‘Trying’ Recap: ‘Little Steps’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 304 of ‘Trying’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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Something that we all cherish when it comes to family life, is the unspoken bond that we share in with our family members. The kind that more or less informs our siblings and parents as to how we are feeling in that moment, which in turn allows them for them to quietly nurture the good or aid with the bad. Because family just knows family, and this strange emotional bond we all harbor with those we grew up with, never breaks, and having the comfort that accompanies that in the back of our minds, really does help us to feel as though we belong and that someone out there, always has our backs. Since we know we can just call family up and hear what we need to… from people that just know, in a time of need. But alas, while this is something so many of us share in and celebrate, not everyone has this in their lives.

For in broken families, sometimes people are on their own emotionally and only find support through friendships or strength, and for the children that are adopted or have spent time bouncing around in the system… they’re not in a foster home long enough to really create a bond of any sort with people. Which begs an important question. In that, how does one bond in a family that is assembled through adoption? And thankfully, the next episode of Trying on Apple TV+ works to explore that answer. For when we catch up with Nikki and Jason and their new family in ‘Little Steps’, a special occasion is upon them. For Tyler’s birthday was barreling toward them fast and of course, this loving couple were preparing quite the party for little Tyler… but they had concerns about the guest list. 

Because he only invited teachers and other faculty members at the school. Not to mention, they quickly came to learn that he was not good at making friends and well… that left Nikki and Jason besides themselves. In part because they hurt for him because they wanted him to have those friendships and that joy but also because… they didn't know why he was struggling in that manner. For that deep bond, the one that just tells us exactly what we need to know about a family member, wasn’t there. Which in turn motivated the two of them to invite a bevy of kids to the party, and do their best to just create a great time and see if the joy would indeed motivate Tyler to open up and have fun and make some new friends along the way and well, sadly… that particular plan didn’t quite come to fruition as they had so desperately hoped.

For Tyler hid at his party, and was clearly overwhelmed by the situation and well… when they spent a little time with him and pondered upon external advice from their adoption advisor, they came to realize that being alone on his own so much and being cast aside often, left him untrusting of making connections. After all, they were going to end anyways, at least in his mind, and that motivated this wonderful couple… to try a new approach. So rather than just try and will a fix and the bond into existence… they took the time to advise Tyler and chat with him, to better understand his feelings and worries, before slipping into full on parent mode. Wherein they were able to support him and teach him how little steps could fix his worries and get him where he needed to be, and wouldn’t you know it? This particular approach worked like a charm.

Because Tyler eventually opened up, made some friends and had a lovely time after all and more importantly… he began to bond with Nikki and Jason on that fundamental level. For now, they each had an understanding of how Tyler ticks and what makes him happy and how he handles strife, and he learned he can trust them. Making it clear that creating that bond with a person that isn’t blood… involves patience and observation and communication and baby steps and that’s a powerful lesson to find here. For it applies to more than just this situation, and once again, this lesson teaches people in Nikki and Jason’s position, their own next steps in bonding with their adopted family. Making this another critically poignant episode, and a beautiful one as well. Since it was wonderful to see this play out, and now that we’ve reached the end of this particular journey, it is safe to say that we are all eager to see what other powerful lessons on parenting await us… as season three continues along. Until next time.

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