At the end of last week’s episode 6 of Stick, there had been a total falling out between the members of the group of strangers who had almost grown into an unusual family, with the threat of them turning into foes looming large. Pryce’s master plan of coaching and guiding Santi through the teenager’s new caddy, and also lover, Zero, had just been exposed, leading to the boy abandoning the US Amateur golf tournament. The group is now in total disarray, and Pryce cannot help but be overwhelmed by memories of his son, Jet, but there is ultimately a strong turning point in Stick, episode 7, as well.
Spoiler Alert
What Does Pryce’s Daydream Signify?
Stick episode 7, begins with an extensive scene that appears to be a reverie in Pryce’s mind, which is later revealed to actually be a daydream of his. It begins with a young boy, Jett, running into the kitchen of the big house that was seen at the beginning of the series, clearly playing with his father, Pryce. As the two play together, Amber-Linn leaves for the gym, marking a very regular day at the happy household. But the scene slightly changes after some time, when Jett runs upstairs and then calls out to his father, apologizing for some mistake. Pryce confusedly walks up the stairs to find his son, now visibly a few years older, in front of the washroom, with the floor soaked in water overflowing from the toilet. It becomes clear that Jett has mistakenly clogged the toilet after dropping one of his toy dinosaurs into it, flooding the house.
As soon as Pryce realizes what has happened, he takes on the role of a gentle father, asking Jett not to play with his toys in the washroom again, but does not scold or be tough on the boy, since he had definitely not anticipated such trouble. Although Amber-Linn is not as understanding and easy on her son, Pryce differs in his treatment, especially when he realizes that Jett is already seven and fears what is about to come. But the scene changes once again, and as Pryce walks out of the washroom, he finds an adolescent Jett, aged twelve or thirteen, watching TV on the couch and trying to avoid a very serious conversation. After a moment of disorientation, the protagonist gets adjusted to the scenario and sits down to reprimand his son for something grave he had done.
Turns out, Jett had taken his parents’ car out for a drive, together with a friend, obviously without letting them know, as he fully understood that this was strictly against the rules set by them. Like every teenager in such a situation, Jett tries to underplay his mistake and says that his father is being a bit too dramatic when Pryce talks about how dangerous the whole matter could have been. Despite Jett’s pleas, Pryce refuses to keep the matter a secret from Amber-Linn, who is clearly the tougher parent between the two. Disappointed and also scared of facing his mother’s anger, Jett walks away from the conversation, and as Pryce calls out behind him, specifically telling the boy to not just walk away without resolving the issue, the nature of these reverie-like scenes becomes a bit clearer.
In the next scene, a grand party is being held in the backyard of their house, seemingly to celebrate Jett’s birthday, as the boy is now about fifteen or sixteen. The parents are proud of their son and are admittedly quite nervous when Jett starts to do pushups in front of the girl he likes. Both Pryce and Amber-Linn are afraid that Jett showing off his physical strength in such a hilarious manner will only make him seem socially awkward but are relieved when the girl actually likes the foolish act and starts to do pushups herself. But Pryce cannot cherish the scene for long, as the swimming pool and the backyard become eerily empty in the very next moment, as he heads back into the house to find Amber-Linn telling off Jett for having gotten an obscene tattoo with his best friend. Pryce tries to fix the tattoo himself, messing it up even more, and the scene changes for the last time, this time with the protagonist getting irritated at the loud music blaring from his son’s room. Jett is packing to leave for college, as he is now a young adult, and against his father’s wishes, he decides to spend his last night in town with his friends.
This is when Pryce’s reverie breaks, and he is seen lying near the camping spot from the previous episode, his eyes wide open, and his mind busy thinking of these impossible scenarios. While the first two scenes could have still been memories and not fictional situations, it seems unlikely, since Jett had been sick with cancer, meaning that he could not really have had a normal life, getting the toilet clogged with his toys. Every scene from then on is an invention of Pryce’s mind, as he yearns to have lived the life of a father, experiencing the small moments of concern and pride when Jett would have done something risky like taking the family car out by himself or trying to impress his first girlfriend.
As he had told Elena previously, Pryce hated the fact that he could never tell his son to not walk away from a conversation or to demand that he turn down the volume of the music in his room, since he is not the only person living in the house. He could obviously not live out any of these scenarios in reality, as Jett had passed away at the mere age of eight, and so the protagonist now dreams of such situations, perhaps frequently. But the timing of this daydream is also important, as it takes place right after Pryce had called out to Santi at the end of episode 6 and told him to not walk away from the conversation. The fact that Pryce has been technically playing the role of a father figure in Santi’s life for the past few weeks, which has been apparent to us, has now struck his mind as well. Probably for the first time, Pryce is able to visualize these imaginary scenes in his mind, and maybe that is because of Santi’s presence.
Where are Santi and Elena headed?
The first time Santi and Elena are seen in Stick episode 7, they have already traveled far from Mitts’ RV that had been their home for the past few weeks and are currently stopped at a roadside diner. Elena is still furious about the manipulative plan that had been in the works against her son, and so calls up Mitts for an explanation. Mitts admits that he’d had no idea about the cash deal that Pryce had made with Zero, according to which she was to be paid 10,000 dollars once Santi made it to the world of professional golfing, and therefore, he does not have to face the wrath of the enraged mother. Back in the diner, Elena apologizes to her son for having gotten him involved in such a mess, although Santi does not hold her responsible for the situation.
