Physical Season 3 Episode 6 Review: Like You Mean It

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.

Sheila’s shocking decision to go public with her eating disorder in Physical Season 3 Episode 6, “Like You Mean It,” is precisely the sort of propulsive narrative choice that this final season has been lacking. 

It’s a move that not only sets up a genuinely dramatic final run of episodes but promises real stakes and genuine conflict between the characters we care about most — Sheila and Greta.

Yes, Sheila’s sudden confession on live television seems to be as much about hitting back at Kelly Kilman as it is about sharing the real truth of herself with her audience. Yes, she sounds jealous of Kelly throughout the episode and her fixation on the other woman’s Figure 8’s commercial is incredibly unhealthy. And, yes, the hallucinations that cast everyone from her new boyfriend to her eating disorder support group as enemies are very disturbing. 

But it’s not like we haven’t seen Sheila do all those things before to varying degrees. What is different this time is that she told the truth about her struggles with food rather than pretending they didn’t exist. Do I wish her confession was a bit more nuanced and didn’t include such uncomfortable platitudes about hard work and determination and lots of sweat equity being the only way to overcome mental health problems? Kind of.

I realize this is a show set in the 1980s. Things like Prozac and other SSRIs don’t exist yet and struggles with mental illness and addiction were often seen as signs of personal weakness rather than diseases that required treatment like any other sickness might. But it’s still hard to listen to. (Even if it does explain why Sheila’s recovery is so hard for her — who could possibly live up to those standards?)

Elsewhere, Greta sticks by her decision to bring Kelly Kilman on as Sheila’s replacement after she breaks off her deal with Hartman Foods’ line of diet cookies, and the fissure between the two friends shows no sign of healing. It’s uncomfortable watching the two women so at odds with one another, but strangely cathartic as well, even if we all sort of wish Greta had picked a different way to finally stand up for herself.

Greta’s decision to call her former bestie after the eating disorder segment hints that their bond is not entirely dead, though it seems more than likely that the two will spend the bulk of the series’ final episodes at odds with one another. After all, it’s doubtful that Sheila’s going to get over her Kelly obsession/hatred/whatever any time soon, or that the pair could work things out with her nemesis still on the scene.

It’s somewhat frustrating that Season 3 still isn’t doing a particularly great job explaining Sheila’s Kelly fixation. Is she jealous of her success? Does she want to be a blonde? Long for similar body confidence? (I’m still a personal fan of the theory that she’s just plain old attracted to her and doesn’t know where to put those feelings.) But does the who of who Kelly is even matter at all? 

You’d think after actually meeting Kelly, and learning how far off her idea of her was from the reality — the woman doesn’t even like to exercise? — Sheila might have let some of these intrusive and obsessive thoughts about her go. But it seems they’re worse than ever 

Of course, “Like You Mean It” also continues to pretend that Danny Rubin and John Breem somehow still deserve subplots of their own, for some truly wild and incomprehensible reason. Sure, on paper it’s shocking that Breem’s wife apparently had an affair, but it’s not like their relationship has ever been a core focus of this series. (Or that Mrs. Breem has ever possessed multiple identifiable personality traits, apart from apparently hating her husband, which, surprise, is something I share!) 

And then there’s Danny, who is such a vortex of narrative failure that even a date with his ex-wife’s assistant barely manages to move the needle when it comes to creating any sort of genuinely watchable drama. We already know Danny is a terrible romantic partner, show, this is not exactly breaking news. 

At this point, it seems fair to start getting anxious about the prospect that Physical is keeping either or perhaps both of these men around solely to serve as some sort of endgame romantic option for Sheila, which, let’s be clear, would be a legitimately awful choice. If nothing else, “Like You Mean It” does prove that Sheila is capable of genuine growth, and having her somehow boomerang back to either of these men would feel like a horrible step backward for her. 

Season 1 Sheila would have never even considered telling the world about her bulimia the way she did in this episode. Granted, her reasons for coming clean are…let’s just call them very messy, but complicated motivations don’t negate the power of her action, either. For once, I’m looking forward to seeing what she does next.

Stray Thoughts and Observations:

• That Figure 8s TV jingle is a war crime, is all I’m saying.
• This is one of those episodes where it really feels like Physical doesn’t really know what to do with Zoey Deschanel. (Nor does it address the ongoing questions of who Kelly Killman actually is, and whether she’s a manipulative monster or a misunderstood victim of her own success.  Sheila’s such an unreliable narrator I suspect we’re meant to be questioning this but it’s kind of frustrating. 
• Confession time: I am not 100% sure I know Breem’s wife’s first name. 
• I’m not sure why I was hoping that Physical would choose a different path after Sheila finally met the real Kelly Kilman, but I’m still kind of disappointed that the show’s still leaning into female rivalry (there can only be one aerobics queen!) rather than trying to explore a different dynamic. And maybe that’s on me, but I can’t help but think the unexpected path would have been more interesting to watch.

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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