It's over for Danny and Sheila.
In the Physical season two finale, which hits Apple TV+ Aug. 5, the couple decides it's time to officially go their separate ways after Danny (Rory Scovel) finally finds out about Sheila's (Rose Byrne) affair with John Breem (Paul Sparks). Danny and Sheila previously made a concerted effort to making things work for the sake of their daughter, but Danny can't move past Sheila's betrayal.
In a sneak peek of the episode, Danny asks that he gets 50 percent of Sheila's business in the divorce. This idea makes Sheila laugh, because he did so little to help her become a businesswoman. So, she tells him, "Over my dead body."
Sheila's increasing anger with Danny is fueled by her knowledge that she's not the only woman who has been wronged by a lazy husband. After speaking with women like her, she understands, "Exercise was the only thing they had in their life just for them. Not for men. Not for their kids. For them."
Yes, Danny made more of an effort this season, but it wasn't enough to free Sheila from the societal expectations that she do the childrearing and housekeeping.
So when Danny asks why she cheated on him with John, Sheila tells him the truth. "I didn't want to be with him," she explains. "I wanted to be him. Someone who just gets what they want in this world."
As Physical creator Annie Weisman told E! News in June, the series isn't trying to shame Danny specifically. It's about showing the inequity between mothers and fathers in the '80s. "It's really important to show that this isn't just a character flaw of Danny that he hasn't been a present and involved father," she explained. "This is a societal flaw."
Annie attributed Sheila and Danny's relationship problems to the fact that Sheila is asserting more power in their marriage, saying, "That was true for a lot of women at the time. You know, we see rising divorces, we see women coming more into their own in the workplace, and how that shifts the family dynamic."
See how Sheila and Danny deal with these shifting dynamics when Physical's season finale streams Friday on Apple TV+.