‘Trying’ Recap: ‘Road Trip’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Siân Brooke, Esther Smith, and Scarlett Rayner as Karen, Nikki, and Princess in Episode 404 of ‘Trying’ – ‘Road Trip’. (Photo Courtesy of Apple.

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 404 of ‘Trying’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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There was a time in the world of television, where big decisions and discoveries that characters made, were more or less forgotten quickly. For few shows abided by the serialized storytelling mantra and used those big decisions to just pack a punch and surprise audiences in that moment before writing that decision or discovery away. And while that did indeed keep audiences buzzing and boosted some ratings, the savvy viewers out there felt a measure of disappointment. Because they wanted to see what that decision would lead to, and that demand eventually pushed shows to adopt a serialized approach that explored what comes next from such big moments, and that’s brought forth far more enriching stories, as evidenced by this week’s episode of Trying on Apple TV+.

For ‘Road Trip’ was a story that explored what comes next for three key decisions and discoveries made by some of the characters this season. Such as how Jason made quite the decision to finally have Tyler fit in. Because Tyler’s inability to get some play time in soccer bothered him to no end, and he just wanted his son to feel cool and special, so he was inspired to bring forth… a team of Tylers. Other foster kids that had attachment issues and were oft forgotten in sports a la Tyler. And while their play on the field was a disaster, what Jason wanted to accomplish for his son, he accomplished for all and this was just a beautiful thread regarding what parents can do to make their kids feel special when they put their minds to it, and how fulfilling that can be. All because Jason discovered he wanted more for his boy.

Plus, this is a story that followed up on Scott’s big decision to cross the Atlantic via a rowboat. For an old friend returned to see how ready he was and well, Scott came to learn… he really had not given this idea the amount of thought and preparation it really required. For he discovered here that this was going to require an ungodly amount of training. The kind that would require some hard physical transformation and some rigorous learning. Since Scott explained he did not know how to swim and truly, his skills in a boat weren’t that great. But Scott’s heart was in the right place and all the advice he received here, he took seriously since he got himself into the pool to swim and started eating right and training right. Giving rise to the reality that what comes next for Scott… is hard work and newfound discipline. 

But while those were lovely follow ups and moments of growth from big decisions and discoveries the true centerpiece of this story revolved around Princess. Because she teamed up with Karen to take a trip to Bristol and potentially meet her mother. Which of course, ran into some issue since Nikki had some free time that day and came along, which put Princess in a tough spot. Wherein she could be honest about searching for her biological mother or just make an attempt to meet her period, and well, she chose the latter and tasted disappointment. For Kat left home ages ago and left behind more than just Princess… but also a lover, and well… this was powerful and logical follow up to Princess’ journey. One that spoke to how little Kat paid others mind and why perhaps she was better off not knowing her.

In the end, this was just… a wonderful episode. One that truly did a great job of embracing serialized storytelling to give us a fulfilling tale. One where Jason found incredible fulfillment through helping his son and others, where Scott finally understood the gravity of his decision and what it will take to accomplish his goal and Princess… learned a lot about her mother and a hard lesson about people and family and how we don’t always get resolution. Which served to remind us… how this story is deeply grounded in the wonder and the folly of life, and its many hard truths and well, all this does is leave us eager for more of this reflective and innovative series, and all the lessons and wonderful moments it sends our way. Until next time.

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