But what Weisman’s story does isn’t just examine the way women were spending a decade usually boiled down to big hair and cocaine — although that’s well-represented in the series.
And that perfect body comes as the result of a devastating eating disorder that Sheila can’t keep at bay.
“Physical” almost exists in the same universe as Showtime’s “On Becoming a God in Central Florida.” Both are set in similar eras focusing on a struggling housewife who, through the empowerment of aerobics, helps them deal with the pickle their idiot husband has put them in.
But when the stress gets to be too much she buys three burgers, three fries, and a chocolate shack, buys a room at a scummy motel and eats them, only to barf everything up again.
But what Weisman’s scripts do so well is not necessarily focus on Sheila’s bulimia but her mental health and how society has contributed to her issues.
Sheila’s mad rush for perfection has caused her to self-isolate, and through Danny’s campaign she is forced to interact with people that , one of the moms at Sheila’s daughter’s school.
As Sheila attempts to find her own sense of autonomy she’s drawn to an aerobics class talk by Israeli expat, Bunny live in the mall itself.
But without Bunny we wouldn’t get amazing moments of Byrne doing aerobic routines and if “Physical” does its greatest work anywhere, it’s in how aerobics became a phenomenon.
He underestimates and overtaxes Sheila at every turn, but halfway through the series there’s a discussion of how they ended up together that explains everything.
The series’ biggest flaw is the amount of storylines that are packed into its 10 episodes.