Unless the two people in a relationship have broken a few tea cups out of frustration, they are short on love. For me, that shows involvement of some degree of kindness, a level of generosity that stops one from breaking the cup on the other’s head. And let’s not even get into chemistry, which is the easy answer. Let’s talk of work, persistence and respect.
These are qualities found in plenty on what’s probably the cheeriest romantic comedies to have come to TV screens in a long time. The British comedy Trying is more about siesta-ever-after than happily-ever-after. Managing to find your better half in the same room day after day requires persistence. Jason and Nikki will be more than happy if they find reason enough to catch a nap now and then rather than promise each other the moon and stars.
The lead characters of Trying are happy and have worked on their relationship hard enough to broach a subject that’s difficult — adoption. They are childless as their friends welcome babies into the world. But they don’t want a child because a void needs to be filled or a distraction needs to be had for the sustenance of their marriage. The airlines always suggest wearing an oxygen mask before placing one on the child. Jason and Nikki are wearing theirs and now they want a child who will hopefully make the world a better place to live in.
Approaching the subject of adoption is not easy because — whether you like it or not — there is a degree of taboo, or at least hush-hushness, in certain sections of society. “The subject matter is very sensitive and applies to a lot of people who are trying to adopt. Andy (Wolton, creator and writer of Trying) has done brilliantly with the script. He’s sensitive with his comedy and is sensitive with the subject matter as well. Everything comes from a place of truth and reality and it’s never about poking fun at anything,” says Esther Smith, who plays Nikki, over a video call.
“When someone is in grief, people tend not to ask him or her about it because they don’t want to interfere, they don’t want to step out of line,” says Rafe Spall, who plays Jason. “When a couple is dealing with adoption or infertility, people tend to leave them alone. People are afraid to say something, give out the wrong message. But these things happen and people adopt people. It’s a very difficult subject to go through and it’s an incredibly hard journey but I am sure it’s not all just miserable. I am sure there’s laughter, like there is in life… in every difficult situation. There’s always levity and lightness to be found.”
It’s the second season of Trying and like those rare movie sequels, it’s brilliantly done. In fact, Apple TV+ has already renewed the show for a third season. Be it in the way the relationship unfolds or their quest to adopt a child, there is a degree of maturity. Even when the couple meets Princess, they are unsure of what lies ahead on the adoption ladder. Both the actors show a certain authorship in their characters.
A moment from the second season of Trying Sourced by the correspondent
The script doesn’t shout from the rooftop that a child is absolutely necessary for a marriage to survive. Instead, it holds a mirror to some of the downsides that may come with the addition to a family. While some young couples believe that having children improves a marriage, but end up hitting each other with mundane details, like taking a bath, clothes, carpool, grocery runs and the high point of the day (or night) could be about checking if the diaper looks full. Then there can be the case of an odd affair or two, which Trying shows — with dollops of witty lines — through two friends of Nikki and Jason. But it also shows how a marriage can be a friendship that can go deeper with two people finding more confidence in each other, finding joy without having to ask for it.
Perhaps the secret ingredient to the success of the show are how Rafe Spall and Esther Smith play their parts. They appear to be two of us! “One of the skills while dealing with comedy-drama is to make one’s self appear ever-interesting in real life (first) and (then) put that on screen. It’s not easy to get that energy across. My heroes are like James Stewart, Tom Hanks and Hugh Grant, who seem to play versions of themselves, they draw energy from themselves. My heroes in other genres are actors like Daniel Day-Lewis and Gary Oldman, who have virtuosic brilliance that isn’t necessarily relatable,” says Spall.
The show comes at a time when people have become increasingly isolated, living a cocooned existence. Children, it feels, can help parents flourish. No, I am not talking about achieving spiritual growth by not complaining about the mental agony when the movie Frozen gets played the hundredth time but children bring with them a new social circle where you meet people who are willing to run a few extra miles to ensure they live to see another day and listen to fairy tales that get more and more creative. More than adoption and having a child, Trying lets you in on a few secrets to a happy marriage.
