AppleTV+’s new comedy-drama series, Stick, opens with quite a lot of promise, with its first three episodes released for streaming this week. Centered around a washed-up professional golfer whose life is currently in shambles, the series stars Owen Wilson in the lead role, and the actor successfully brings his unique style of acting to his performance, making the protagonist, Pryce Cahill, an immediately relatable figure. Episodes 1, 2, and 3 of Stick introduce us to Pryce and the struggles of his life at present, along with the young golfing prodigy he suddenly discovers and decides to help.
Spoiler Alert
Who is Pryce Cahill?
Stick episode 1 begins with Pryce Cahill, a salesman at the Pro Green golf center shop, selling a majestic dream about achieving greatness in the sport of golf to what seems to be a regular customer. Although the customer is definitely not athletic and also admits that his wife constantly tells him to lead a healthier life, Pryce uses words as far from the truth as possible, just to convince the man to buy the most expensive golf club set in the store. The customer knows that the set is going to cost him a fortune, but the words of praise and motivation that the salesman just showered on him are enough to make him go for the expensive set, just for some sort of validation. Pryce is ecstatic about this deal, and he visits his boss’ room right after, hoping to get an advance on the commission he had just earned. The boss is not very keen on fulfilling this request, though, as Pryce has taken numerous advances over the past weeks, to the extent that the employee now owes him money.
Turns out, Pryce Cahill is really struggling with life, although his identity is not restricted to being just a salesman at a sports goods store. Pryce was once a brilliantly skilled professional golfer who had been making a name for himself in the sport very fast. Numerous framed newspaper clippings, certificates, and awards are still displayed on the walls of his house, but much to everyone’s surprise, his career had ended as swiftly as his popularity had risen. We do not yet know what exactly had led to Pryce’s downfall, but there are numerous suggestions in the first three episodes. One of his most famous YouTube clips is not about his skills in the sport but rather about his meltdown at a golf competition from about 15 years back. After a series of bad shots, which ended with the golf ball landing in the water, Pryce had an emotional outburst, as he angrily threw his clubs around and even kicked his playing partner, all of which was telecast live and then put up on YouTube.
Quite naturally, this was the last time that Pryce Cahill played professional golf, as he was understandably banned by the sporting association, and he himself also fell out of love with it. While the exact reason behind this meltdown, or rather what led to such a reaction, is still undisclosed, there is a hint left at the end of episode 1, when Pryce watches a home videotape in the present. It seemed like everything had been going well in his personal life, as he lived with his beloved wife, Amber-Linn, and planned on starting a family of his own. Eight years after their marriage, Amber-Linn conceived and gave birth to a baby boy, whom they named Jett. Following in the footsteps of his father, young Jett wanted to be a golfer as well, but something happened to the boy because of which he is no longer in Pryce’s life.
It is most likely that Jett fell sick and passed away, because of which Pryce lost his interest in golf and had that very public breakdown. It was probably this same unexpected incident, and his reaction to it, that caused Amber-Linn to file for divorce, since the two of them are now separated. While Amber-Linn has managed to cope with the loss and holds a significant professional position at present, Pryce seemingly could not do the same, because of which his life is a complete mess at present. His house is extremely untidy and unkempt, suggesting that he does not care for anything in his life anymore, even his surroundings. Since the house belongs to both Pryce and Amber-Linn, she has been wanting to sell the place but had allowed him to stay put until he found a new home.
However, more than two years have passed since then, and seeing no sign of Pryce trying to find a new house or even to turn his life around, his ex-wife now decides to force him out and sell the house. Despite her best efforts, which even include paying a compensation amount of 75,000 dollars to Pryce, she cannot convince him to leave and let her sell the house, and he considers going to court a better alternative. As Amber-Linn is genuinely concerned about Pryce’s well-being, she obviously wants to avoid such a scenario, as her ex-husband will end up losing more money in court, but he does not agree to her plan. In fact, Pryce’s only source of income, other than the meager commissions from the sporting goods store, is to scam people at bars with the help of his best friend, Mitts. Yet he decides to not allow the sale of the house until everything changes when he spots a young boy at the local golf course.
What is Pryce’s plan with Santi?
Although Pryce is nowhere near the level of athleticism or golfing prowess he’d achieved at his prime, he still frequents the local golf course, maybe to provide paid guidance to the elderly ladies visiting the place, or maybe even to scam them. During one such visit, he spots a young boy hitting a series of marvelous golf shots in the practice area. Already impressed by the boy’s ability to hit almost every shot perfectly, he approaches him and quickly learns that the teenager can not just swing the club hard but also place his shots brilliantly. Pryce immediately wants to know more about the boy, but since the latter sneaks into the course and practices shots without paying, he has to flee in order to evade the owner. Pryce can only find out that the boy works at a department store nearby and goes searching for him. He is able to track him down, but the teenager, Santiago Wheeler, better known as Santi, has no interest in listening to whatever the man has to say.
Santi is rather concerned that the older man is stalking him for some reason, after having tried to give him unsolicited advice at the course, and he is even more shocked when his mother tells him about Pryce. After having had no success with the boy himself, the protagonist tracks down his mother, Elena, and tells her about his intentions. Realizing that Santi might just be a generational talent in the world of golf, Pryce wants to help the boy have a professional career in the sport and also find some fame and fortune for himself by sponsoring him and even becoming his coach, mentor, and agent eventually down the line. Therefore, he asks Elena’s permission to take her son around the country in order to compete in amateur and semi-professional golf competitions, assuring her that he will obviously foot the bill.
