Physical Review: Don’t You Ever Stop (Season 2 Episode 2)

The wreck of Sheila and Bunny’s former partnership continues to smolder on Physical Season 2 Episode 2, “Don’t You Ever Stop” as the two come face to face for the first time since the launch of Sheila’s workout video.

It’s as ugly as you might expect, though for a moment Physical makes us believe that the two women might reach a detente of sorts. Sheila offers Bunny a job, and though the younger woman seems a bit offended by the thought of working for someone who wronged her so badly…she doesn’t actually immediately say no either.

Then of course Sheila’s scuzzy manager shows up and assumes Bunny’s a Sheila super fan and everything gets weird and uncomfortable real quick.

The conflict between the two women is necessary—and to be clear Sheila did do Bunny dirty—but as someone who really loved their friendship last season (the episode where Sheila, Bunny, Tyler, and Greta teamed up was my favorite from Season 1) it’s a struggle to think that they might never find their way back to one another.

Because, after this episode, it certainly feels possible that a major Season 2 subplot may well involve Bunny suing or otherwise trying to bring down Sheila’s burgeoning career by accusing her of theft and/or some sort of plagiarism. And, it might be an effective move, because as even her own inner monologue admits, Sheila is guilty.

She did purposefully steal from her friend, she knows it, and she knows she shouldn’t have done it. (But she’s also not particularly sorry she did it, at the same time, and it’s the utter lack of remorse that makes this character so interesting and/or frustrating by turns.)

Granted, I’m not sure that Bunny has a tremendous amount of recourse, given that neither she, Tyler, nor Sheila seem to be the kind of people who would bother to do things like sign legal documents or contracts together that made their partnership something that had real strings.

But, since so much of Sheila’s brand is her aspirational image, just the fact of being openly accused of stealing her business from a woman she once called a friend might be enough. We’ll have to wait and see.

“Don’t You Ever Stop” features Sheila’s debut at the Coast County fair, a ridiculously over-the-top sequence where she’s asked to work out wearing an obnoxiously bright leotard in front of a crowd of enthusiastic participants and gawking onlookers, encouraging them all to self-actualize, believe in themselves, and, of course, buy her tape? 

She even encourages the nearby men—who are obviously there to ogle women in tight spandex—to join in, apparently anything goes as long as it gets people to move! (And, those tapes to sell!) She’s truly terrifyingly good at this, and one has to wonder whether Bunny could have ever done any of this in the same way. (I have a hard time picturing it, to be honest.)

Physical is at its best during moments like Sheila’s post-workout sales and autograph session, as a stream of what appear to be housewives pop up to ask her questions about everything from her diet and favorite foods to how she feeds her kids. It’s another chance for Sheila’s inner monologue to pipe up about how big of a failure she is, but it’s also a razor sharp window into why her tape has struck such a nerve.

These are women who just to feel validated in their own struggles with food and weight loss, and to know that they are not alone. Sheila may not speak openly about her eating disorder, but during her routines, she does talk about accepting yourself and pushing yourself for the pure joy of finding out what your limits are. 

Physical – Photo Courtesy of Apple TV+

And look, it’s not that I want to go back to the version of Sheila’s inner monologue that was constantly berating her for her eating choices and calling her names, but there has got to be something better to replace it with than all the constant John Breem sex flashbacks? 

Yes, this affair brought about multiple moments that are both hilarious (Greta discovering her friend’s handprint-shaped thigh bruise and offering her sex advice) and weirdly intriguing (Breem’s decision to not rat out his son for meeting a (gasp!) Catholic girl at the fair, which feels like maybe the first time he’s ever done that). 

But Rose Byrne and Paul Sparks just do not have the kind of chemistry that makes their rabid hookup schedule believable. (I would almost say that they have negative chemistry, in fact.) I wish the show were being more explicitly about what they see in each other (or, about what this relationship does for both of them beyond the fact of sex.) I have to believe it’s about power for Sheila and…I don’t even know what for Breem.

Stray Thoughts and Reminders

• I can’t be the only person that immediately wondered if the fact that Sheila got sick during her fair workout session means she’s pregnant, can I?
• Greta has somehow quietly become my favorite character on this show. When she offered Sheila a container of lubricant and told her she’d used it herself before, I lost it. What a breath of fresh air she is. 
• I can’t be the only person who doesn’t care at all about Danny’s new friendship with the other local mom who goes protesting with him? I hope something more interesting is going on here than simply Danny having another affair (emotional or otherwise). 

What did you think of this episode of Physical? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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New episodes of Physical stream Fridays on Apple TV+.

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