'The Irrational's Jesse L. Martin Teases 'Jam-Packed' Final Episodes of Season 1 (Exclusive)

As The Irrational's investigation into who was behind the church bombing that burned Alec Mercer continues, the NBC drama's star, Jesse L. Martin, promises answers in the "jam-packed" final episodes of Season 1. Martin opened up to PopCulture.com about picking up the thread in the midseason premiere ahead of Monday's all-new episode of The Irrational, revealing that things will only get more intense for Alec in the coming days. 

In the Jan. 29 midseason premiere, Jace Richards (Brian King) theorizes that the candidate whose campaign event was held at the church involved in the bombing that maimed Alec could have been involved on a deeper level than ever suspected – a theory he admits is not easily believed. "How things play out, we do find out what happened and it becomes entirely more personal than anybody ever imagined," Martin told PopCulture of the investigation moving forward. "Some of the key players are big players in Alec's life." 

Alec was also confronted with his trauma from the bombing while looking into an arson and murder case during the midseason premiere. "It's certainly an amazing event to have to revisit the exact same trauma that you went through many, many years ago," Martin said. "[Alec is a] grown man who can say to himself every day, 'I've gone past that trauma, it's led me to my work, it's led me to the relationships I have,' and then to be confronted with it physically again [is to] have all those things come back up."

He continued, "It was one of those episodes where me as a grown man, as Alec, I thought I was through the fire if you will, no pun intended. And I wasn't. I wasn't ready. I wasn't prepared. And that's what's great about playing a role like this because you can be the expert and then be the most vulnerable person in the room at times." 

Having a second season renewal at NBC is "incredible news" for Martin, who teased that there's always more twists and turns to come even as viewers get answers as to Alec's past. And while he doesn't have intel on what Season 2 will entail just yet, he said he's hoping to explore how Alec brings all his experience in the field back into the classroom. "How I crystallize all that experience and work to younger people, to young students is entirely interesting to me," he explained. "I think if I wasn't an actor, I would've been a teacher. So when I get in those spaces in the student theater or the arena, if you will, I get really jazzed about this work."

Everyone in the cast is fascinated by the behavioral science aspect of Alec's expertise, he noted. "We're reading these scripts and we're all learning about these psychoses and ways of behavior and things that influence behavior. And for an actor, that's everything, because our lives and work have been emulating behavior and observing from that angle," he shared. "But to observe it from an intellectual and [scientific] base is really cool for us."

The Irrational airs on Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.