Players is a formulaic but fun rom-com with an ending that answers questions like whom, if anyone, Mack ends up with. In Netflix’s sleazy rom-com, Mack is a sports journalist who runs plays with her buddies Adam, Little, and Brannagan in order for them to get one-night stands and sexual flings. When a regaled sports author – Nick – comes into their office, Mack decides that he’s her next target. After sleeping together, Mack realizes she has romantic feelings for Nick, and she wants to run a play in order to start a relationship with him.
The only problem is that none of the group’s plays are meant to form a long-term relationship. Most involve lies about who they are, what they do, and provide an “out” for the pair to never see each other again – similar to Barney Stinson’s Playbook in How I Met Your Mother. As such, the group sets out to create entirely new plays so that Mack can get her man. However, by the end of Players, it’s clear that not everything is as it appears.
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Who Does Mack End Up With In Players?
While she spends most of the movie pursuing Nick, Mack realizes by the end of Players that she’s really in love with Adam. This changes her whole perspective on her friendship with him. She tries to contact him multiple times, but he ignores her every time. As such, her friends help her run a play on Adam, convincing him to help kidnap Little for a birthday surprise. When they arrive at the baseball stadium, they reveal that they’d been acting the whole time to get Mack and Nick in the same place, displaying their friends’ support for this potential couple.
Mack pours her heart out to Adam, explaining why she chose to meet there and the many reasons why she loves him. After telling her that she talks too much, he kisses her. The two get together in the end. This feels narratively appropriate, considering the fact that they had so much more in common than she and Nick. Adam and Mack share each other’s interests and support one another’s dreams. Their chemistry is also off the charts. With this strong foundation, the pair will seemingly stay together for a long time.
Mack’s Breakup With Nick Explained
While Mack and Nick’s relationship starts out extremely well in Players, Nick doesn’t seem to care about Mack’s work as a writer. He takes a long time before reading her article, whereas Adam looks at the article right away. When Mack finally brings up the article to Nick, he gives a vague response. Mack asks for notes, and he emails her with the article entirely rewritten. Doing this to a writer’s work when they haven’t given the other party permission is a massive insult. Even editing doesn’t involve completely changing a writer’s work like that.
When Mack confronts him about this, she’s immediately put off by the fact that he says it was easier to rewrite it than to give notes. Then, she learns that he lied when he said that he liked the article. He actually hated it and didn’t think there was anything redeeming. This is the last straw for Mack. She already has doubts in her head due to the things Adam said about the pair having nothing in common. The realization that he has no faith in her finally pushes Mack to break up with Nick.
Why Mack Responds Negatively To Claire’s Presence
When Claire shows up at the group’s bowling party, Mack reacts negatively to her presence. This coldness continues every time Mack interacts with Claire. Initially, it seems like the reaction is because Adam didn’t tell her how deep their relationship had become. After all, their group’s rule is that an outside party doesn’t get invited to an event unless the relationship is serious. However, by the end of Players, it’s clear that Mack’s reaction was caused by jealousy.
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Throughout Players, Mack is in love with Adam but hasn’t had that realization yet. Instead, her actions convey her hidden feelings. When Claire comes into the picture, Mack sees her as a threat to Mack and Adam’s dynamic. She doesn’t want anyone to come in and disrupt their potential relationship. Ultimately, the way Mack treats Claire is unfair but very human.
The Plays Mack Uses On Nick Explained
In Players, Mack and her friends decide to use plays on Nick so that he’ll fall for her. By the end, the group uses five plays on Adam:
- The Flurry
- The Duck
- The Feint
- The Code Red
- The Curveball
During The Flurry, Mack becomes a regular at the place where Nick does his reading. The pair then have brief contact on the day he comes in. This puts Mack in Nick’s mind. The Duck involves Mack and Nick running into each other while jogging. He recognizes her and tries to get her attention, but she doesn’t acknowledge him. This reinforces her place in his mind. Next, the group runs The Feint, bringing in a previously minor character in Players.
During The Feint, Mack and Ashley – the secretary from Mack’s office – appear at the movie in the park to which Nick is going. Ashley pretends to be sloppy drunk, making Mack look more attractive in comparison. Additionally, it shows that Mack is compassionate enough to care for her friend, who’s drunk, instead of prioritizing Nick. This quality also increases her attractiveness as a potential partner.
The last two plays, The Code Red and The Curveball, are only implemented due to failures in the plan. The Code Red occurs after the group learns that Nick is going on a third date, something they deem a make-or-break moment for a potential relationship. In order to prevent Nick from getting seriously with this woman, they use their contact at the hospital to get her called into work. Mack then appears at the concert where Nick’s date is. She pretends to be there with her brother, who is unbearably dull. As such, Nick asks her to join him.
The last play that Mack and her friends use on Nick in Players is The Curveball. This involves Mack and Nick going on a double date with Adam and Claire. During the date, Mack and Adam show their chemistry and comradery, creating jealousy in Nick. This play might’ve strengthened Nick and Mack’s relationship, but it ultimately caused Adam’s relationship to end. As such, it might not have been the choice for the pair to run this play.
Who’s In The Photo In Mack’s Apartment?
One question in Players that isn’t explicitly answered is the identity of the two people in the photo in Mack’s apartment. However, context clues from later in the movie clarify who these people are and how they’re related to Mack. After having a one-night stand with Nick, she explains that one of the reasons she wants a relationship with him is that he has a photo in his apartment of him with his parents. This is the first clue that the two people in Mack’s photo are her parents.
Later in Players, Mack talks about her parents’ love story when explaining why the bench outside a baseball stadium is her favorite place. As she speaks, it’s clear that she holds them up as the pinnacle of romance. They come up again in the end when Mack confesses her feelings to Adam. If she speaks about them so often, it would make sense that the photo she looks at every day is one of her parents. Additionally, when Mack and Adam kiss at the end of Players, the background looks like the tree in the photo in Mack’s apartment.
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The True Meaning Of Players’ Ending
The ending of Players conveys the idea that idealizing a person isn’t a good foundation for a relationship. Mack doesn’t see Nick for who he truly is, and this comes back to bite her when he makes the insulting decision to rewrite her work instead of providing the notes that she requested. Moreover, her manipulative way of starting the relationship only furthered her viewing him as an object or prize instead of a person. If she’d approached the potential relationship in a more honest way, she might have seen that they weren’t compatible much sooner.
Jumping off this message, the ending of Players also conveys that manipulative plays aren’t actually effective. Even though she put in a lot of effort coming up with plays to start her relationship with Nick, she never stopped to consider Adam’s suggestion that she run the No Play Play. Ultimately, the play that benefits her the most is the No Play Play. Mack going into a situation without a scheme is what allows her to get through to Adam. It conveys a sincerity that simply isn’t there when she runs plays.
Players (2024)
- Release Date
- February 14, 2024
- Director
- Trish Sie
- Cast
- Tom Ellis , Gina Rodriguez , Augustus Prew , Damon Wayans Jr. , Liza Koshy , Joel Courtney
- Runtime
- 105 Minutes
- Writers
- Whit Anderson
- Studio(s)
- Campfire , I Can & I Will Productions , Marc Platt Productions
- Distributor(s)
- Netflix
- Where To Stream
- Netflix
