Among the many festive releases this holiday season, Prime Video has debuted its contender for viewership with The Sticky. Created by Brian Donovan and Ed Herro, the six-part series captures a witty, unique and amusing story about one of Canada's favourite delicacies: maple syrup. An imperfect yet enjoyable show, The Sticky makes a great addition to the upcoming holiday watchlists.
Set in Quebec, The Sticky follows a gruff, foul-mouthed and boisterous maple syrup farmer named Ruth Landry (Margo Martindale). We meet Landry being given the news that her maple syrup farm will be shutting down. Hilariously unyielding and unwilling to let her farm go, Landry finds herself involved in a world of mischief and crime in this Fargo-esque comedy — leading to what the show's tagline decribes as, "Absolutely not the true story of the Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist."
The Sticky hits the ground running introducing audiences to myriad characters and different plot points from the very moment it begins, creating an exciting series propelled by this initial momentum. But these factors also make the story hard to follow, as if I started watching an episode ahead. With hardly any exposition to form the necessary foundation for a plot of this nature, we're instead bombarded with a ton of information at the outset, making it difficult to keep up.
Despite this issue, however, The Sticky materializes into a funny, easy watch by blending an interesting storyline alongside chucklesome moments — in particular, Martindale's performance as a no-nonsense, fierce and hilarious lead.
Far from being a perfect show in terms of its pacing and lack of exposition, the show crescendos towards the final episodes, making for an engrossing and exciting watch, even delighting viewers with a cameo from Jamie Lee Curtis. The Sticky is the perfect festive watch that doesn't scream holidays, all while feeling ever-so quintessentially Canadian.