Ultimately, an emotional, exhilarating, and surprisingly uplifting conclusion to this series matches the energy of Sheila’s classes and makes sure Weisman’s show lands its final steps.

Physical‘s third season is as dark as ever, but thanks to the (darkly funny and decidedly not adorkable) addition of Deschanel, we’re invested and can’t wait to see how Sheila’s story ends.

Physical confidently step-touches its way to an ending fit for the realistic complexity of recovery; there are occasional backslides, but they only make the monumental leaps forward all the more special.

The fact that they didn’t get the time they needed to play out the string in a satisfying manner is sad, but does not ultimately detract from what this was: a tremendous character study set in a time when opportunity for people like Rubin came as a country just began to embrace the drug of money that would eventually eat it from the inside.

While still not perfect (shouldn’t self-loathing and patriarchy seen through a disco-haze be more fun?), Physical has definitely ended up being more interesting than when it started.

It leans into the lore of its previous two seasons, a move that feels a little unearned for a show with around 15 hours to its name. This final season is also disjointed, as if they had to stuff multiple seasons of plot and character development into one last set of episodes.