The Irrational Season 2 Episode 13 Used An Atypical Case To Explore Phoebe’s Past

The Irrational Season 2 Episode 13 was a different type of case, but it had a point.

I shared Alec’s skepticism when he asked if Phoebe and Seb wanted him to prove a horse was innocent of murder.

On paper, this seemed like a silly premise. A half-hour after finishing it, though, I realized how brilliant “Murder She Rode” was.

The Case Almost Didn’t Matter On The Irrational Season 2 Episode 13

The biggest reason for anyone to care about the case was that Phoebe used to work on that ranch.

The Irrational‘s research assistants are way more developed during Season 2 than they ever were on Season 1. When the series first premiered, Phoebe was the one who had everything together while Rizwan was disorganized, anxious, and unable to teach a class on his own.

Nowadays, there’s a lot more to both of them, and Phoebe’s story has been one of finding ways to move past her anxiety so she can do more than simply succeed.

That’s what made “Murder She Rode” so compelling. Phoebe’s history with the ranch was another example of how anxiety and the need to play it safe used to rule her.

Phoebe quit horseback riding because she wasn’t a professional-level jockey.

She thought it would be a distraction from her academic goals and wanted to be singularly focused on getting the research done she needed to earn her degree.

Did anyone know that Phoebe was into horseback riding before this story?

I didn’t, but it doesn’t matter.

She has a past she ran away from — that’s more important than whether she was dropping hints all along.

In general, I prefer foreshadowing of characters having made major life decisions, but in this case, I didn’t mind.

I mean, you don’t know everything about real people when you meet them either. Their stories unfold over time.

That’s what this felt like — getting to know Phoebe, including learning about this side of her I never knew existed before.

It would have been one thing if it had been shoehorned in. Then I’d be aggravated by how obvious it was the writers were making it up as they went along.

This didn’t feel like that, though. It somehow fit Phoebe’s character that she once rode horses and made memories with her late mother, then gave it all up after her mom died.

I also loved her defense of Zeus… and her friendship with Seb.

Those two have history and chemistry. I couldn’t help wondering if they were once an item… or if they would kiss before the end of the hour.

The fact that they didn’t was the only real disappointment in this storyline.

Since Phoebe now acknowledges that the ranch means something to her, maybe that’ll happen in a future episode. I hope so!

The Irrational Season 2 Episode 13’s Case Was A Refreshing Change Of Pace

The case was mostly an excuse to explore Phoebe’s past, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t interesting.

I have a soft spot for animals, so I loved that Phoebe, Seb, and Alec were working so hard to save Zeus.

Kathleen’s death was similar to Colby’s on Yellowstone, except no one shot the horse on the spot (or put themselves in a situation where they could be trampled when it wasn’t necessary.)

Still, the horse was innocent.

It annoyed me that Kathleen’s husband still wanted him put down after it was proven the only reason he reacted violently was that someone put a high-frequency speaker in his bridle to trigger that behavior.

Remove the high-frequency speaker and the horse is no longer violent. That seemed obvious to me.

Equally strangely, Mr. Cross was antagonistic the entire hour, but after Pete was arrested for attempting to shoot Zeus, Cross suddenly calmed down.

I guess he needed absolute proof that Zeus was as much of a victim as Kathleen. Still, his calmer demeanor was as random as his popping into Alec’s office to demand that Alec stop investigating.

Alec is an FBI consultant and in this case, he was working with a state trooper. Take several seats, Mr. Hothead.

The Motive Was Convoluted, But I Went With It

I’m not sure I fully understand why someone wanted Zeus dead on The Irrational Season 2 Episode 13.

I got the gist of it. There was a scheme to defraud horse breeders by stealing Zeus’ samples and replacing them with nonviable ones, and then someone secretly got a horse pregnant with his offspring.

I didn’t get the rest of it, but maybe that was me.

My confusion about this horse sperm scheme didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the episode.

Alec comparing notes with an animal behavioral psychologist was interesting, as was Phoebe’s backstory, so if we needed a weird case to get that, so be it.

I was nervous during the sting operation, though. Thank goodness those scenes were so dark it was nearly impossible to tell what was happening.

The thought of the bad guys being able to kill that horse bothered me, even though I was pretty sure they wouldn’t go there.

I’m so glad they used a decoy!

I’m Sorry, But Did Anyone Care About Marisa’s Case?

I like Marisa, but I had less than zero interest in whatever case it was that forced her to go up against her son.

My mind kept wandering during their scenes, and I was irritated that she told the judge that, TECHNICALLY, Cam was her son.

If I were Cam, I would have been furious about that. Yes, he is adopted, but the whole point of them finding each other is that he’s her biological son! There’s nothing technical about it.

Also, for the second week in a row, Kylie had nothing to do, and that’s not acceptable to me.

Fortunately, this subplot was a minor part of The Irrational Season 2 Episode 13. The rest of the episode was far more interesting.

Over to you, The Irrational fanatics.

What did you think of “Murder She Rode?”

Hit the comments with your thoughts, and don’t forget to vote in our poll to rank the episode.

The Irrational airs on NBC on Tuesdays at 10/9c and streams on Peacock on Wednesdays.

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