Nobody Wants This Season 2 Review: Bell and Brody Are Back—Smarter, Funnier, Irresistible

Last year, Netflix quietly dropped Nobody Wants This. and it turned out to be one of those rare first seasons that sneaks up on you: sharp, funny, a little sexy, and surprisingly warm. Season 2 comes back with the same charm and a promise to face the tough stuff it left hanging. And for a while, it does. Then it gets cold feet and slides back into comfy rom-com beats. It toys with being the rom-com Empire Strikes Back season (yes, that comparison tracks), but ultimately can’t resist the safety net.

Where we left them

Season 1 followed Joanne (Kristen Bell), an agnostic sex-and-dating podcaster, who meets Noah (Adam Brody), a modern American rabbi, at a dinner party. Their relationship turned into a two-way fish-out-of-water comedy that actually felt fresh. They broke up at the end, until Noah chased her down for a big screen-worthy confession of love.

What Season 2 is actually about

Creator Erin Foster and her writers open by tackling the obvious: can Joanne and Noah really make this work, especially if Joanne considers converting to Judaism? Both of them assumed the other would loosen their grip on the deal-breakers of an interfaith relationship. That gap—chemistry vs. compatibility—is the season’s main event. When the show leans into that honest, grown-up friction, it sings. When it airbrushes the hard parts, it feels like a Hallmark detour.

The good and the frustrating

This is still a highly likable comedy with leads who fit together so well you root for them even when they’re being stubborn. The writing is thoughtful about vulnerability and boundaries, and for stretches, it feels like the show is evolving. Then it retreats to genre comfort food, dodging the compatibility question with a rosier filter than it needs. It’s not fatal, but you can feel the wobble.

Who pops this season

• Kristen Bell and Adam Brody remain the engine. Their banter, timing, and soft spots keep the thing afloat even when the story hedges.
• Jackie Tohn is promoted to series regular as Esther, married to Sasha and part of Noah’s family orbit. She takes a role that could’ve been one-note and gives it some texture.
• Timothy Simons (Sasha) and Justine Lupe (Morgan, Joanne’s sister and podcast partner) snag a lot of the season’s sharpest jokes and deliver reliable pressure-valve laughs when the central relationship gets knotty.
• Tovah Feldshuh and Paul Ben-Victor, terrific as Noah’s parents last year, are mostly on the bench this time. It’s a loss; their mix of humor and heart grounded the show. The trade-off: more of Joanne’s parents, played by Michael Hitchcock and Stephanie Faracy, plus extra time with the siblings.
• You’ll also spot Arian Moayed among the ensemble.

About that course correction

Season 1 took plenty of heat for leaning on outdated Jewish stereotypes. Season 2 feels like a response to that: the show shifts away from celebrating thorny differences and toward something safer. The result reads like an overcorrection. I get the instinct, but the series is at its best when it stares down the mess instead of sanding it off.

Bottom line

Even with the backpedaling, Nobody Wants This. remains smart, funny, and undeniably watchable. The leads are catnip together, and the show still pokes at the edges of rom-com rules in ways that feel lively. If you liked Season 1, you’ll find plenty to enjoy here—just expect a few protective compromises along the way.

Nobody Wants This. Season 2 premieres on Netflix on October 23. I screened all eight episodes for this review.