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Dan Da Dan
Dan Da Dan may be a comedy, but the sensuality, violence and spiritual elements within it make it a tragedy for viewers.
One day, you’re competing in professional golf tournaments all around the U.S. The next, you’re teaching the elderly Mildred Nussbaum how to putt.
It’s a complicated story, explaining why you’ll find former golfing legend Pryce Cahill far busier selling golf clubs to make a living nowadays as opposed to swinging them in competition. But to make a long story short, it involves a golfing tournament, a lake and a psychotic breakdown on live TV. In fact, the YouTube clip capturing that last event is the main reason anyone knows him these days.
Pryce won’t be catching that limelight anymore, and he knows it. That’s why he busies himself helping others learn how—
WHACK.
I said, that’s why he busies himself help—
WHACK.
Pryce looks up from Mrs. Nussbaum’s putting lesson to see 17-year-old Santi Wheeler easily slam a golf ball into a maintenance shed 320 yards down range. Pryce knows a little something about natural talent. And when he looks at Santi, he sees a future legend—one whom Pryce would like to help find his full potential.
But that journey’s a course dotted with rough patches; Santi knows he’s good, but his competitive father ruined the sport for him; Santi’s mother, Elena, won’t let Pryce take her son without first raising $100,000; Pryce? He’s got quite a few unresolved whiffs of his own.
You know what? Maybe Pryce is in over his head.
WHACK.
Then again, maybe not.
Maybe this will offend some of Plugged In’s readers, but to tell you the truth, I find golf incredibly dull. Call me unsophisticated if you must, but I prefer my golfing to be of the miniature variety, complete with overchlorinated water features, surprise loop-de-loops and perhaps a random animatronic gorilla or tiny windmill.
It’s those obstacles that make miniature golf fun. Who knows which way your neon yellow golf ball is going to bounce when it smacks into a random metal can on the 18th hole? Because of those pesky cans, you’re probably not going to get that hole-in-one and earn the free game for the next time, but it sure feels exciting in those moments when, despite all that chaotic bouncing, it nevertheless rolls in.
Stick feels a bit like that can-covered 18th hole.
Let’s start with the cans, which batter metaphorical golf balls all around the course here. The show’s crude language, which includes f- and s-words as well as misuses of God’s name, feels jarring in the sport known for its particular disdain of profane outbursts. Likewise, the occasional sexual quip wedges itself into conversation. Some drug use also shows up in the first episode. And a particularly progressive character who uses fluid pronouns joins the golfing group a few episodes in.
These obstacles threaten to make you miss your chance for that free game of mini golf. And it’s clear what that hole-in-one prize is for Stick: the transformation of hurting and damaged characters on a hopeful little golf team. In other words, while golf may be the subject, it’s clear that the slow-burning matter of the show focuses far more on taking these hurting people and stitching them back together.
That redemptive goal may draw you in here. But it’s also likely that those content-issue cans will keep you—and Stick—from getting that prize-winning hole-in-one.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at [email protected], or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
Pryce discovers the talented golfer Santi and becomes obsessed with helping him go pro.
When Pryce first introduces himself to Santi, Santi quips, “I’m not into older guys, but I’m flattered.”
There’s an implication that Pryce’s young son passed away before the start of the show.
Pryce uses ethereal terms to describe golf while trying to sell a club to a potential buyer, calling the course “where heaven and earth meet,” “a cathedral” where “you become baptized by a higher power.” He also tells the man that his physique is “God-given.” At one point, Pryce describes the game of golf as if it’s a blessing and curse-giving entity. A woman claims that a Bible salesman has just entered her office as an excuse to hang up the phone.
Pryce uses illicit drugs. People drink beer and wine. Someone asks if Pryce is “on mushrooms.” A woman suffers a hangover.
Pryce hustles a man out of his money.
We hear 10 uses of the f-word and eight of the s-word. Other profanities include “a–,” “h—,” “d–k” and “d–n.” God’s name is used in vain seven times, paired with “d–n” in three instances. Jesus’ name is likewise used in vain four times.
Pryce evaluates Santi on a golf course to learn his weak points in the sport.
Santi thrusts his crotch into the air and makes a joke about his genitals. Someone references the name they’d use if they made pornography. A woman tells a man that she doesn’t have a penis. We hear a couple of the crude lyrics from My Sharona. Upon hearing about a man named Willy Grossweiner, someone says that she’s “not in the mood for dirty jokes.”
Pryce quotes The Hurt Locker, saying “There’s enough bang in there to blow us all to Jesus.”
We hear the f-word eight times and the s-word twice. We also hear “a–,” “b–ch,” “d–k,” “h—” and “d–n.” Jesus’ name is used in vain once.
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He’s also an avid cook. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
Dan Da Dan may be a comedy, but the sensuality, violence and spiritual elements within it make it a tragedy for viewers.
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