’Stick’ Season 2 Review: A Beautiful Second Chance Swing

With Ted Lasso making its triumphant comeback this year and Shrinking dropping another stellar season, fans may be a bit short on hopecore content right now. Luckily, Apple TV has the remedy in the follow-up season to the Owen Wilson-led comedy-drama, Stick. While this series has zero involvement from Bill Lawrence like the others, it evokes that same perfect mixture of laughs and tears on the small screen.

Season 1 of Stick features Wilson as Pryce Cahill, a.k.a. Stick, a former golf prodigy who fumbled his career after the death of his son from an illness, and makes his return to the game. Not as a player, but as a coach to another possible young prodigy, Santi Wheeler (Peter Dager). With the addition of momager Elena (Mariana Treviño) and Stick’s former caddy Mitts (Marc Maron), the newfound family hits the road and puts Santi’s name on the map of the golf world.

What is ‘Stick’ Season 2 About?

With Santi becoming a household name in the Amateurs, everyone wants to be involved in the Santi Wheeler business. With prospects from major managers in the game, the leap for Santi to the pros seems inevitable. Even against Stick’s advice to get an education and wait on turning pro. This advice comes from experience; he just doesn’t want Santi to repeat the same mistakes he did.

This conflict creates a fork in the road for the two, sending both on their own paths. Both journeys aren’t easy, for very different reasons. Santi realizes just how hard it is to navigate the pressure of being a professional. Stick is on a search within himself to prove that he still has that potential everyone saw in him years ago. Funny enough, both of their destinations are the same: the U.S. Open.

Rhea Seehorn Steals the Show

The biggest push for Stick’s comeback comes from his former adversary, Clark Ross (Timothy Olyphant), who is on his own path of redemption. This leads to a former swing coach who happens to be dealing with dementia. But his daughter, Amanda (Rhea Seehorn), an old flame of Stick’s, comes to the rescue to help get his swing in check for the biggest tournament in the world of golf.

Seeing Seehorn shine in a more comedy-leaning role is an absolute delight. This doesn’t mean Stick is afraid to get emotional; Season 2 just takes a bit to build to these heavy beats. The fling Stick and Amanda had years ago looms over them, but with Stick’s track record of self-sabotage, it makes things a bit complicated.

Amanda’s ball-busting attitude is hilarious, but when she needs to turn the drama on, Seehorn showcases exactly why she swept the awards season for her work in Pluribus. Stick shines brightest when the characters have the hard conversations, but it’s also most frustrating when it puts those conversations on the back burner just to further the plot.

‘Stick’ Season 2 is Almost a Hole-In-One

Both Santi and Stick learn the importance of a support system this season. Life is impossible when facing things alone; this season just takes a bit too long to get to that realization at times. This issue isn’t even a massive detriment to the series as a whole; it just doesn’t reach the heights that Ted Lasso, Shrinking, or even Rooster do. But at the end of the day, Stick is a heartwarming crowd-pleaser that should be talked about more.

Stick Season 2 is about second chances. It’s about, regardless of the self-doubt and failure that come with life, taking that leap of faith. It is never too late or too early to start over. When you surround yourself with the right people, anything is possible. It’s beautifully flawed, but that’s exactly what it is to be human.

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