‘Trying’ Season 5 Episode 4 Review: The Hurricane Brings Emotional Turmoil

‘Trying’ has spent five seasons demonstrating that even the most subdued domestic dramas can resonate as powerfully as any high-stakes thriller, and ‘The Hurricane’ marks the moment this season finally capitalizes on all the built-up tension. Nikki and Jason are still navigating life with Kat back in the fold, while Princess and Tyler grapple with the implications of their birth mother’s return after everything seemed settled. The idea of a literal storm bringing the extended family together might sound like a cliché, but this show has never relied on gimmicks for their own sake.

What struck me most while watching this episode was how little the hurricane itself truly matters. It serves as a plot device, a convenient reason to confine everyone together, and the show hardly pretends otherwise. Instead, the real storm here is emotional, stemming from years of tension between Nikki’s protectiveness and Princess’s increasing need for honesty about her origins.

This is where ‘Trying’ continues to distinguish itself from other family comedies exploring similar themes of warmth and adoption. This episode does not resolve Kat’s role within the family, nor should it; pretending that a few conversations during a power outage could mend six years of complex history would undermine everything the show has established. Nikki and Jason must confront the reality that protecting their children does not equate to controlling every aspect of their lives, and watching Esther Smith navigate this realization without resorting to easy sentimentality showcases some of the best character development the show has delivered all season.

Then there’s Scott. I won’t spoil what occurs, but the garage scene, where Jason and the kids sift through a lifetime of his belongings—including a truly perplexing political campaign poster—feels like the show is subtly preparing its audience for something heart-wrenching. Darren Boyd has consistently been the ensemble’s hidden gem, transforming a supporting character into someone whose fate now feels genuinely uncertain, and introducing that uncertainty amid a hurricane episode is a clever structural maneuver.

The humor remains intact, which is crucial because ‘Trying’ has always thrived on balancing heartbreak with genuine laughter. Jason’s improvised optimism in the face of real danger provides Rafe Spall with some of his funniest material this season, and the ensemble surrounding Karen continues to deliver without ever feeling like filler. I found myself laughing out loud twice in an episode that otherwise had me bracing for tragedy, and that emotional whiplash is precisely the tightrope this show has always navigated skillfully.

If I have one critique, it’s that the season leading up to this episode has sometimes felt softer than the anxious, high-wire version of ‘Trying’ from its earlier seasons, and ‘The Hurricane’ leans on that lighter energy a bit too long before finally delivering its emotional punch. A show this adept at eliciting tears shouldn’t need a natural disaster as a crutch to prompt characters to communicate honestly with one another. It works here primarily because the cast sells every moment of it.

Overall, this episode stands out as the strongest of the season so far, using its high-concept premise to convey something far more intimate than the title implies. I walked away contemplating less about the storm and more about what it means to share a family with someone you never chose, which is exactly the kind of subtle emotional impact this series has built its reputation on. My honest verdict is 8.5 out of 10, a genuinely moving hour that proves this show still possesses real depth beneath its comfort-viewing facade.

Do you think Kat can truly find her place in this family, and what are your thoughts on what happened to Scott? Share your opinions in the comments below.