'The Irrational' Stars Break Down Marisa's Game-Changing Secret in the Midseason Premiere (Exclusive)

The Irrational kicked off the back half of its second season with a bang, in more ways than one. Alec (Jesse L. Martin) landed himself back in the hospital after a season and a half of crime-fighting injuries started to catch up to him and he suddenly needed surgery. It’s an especially tough situation for Alec because: A) He hates hospitals, and B) he’s covered in scar tissue, making it much more difficult for his skin to heal. He was especially frustrated this week as a missing and injured tennis player sent ex-wife Marisa (Maahra Hill) and current girlfriend Rose (Karen David) out into the woods to track her down. They were out of cell phone range, lost their satellite phone, and quickly discovered that the teen was being chased by an inept sniper.

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Since they couldn’t get out of the woods before sundown, they had to set up camp and get real cozy with each other, giving Marisa and Rose some real bonding time. Marisa revealed that she, too, was once screaming for help in the woods, but the situation was very different. When she was 17, she got pregnant and sought help from a women’s shelter. She often walked in the woods behind the shelter, and eventually went into premature labor while on one of those walks. She eventually found a road, waved down a car, and got them to call an ambulance. She never even got to hold the baby before he was taken to his new adopted family, and she’s wondered about him ever since.

Sharing this secret with Rose was a big step for Marisa and her new normal with Alec, and obviously the show is going to dig into this painful part of Marisa’s past.

“That episode is something else,” Hill told reporters on a visit to the Vancouver set. “There’s some things that come up for Marisa in that episode, and Rose is there. I think up until that point, Marisa’s keeping an eye on [Rose], making sure she’s not going to treat Alec [badly]. This episode, it transforms a bit. She’s forced in this situation to open up to her and share something that’s really special. Stuff like that, when you lean on somebody in a way, you feel kind of bonded to them.”

Related: Everything to Know About The Irrational Season 2

Marisa will also be leaning on and bonding with a therapist. But this moment with Rose helps make her ex-husband’s new relationship a little easier to digest.

“She still feels for Alec,” Hill said. “They still have 15 years of marriage between them, so I don’t think it’s been easy for her to watch this relationship expand in the way that it has, but it’s beautiful for the show, great for the show. But for Marisa, I think it’s a little difficult.”

The Irrational began around a year after Alec and Marisa’s divorce, so we haven’t actually seen a whole lot of their married life. Hill confirmed to Parade that the show will explore a bit of their past together.

“It comes at the end of the season,” she said. “You get to see that, ‘Oh, wow, they had something that was pretty special,’ which I think makes it really difficult. We just dip into the past eight years ago. We get a little glimpse, but not a lot.”

Hill couldn’t spoil what that flashback is like. But she did say that things fell apart because Alec “brought his work into the relationship,” which is no surprise whatsoever.

Here’s a tease of all the present-day romance to expect as Irrational Minds goes on.

Rose and Alec

“There’s nothing wrong with a little kissing on network television,” Jesse L. Martin teased as he and Karen David gushed endlessly about each other and the relationship between their characters, which sounds like it’s going strong.

While his marriage to Marisa may have been destroyed by bringing his work home, that does not appear to be a problem with Rose, the former MI6 agent who freely admits that she lies constantly, but is also great at telling the truth.

“She really does drop bombs left and right,” Martin said. “I guess if you’re an ex-spy, there are certain things you: A) can’t say and B) don’t want to say. You get me in trouble a lot.”

Martin went on to say that while he spends all day analyzing behavior and assessing what’s going on under the surface, Rose lets him be a “big ol’ floppy puppy,” and it reminds him how human he actually is. Plus, she’s pretty helpful when it comes to solving cases that might require a bit of spy work, or even singing.

“What amazes me is that after each episode and adventure together, it’s like, ‘OK, you’re still here…for now,'” David said. “Like, thank god. The amount of dangerous situations we end up in…Look, I take some of the credit, because I put myself in some dangerous situations, particularly this season. But geez, you just show up with all kinds of madness.”

Related: Everything to Know About Law & Order Season 24

Phoebe, Rizwan, and/or Simon?

The former duo is now a trio as Phoebe (Molly Kunz) has rejoined Rizwan (Arash DeMaxi) and newbie nepo baby Simon Wylton (Max Lloyd-Jones) in Alec’s research lab. That happened a few episodes ago, and things were awkward as Phoebe got used to no longer being in charge. The awkwardness has dissipated, but it sounds like there’s a new kind of awkwardness ahead. But what do you expect when three attractive, smart grad students spend all day in the same room with each other? Aside from highly scientific experiments, of course.

“We are all behavioral psychologists at the end of the day, so you pick up on things,” DeMaxi teased. “It’s been really fun as an actor to kind of play between the lines. There’s signs that even I would pick up on, as myself.”

No spoilers here, but both DeMaxi and Kunz agreed that what unfolds throughout the end of the season is definitely irrational.

Kylie and ?

Alec’s little sister will also be getting in on the action, with a little loving to go along with her swanky new job at the FBI. (OK, she’s a contractor in a basement office, but at least it’s an FBI basement.)

“I love so much that Kylie will get to explore other relationships and what love looks like for her and what her true desires are,” Travina Springer said. “You will see a touch of some queer love on screen this season, so I’m really happy about that. I think it’s just so important for that to be represented on network television, and also seeing a Black queer woman who is just so unapologetic in so many ways. So yes, Alec will not be the only one getting loved up on.”

No doubt there are a lot of irrational decisions in store!

The Irrational airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on NBC. 

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