Stumble Season 1 Episode 13 Review: Daytona

Stumble Season 1 Episode 13, “Daytona,” brings us the team’s thrilling finale.

Everything has been leading up to this point, the Daytona competition. Obviously, nothing can be easy, though, and the team runs into more than its fair share of hiccups.

If Courteney’s determination to beat Tammy isn’t enough pressure, then the unexpected arrival of Marg sends it over the edge.

Now, if Courteney wants her team to win, she has to be better than Tammy and strong enough not to let Marg get to her.

This whole time, Courteney’s old coach, Marg Hargberg, has only been spoken of as the subject of her old cheer horror stories. To put a face to the name is surprising but not unwelcome.

Katey Sagal does a great job portraying the cutthroat but stoic former coach. Marj has been hyped up, so expectations were high for when she eventually appeared.

She contrasts well with Tammy, who has been more of a goofy antagonist, and it really helps boost the episode’s tension.

Marg isn’t just there to scare Courteney with her presence; she’s there as a judge.

The previous episode had Courteney cut Madonna from the mat. However, in an admittedly unsurprising turn of events, she does end up stepping in as an alternate.

No offense to Marvin the Mascot, but Madonna is a far more compelling character than he is, and it’s a relief she actually got to perform. It may be for the best that the cuts to the team don’t amount to much since they feel forced in the first place.

Madonna isn’t known for being inconsistent. Not unless you count her occasional narcoleptic episodes.

We all knew she would have never fumbled at Daytona, and lo and behold, she kills it.

The main event of the episode, of course, is the cheer routines. We get to see performances from the buttons and from Tammy’s team.

Tammy’s team did fantastically, but the major error they made knocks them down quite a bit. With that and the flawless performance put on by the buttons, you would think that even if they didn’t win, they’d at least rank above Tammy.

However, they got third place while Tammy’s team placed second. Even though this still isn’t a satisfactory outcome for Tammy, it is somewhat confusing.

Narratively, it makes sense, especially since they seem to be setting up for another season and need space to grow, but at the same time, this outcome doesn’t align with what we saw.

If Tammy’s team hadn’t messed up, third place for the buttons would have made sense. But from the audience’s point of view, their performance seems like it’s better executed.

Nevertheless, winning isn’t everything, and Buttons are satisfied with their victory. Courteney still hasn’t given up on winning next year, but in the meantime, it’s nice to see her proud of her team for what they’ve achieved.

The season does set itself up for another with Marg Hargberg announcing she’s coming out of retirement to coach alongside Tammy. Clearly, it’s more personal for her than she lets on.

Despite its occasional stumbles, pun intended, Stumble Season 1 finishes off as a very solid comedy series. While Season 2 has yet to be confirmed, it doesn’t seem like things are over for the buttons just yet.

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Stumble airs Fridays at 8:30/7:30c on NBC.

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