Nobody Wants This, Netflix’s runaway 2024 hit starring Adrian Brody and Kristen Bell as a rabbi and agnostic sex and relationship podcaster who enter a mismatched (and possibly doomed) romance, is back for season 2. And for the most part, nobody still wants this. But Joanne (Bell) and Noah (Brody) are sort of figuring things out, and those in their lives are slowly warming up to the relationship.
As with the first season, much if the conflict in season 2 involves Joanne’s hesitancy to convert to Judaism, and Noah’s reservations about fully committing to the relationship until she agrees to do so—or at least, puts a timeline in place.
After the first season ended with Noah seemingly choosing Joanne over the head rabbi job, the second season opens with a dinner party in which she announces to a room full of family and friends that they’re “going to do the whole interfaith thing.” This comes as a surprise to Noah. As much as he loves her, this is ultimately still a dealbreaker for him.
And his feelings aren’t unwarranted. During a meeting with Rabbi Cohen (Stephen Tobolowsky), Noah learns that he has indeed been passed over for the head rabbi position and the job has instead been giving to an outside Rabbi Noah “with a lot of buzz,” played by Alex Karpovsky from Girls. “No offense Noah, one day your girl’s converting, the next day she’s not converting, who the hell knows?” Noah tells Noah. “I think people just wanted a … safer bet.”
Noah getting passed over for the job certainly doesn’t help ingratiate Joanne to his overbearing mother Bina (Tovah Feldshuh) who now, if possible, likes his son’s girlfriend even less than before. She only begrudgingly agrees to include Joanne in the family’s weekly Shabbat dinner after Noah refuses to come otherwise. However, just because she’s making baby steps doesn’t mean Bina approves of the relationship, whatsoever.
But Joanne begins to have her own reservations about the relationship, when she realizes that Noah has a pattern of behavior and tends to lead on his girlfriends. Her fears manifest when Noah plans a particularly disastrous Valentine’s Day that seems to suggest he doesn’t know her quite as well as she thought he did. This is compounded by Noah giving her nearly the exact same necklace he once gifted his ex-girlfriend Rebecca. She can’t help but ask herself if he’s in this for the long haul, or if she’s just the latest flavor of the week.
Meanwhile, the relationship between Joanne and her sister Morgan (Justine Lupe) continues to be strained. Still clearly jealous over her sister’s healthy relationship, in typical Morgan fashion, she begins dating her therapist “Dr. Andy,” reuniting Lupe with her Succession co-star Arian Moayed. Clearly Morgan is acting out, and hasn’t exactly thought things through.
Lupe, an absolutely comedic force who steals every scene she’s in, is once again the MVP of the season. Her interactions with Noah’s brother Sasha (Timothy Simons) are particularly great, though things are initially strained between the pair following the drama from last season. Sasha’s wife is still decidedly not a fan of Morgan, although she does grow on her over the course of the season.
On that front, Sasha and Esther (Jackie Tohn) are also not in a great place. While Esther is still grappling with Sasha’s friendship with Morgan, he decides that he’d like to have another kid, despite the fact that the couple are only a few years away from becoming empty nesters. Coming to terms with her feelings about having another child opens up an entire existential door for Esther, leaving her to question whether this marriage even still serves her.
The season also features some great guest stars and cameos. Seth Rogen stars as the head of a modern, unconventional synagogue, with Kate Berlant playing his gentile wife. Leighton Meester makes an appearance as a mom influencer “Abby Loves Smoothies,” a childhood frenemy of Joanne and Morgan’s. Lauren Weedman makes a brief yet hilarious cameo as Dr. Andy’s therapist.
Overall, the season doesn’t stay too far from familiar territory, and fans of the first season will likely enjoy the second outing.
The supporting cast once again shines, such as Joanne and Morgan’s separated parents, the impulsive Lynn (Stephanie Faracy) and self-involved Henry (Michael Hitchcock). The smooth-talking Moayed is likewise incredible as the narcissistic Dr. Andy, whose questionable motivations unnerve Joanne, even as she grapples with the reality of her own relationship.
In the end, you have three couples who are all struggling with the reality of their respective situations, and not all make it to the end. Nobody Wants This has yet to be renewed for a third season (as if there is any question) but the second season sets up perfectly for a third installment.