Unfortunately, Santi has gotten used to being used and manipulated by everyone for their individual benefit, and this is the reason, he states, that he is not much bothered about Pryce and Zero’s betrayal. In his current state of mind, Pryce and Zero are no different from his father, Gary, who showered him with love and attention only whenever golf was involved. He is now convinced that people treat him well only for his golfing skills. Despite Elena’s best efforts to try and convince him that his father was not always so harsh and cruel as he is making him sound, nothing can change Santi’s mind.
Realizing that the boy is in a sensitive and emotional state of mind, Elena chooses to not have this discussion anymore and instead focuses on getting herself and Santi back to their home in Indiana. She does not plan on returning Pryce’s money, since it was technically because of him that the whole plan had failed, and so she wants to undo the mistake of having trusted him by returning to her old life. Elena makes peace with the fact that she will once again have to work at the gift shop, while Santi will go back to school. She is confident that with a little bit of coaxing, Santi can even get back his old job at the convenience store. The mother and son board their flight for Indiana, and Elena even pays a stranger 300 dollars to carry one of her dogs for her in order to avoid the extra charges to the flight company, but this is when Santi finally changes his mind.
Why does Santi change his mind?
Although Santi had been visibly stuck in a sulking mood after leaving the US Amateurs tournament midway, he had clearly been doing some thinking internally, which ultimately resulted in him running off the plane before takeoff. Santi had been clouded by thoughts of how everyone seems to like him only for his golfing abilities, and there seems to be a sudden confident switch in him, as if he now wants to embrace his identity as a generationally talented golfer. Like Zero tells Mitts elsewhere at the bus station, Santi has a habit of taking things too personally and believing that everything happens only to make things difficult for him. Perhaps the boy realizes this shortcoming in himself as well, and it makes him question the gravity of the situation. After all, Pryce, and also Zero, had done whatever they did only to ensure that Santi succeeded in his golfing career, or at least that he had a professional career in the sport.
The teenager now gradually starts to understand their true intentions and also figures out that he might have been a bit too dramatic and self-centered in his reactions. Added to all this is the realization that there is nothing ambitious or remotely good about the life waiting for him in Indiana, and this is what he tells Elena to convince her to allow him to play golf once again. But more than anything else, it is Pryce’s act of coming to the airport to apologize to him that makes Santi change his mind. Along with the apology, Pryce also admits that his favorite part about the last few weeks had been spending time with the whole group as a family and that the golfing moments hardly mattered to him. This is a very moving statement for Santi, although he does not express it yet, for he has been craving the feeling of being wanted and loved by people close to him, irrespective of his skills in golf.
What is the group’s new plan regarding Santi’s career?
In order to completely understand Santi and Pryce’s next plan, we need to have a slight idea of golfing terms, beginning with ‘par’, which is basically the number of strokes that a player is expected to play in order to complete a hole, meaning put the ball in the hole. A player, generally an amateur golfer, who can consistently complete multiple holes at multiple golf courses at par, or close to par, is termed a zero handicap. In the world of golf, or at least in the context of Stick, zero handicap refers to a highly skilled amateur golfer who has been consistently striking at par in their non-professional golfing endeavors. Santi harps on the fact that he has a zero handicap after having played brilliantly in the past few tournaments. As per the rules set by the Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA), any amateur player with a zero handicap can participate in a PGA event even if not a pro athlete.
This means that Santi can continue his journey towards professional golfing and actually turn into a pro golfer by participating in the PGA tour because he has a zero handicap. But in order to do so, he needs a sponsor exemption, which basically means that he will have to be invited to the PGA tour by an official PGA member. Santi first comes up with this idea of using his zero handicap from a TV advertisement for the insurance company of Clark Ross, the pro golfer-turned-businessman. He knew that Clark and Pryce were once close friends, or at least colleagues, and therefore, he now wants the protagonist to take him to the retired golfer, who is still a PGA member. Santi wants to participate in the Ready Safe Invitational golf tournament being hosted by Clark’s company, and he is sure that winning it will finally get him the sponsor exemption. Despite the hostility that once existed between himself and Clark, Pryce agrees to go ahead with the plan, meaning that we might get to see some more heated action between the two in the episodes to come.
Does Zero rejoin the group in the end?
With the group having reunited once again after having fallen apart, the only remaining piece missing from it is Zero, who had been dropped off at a bus station by Mitts earlier in the episode. Although Zero felt guilty and regretful of how she had agreed to help Pryce manipulate Santi’s performance on the golf course, she is now extremely angry at the boy as well. According to Zero, Santi is hardly seeing the bigger picture here, and is just trying to make himself the center of all attention. The incident has hurt her as well, but nobody, other than Mitts, seems to be bothered about her situation. With nowhere else to go, since she had gotten herself fired before joining the group, Zero now plans on moving in with a friend temporarily and working with her at a funeral home for some time. While Elena and Santi rejoin the group, Zero still nervously tries to prepare for the long bus journey ahead of her. Thankfully for her, Santi arrives at the bus station at the very end of Stick episode 7, clearly to apologize and bring Zero back into the group, meaning that she now finally rejoins the band of strangers who are slowly turning into a sweet family.
