Trying season 5 is a return to form, blending warm humour and emotional depth. The Apple TV+ comedy drama, created by Andy Wolton, follows long-term couple Nikki (Esther Smith) and Jason (Rafe Spall) as they navigate adoption and family life. After a rocky fourth season, the fifth outing recaptures the magic of earlier seasons, delivering laughs and heartfelt moments in equal measure.
What Happens in Season 5?
The new season picks up where the last left off, with Nikki’s secret about connecting with Princess and Tyler’s biological mother, Kat (Charlotte Riley), throwing an emotional grenade into the household. A vast majority of the new episodes explore this tenacious new connection, the havoc it wreaks on their ragtag unit and Nikki’s existential crisis about motherhood. This fire is fuelled by the raging hormones of a 17-year-old girl on the brink of adulthood, whose family home has been turned upside down.
There’s also an eyebrow-raising subplot at Nikki’s new workplace involving Colin Morgan as her office crush, which reaches an utterly bonkers conclusion. Meanwhile, Jason is re-entering education to become a social worker and has to confront being the old crony among a group of Gen Zers, which goes about as well as you’d expect.
Supporting Characters Shine
Sian Brooke and Darren Boyd are back as Karen and Scott, the husband-and-wife duo so terribly suited for each other that it somehow works perfectly. At the start of season five, Scott is off on his Atlantic-rowing adventure to find meaning and purpose in his life while Karen holds the fort at home. One of the best episodes of the season leans fully into the absurd comedy of it all, while still somehow tugging on your heartstrings.
Verdict
If you loved seasons one to four of Trying, then you’ll love season five, which keeps that same warm humour as our beloved ensemble characters face challenges anew. Although there is a lot to love, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows with some shaky moments slipping through the cracks. Like when Jason is attending classes, there are times when the humour and dialogue veer into cringeworthy and predictable, but these stumbles are few and far between.
There are also several occasions in the new episodes when Nikki causes groans, but she’ll never quite be everyone’s cup of tea. In a TV show filled with colourful characters, you’ll inevitably find someone annoying. All in all, I would very happily watch many more seasons of this bric-a-brac family trying to figure out what makes a house a home.
Trying seasons one to four are available to stream on Apple TV Plus now. The first episode of season five is out now. New episodes air every Wednesday.
