Diksha Sundriyal
Apple TV+’s ‘Physical’ started with a dejected Sheila Rubin caught in an unhappy marriage. Her life changes when she discovers her love for aerobics, and this leads her on a tumultuous journey where she discovers how ambitious she is and how many more hurdles she has to cross before cementing her success and legacy. Over the course of three seasons, we find Sheila battling all sorts of things, be it something very personal like an eating disorder or a nemesis in the form of Kelly Kilmartin, who wants to push her out of business by any means possible.
After the twists and turns of the third season, the show gives us a satisfying conclusion to Sheila’s story, leaving her not at the end but at the point of a new beginning, where we know that there is much more left in her life to happen. We bid goodbye to her and other characters in the show, finding them in the positions that will define the rest of their lives. SPOILERS AHEAD
Physical Season 3 “Like a Prayer” Recap
In the previous episode, which focused exclusively on Sheila and Danny’s relationship, it was revealed that she was leaving San Diego and moving to LA. This is a part of her bigger plan to franchise her brand, Strength in Numbers, and take her business to new heights. At the beginning of this episode, several years have passed, and in a montage, we discover how Sheila’s business has left its mark across the country. She is rolling in money and has expanded her name beyond the fitness industry. There are grants, charities, and other things in her name, and maintaining all of this requires Sheila to move around a lot, leaving her little to no personal time.
When Sheila returns from a business trip, she tries to bond with her daughter, Maya, who is a teenager and not as interested in talking about her feelings with her mother anymore. Sheila shares this concern with John, who appears to be living with her now. However, it turns out that the real John is still in Mexico with his family, and the John in front of her is only in her head. While thinking about all this, Sheila’s attention is turned towards a mysterious presence in her house’s backyard, where an unknown person is hiding. When she discovers who it is, it forces her to take a look at everything she has done and what it means.
Meanwhile, Danny is in a relationship with Fidelia, who is pregnant. He runs a podcast, trying to spread awareness about the environment, and lives on the grant money provided by Sheila. Sheila’s support group has expanded, and her monetary situation has allowed her to finally get a space for their meetings that is their own now. It is one of the things to which Sheila dedicates her time and resources. Greta, too, is living her best life, taking the lead as one of the trainers while also handling the finances and legalities of the business.
Physical Season 3 Finale Ending: Sheila Lets Go of the Mirrors and Control
Sheila was at her lowest when, one day, she walked into Bunny’s aerobics class, and her life changed forever. Bunny wasn’t very interested in expanding her class or turning it into a full-fledged business, so when the time came, Sheila seized the opportunity and pushed Bunny out of the whole deal. Bunny and her boyfriend, Tyler, tried to get back on their feet, but things never quite worked out their way. Once they were out of the picture, Sheila didn’t have to care about them anymore until Tyler showed up at her house.
He reveals that things were finally back on track for him and Bunny, especially after she started her classes again. However, Sheila’s lawyers called her a copycat and sued her, forcing her to stop the classes. Bunny wanted to fight back, but Tyler thought there was no point in fighting the war they knew they would lose. This caused a rift between them, and Bunny left him, though he knows where she went. Bunny blamed Sheila for everything, so she decided to get back at her by targeting John Breem, whom Bunny knew Sheila had had an affair with.
Sheila is still in love with John and was heartbroken when he left for Mexico. When she realizes that Bunny is trying to use him to get back at her, she decides to go to Mexico and find Bunny. She takes Greta along but doesn’t tell her the truth about their trip until much later. She confesses to her best friend that her personal life has been in shambles, and she hallucinates John, which makes her feel even more lonely. Then she tells Greta about Tyler, who had been hiding in her backyard for days before he came out of hiding and told her about Bunny.
Greta, who has finally found the satisfaction she was looking for, especially regarding her work-life balance, is shocked to hear about all this. However, instead of getting angry at Sheila, she decides to help her figure out this mess. The next day, they visit the church that John and his wife run and find out that Bunny has become an aerobics teacher there. She couldn’t work in America without being called a copycat and being sued, so she moved to Mexico because she knew Sheila had no legal authority over her here.
When Bunny sees Sheila, she thinks the latter has come to stop her, but it turns out Sheila is there to apologize to Bunny. She confesses that she took Bunny’s idea and pushed her out of the business they could have worked on together and never gave credit to her for anything, but now, she wants to make things right. Greta offers her a grant, and Sheila offers her credit, but Bunny doesn’t want anything. She just wants to be able to run her classes in peace and tells Sheila that the idea doesn’t belong to a single person because everyone learns it from someone else. Sheila learned it from Bunny, and Bunny learned it from someone else.
As they clear the air between them, Sheila asks Bunny if she can join her class, and Bunny allows her to. Having apologized to Bunny, Sheila’s heart feels much lighter, and she realizes she has been pushing herself too hard. She has been listening to that voice inside her head, which had taken John’s form to manipulate her. Instead of the biting, hurting words, the voice used John’s loving, encouraging tone, pushing Sheila away from the things that really mattered to her.
In the end, she realizes that all these problems in her life arose due to her need for control. Even when she started aerobics, it was about control, and the more successful she became, the more she needed to be in control. The moment she let loose, things unraveled, and she felt like it was all a disaster. Now, however, it’s clear to her that she needs to relinquish any thought of control and focus on living her best life. She tells everyone in her class to let go of the things holding them back, but she never thought about doing the same for herself. Now’s the time to set it right.
Read More: Did Rose Byrne Lose Weight for Physical?
