“Nobody Wants This” is an unfortunately titled television series, and this becomes particularly true when the program begins to embody its own awkward name.
Whereas audiences enthusiastically embraced Netflix’s vibrant romantic comedy featuring Adam Brody and Kristen Bell when its inaugural season premiered to praise in 2024, the show’s second season fails to meet that standard. In fact, the newest installment of “Nobody Wants This” effectively extinguishes the original spark, leaving behind mere emptiness.
This comedy, which follows shiksa podcaster Joanne (Bell) and her rabbi boyfriend Noah (Brody) as they maneuver through religious and relational tensions, captivated Netflix audiences last autumn, achieving significant viewership and Emmy nominations.
However, it also drew criticism, especially regarding what some viewers perceived as a disrespectful portrayal of its Jewish female characters. Following a reorganization of the creative team behind the scenes and a year’s passage, the series has shown improvement in that specific regard, but appears to have lost sight of the other elements that originally defined its success.
The once-quirky characters have devolved into cartoonish irritations, the storylines have escalated from heightened to utterly implausible, and, most detrimentally, the tangible romantic connection that formed the core of the show’s charm has vanished. What remains is a collection of hopelessly awkward moments, celebrity guest appearances that feel like stunts, and humor that fails to land.
The narrative of Season 2 resumes directly from the conclusion of Season 1, finding Joanne and Noah still together yet perplexed about how to move forward with a religious divide standing between them. The first season’s finale saw Joanne attempt to end their relationship due to her unreadiness to convert to Judaism, but Noah maintained they could find a way.
Audiences will likely be both surprised and frustrated to learn in the new season’s premiere that, rather than resolving this central conflict with a grand romantic gesture, the story merely postponed it: Noah is operating under the assumption that Joanne will convert at some future point, while Joanne remains uncertain she ever can and mistakenly believed Noah had permanently accepted an interfaith dynamic.
Consequently, the plot returns to its starting point, which is rarely a promising narrative development. However, the writers, much like Noah and Joanne themselves, are choosing to overlook this fundamental impasse, favoring instead a series of nonsensical escapades involving the couple and their increasingly aggravating circle of friends and family.
Notably, Joanne’s sister Morgan (Justine Lupe) has been transformed into a ludicrous parody of a character, engaging in juvenile antics like keying Cybertrucks.
On the other hand, Noah’s sister-in-law Esther (Jackie Tohn), whose portrayal was widely criticized as the most offensive Jewish character last season, has been gratifyingly mellowed and given more depth, emerging as the solitary voice of sanity amidst a gathering of immature fools.
Yet, despite Esther’s significantly improved depiction, the writers have failed to conceive a storyline for her that isn’t fundamentally clichéd and overused for female characters on television: she is contemplating pregnancy. What a novel concept.
Perhaps the most grievous error committed by “Nobody Wants This” in its second season, at least within the first five episodes provided for review, is its complete abandonment of the effervescent romance and the magical chemistry between Brody and Bell that rendered the first season so compelling.
In Season 2, they settle into a partnership that frustratingly has not addressed any of the foundational issues from Season 1, and as a direct result, their sizzling dynamic dissipates. The conflict between them ceases to feel authentic and relatable, becoming instead manufactured and absurd. It grows challenging to comprehend why they would choose to remain a couple at all.
This outcome is profoundly disappointing, particularly given the immense anticipation and the high-profile behind-the-scenes creative adjustments that saw “Girls” writers Jenni Konner and Bruce Eric Kaplan join the production alongside original creator Erin Foster.
“Nobody Wants This” possesses genuine potential as a romantic comedy, not only for its focus on religion, a subject Hollywood frequently sidesteps, but also for its exploration of a mature relationship between individuals in their 40s.
Nevertheless, the new season seems to disregard the actual ages of Brody and Bell (both are 45), instead pretending they are a decade or two younger: they are shown contemplating children and a traditional picket-fence existence.
While people certainly can and do have children in their 40s, this plot development feels like a squandered opportunity. Why impose a narrative of baby-craving on Joanne when there is such a scarcity of modern romantic heroines whose age and worldview exist in the space between “Love Is Blind” and “The Golden Bachelor”? What if a different life path were explored?
The central issue is that “Nobody Wants This” launched with a nuanced and intelligent premise, but now showcases characters who engage in absurdities like hiring cellists for Valentine’s Day breakfasts, while Brody’s real-life wife, Leighton Meester, makes a cameo as a social media influencer who names her baby “Afternoon.” The characters no longer wish to grapple with life’s more complex questions.
What holds greater importance: one’s faith and career or one’s heart? If not leading to the suburbs, where can a relationship ultimately go? What values does our family truly prioritize for the future?
Determining the answers to these questions requires significant effort. The immature, childlike adults of “Nobody Wants This” are decidedly unwilling to undertake that work. And ultimately, that reluctance may very well mean that nobody wants to watch.