“No one could ever hate me as much as I hate myself, okay? So any mean thing someone is going to think of to say about me, I’ve already said to me, about me, probably in the last half hour,” a young Hannah Horvath insists in “Girls'” debut season. “Physical’s” Sheila Rubin, played to perfection by Rose Byrne, has about two decades on 20-something Hannah, and she’s spent all of those additional days, months, and years marinating in self-loathing, making her millennial counterpart’s self-esteem seem positively glowing in comparison.
Set in ’80s San Diego, “Physical” introduces us to a chronically unhappy stay-at-home mom who works tirelessly to disguise her contempt for her husband when she’s not binging and finding new ways to eviscerate herself. Sheila’s got a vicious inner voice that speaks so loudly it often drowns the rest of the world out. While she’s got harsh (inner)words for everyone and everything, she reserves her most hateful vitriol for herself.
A life-changing aerobics class lights a spark in Sheila. “After just one class you can feel it happening — you becoming you again,” she explains. Tired of being underestimated and trusting her pompous ingrate of a husband with her fate, a newly empowered Sheila vows to make her own mark. She decides to start teaching aerobics, a gig that inspires her to reconsider just what is possible for her future. Still, that nasty voice within refuses to be silenced, and remains the most significant barrier between Sheila and her dreams. But it’s just one barrier among many.
More ambitious and nuanced than a simple underdog story, “Physical” never reduces Sheila to an inspirational cliché. She’s messy and complicated, and so is her journey towards building a fitness empire. The show’s supporting cast is also refreshingly layered. Should, all willing, “Physical” get a second season, I’m especially interested to see more of Bunny (Della Saba), Sheila’s fellow aerobics instructor and business partner.
“Physical” starts streaming on Apple TV+. on June 18. “Desperate Housewives” alumna Annie Weisman created the dark comedy and serves as showrunner.
