Physical Season 2 Episode 10 Review: Don’t Say It’s Over

Physical Season 2 Episode 10, “Don’t Say It’s Over,” wraps up the Apple TV+ comedy’s sophomore season, but many of its major plot developments don’t feel entirely deserved.

In this finale, Sheila feels like a changed woman. She’s sharp, business-like, and creative, coming up with a new workout routine and forcefully selling her vision a with clarity and poise. She’s determined, focused, and refuses to accept less than exactly what she wants. 

Which, great, I guess….but who is this woman?  How did she get to this point? And didn’t we deserve to really get to see that evolution? I get that this part of the story is more interesting, but almost nothing about it feels as though it’s natural or earned.

Physical – Photo Courtesy of Apple TV+

Part of the problem is that Physical essentially decided to skip over showing us the hard work of Sheila’s recovery to get to the more dramatic stuff we see here. And in doing so, it makes almost nothing that happens during “Don’t Say It’s Over” feels deserved.

We got one episode of Sheila in therapy, but most of the apparent work that’s gone into her recovery happened offscreen. As did the ultimate dissolution of her marriage to Danny, her working through her issues with Greta after their massive fight a few episodes back,  and the formation of the business she’s now apparently running.

She barely seems to be struggling with food or self-esteem anymore, except at plot opportune moments when she needs a reason to behave recklessly or rashly. And while I’m not entirely sorry to see the back of the viciously cruel voice in her head (for the most part), it just seems as though we skipped a step in this story somewhere.

(Plus, I’m just annoyed that outside of one call back to a friend back at the treatment facility she attended, Sheila’s supposedly ongoing recovery is essentially nonexistent.)

The thing is, is that a lot of the what happens in this finale are things we’ve been waiting to see.

Sheila finally acknowledging out loud how selfish Danny has been is satisfying, as is her admission that she didn’t want Breem, she wanted to be him, with the commensurate power to make her own choices and see them carried out.

And it’s a relief to see Sheila finally take steps toward becoming the woman we saw in the series’ very first episode. The montage where she’s testing out different exercise step prototypes is not just fun to watch, it’s a visual representation of what she’s learned about the exercise industry, and about how women see fitness r the course of the past two seasons.

Physical – Photo Courtesy of Apple TV+

I’ve been Team Tyler and Bunny since Physical’s first season, if only because the pair are perhaps the only folks on this canvas who are legitimately good people. (And also their relationship is just adorable.)

But it’s hard not to look at this finale–truly, at the entirety of this season–and wonder whether there’s still a place on this show for them. I mean, I guess the idea that Breem sent Mormon missionaries to fleece the pair for money in Mexico is the kind of thing that might be funny on paper, but it’s not what you might call a real story.

Though it initially seemed as though Bunny might be able to fight her way into a job with Sheila, or that there might be more to their attempted blackmail plot, the two have literally done almost nothing this season besides drift further and further away from Physical’s primary storylines. 

I don’t want to lose these characters if only because they’re two of the scant handful I both truly like and enjoy watching on this show. But what story is really left to tell about them? 

The season ends by showing us a Sheila that is fully ready to embrace her inner girlboss and full of fury at the likely soon-to-be ex-husband who’s trying to take half of both the profits and the credit for the business she built. Yay, great, I guess?

I like the concept of seeing a more active Sheila who’s making her own choices and owning her own future. But there’s something fairly uncomfortable about the fact that her first act when faced with a business setback, is to run to a man she doesn’t even like for help to get her revenge.

And the fact that the show frames this move as some kind of victory is particularly uncomfortable, IMO. Like…are we supposed to be happy that Sheila is purposefully putting herself back in Breem’s orbit? Cheer that she’s using him to go after what’s hers? Y i k e s.

Stray Thoughts and Observations:

• I honestly don’t know how to feel about Physical getting renewed for a third season. I’m kind of looking forward to the rise of Cold Hard Business Sheila, because it feels as though that will at least make for a season where something truly happens, but, as I said above, I’m just not sure this transition has been earned.
• And while I like the idea of Sheila facing off against a younger, pretty version of herself in the aerobics marketplace, the fact that this person is not Bunny just truly rubs me the wrong way. (Because…it should be.)
• Ugh, please no more Vinnie Green, thanks.
• I wish we’d seen any fallout from Greta and Sheila’s big blow up—like Greta knows her worst secrets now, shouldn’t they have at least talked about it at some point?
• Greta manipulating her husband with sex to get something Sheila wants is…a choice, and Greta’s clear infatuation with Sheila is something I hope the show tries to explore next season.

What did you think of the season finale of Physical? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Seasons 1 and 2 of Physical are currently streaming on Apple TV+.

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