Taking some time to think about the offer, Elena agrees to it, albeit with a few conditions of her own, as she, too, just like Pryce, wants to capitalize on the situation. She had always known about how Santi had exceptional skills in golf, as he used to win in every junior-level competition that he took part in, but the boy had stopped playing when he was 15 years old, as life had taken a different turn. In order to ensure that her son will not be taken unfair advantage of and also to secure future funds for themselves, she tells Pryce that he must pay her 100,000 dollars in advance before setting out on the tour with Santi, and only then will she give her permission and also physically accompany them throughout the time. Despite the amount being asked being huge, Pryce decides to take a gamble and unsuccessfully tries to get the funds from old friends and acquaintances.
His last resort is to go to his ex-wife and tell her that he is ready to move out of the house and let her sell it, but only if she pays him 100,000 dollars instead of the proposed 75,000. Although affording the extra amount is not difficult for Amber-Linn, she refuses to pay after learning about Pryce’s stupidly risky plan with Santi. She continues to look out for his well-being and thus believes that he is just about to gamble the amount away. However, Amber-Linn finally changes her mind after seeing Santi play golf and, more importantly, after seeing how excited Pryce is about the talent of the youngster. Thus, she pays Pryce the 100,000 dollars, in exchange for which he signs off on all documents to sell the house, and he then gives Elena the entire amount, preparing for a long campaign ahead.
Why does Elena change her mind about the plan?
While Elena initially agrees to Pryce’s plan of setting out in Mitts’ RV, she has a sudden change of heart after calling the protagonist randomly one evening. As it so happens, Pryce is in police custody at this very time for having collected an unbelievable 31 unpaid parking tickets. He was clearly in no position to pay the fines, although it is understandably difficult for the police officers to believe this, since the man still drives his old Porsche. Pryce admits that he never knew that people could be sent to jail for not paying parking fines, but he learns the hard lesson when he is arrested and taken to the police station to be put behind the bars. He first calls Mitts for help, who does not pick up, and it is at this time that Elena calls him to clarify something, when she is confused by a man loudly swearing in the background, and finds out about what has been happening from the police officer.
Almost immediately, Elena decides to call off the plan, and she even starts to unpack all her clothes and tells Santi to return Pryce’s 100,000-dollar check when he comes to their house. Elena fears that Pryce has been hiding something from her and might be a crooked man with a criminal record, because of which she wants to avoid being associated with him and particularly keep her son away from him. It can be guessed that Elena’s ex-husband, the father of Santi, might have been such a man, because of which she is terrified at the prospect of the protagonist being even somewhat like him.
It is later revealed, in Stick episode 3, that the very reason that Santi had decided to never play golf again was because his father, who also coached him, was exceptionally harsh and demeaning to him whenever he was unable to perform well. Therefore, it might even be that the man physically assaulted Santi, and this is also why Elena was concerned about Pryce’s anger issues, which she had found out about from the internet. It takes a lot of convincing, especially from Santi himself, to make Elena change her mind once again, and they finally start for the golf trip.
How does Santi find the inspiration to return to the golf competition?
The first competition that Santi takes part in under the mentorship and guidance of Pryce is technically insignificant, since it is an amateur tournament that does not have any prize money. Being a small and entirely unknown competition, it is not like the winner gets any fame or recognition that could help them in their pro golf career either. However, the stakes are raised, quite literally, when Pryce secretly places bets on the youngster against the other competitors, and a whopping 500 dollars is suddenly put on the line. Therefore, when Santi has a strong start and it looks like he will easily defeat the much older opponents, Pryce is ecstatic, but he is just as angry and frustrated when the boy suddenly loses his way.
The most evident drawback of Santi is his inability to keep calm and get back on track after bad shots, which almost immediately ruins his game every time, be it on the course or during simulations. At present, it really does not help when Pryce loses his own calm during such a situation and shouts at Santi, telling off the boy about how he is wasting his talents by losing his focus. Unbeknownst to Pryce, these words are extremely demeaning and triggering for Santi, as his father used to behave like this whenever he missed shots, because of which he had lost all interest in the sport. The teenager immediately walks off the course and goes missing for a long time, much to the concern of Pryce.
Thankfully, Santi actually meets a young woman named Zero during this time, who has been fired from her job as a bartender in the golf club only minutes before. The two teenagers quickly bond over their rage and hatred against people, mostly men, who boss around everyone trying to make it seem like they are in control of everything. Zero patiently listens to Santi’s rant and then supports him, and she offers him a brilliant piece of advice. She says that Santi should show Pryce his place with his performance on the golf course and prove once and for all that he does not need a failed pro golfer’s advice in life.
This is what inspires Santi to return to the golf course for the ninth round, and there is no looking back for him from here on. Although he had completely lost his way earlier after a bad shot in the fifth round, the teenager is back to his formidable form, and none of the competition is even close to him. Thus, at the end of Stick episode 3, Santi easily wins the competition and is awarded the trophy, although the incidents prior to the win massively damage his relationship with Pryce. Nonetheless, we can expect Pryce to put in serious efforts to clear up the misunderstanding, especially as he has now learned about Santi’s father from Elena, and the group will continue to grow closer to each other, almost like a family.
