Physical Review: Don’t You Go Far (Season 2 Episode 3)

Physical Season 2 Episode 3, “Don’t You Go Far,” is a weirdly uneven and unbalanced episode (a feat that’s honestly kind of hard to achieve when your show is only half an hour long) that offers us another uncomfortable glimpse at Sheila’s abusive childhood.

Given the news of her father’s death at the end of last week’s episode, most of us likely expected “Don’t You Go Far” to be a fairly dark installment. And that’s true: Sheila begins spiraling badly, lashing out against her mother’s criticism of her aerobics career and trying (albeit briefly) to wrestle with the uncomfortable truth that he father wasn’t a particularly good man.

(Props to Danny, though, who actually does his best to be genuinely supportive throughout. Miracles are all around!)

“Don’t You Go Far” offers tantalizing glimpses of Sheila and her mother’s deeply dysfunctional relationship—from Sheila’s desperation to prove she doesn’t need her mother’s approval to her mother’s obsession with coming up with a nickname for Maya to call her (that isn’t something that implies “old” like “grandma”) since this is the first time she’s met her grandchild.

There’s also a moment where Sheila hallucinates that her uncle is alone with her daughter and possibly molesting her in some way. Physical basically told us last season that Sheila herself was the victim of sexual abuse s a child, and the lingering trauma from that experience is a big reason why she has such problems with self-esteem, an unhealthy relationship with both food, and a desperate need for control.

But that also basically told us her abuser was a family friend. Was it in actuality someone much closer to her than that? Or was it both? 

While these tidbits give us the briefest glimpses at Sheila’s past, Physical still seems reluctant to look too closely at her history or draw firm parallels about how her previous traumas inform the woman she is today. 

Unable to deal with her family or her complicated feelings about her father’s death, Sheila seeks relief in exercise, crashing a studio class by the name of a man named Vincent Green. (A weird, sort of Freddie Mercury caricature that feels like a cross between a fitness guru and a cult leader.)

The idea that Sheila turns to the endorphin rush of exercise to deal with the barrage of negative emotions she’s experiencing makes perfect sense to me—and is honestly a whole lot healthier than secretly binging and purging which is likely what she would have done last season.

But the fact that Physical doesn’t seem to want to look too closely at the fact that she’s building her new brand and identity on what is essentially another form of disordered living is…well, it’s a bit frustrating. 

Plus, I just have no idea how we’re meant to read Vince as a character. A bizarre mix of toxic masculinity and feel-good hippy-dippy love all serve none vibes, I’m not sure if Vince is supposed to be an aspirational figure for Sheila or a kind of warning sign. 

And so much of his persona seems obviously fake—a ruse to encourage desperate women to join his VIP membership plan—that it’s difficult to even want him to become Sheila’s friend. (As nice as it would be for her to have someone in her life that really gets her love of aerobics now that she’s destroyed her friendship with Bunny.)

Speaking of Sheila’s former partner, Bunny is still spiraling, slowly becoming someone that feels almost unrecognizable from the girl she was last season.

Convinced that Sheila has taken everything that matters from her, Bunny is suddenly unhappy with everything in her life, including her relationship with Tyler. (Who truly does not deserve the way Bunny is treating him right now.)

Desperate to shake herself out of the rut she’s in, Bunny even turns back to a drippy ex, who is genuinely terrible and definitely does not respect women, seemingly ready to leave Tyler behind for good. 

Thankfully, Physical is well aware that Bunny and Tyler are maybe the only actual likable relationship on this show, and don’t take things that far. Instead, Tyler gets to show off his feminist bonafides and plead his case to Bunny, convincing her that he not only loves her but that he’s willing to help her get back at Sheila if that is what she truly wants. 

What that all means, I have no idea, but I’m looking forward to them all at least sharing some screentime again in the future even if they’re enemies.

Physical – Photo Courtesy of Apple TV+

Sheila’s unexplained midsection pain turns out to be related to an ovarian issue—an ovary twisting around itself somehow—and not an ectopic pregnancy the way many of us had guessed. The (misogynist) doctor does imply that the damage will render that ovary useless but hey, she’s got two. [Insert barf emoji here.}

And there is something strangely moving about the episode’s final scene, in which Sheila’s mother sits at her bedside and feeds her ice cream. The two don’t talk about, well, any of the things they so desperately need to talk about. But the care between them is obvious. (And, honestly, it feels like a win that her mother showed up in the first place, so small mercies I guess.) 

Stray Thoughts and Observations:

• I have to say, it’s a bit early in the season for an episode where it feels like so little actually happens.
• John Breem throwing his son under the bus because he can’t bear being honest with his wife is….something. This jerk!! (Notice how he did not admit that he kept his son’s secret or encouraged him though!)
• I have to admit for what is probably the 44th time, though, that I just could not possibly be less interested in any story about the Breem family. What is the purpose of this supposed to be?
• Genuinely surprised by how much I missed Greta this week.
• Tyler is a perfect man, is what I’m saying, even with his hash sundaes.

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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