'Stick' Season 2 Review: A Breezy, Heartfelt Hole-In-One
Apple Tv’s Stick returns for a sophomore season reuniting audiences with golfers Pryce Cahill And Santiago Wheeler. Thankfully, a sophomore slump is nowhere in sight as the series finally finds its own swing.
In season 2 of ‘Stick’, audiences catch up with Pryce Cahill (Owen Wilson) and Santi Wheeler (Peter Dager), the former aiming to step his toes back into the game he loves on a professional level for the first time in years while the latter has his sights set on playing professionally as well. Naturally, their respective journeys come with their quirks, trials and emotional complications. Other returning players in this winning cast include Mariana Treviño, Lilli Kay, Marc Maron, Judy Greer and Timothy Olyphant, now promoted to a series regular this season.
The first season of the show was certainly breezy and entertaining, but it fell victim to trying to emulate the tone and feel of other Apple favorites like ‘Ted Lasso’ and ‘Shrinking’, operating out of virtually the same playbook and leaning into the formula that helped make those shows so successful and beloved. Fortunately, season 2 enters entirely new territory as it provides emotionally compelling journeys for both Santi and Pryce as the show successfully shapes its own singular voice. Simply put, these characters still retain their charms and magnetism, but they feel far more three-dimensional over the course of the season’s ten episodes.
The performances remain terrific from everyone in the cast here. Bader gets far more to chew on as he explores Santi’s inner conflict about skipping college and heading straight into the pros, terrified of losing momentum and fading into obscurity. He’s able to add more shades and nuance to the character this season, far from the timid, insecure young pup Pryce discovered in the early days of season one. His chemistry with Wilson remains electric and tender, the two of them playing off one another wonderfully and adding wonderful new layers to their father and son dynamic that nicely evolves over the course of the season. They remain the beating heart of the series and this second season makes the right choice to lean into that even more and put that relationship through its paces in order to mature it further.
Olyphant also gets plenty of fun material to work with as he continues to weaponize his natural charm and magnetism, being the catalyst that coaxes Pryce out of retirement to give his career one last shot in the spotlight. He may have been a charming, but fiendish antagonist in season one, but his character takes an entirely new shape in this second installment, now more of an ally than a heated foe. Elena also gets to take on a more sizable role this season as she embraces her managerial role in Santi’s career, navigating the peaks and valleys of representing such viable and heavily sought after talent. Treviño steps up to the plate and delivers some fantastic work, especially as she struggles to find her voice and self worth in order to properly represent her son and his best interests. However, season 2 rightfully belongs to Wilson who delivers stellar work.
Season one did an admirable job fleshing out Pryce as a washed up has-been aimlessly searching for purpose and connection, delving into the trauma of losing his son, a loss that sent him into an emotional tailspin that successfully de-railed his career. While that material was compelling in its own right, especially as he found a surrogate son of sorts in Santi, season 2 finally delves deeper into what makes him tick or rather holds him back emotionally, causing him to pull the emergency latch when everything seems to be going his way. This comes to the forefront as he re-unites with his old coach Butch (Rex Linn) and his old flame Amanda (Rhea Seehorn), a.k.a. “The Swing Doctor”. Their reunion helps the show explore some emotionally rich territory, not to mention showcase effortless chemistry between Seehorn and Wilson who are tremendously delightful together.
Wilson mines this material exceedingly well, relying less on his easygoing charm as he brings the gravitas Pryce’s journey requires, delivering some of his best work to date and not just as the character. Wilson has proven time and time again to be a reliable and comforting presence on screen, but he shows he has far more colors in his palette this season, making Pryce more emotionally compelling and engaging than ever. By the end of the season, Pryce feels like a fully formed character with sizable depth and not just surface level charm with little to nothing lurking beneath the surface.
However, it’s the seasons balance of the humor and heart coupled with its deeper emotional exploration that helps to surpass its predecessor by a landslide. While the first season relied far more on infectious charm and a formulaic, but crowd-pleasing underdog story, season 2 isn’t afraid to tackle darker, more emotionally mature material while still retaining the breezy, propulsive pacing that made the first season such an easy binge. It not only finds a balance of the humor and heart, but truly finds its swing in the back nine of the season as it heads into exciting uncharted territory.
Unfortunately, this follow-up season isn’t without its minor issues. The main issue season 2 suffers from is its overabundance of characters. As a result, many of the supporting players get shifted to the back of the board and aren’t given the screen time they need to breathe and develop further. Mitts and Zero are two characters that certainly fall victim to this issue, the two relegated to background players at best, the former given very little to do beyond what he was given in season one while the latter is saddled with material that is rather rote and uninteresting when it comes to her relationship with Santi, especially as his career begins to truly tee off. Both Maron and Kay are giving game, lively performances, but they aren’t able to elevate what simply isn’t there on the page.
‘Stick’ season 2 not only keeps intact what made the first season of the show such a successful hit, but adds far more clubs to its golf bag, carving out its own distinct and mature voice as its continues to delivers droves of entertainment value and crowd-pleasing material. Simply put, fans of the series’ debut season will have plenty to enjoy now that Pryce, Santi and the show overall have settled into their groove with fine form to boot.