There’s something so achingly warm about how Trying Season 3 explores the importance of kindness, and how it’s something we could all use a reminder of more often than not. With the state of the world as it is, it doesn’t feel like things are going to get better. Sure, someday, they might, but we’ve been hoping for this for a while now, and there’s ultimately a lot more sadness, atrocities, and pain than there should be.
In times like these, I find myself turning to fiction that I know will be uplifting, and since it’s aired, Trying Season 3 is one of those things in fiction. As one of the most underrated shows on TV, I consider it a miracle that we not only got a Season 4 renewal, but a Season 5 renewal, too. Still, the third is so perfect that if the show had been cancelled then, it would’ve left us with a plethora of hope.
Apple TV’s Trying isn’t just about a couple’s adoption journey, but it’s about how people come together for those they love. We first see it with Nikki and Jason’s loved ones coming through for them in the first episode, when everything with the kids is new, and then we see it again in the finale. We see it in all the little ways they make this last-minute wedding deeply special, in the same way that Leslie and Ben‘s friends show up for them in Parks and Recreation. There’s something about these types of events that feels significantly bigger and more meaningful than if they were planned, and I’ve never had the right words for why.
But I suppose that’s the thing with fiction—we don’t always have to get it. I’m not someone who does well with last-minute plans or surprises. My anxiety reacts before every other part of me can catch up, and it’s usually full of all the awful what-ifs instead of the joy that should be there. Yet, on TV, it makes me feel comforted. Like if I knew they’d end up this way, then maybe I wouldn’t be anxious. Maybe I’d welcome changes and impromptu plans without excessive planning. I’m not quite sure.
What I am sure of is that this season brings immediate joy in a way few things do. And the delight of thirty-minute episodes means that you can easily rewatch them on a weekend when everything else is too sad. In my review, I’d said, “Someone somewhere is going to watch Trying Season 3 and believe in the fact that maybe, hopefully, this could be the outcome of their journey too. Or, if nothing else, it allows viewers to feel great afterward.”
Trying is also the kind of rom-com we don’t get often on our screens—the type where we see the couple established and going about their everyday lives the way we all do. The credits don’t roll after a happy ending, but instead, we get to celebrate all the in-between moments alongside them. We get to see every little argument, every laugh, every beat of adoration as it grows. And it’s just…lovely. We need more of it, and Season 3 especially gets it right.
Trying Seasons 1-4 are now streaming on AppleTV+
First Featured Image Credit: ©Apple TV+