’

[Warning: This post contains spoilers for the Tuesday, January 7 episode of THE IRRATIONAL.]

When Alec (Jesse L. Martin) was taken out of an investigation into a missing tennis player due to a health emergency, Marisa (Maahra Hill) and Rose (Karen David) stepped in to try and find the young woman, who was missing in the forest.

Though the duo have Alec in common—Marisa is his ex-wife, while Rose is his new girlfriend—the duo hadn’t spent a lot of one-on-one time together. And their experience camping out in the woods (and saving the day) brought the two women closer together, enough that Marisa made two big gestures: She told Rose about her secret teenage pregnancy, where she went into labor in the woods, before she gave her son up for adoption (a fact only Alec knew about) and she effectively gave her blessing to the Alec and Rose romance.

Prior to the episode airing, Hill had teased to Give Me My Remote that “Lost Souls” featured “a part of Marisa’s past is awakened and [we see] her response and reaction to that…It’s surprising for her. I think it will be surprising for the audience, completely. And it takes her on a journey that is unexpected and heartfelt.”

So what comes next? THE IRRATIONAL creator Arika Lisanne Mittman broke down a few of the biggest moments (via email) to Give Me My Remote…

I absolutely loved what we saw of Rose and Marisa’s working relationship. Can you share a bit of the genesis of that storyline: Why giving them that time/space was important, how isolating them in the forest played into their openness and the changes that occurred, etc.?
These two have been in each other’s orbit by necessity for a while, but they’ve never actually spent time alone together without Alec, and we were really eager to see that dynamic finally play out, and to play it against expectations. We wanted to see the two women [in] Alec’s life NOT talking about Alec. And of course we also wanted to see this badass duo kick some ass together!

What conversations did you have with Maahra about Marisa’s previous pregnancy?
The idea came from the writers’ room but of course because it’s such a sensitive story, before we went ahead with it I called Maahra and asked her how she felt about it. Fortunately she loved the idea! 

Was this something you (and she) knew about the character from the start, and, if so, how did it play into what you’ve written in the previous episodes? And how will Marisa’s now-adult biological son play into the rest of season 2, if at all?
It was not something we knew for sure about the character from the start – but it was an idea that came up a few times in the room and it seemed like the right time to play it. Without giving too much away, this storyline will continue in Season 2…

Marisa makes it clear only Alec knows about this secret. Outside of the obvious forest-related PTSD, what made Marisa trust Rose with this huge bit of vulnerability?
I think sometimes it’s easier to tell a secret to someone who doesn’t know you well than someone you’ve known your whole life. With someone who knows you, they might find it hard to reconcile this new information with what they know of you, or they might be hurt that you never told them — She doesn’t have to worry about that with Rose as they don’t know each other well enough that she has a pre-formed opinion. At the same time, Rose makes herself available and easy to open up to. It’s using her spy skills for a good cause. 

Marisa does seem to have let go of Alec and be at peace with his relationship with Rose by the end of the hour. How much is she wanting to feel that way versus actually being in that space?
I think it’s a mix of both. I think she made a decision to leave Alec and I think she stands by that decision, but does it feel a little bittersweet sometimes, of course. But I think because a part of her will always love Alec, I think she really does want Alec to be happy. And when they first met, I think she wanted him to be happy – but not with Rose. But now [that] she’s getting to know Rose better, I think she does wish them both well. Even if it hurts just a little.

How will this experience impact Rose and Marisa’s dynamic going forward? And how did this influence the writers’ room, if it did, in what we’ll see in the rest of season 2?
I definitely think it’s brought Marisa and Rose closer, and we’ll see more scenes with them together in season 2! 

On another note, we saw Alec going through health issues in this episode. How will that be impacting him going forward?
You know Alec…he won’t be down for long! 

THE IRRATIONAL, Tuesdays, 10/9c, NBC

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