Inside the Family Rift: Did Noah’s Mom and Sister Turn Against Joanne?

Netflix has a rom-com that isn't really playing by rom-com rules. 'Nobody Wants This' ends its first season with a breakup that actually makes sense, and Season 2 is set to ask the scarier question: not "will they or won't they," but "how do they make this work if they do?"

Where Season 1 left Noah and Joanne

Noah's family pushback wasn't cartoon-villain stuff. It came from conviction. Bina, his strong-willed mother, and Esther, his hyper-competent sister-in-law, honestly believe he's supposed to marry a Jewish partner if he's going to live up to his future as head rabbi. That worldview runs straight into Joanne's agnostic, messy, delightfully chaotic energy.

By the finale, that clash hits a point of no return. Noah picks Joanne over a rabbinical promotion. Joanne, realizing the personal cost he's willing to pay, walks away anyway. Not because she's scared, but because she sees the math: love shouldn't require someone to lose their family.

Netflix's own framing didn't sugarcoat where Bina and Esther land in that moment, noting they doubled down and vowed not to welcome Joanne into the family. The show still refuses to make them one-note antagonists. It lets them be complicated: people rooted in faith and fear, trying to protect Noah's identity even as they chase love out of the room.

Morgan and Sasha: same storm, different boat

On Joanne's side, her sister and podcast co-host Morgan (Justine Lupe) puts up a different wall. It's not about religion for her; it's business. She thinks Noah is "boring" and worries dating him will sand down the edges of their sex-and-dating show.

Then Morgan starts vibing with Sasha, Noah's brother. They bond as "loser siblings," and it tips into something emotionally inappropriate. Esther is furious, the Goldstein family chaos spreads, and we get a very human (and messy) mirror of the same judgment they aim at Joanne.

By the end of Season 1, Morgan isn't suddenly soft or enlightened. But she is changed. Her recklessness becomes part of the show's emotional ecosystem, tying the two families together in a shared, slightly toxic web.

Season 2: What changes, what doesn't

'Nobody Wants This' Season 2 drops October 23, 2025, and shifts the focus from chasing each other to living with each other. It's about how you merge families and faiths without losing yourself (or the plot).

Creator Erin Foster, who converted to Judaism in her own life, says Joanne's path isn't a copy-paste of hers. Via THR, she makes it clear the show isn't locking Joanne into a conversion storyline just because that's what happened offscreen.

"Joanne does not have to have the same journey that I had."

Foster says the new season is about the complexity of staying together despite their differences. Also walking into the minefield: Leighton Meester, playing Joanne's old nemesis, which should add a fun little extra layer of tension to a relationship already under religious and social scrutiny.

Quick facts

• Series: Nobody Wants This
• Creator: Erin Foster
• Seasons: 2
• Network: Netflix
• Season 2 premiere: October 23, 2025
• IMDb: 7.8/10
• Rotten Tomatoes: 95% (Season 1)
• Cast: Kristen Bell, Adam Brody, Justine Lupe (with Leighton Meester joining in Season 2)
• Genre: Romantic comedy

So do Joanne and Noah actually find a middle ground, or does faith pull them apart again? Tell me what you're betting on in the comments. 'Nobody Wants This' Season 2 starts streaming October 23, 2025 on Netflix.