For those who followed the three years of Physical, you may have found it strange how it changed at its conclusion. Sheila (Rose Byrne) is a complex antihero because she not only tried to suppress the unhappiness of a failed marriage but also hid the trauma of sexual abuse and bulimia. We follow her suffering and witness the harshness of her destructive reasoning, leading her to various manic and even occasionally criminal hopes. However, the journey was victorious: Sheila ends her days healthy, helping others, a millionaire, but alone. Bittersweet, but rushed.

Let’s go back a little in the third season. When we leave Sheila at the conclusion of the second, she asks her ex-lover, John Bree (Paul Sparks) to help her “annihilate” her new rival, Kelly Kilmartin (Zooey Deschanel). However, when we return, she is obsessed with Kelly, who is now the negative voice in her head but genuinely trying to be a better, healthier person. The leap was made when Sheila finally accepted what Danny (Rory Scovel) practically imposed, that she seek professional help to overcome her eating and psychological disorders, which led her to a support group that effectively planted the seed of change in her soul.

Throughout the final season, the theme became the battle to overcome mental health challenges and how it is a lonely, daily, and challenging struggle. It was a necessary 180 because there initially seemed to be no hope for Sheila and it was difficult to connect with her. Sheila was cruel, manipulative and so lost that it seemed impossible to save her. As a romantic, even though it was extramarital, I was rooting for the couple John and Sheila, but the option of leaving these soulmates separated was interesting and intelligent. As a religious man, John would never forgive himself if he left the family for Sheila, although he made himself available to the limit. And Sheila, on the path to healing, would never create new embarrassments for the only man who understood her and didn’t judge her. Unhappy but fit into society and what is expected of them, Physical rewrote “happily ever after” with the inks of modern culture.

Kelly Killmartin’s passage and conclusion in this final turn seemed a little rushed to me. Fantasy and reality were never clear and she came and went without making a difference. Sheila is not the only narcissist in the story, Greta’s (Diedre Friel) obsession with not only being her partner and best friend but always opposing all the men in the protagonist’s life was equally inconclusive. At various times she signaled her passion for Sheila and this relationship was not always healthy, but it is equally realistic that some toxic aspect remains in her life. Greta having learned her worth and achieving professional success while maintaining her marriage is a good message too. It’s a shame that Sheila’s options have been reduced.

Although Sheila, Dany, and John’s love triangle lasted three seasons, and Sheila even briefly found another boyfriend, she had to ‘give up’ her love life to find self-love. Dany, her teenage boyfriend, immature, lost, and in love with her, was not the ideal companion on this journey. Sheila was always the brains of the couple, she positioned herself as the supporter of his dreams, but, even with her support to grow, they had different paths to follow. Here is my sadness. There are marriages that end, Dany loved Sheila, but he was not her ideal partner. He finds love again and a new wife, but it was John who was always perfect for her and he chose to maintain his suffering marriage. In the end, the message that to be happy you don’t need anyone is one, but Physical left Sheila suffering, in her eternal schizophrenia, and now imagining what could have been if John had stayed by her side. In other words, it reinforces that women cannot have it all.

With a perfect soundtrack featuring hits from the 1980s, choosing the last scene to the sound of Xanadu reflects the five-year journey that Sheila took to reach paradise, but ending the credits to the sound of Dreams, by the Cranberries, gives us another message. As the song says, life changes every day and dreams are never the same. And that does give us hope. Good luck, Sheila!

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