Stick Season Two Review

I wasn’t a big fan of Stick, AppleTV’s Owen Wilson-led golf comedy, in its first season. While Wilson was solid, if not spectacular, playing a typical Owen Wilson character in Pryce “Stick” Cahill, the show’s paint by numbers writing and lack of any real emotional depth or stakes didn’t keep my interest. And I wasn’t planning on giving it a second chance in season two, but the announcement that recent Emmy winner Rhea Seehorn (Better Call Saul and Pluribus), who happens to be one of the best actors on TV at the moment in her other AppleTV show, was joining the cast for season two made me reconsider. And while I wasn’t blown away by Stick this time out, I definitely enjoyed it a heck of a lot more than the formulaic first season.

Let me get this out of the way up front: Season two of Stick isn’t a huge narrative improvement over season one. It still feels like a poor man’s Shrinking or Ted Lasso, attempting to hit the same emotional beats of how trauma crafts us into who we become as adults (we even get extended flashbacks to Pryce’s tumultuous childhood to help us “better understand” how emotionally stunted he is as an adult). But the writers recognized that they had some heavy hitters on board and opted to pair all of them in the same storyline and leave the Santi/Zero side of things on its own little island for much of the season, meaning that at least one of the show’s arcs had some truly excellent actors inhabiting it.

First on the docket, Timothy Olyphant’s Clark Ross is no longer an antagonist for Pryce, he’s a fanboy. This means that Olyphant, who is having a hell of a year, appearing on a host of shows, is allowed to show us his comedic chops. And paired with a sardonic Marc Maron as Mitts follows Pryce on his journey to try and qualify and win the US Open? It’s a truly exceptional comedic pairing. This version of Ross is a true dum-dum who genuinely wants to help Pryce – while also trying to make a quick buck in the process. Mitts, on the other hand, wants to make sure Pryce has his head in the game – and that means he needs to go and see his old swing coach to get back in fighting form. Of course, his old coach isn’t coaching anymore, but his brilliant daughter Amanda (Seehorn) might just be able to help. See why this arc really worked for me? Maron, Olyphant, and Seehorn all working with Wilson – allowing him to be the straight man in many a scene while they carry a lot of the heavier emotional and comedic lifting? It works beautifully. And it strikes a great balance in terms of writing, character, and performance.

On the other side of the card we have the Santi tale. With his head turned by promises of paydays and Tour victories, Santi is tempted toward joining the Tour and forgoing college – something Pryce warns him against. But with a slick talking agent in his ear, it might be too much. This side of the story has Zero (who remains as dull as she was back in season one) and Elena (Mariana Trevino gets a bit more to do this season, but Elena is still atrociously underwritten), and for much of the season it’s wholly separate from the Pryce arc. Which works better than you might expect, since it’s the weaker of the arcs and it’s easier to sit through some of the rote storytelling and wooden acting knowing there’s a stronger story coming your way in the main arc.

So, season two of Stick isn’t exactly a great show. But it’s certainly improved over season one. The problem is, so long as the story insists on keeping the Santi side of things, the series is never going to be as strong as it could be if it simply opted to focus on Pryce alone. Yes, I’m all for a found family story – and at one point in the season, Pryce actually makes a speech lauding found families, including his – but having an impulsive teenager who alienates not only those around him (and is immediately forgiven, because there’s no stakes in this series) but also the audience is going to keep holding Stick back from what it could be. It was fine as an entry point. But if there’s a third season in the offing, it might be time to focus solely on the adults.

Stick’s second season premieres on November 4 on AppleTV. All ten episodes were provided for review.