‘Trying’ Recap: ‘Airport Run’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Rafe Spall and Esther Smith as Jason and Nikki in Episode 406 of ‘Trying’ – ‘Airport Run’. (Photo Courtesy of Apple.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 406 of ‘Trying’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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Ask any parent what they would do to be admired by their children or how far they would go to protect them, and you’ll get back the same answer… anything. Which is of course, the right answer, because parents should indeed go above and beyond to be admired by their kids since they are the first role models’ children encounter and they should absolutely work to protect them. But while that is a lovely answer that every parent hopes to live up to, the truth is, they simply cannot. For anything is a huge ask to those questions. In part because parents, are human, and will make mistakes along the way and of course… there are acts that they cannot take part in to properly protect their little ones through and through. 

Which means, that the best way to handle those specific questions, is to do anything within reason. So that parents can find a feasible way to elicit pride or protect their babies, and well… it just so happens that how one does that was explored in this week’s episode of Trying on Apple TV+. That is, after the show fooled us into thinking that ‘Airport Run’ was another day in the life episode. Since we saw Vic ponder upon life without him in the mix in a very bittersweet storyline for him, and where we also saw Jason and Nikki take part in an adoption question and answer session with old foes at their side. Not to mention, we saw Scott ponder upon the fact he might not be able to complete his trip since he was so out of shape and not mentally prepared for it. All of which, was pretty standard stuff for this show.

But well, Scott’s journey made it clear, that this episode was going to go far deeper than expected. Because while Scott was worried that he would fail at his mission and maintain his standing as a nobody, little Stevie surprised him to think otherwise. For a trip to pick her up from school turned Scott’s world upside down. For Stevie told everyone at school about what her daddy was up to, and everyone saw him as a hero, a real champion for the future and well… that motivated Scott to buckle down and train to make this happen. Which informed the viewer that sometimes… the only feasible option to be admired by our children… is to be the person they see us to be and use that to grow as individuals since we saw a fundamental change in Scott here.

Meanwhile, Jason and Nikki took the time to explore how best to protect their baby Princess from real emotional harm. Because she finally figured out where her mother was living, and that of course prompted her to just… go for it. Do what must be done to meet her and ask her the big questions, and that included buying a plane ticket and heading to the airport. But she was too young to know how to navigate all that, and of course, Jason and Nikki found out and made their way there to comfort her and have an honest talk and, in the process, Nikki came to realize, her baby needed closure. But to do it on her own would be hard and likely devastating. So, in order to give Princess what she needed, she opted to go to Spain and be the one to talk to Kat, to get those answers and shield Princess from the hardest part of this journey.

Which was a beautiful act to see take place and it was one that taught us… this is how ‘anything’ works regarding those age-old questions. Because it takes a real parent to bear the brunt of a child’s pain and worries and perhaps be the bearer of bad news and of course… it takes a real hero to risk everything to bask in that pride and inspire a child and that made… for one beautiful story. One that really was moving and tear inducing because it just spoke… to the wonder of family. To the power of the journey of parenthood and the majesty of truly sacrificing for our family. For that is what makes parents great and beloved and that is what we witnessed here, and it will be interesting to see what comes next for Scott and Nikki, now that they’ve decided to be the hero and carry the burden. Until next time.

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