Physical Season 3 Episode 5 Review: Like Crazy

This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.

Physical Season 3 Episode 5, “Like Crazy,” officially marks the halfway point of the series’ final season, which makes the utter lack of direction and bizarre narrative choices at work even more difficult to understand. Where exactly is this all heading? What is the point of this story?

The lack of narrative urgency is particularly frustrating in this episode, which spends half its screen time on characters who aren’t even connected to Sheila in any real way and whose stories it’s impossible to imagine anyone is terribly invested in. 

As Sheila starts to backslide into some of her worst traits — welcome back to her horribly mean and self-critical inner voice, which is even meaner and more critical now! — Physical itself seems to take several steps backward as well.

Season 3 has done the clearest job of explaining the reasons Sheila’s self-loathing has become so intertwined with the idea of Kelly Kilman, but it’s at least been more interesting to watch than her repeated cycles of self-abuse and shame. For all her supposed growth, we just keep Sheila making the same mistakes and it’s not clear what message this is all supposed to be sending.

“Like Crazy” is at its best when it’s actually doing something new and/or unexpected. Greta’s decision to take her business acumen to Kelly Kilman feels like the sort of big move that should happen in a final season.

And Sheila’s dinner with Carlos, in which she actually tells her new boyfriend about the fashion show and its aftermath, was a pleasant surprise, even if it’s not entirely clear whether Physical means for us to view him as weirdly controlling or a genuine potential partner.

What person out there was dying to see more of Danny’s life post-Sheila? Because I would like to ask them some questions. Seriously though, it’s bad enough that we have to sit through Danny’s…whatever in the world this arc is supposed to be, but now Physical is bringing his sister into the mix too?

Granted, Casey Newton is surprisingly hilarious — and Debbie was the source of the few genuine laughs I had during this episode. But, what purpose does this character serve? It’s not like there aren’t several other characters who could use this screentime and who are actually connected to Sheila’s journey?

Take Greta, for instance. While it was tremendously satisfying to watch her tear into Sheila for her selfish behavior that risked their new deal with Hartman Foods, we’ve seen so little of her actually being the savvy businesswoman she insists she is or her struggling to process all the ways her supposed best friend and business partner keeps letting her down. 

Wouldn’t it be more satisfying (and dramatically worthwhile) to see more of her story than to watch Danny fight with his neighbors over proper recycling practices?

It honestly was so satisfying to watch Greta finally stand up for herself — at least there’s one character on this show who legitimately seems on a real journey of emotional growth. She deserves better than the way Sheila treats her, and Sheila needs to recognize how valuable she is. (And act accordingly.)

On some level, it’s honestly great that Greta’s finally standing up for herself. So much of this show has been about Sheila bullying or taking advantage of Greta that it’s extremely satisfying to see her both call out her friend’s behavior and worry about her recovery at the same time. Sheila really doesn’t deserve her, is what I’m saying.

Stray Thoughts and Observations:

• It’s odd that three seasons into this show and halfway through its final season, I still can’t tell how Physical actually wants us to feel about Sheila. 
• This show is working so hard to shoehorn John Breem into this story. In what world would he pick up everything and travel to see a woman he had an affair with in a different state simply because she drunk-dialed him in the middle of the night? Are we supposed to think that’s good? 
• Zoey Deschanel is so entertaining as Hallucination Kelly. The bit where she’s skipping around ribbon dancing through Sheila’s exercise class had me on the floor.
• One of the most 100% real observations on this show is how true it is that Danny would consider himself worthy of a medal for parenting his child 50% of the time.

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 Wednesdays on Apple TV+.

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