What I’m Watching: Trying

Trying: Season 1, Episode 5 “Someone Else’s Kids” (B+)

I like how this episode was presented, with snippets of one-way interviews spliced in between Nikki and Jason having an opportunity to take care of their friends’ kids because they think childcare is incredibly expensive. Everyone saying that they’re “strong and resilient,” a talking point that Jen had to physically look down to read while she was speaking, did indeed feel staged, but, after everyone ended up addressing their own issues as much as Nikki and Jason’s, Penny concluded that the only important takeaway was that this couple is in fact strong and resilient. Erica’s comment that they’ll obviously be less nice when they become parents was particularly humorous and unfortunate. Nikki and Jason learned a lot about their dynamic while watching the kids, and it was sweet that he continued to prompt Nikki to describe landmarks after she realized that the kids had fallen asleep. A serious takeaway from Nikki was that her “trying too hard” meant that Jason didn’t try hard enough, something that would have to change, but it was entertaining to see all the antics along the way. Jason did have almost as much fun mocking elements of Nikki’s scavenger hunt, like the Jamaican pirates who apparently made it, as she did planning it, but overall they did a relatively decent job of keeping the kids busy. It’s a big adjustment, certainly, and I don’t know how far the adoption process will get this season, but paying a lot for expensive experiences that only last a short time is going to happen a whole lot more frequently.