Trying – Road Trip

By: Gladys Luna

Nikki (Esther Smith) and Jason (Rafe Spall) have an encounter with Noah (Karl Collins), the social services’ agent, for a regular catch-up meeting to talk about the progress that Princess (Scarlett Rayner) and Tyler (Cooper Turner) have made since their adoption. Everything appears to be going well until they discuss the adjustment issues that the young boy has been experiencing as he is finding it hard to fit in in the football team. Noah affirms that it tends to be normal based on their personal history. The agent leaves the table for a minute and Jason comes up with the idea of creating a football team himself where he would only accept kids like Tyler and offer them a chance to change their perspective on themselves and know they are valued. Princess is at her room waiting for Karen (Sian Brooke) to pick her up and take her to her birth mother’s address when Nikki comes in to check on her. The young woman has come up with the excuse that she has bought a table for a very cheap price that she could redesign and sell for a better price in order to cover for the lie that she is actually going in search of her birth mother. Although Nikki does not truly understand her line of thinking, she respects her decision. Later, Nikki meets with her husband at the kitchen and notices that he is wearing a bright yellow “coach” jacket and is ready to start the day. Once again, they discuss about his plans for the kids and how he wants to make a good impact on their lives. Nikki is ready to leave for a day with her mother Jilly (Marian McLoughlin), but before she makes sure to remind Jason that he is not “Michelle Pfeiffer” (a reference to the actress’ 1995 film Dangerous Minds) but Jason is convinced that he totally is. Nikki makes her way to the door and then returns saying that her mother has just canceled on her with the lame excuse that given that her cat fell asleep on her lap, she doesn’t want to wake him up. However, Nikki believes that the truth is that since she knows that Karen will be out with Princess she can take the chance and use her hot tub instead. Jason encourages to do something for her, so she decides to join Princess and Karen on their table search.

In the meantime, Scott (Darren Boyd) receives a visit from his friend Freddy (Oliver Chris) who, when finding out of his plans to row across the Atlantic Ocean has decided that there’s no one better to train him than himself, so he takes him out to prepare him for the big adventure. He questions him about his training plan, his diet and whatnots and realizes that there’s still a lot to work on. Meanwhile, Jason and Anthony (Javone Prince) have gathered at the football field with their new team before the game starts where Jason tries to give them a pep talk that unfortunately doesn’t go as planned. This makes him realize that this is not going to be easy but he is not willing to give up on them just yet.

Karen, Princess and Nikki’s road trip is in full swing but the tension is palpable. Princess is not in a good mood, Karen is terrified of what’s to come and Nikki tries to alleviate the tension with music but the young woman tells her that her grandfather Victor (Phil Davis) got the player stuck with an audiobook so that is all they can listen to it. Karen attempts to make Princess forgo her plan but she refuses After a while, they give up before the sickening silence that prevails in the car and end up listening to the audiobook that talks about a tragedy of a sinking ship as a result of a terrible deception which coincidentally resembles to their current situation, something that makes Princess change her mind and ask Karen to take them to the pier to get some chips instead. Once they’re there Nikki encourages her daughter not to give up on the table if that’s what she truly wants, so Princess decides to go for it.

Back with Jason who is very much invested encouraging the kids to give their best but is not really working to the point that they end up losing the game. He is worried about not accomplishing their goal, but his son reassures him saying that he had a lot of fun and the kids cheer to him on their very own style. Scott is now in the middle of the river trying to do his best rowing but he is not very skillful at it and ends up losing his paddle. Freddy watches him from the side and tells him that he must be ready to swim if needed and then Scott confesses that he doesn’t know how. Freddy takes him back to his house and gives him some swimming lessons.

The trio of women have finally arrived at their destination and as a way to avoid Nikki from going inside with Princess she is sent to the grocery store to get some supplies for the trip back. Princess takes the courage to knock at her birth mother’s door and is surprised to see a man (Bamshad Abedi-Amin) instead. He explains that Kat doesn’t live there anymore since 2018 when she left to the grocery store and never came back. He lets the young woman in and she confesses who she truly is and asks him to tell her about her mother to what he only has great things to say comparing her with the sun but also understanding that once she has decided to shine on someone else, there is no way back. Princess returns disappointed to the car and then Nikki joins. When her daughter tells her that the product is not available anymore, she gets so mad at the seller that she goes back to his house and steals a table then the three of them escape when listening to the police sirens closing in.

The day is coming to an end and things have seem to fall into place. Karen got so intrigued by the audiobook that she is still listening to it all the way to the end. Scott has started a new diet, Nikki has redesigned the table and now she’s trying to sell it on the internet and Nikki helps Jason with his football strategy while she enjoys of a glass of wine.