Madi Beesley

I just want to say, I think it's unfortunate that people are absolutely torpedoing this show in reviews largely because they dislike one character who happens to be non-binary. I actually thought the introduction of this character worked well as a foil to Mitts- when they introduce themselves to each other & he doesn't really get the whole pronoun thing, I thought "oh, okay, interesting, we'll get to see how these two very different people interact after being forced into close proximity". This dynamic does slowly force some growth out of the both of them later in the season- Zero learns to get over themselves a bit without sacrificing their identity; Mitts learns to be a bit more open-minded and take risks. Is Zero annoying at first? YES! I'm a bleeding-heart leftist myself and even I found her to be a bit much at times. All of these characters are flawed, that is the point! I don't think it's fair to write off an entire show because the slightest mention of someone different than you makes you uncomfortable. But I agree that some of the writing re: diversity could feel a little more natural and it would probably be more effective. On that note, my biggest critique of this show by far is that it's over-written in some ways. They have a habit of spoon-feeding the audience information very quickly instead of letting you figure things out for yourself. I think they make the classic mistake of focusing too much on romantic storylines as well- there's a lot of unnecessary drama between Zero and Santi, much of which later on seems to come from nowhere and doesn't align with the character growth we see in Santi in learning to be more calm and clear-headed in his games. These things, to me, make it feel like the writers don't trust the audience to stay invested in the story they're telling. Like, hey, "washed-up golfer struck by tragedy that ends his career & marriage mentors young protege" is already a great concept. They don't need to keep trying to raise the stakes with petty interpersonal conflicts, the broader storylines they've already set up are far more compelling. They could fill that time with more jokes. They had me from the first episode, but it went a little downhill somewhere in the middle. Google doesn't let me do half-stars, but if it did I'd give this a 3.5. Still very worth watching but I want them to do more with the groundwork they've already set. To the writers: you wrote a good story. Have faith in it!