Summary
The first two episodes of Trying Season 4 re-establish to always work on long-term relationships no matter what life throws at you.
In case you didn’t know, as the series does not exactly tell you from Episode 1, Trying Season 4 is set six years later, with Jason and Nikki well and truly established as experienced parents. A jump into the future was certainly needed to freshen the story after Seasons 1-3 documented their journey of painful family planning. Here is my recap and thoughts on Episodes 1 and 2, which start a journey of curiosity for Princess, who wants to meet her birth mom, unbeknown to her adoptive parents.
Episode 1 – “The Send-Off”
It’s Bev’s Funeral in Trying Season 4, Episode 1 (Credit – Netflix)
It’s a clever comedic start to Season 4—there’s a funeral afoot, but the series does not immediately reveal who has died. Family and friends prepare for it, with plenty of misdirections along the way. However, Beverly Reid, Princess and Tyler’s grandmother, has died.
Surprisingly, the funeral is packed, and Nikki is worried that the birth mother of Tyler and Princess will show up, foreshadowing the premise ahead. It’s a funny funeral, followed by a wake at the pub, where Bev opened up a £500 tab on the bar before she died so everyone can enjoy themselves with a few drinks. It’s good to see that this series has not lost its charm.
We’ve always seen Jason struggle with his father, and the premiere of Season 4 continues that story arc. In the wake, he tries to tell his father that he loves him, but instead, he uses football analogies, and his father reciprocates using the same method. The series demonstrates how men are often struggling with their feelings.
As the episode ends, Princess learns that her grandmother Bev left her a car as part of her will. While she checks out the car, she finds an old MOT book with her birth mother’s full name inside, Kat Reid. This has sparked her curiosity, kickstarting a new challenge for Nikki and Jason. Episode 1 of Season 4 is an excellent opener to a consistent series.
Episode 2 – “Ghosting”
Nikki goes on an unlikely date on Trying Season 4 (Credit – Apple TV+)
Episode 2 shows a unique challenge for Nikki and Jason, which we should have seen coming. They’ve been together long enough to get complacent with their replacement. At the start of Episode 2 of Season 4, Nikki complains about the lack of quality time for each other since becoming parents, but Jason counters her argument by saying, “They’ve won.” I can see both sides of the argument; they have won — they have a relationship that most would be jealous of.
After this, Nikki logs into Bev’s old dating account online and finds that she arranged to go out on a date with someone, but obviously, she’s dead, so the gentleman does not know.
But Nikki, acting like Bev, agrees to the date with this man called George and meets him at the restaurant with Jason, who is not amused. When the older man, George, learns of Bev’s death, he finds humor in it and decides to wine and dine Nikki despite Jason’s evident objections as he sits with them on the sidelines. Nikki enjoys the charm and attention of George as she’s quite clearly proving a point about “quality time.”
Afterward, George takes Nikki to a Ball, showing how a true gentleman treats a lady as Jason’s irritation increases. Jason even makes the point to Nikki that in the past, being charming meant a man was trying to get into a woman’s knickers. He couldn’t have been any blunter.
On the way home, George’s car breaks down, and Jason and Nikki argue. Nikki tells Jason she enjoyed George’s date because he made the effort. She explains they must be a couple outside the house because their home has become more about family than romance. George intervenes as he states he is widowed after being married for 43 years. Jason and Nikki recall how they met, gushing for each other, which relieves tensions as the couple remind each other why they fell in love. I suppose that Episode 2 is trying to hammer home how difficult long-term relationships are, especially once life gets in the way.
When they get home, Nikki learns that Bev has many men wanting a date with her, so she messages them all individually, explaining that she’s dead.
Also, don’t think I’ve forgotten about Princess’s pursuit of her birth mom; Episode 2 sees the young girl telling Karen that her mother left her when she was five and that she’s traveled around London looking for her. She thought she’d come back when Bev died. This problem is bubbling under the surface for Nikki and Jason.
I somewhat enjoyed the first two episodes of Trying. This is a series that never loses its chemistry.
RELATED: Trying Season 4, Episode 3
