Season 1 |
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Episode Guide
Pressure
Focus
Priorities
Danger
Final
Welcome to the world of Polo, where the stakes have never been higher. The messily-edited action on the pitch can only be thwarted by what’s happening off the field, where for Timmy, losing could be worse than death. He could disappoint his father.
A rich sport, played by rich people with rich people problems; Netflix’s newest sport documentary is as alienating as it is poorly thought out. Although the words sport and documentary are doing a lot of heavy lifting here to be fair. In truth, this one plays out much closer to The Real Housewives of Polo than anything else.
Yes, this is the show where the only thing that really matters is whether one manages to make their parents proud or not. And this, bizarrely, seems to be a recurring motif across the five episodes. The trouble is, the show does absolutely nothing to endear you to the characters, players or the sport itself, making it feel like a hollow shadow of a TV show, carved out by someone with only a passing knowledge of entertainment rather than actually experiencing it themselves.
There are a myriad of issues here, and the show lazily rehashes the Drive to Survive formula, without actually understanding what makes that show so good. All the usual hallmarks are here, including the slow-mo shots, the exciting commentary and the talking head interviews, but given how exclusionary Polo is as a sport, after finishing this show, you won’t come away with much in the way of respect, excitement or knowledge surrounding the history of it.
For those unaware, Polo is a dangerous ball game played on horseback and one of the world’s oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective being to score using a long-handled mallet to hit a ball through the opposing team’s goal.
Instead of showcasing any of the history or how the sport has evolved over time, we jump straight into the 2024 season with opposing teams battling it out in prep for the US Open, where glory is up for grabs.
So who are these lovable rogues we’re following across the episodes? Well, first up is angry, arrogant Louis Devaleix. He’s not particularly empathetic with his family, who are more a hindrance than anything else, and he runs a healthcare talent acquisition firm. But really, he lives, laughs and loves Polo.
There’s also Timmy Duta, who screams “daddy issues” throughout the show – both literally and figuratively – after staring admirably at his abs for a few minutes when we’re first introduced to him. His hard-nosed father keeps grilling him to do better and his exasperated mother is just caught in the middle of it all.
The better characters through all of this are actually the darlings of Polo and the most talented players in the sport. This comes from Adolfo and Poroto Cambiaso. They have a pretty good relationship together, which is surprising given the toxicity seeping through this show, and seeing Adolfo try to come to terms with his son’s rising star is arguably the best part of the show.
But this is a small part in what’s otherwise a series that takes itself far too seriously. And as a documentary, there’s not much in the way of documenting. We get very little history into the “sport”, we don’t learn anything about horse welfare, and the Royals are barely in this, despite being executive producers. To make matters worse though, when we do finally get some pitch-side action, the editing is frustratingly poor. Real-time shots are taken from a distance, which then cut to extreme close-up shots and reactions from the crowds. At times it can actually be quite hard to follow what’s happening on the field, which is rather frustrating.
At its best, Polo is mildly interesting look at the hierarchical way rich sons take over their rich fathers and what that means for their family dynamic.
Most of the time though, the straight-shooting style feels like a parody spoof documentary, like you’re just waiting for David Walliams and Matt Lucas to rock up as a dysfunctional father/son duo to join the ranks. Alas they do not, but that doesn’t make Polo any less of a joke.
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Verdict - 1.5/10
1.5/10
I seriously tried, but it was so slow and not what I thought it would be. I kept looking at my watch for how much longer until the first episode was over, hoping the second episode would be better. It wasn’t. It was slow, pretentious and hard to watch. I could not in good conscience watch these rich people abuse those poor horses anymore. Turned it off.
A very poor effort on the part of Meghan and Harry. It is a boring look on an elitist sport. It seems to think that presenting the Real Live of Polo Wives will make people want to see it. Most people, other than true fans and bots, will be appalled by the animal abuse and will not want to watch much of it.
Watched all five episodes in one sitting. Interesting, exciting full of beautiful horses at full gallop and in slow motion. Well shot and full of drama on and off the field. Hoping for a season two.
Polo was not at all what I thought it would be. I didn’t find this particular show to be interesting at all. It was boring. I think had they took it in a different direction, maybe it could have been entertaining. It is also possible that, like some shows, the first season is boring and it becomes entertaining in the second season. I don’t know. I guess we will have to see if there will be more or, like many of their shows, Netflix cancels it after one season.
There was a time when sports such as golf & tennis where perceived to be the privilege of rich white ppl? Look where we are now. There just isn’t anything to dislike about the docuseries #Polo. It brings you inside the lives of an eclectic mix of 6 players, amidst the macho, competiveness, we see tears, laughter & empathy for each other, particularly when Bob, a player has a fall. The family relationships of father, son coaching, father son competing against each other, gives us insight into areas of sport that we never see. It is well made. To criticise the production of a well established professional, would just be petty. To not see how this brings new possibilities to others, is just small minded, to witness that Polo is made up of culturally diverse ppl- & not just the sport of British aristocracy was a joy. Knowing that this will inspire a whole new group of children is brilliant 👏🏾. I want to see if Timmy Dutta wins a US Open, if Pamela goes back to playing after the baby is born, will Bob recover and get back out on the field? And who the hell doesn’t want to hear or see or hear Nacho Figueras again. Thank you Prince Harry, Meghan, Nacho & all those involved for bringing Polo to the screne.
A great watch. Exciting sport with plenty of good looking men. Loved the MIL.. would love a season 2
It is boring…. I was willing to give it a shot but I was unable to make it through the first episode. So I tried to skip the first one and watch the 2nd episode. It didn’t get any better. I thought it was about the sport not the wife’s, houses, and cars they have.
I think it’s intresting, rare insigh into the sport. It’s bringing awareness to this game that isn’t popular. GOOD