Stick Episode 6 Recap: RV Shangri-La

Apple TV+’s ‘Stick’ brings golf, drama, and relationships together in myriad ways, leading to joy, heartbreak, and inspiration. The previous episode ended with a passionate kiss between Zero and Santi, a moment of magic under the stars. Owing to a functional plan from Pryce, Santi scales new heights in his golf career, qualifying for the US Amateur. Mitts and Pryce share a meaningful conversation after coming to blows about their tragic pasts. With half of the season done, there is huge potential for the stakes to get higher, as the equations between the leading characters get more intense in this episode. SPOILERS AHEAD.

An Intimate Conversation on Intimacy

The episode begins with Santi practicing, with Zero and Pryce looking on. The couple has visibly developed a closer bond since their kiss, and has reached a level of comfort where Zero hints at them planning on being intimate later. The anticipation leads Santi to have an uncomfortable locker room talk with Pryce on girls and sex. The golf prodigy assumes that his coach would’ve been very popular with girls in his past, and asks for advice. The young man is afraid of the fact that he is still a virgin, and might not be able to admit it to Zero. Pryce tells his student to be honest with his partner and not feel insecure.

Mitts parks the RV at a beautiful spot in the countryside, telling Elena that it feels like RV Shangri-La, alluding to the luxury of the stunning trailer park. Elena tells the former caddy about her plan to invest the hundred thousand dollars Pryce gave her in the helium market, thinking that it would earn her good returns in the future. Santi and Zero take their evolving relationship to the next level in a room by a swimming pool. They admit to each other that they are both virgins, making it a more meaningful experience for the young couple. Beyond just a physical act, they also connect on a deeper and more emotional level.

Past, Present, and Everything in Between

When Santi and Zero arrive by the RV the next morning, Elena notices that her son is beaming, realizing that there’s something different about him. Seeing the young couple, Pryce realizes what they have done and hides his discovery from Elena by crediting the RV lifestyle for Santi’s newfound happiness. The coach wants his student to take the day off and prepare for the US Amateur starting the next day. Mitts and Elena run a barbecue counter at the trailer park, talking about the helium investment plan. He tells her that there is a significant risk in helium, and describes it as something that’s like investing in party balloons. Meanwhile, Pryce notices a kid’s birthday being celebrated at the park and remembers his son, making him emotional and lonely, leading to him calling his ex-wife to share his feelings.

Santi and Zero play video games while also talking about their experience the night before. While picking something up from Zero’s bag, he notices that the Ryder Cup ring is in there. At the park, while Pryce is lying down in melancholy thinking about his son, a strange little girl named Molly, who’s playfully pretending to be a doctor, approaches him, asking him what’s wrong. Pryce doesn’t talk to her much as he sees Santi arriving. The prodigy invites his coach to play pickleball with him. As the two golfers play a rather strange sport, Elena and Mitts continue to fight about the investment, leading to the lady getting angry, and saying that she has listened to men her whole life, and Mitts doesn’t get the right to outrightly criticize her financial thinking. As she storms off the RV, Mitts chases her until they both arrive at an isolated spot.

In a not-so-fortunate turn of events, they realize that a big bear is in their path, stalking them. In fear of getting attacked, the two run into a nearby marsh and manage to escape. As they sit down by the marsh after their daring escape, fully drenched in the dirty water, they continue talking. Elena says that it is sometimes important to take risks in life, referring to the helium plan. When she asks when Mitts took a risk the last time, he unexpectedly leans forward to kiss Elena, taking her by surprise. She doesn’t seem to disagree with it, but just expresses shock.

Back in the park, Pryce approaches the little girl, Molly, who seems to be very sweet to him. Santi and Zero have a conversation about ethnicity and gender. When asked about his racial identity, the prodigy says he is very white, but also has a Latino heritage from his mother’s side, a kind of dual identity that he compares to his partner’s gender identity, a complex realm between masculine and feminine. The couple laughs as they see a fully drenched Mitts entering the RV.

Pryce happily talks to Molly, feeling a connection with her, which is seen by Elena, who is pleased to see him in that joyful zone. As Zero plays with Santi’s hair, he asks them about how the Ryder Cup ring is in their bag, to which Zero lies, saying that they just found it a day before, randomly, when it was accidentally dropped by Pryce. As Pryce sits by a fire, Elena approaches him and they have beer together. She tells him that she saw him talking to the little girl Molly and asks him if it is hard to be around kids. Pryce is taken aback, but she tells him that Mitts told her about his son, following which Pryce says that thinking too much about his past makes it almost impossible for him to return to reality.

A Tragic Twist in The Tale

As the day of the US Amateur approaches at Cold Spring, Minnesota, Mitts apologizes to Elena for the kiss and his immature take on the helium investment. Elsewhere, Zero discreetly returns the ring to Pryce, telling him that Santi is asking questions. As play is about to start, Pryce tells his student to keep calm and trust his instincts. Santi starts off the tournament brilliantly, moving up the leader board after a combination of well-executed shots. As they walk during the break, Santi asks his coach about the Ryder Cup ring and how he lost it, to which Pryce gives a reply that differs from Zero’s version of the story. As Zero approaches, he figures out that both his coach and partner are lying.

He finds out about the 10K dollar deal between the two, and Zero admits that they agreed to the plan because Pryce believed that Santi would only listen to them, and because they needed the money. Santi is visibly upset with the fact that all his recent actions are based on a money deal. He even goes to the extent of asking Pryce if he paid Zero to have sex with him. During his emotional outburst, he says that his coach is a loser and walks away. Zero tries to convince their partner to stay, but Santi calls Zero a clown, insults their gender identity, and even goes on to ridicule their name, saying it means nothing. After being humiliated, Zero leaves, while Santi tearfully tells Pryce that he never wants to see him again, and everything has been a lie. Following this intense moment, Santi storms off, leaving Pryce in a vulnerable zone in his life again.