‘Stick’ Stars Marc Maron & Mariana Treviño Break Down Mitts & Elena’s Emotional Breakthrough

Meaghan Darwish June 25, 2025, 1:01 pm

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Mariana Trevino and Marc Maron in 'Stick' Season 1 — Apple TV+

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Stick Season 1, Episode 6, “RV Shangri-La.”]

Who doesn’t enjoy a good enemies-to-lovers arc? Stick is hinting at a stellar one between Mitts (Marc Maron) and Elena (Mariana Treviño), who have been at each other’s throats since having to share space in his RV as they travel around various cities for her son Santi (Peter Dager) to compete in different golf tournaments alongside mentor Pryce (Owen Wilson).

As Pryce’s former caddy and best friend, Mitts has been reluctant about this trip from the start, but has carted the whole gang around in the RV he originally planned to travel the country in with his late wife. Meanwhile, Elena has brought chaos into the space with her three dogs and demands, keeping Mitts on his toes.

During a candid moment in the latest episode, Elena reveals how she plans to invest the money Pryce had given her to confirm his commitment to Santi, revealing that she’d put it towards helium. When Elena pushes Mitts to explain his lackluster response, he admits he doesn’t think she should put all of her money towards one thing.

Apple TV+

The duo ultimately has a confrontation of sorts as she explains to Mitts that she went to business school but dropped out when she got pregnant because Santi’s dad had told her to. And in a long list of events in her life where she’s listened to men, she tells Mitts she won’t do it anymore. She goes on to further explain that she has done her research, and while an investment of that kind can be scary, you have to do things that scare you sometimes.

Amid their conversation, they run into a bear and are forced to take refuge on a barge in the middle of a nearby lake at the camping site they’re stationed at. As the conversation continues about doing things that scare you, Mitts is encouraged to kiss Elena, who is stunned into silence. Instead of talking it through, though, Mitts awkwardly departs the barge and swims back to shore.

“That was the moment when he realized he had those feelings. It was almost like a high school thing,” Maron tells TV Insider about the kiss. “It felt like a big risk for him because he’s been alone and sad for a long time, and I think the emotions around it were impulsive, but the reaction to it was kind of childish.”

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“I had to get into that water over and over again,” he recalls of swimming away. “But I think that was the way to handle it because when you are out of practice and have been closed up for a long time, that first kiss is gonna be a little clunky. And the fact that it didn’t land, I think that he’s embarrassed, he feels like he made a mistake. He’s also mad. It’s a complicated bit of emotion for a grown man.”

As for their push-pull dynamic, Treviño shares, “They recognized each other in their own stubbornness. When the show starts, they are both coming from an isolated place where they’re feeling a little bit stagnant and disconnected to life. They’re just a little bit walled up.” She adds that because they recognize these shared elements, “they start butting heads, because underneath they relate, and I think that when two people go at it so much, you always find someone that’s stronger than you, and if you’re lucky they’re a good person, they’re gonna bring out your vulnerability and your emotions.”

We got a hint of that vulnerability when Mitts apologized to Elena for the awkward kiss and then told her that her idea about investing in helium was amazing. What’s next for the duo moving forward? Tune into more of Stick as their dynamic unfolds this season and let us know what you thought about the kiss in the comments section below.

Stick, Season 1, Wednesdays, Apple TV+