Trying season 3 episode 5 recap & review: Pick a Side

Episode 5 of Trying season 3 sees Nikki try her best to get Princess to like her while Jason buries his allegiances to make Tyler happy. The episode is now streaming on Apple TV+.

Recap

Jason is disappointed because Tyler has become an Arsenal fan making them instinctual rivals because he’s a Tottenham fan. Nikki tells him not to make such a big deal out of it because it’s just football but Jason has a hard time with that.

Nikki is having a hard time firing Jen because she doesn’t want to hurt her and Jason claims that she’s a pushover who will roll over for anyone if they make things even slightly inconvenient. Nikki is also concerned about her relationship with Princess because she’s closer to Jason and has even started calling him ‘dad’.

Nikki is worried about the flat being sold to someone else as Jason keeps stalling with their offer because he hasn’t got the money. Nikki heads out for her meeting with Jen and Jason reminds her not to give in so easily.

Nikki has a plan to implement with Jen, she’s going to inspire her to quit so that she doesn’t have to fire her but the plan fails and she’s left in a very difficult position.

Karen is getting ready for her first ultrasound and she tells Scott that she wants a more traditional man who will fix things around the house and not a modern man who is very in touch with his sensitive side.

Nikki is out with Princess and her friends and when Princess asks for an expensive bracelet, Nikki says that she can’t have it. Nikki feels like Princess is being distant toward her for the rest of the day.

Jason takes Tyler to a pub to watch a game between Arsenal and Tottenham and he invites Freddy for company. Freddy talks about how he has realised he’s a bad person because life has been miserably easy for him.

He’s even started a support group for bad people so that they can become better. The other people humour him for a while but one of them speaks out and says that it’s the bad people who actually run things in the world so they shouldn’t apologise for themselves.

Tyler gets excited when Arsenal score and has a fall, hurting his head. Jason ends up taking him to the hospital to get him checked.

Princess and her friends stop at an ice cream shop and ask Nikki to sit across the road at a different restaurant. While she’s there, a brash older woman named Bev sits down with her and they get to know each other a little bit.

Jason informs Nikki that Tyler is hurt and is taken to the hospital so Nikki takes Princess to head over there but along the way Nikki finds out that Princess had taken the expensive bracelet from the store.

She takes her back to return it but Princess gets scared of the security guard and runs into the changing room. Nikki tries th tough love route but when that doesn’t work she tries a warmer approach and understand why Nikki took the bracelet in the first place.

Karen asks Scott to wait outside for the ultrasound but when the nurse isn’t able to find a heartbeat, Karen gets worried and immediately realises that she can’t just do things alone and needs Scott by her side. Eventually they find the baby’s heartbeat and go home pleased.

Tyler continues listening to the commentary at the hospital and is dejected when Tottenham equalise even though Jason secretly celebrates. He sees how much Tyler is hurting and consoles him, in turn realising that he shouldn’t take things so seriously.

Nikki learns that Princess wanted to cover up the birthmark on her wrist with the bracelet because she didn’t want to be different. Nikki decides to get a tattoo of the same birthmark on her wrist so that Princess doesn’t feel so different.

Nikki finds many old pictures among Tyler’s belongings that were sent to them and among those pictures is one of the children with Bev, the woman she met earlier that day.

Review

• The plot of Nikki and Jason buying their flat is moving at a slow pace and promises to provide a pivotal moment once it finally comes out in the open.
• The dedication that Jason shows towards a football rivalry is very relatable to a large population and his eventual growth in realizing that football shouldn’t be taken so seriously is a very valuable lesson.
• The reveal of Bev as a person from Tyler and Princess’ past is an intriguing one and it will be interesting to see who she is to them and what her intentions are.
• Freddy is going through his own journey of self improvement and the shot of that one woman looking miserable proved his intention to better himself right.

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Also Read: Trying season 3 episode 4 recap & review: Little Steps