“Nobody Wants This,” Netflix’s new half-hour comedy series starring Kristen Bell and Adam Brody as a plucky, atheist podcaster and the charming Hot Rabbi she falls for, has skyrocketed to become Netflix's No. 1 show — and the subject of many group texts.
After sharing the initial recommendation that the well-cast series is genuinely funny and frequently swoon-worthy, you will find out which of your friends finished all 10 episodes in one sitting (it me!) and who made the mistake of starting the show on a night when they couldn’t (amateurs). Let’s break down why the show, loosely inspired by creator Erin Foster’s life, is so addictive.
Warning: Spoilers ahead!
The chemistry is clear from the start
There’s nothing worse than watching a rom-com that makes you wonder why the will-they-or-won’t-they couple even cares to. “Nobody Wants This,” on the other hand, makes it clear from the pilot, when Noah (Brody) and Joanne (Bell) meet at a dinner party in L.A., why they’re attracted to each other.
Noah has just broken up with his longtime girlfriend, Rebecca (Emily Arlook), who orchestrated their engagement without him. Rebecca doesn’t need romance; she just wants to get to the finish line, i.e. the future that she and Noah’s mother, Bina (Tovah Feldshuh), have planned. Noah, meanwhile, is a man who enjoys the journey and navigating the unknown. When he describes Joanne as an “unfiltered, complicated, vulnerable, beautiful woman” who wants to be seen as special or different, it’s a compliment.
As we learn from the podcast that Joanne does with her sister, Morgan (Justine Lupe), Joanne has a history of being drawn to emotionally unavailable men. On the surface, a rabbi who needs to marry a Jewish woman if he hopes to advance his career is perfectly unavailable. But Noah is also funny, non-judgmental and capable of taking Joanne seriously.
He gets that both their professions involve building a community and connecting with those who join. Joanne speaks openly about uncomfortable topics to comfort others and ease their shame. It’s difficult not to be inspired by Noah’s first sermon, when he reminds us — and Joanne — not to let opportunities slip by because they come in a form we weren’t expecting: “We have all these chances to wake up and change the course of our lives. Everything can have purpose if you allow it.”
Together, Bell and Brody find their own sweet spot between the comic (and sexy) opposites-attract banter of Mindy and Danny on “The Mindy Project” and the endearing (and sexy) “I love you and I like you” devotion of Leslie and Ben on “Parks and Recreation.” Bravo.
The stakes are real
With Noah’s boss, Rabbi Cohen (Stephen Tobolowsky) approaching retirement and the sisters’ successful podcast, also called Nobody Wants This, on the verge of acquisition, this healthy relationship is mutually bad for business. Ten half-hour episodes allow the writers to do the dance believably and breezily. Noah and Joanne’s first kiss at the end of episode 2 is an instant classic — the kind of intimate public lip-lock that feels both steamy and safe (and inspires entire articles). The way they fit together, there’s no way you’d expect them to say goodbye.
In episode 3, Joanne worries that she isn’t a good enough person to be with a good guy like Noah, and he tries to get his family to accept that he is never, ever, ever getting back together with Rebecca. Episode 4’s first official date, an impromptu visit to an adult sex shop so she can properly prepare for an important interview, ends with them baring all like two grownups: Noah admits he wants more than a rebound, and Joanne confesses that she’s scared that she’ll become emotionally dependent on a man who’ll eventually realize she’s too much and break her heart.
In episode 5, Noah’s not ready to take their relationship public on a work trip and tries to hide her from his boss. But because he’s been so forthright with her in the past, we believe he’d apologize and course-correct as quickly as he does. Noah meets her woefully mismatched parents (Stephanie Faracy and Michael Hitchcock) in episode 6 and comes back from giving Joanne the ick before she attempts to win over his friends’ WAGs, and specifically his sister-in-law, Esther (Jackie Tohn), in episode 7. Morgan sneaking alcohol into a gymnasium so the ladies can drink every time the Matzah Ballers miss a shot is perhaps the funniest scene in the season and proof that Joanne and pot-stirrer Esther really would get along if Esther wasn’t such a loyal bestie to Rebecca.
Things get trickier in the final 90 minutes when Noah has to finally ask Joanne if she’s willing to convert and the fallout of Morgan and Rebecca playing games with each other during a chance meeting causes a major rift between the sisters that Noah’s brother, Sasha (a scene-stealing Timothy Simons), somehow finds himself in the middle of. Joanne meets Noah’s parents (Feldshuh and Paul Ben-Victor) at brunch in the penultimate episode, which serves up more mind games and the best cliffhanger: Bina tells Joanne that she likes her so much more than she expected to… before embracing her and whispering, “but you’re never gonna end up with son.”
And in the finale, set at the Big Apple-themed bat mitzvah of Noah’s niece, Miriam (Shiloh Bearman), Joanne completes her transformation into a mature adult: She has an honest, civil conversation with Rebecca, who makes Joanne appreciate what being a head rabbi’s wife would mean. In turn, Joanne admits to Noah that she loves him (too) but only agreed to convert so she wouldn’t lose him. She respects Noah and his religion too much to promise she’ll ever be ready to make that choice for the right reasons.
“You can’t have both. And I would never make you choose,” she tells him, saying goodbye. Noah does ultimately chase after her (points for the “Sixteen Candles”-style reveal). Why? He realizes he meant what he said back in episode 4: “It would truly kill me to break your heart.” He wouldn’t be happy without her and could grow to resent his dream congregation for keeping him from someone who loves him enough to let him go.
So what happens next?
Netflix hasn’t announced a second season (yet), but the finale certainly tees one up nicely. Will Noah accept that being with Joanne means staying in his current position forever, or will they work together to try to win over the board members who need to back him as Rabbi Cohen’s successor?
Given what fun it’d be to watch the pair scheme, and the potential for Brody and Bell to play with guest stars, we’d bet on the latter. Also, we’ll need Leslie Grossman back as Rabbi Shira, but do we want that character to remain as warmly supportive as she’s been or have her compete with Noah for the job so that Grossman can cut loose? I’m torn!
With Rebecca (hopefully) moving on now, Esther will need another reason to dislike Joanne. Discovering Sasha’s “loser siblings” texts with Morgan appears to be it. The show’s writers have established that Esther made Sasha give up all his female friends and that Esther is desperate to be liked by Bina, so it makes sense for those two to join forces to vanquish the sisters.
I can’t decide if we’re supposed to think the unexpected friendship between Sasha and Morgan is refreshingly normal for the two of them or a bit inappropriate. Sasha seems too afraid of Esther to ever cheat on her — and that couple does actually appear happy together, at least when Esther’s tipsy and Sasha’s high. But Morgan is learning how to have a male friend and is prone to unintentionally flirty slip-ups like sipping from Sasha’s drink.
Lastly, how will the podcast fit into the story? Will Joanne still be keeping the juicy details of her relationship with The Prophet from her listeners? Will she and Morgan, or she and Noah, have a tell-all fight that they don’t realize is being recorded? Can Joanne have both?
Plan to binge accordingly.
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