Every millennial’s favorite heartthrob, Adam Brody, has returned to the small screen for the highly anticipated second season of the hit romance series Nobody Wants This this week.
The first season followed the unconventional love story between agnostic sex podcaster Joanne (Kristen Bell) and Rabbi Noah (Adam Brody), whose relationship blossomed despite their difference in faith.
A New Chapter for an Unlikely Couple
Season 2 of Nobody Wants This opens with Morgan (Justine Lupe) ushering in the new installment by asking the question on everyone’s mind: will Joanne and Noah’s relationship survive the honeymoon phase?
The moment “hand me your ice cream” became an instant cultural reference when Nobody Wants This debuted in September 2024. Erin Foster’s semi-autobiographical series about a podcaster falling for a rabbi quickly became inescapable.
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With its sharp writing, poppy soundtrack, nostalgic Los Angeles setting, and the dream pairing of Bell and Brody, it earned rave reviews and multiple accolades—including Emmy, Golden Globe, Critics Choice, and Screen Actors Guild nominations.
Picking Up Where They Left Off
Season 1 ended on a dramatic note, with Joanne realizing how deeply Noah’s faith mattered to him. In a tearful moment, she fled to spare him further heartbreak—only for Noah to chase after her, resulting in a tender reunion set to Francis and the Lights. Yet, the episode closed without resolving what Brody calls “the Big C”: conversion.
When Season 2 begins, the couple seem to have settled after their whirlwind romance. As Bell said to Netflix: “They’re at the point in their relationship where things get really interesting.” She added, “Once the honeymoon period has dissipated, you start to look for patterns of why they’re gonna break your heart or things they’re doing wrong.
“To continue to give the person the benefit of the doubt and live outside your comfort zone so that you can make a whole new life in a partnership is so hard.”
Brody echoed that sentiment, saying, “If the end of Season 1 left you with some questions, they have similar questions of each other.”
Expanding the Story
It’s not just Joanne and Noah navigating complex emotions this time around. The love (or hate, in Esther’s case) triangle between Esther (Jackie Tohn), Morgan, and Sasha (Timothy Simons) deepens, while new faces join the ensemble—including Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl), Brody’s wife in real life, Alex Karpovsky (Girls), Arian Moayed (Inventing Anna), Seth Rogen (The Interview), and Kate Berlant (Don’t Worry Darling).
With television veterans Jenni Konner (Girls) and Bruce Eric Kaplan (Six Feet Under) joining creator Erin Foster as showrunners and executive producers, Season 2 promises to deliver the same grounded yet electric dynamic that made audiences fall in love the first time.
Mixed Critical Reception
While the second season has received glowing reviews overall, critics have been divided over its portrayal of faith and tone.
The Guardian praised the unwavering chemistry between Bell and Brody. Reviewer Rachel Aroesti awarded it four stars, writing: “Nobody Wants This is easy to buy into and easy to love. Especially if—like the show itself—you don’t think too hard about the knotty theological dilemma at its core.”
Aroesti also noted that some of the show’s depictions of Judaism felt oversimplified. She pointed out that a scene where Noah’s sister-in-law Esther describes Joanne as “basically Jewish” because she’s “warm and cozy,” “funny,” and “always getting in everybody’s business,” which risks reducing complex cultural traits into shallow archetypes.
Similarly, the first season was previously critiqued for portraying Jewish women as hard-headed, stern, overbearing mothers, limiting their dimensionality.
A Balancing Act Between Wit and Depth
Variety’s Alison Herman described the series as addictive but surface-level. “The same issues that keep Nobody Wants This from being a nuanced, meaningful story are also the ones that keep it airy enough to gobble up like popcorn,” she wrote. “You’ll never be emotionally overcome enough to need to take a beat between chapters, which keeps the engagement metrics right where Netflix likes them.”
Not all critics were so forgiving. USA Today’s Kelly Lawler claimed the show “utterly self-destructs.” In her scathing review, she wrote: “Its quirky characters have jumped the shark into cartoonish annoyance, its plots gone from heightened to outlandish, and worst of all, it has lost the palpable romance that was the crux of the series’ appeal. All that’s left is some hopeless cringe, stunt guest stars and unfunny jokes.”
However, Decider’s Hope Sloop had a different take. She applauded the show’s choice to expand the roles of supporting characters, crediting the new showrunners for deepening their arcs. Sloop said she initially feared a “sophomore slump” but was pleasantly surprised: “Not only does it continue to play on things that worked really well in Season 1, it sharpens its senses to become funnier and smarter than I ever predicted. Genuinely laugh out loud funny at times and still that same lovable energy we all fell in love with.”
Millennials Embrace the Nostalgia
Among viewers, the response has been notably warmer. Many fans praised the show for being a “mood booster” during tough times. TV writer Kate Wathall Ritchie posted: “Starting Nobody Wants This Season 2, and I’m wondering if the writers, cast and crew knew during the making of this, how much pressure was going to be on them to bring a desperately needed light right now? The mood booster every millennial woman is counting on right now.”
Much of the show’s charm lies in Adam Brody’s nostalgic appeal—the ultimate 2000s heartthrob, beloved since his The O.C. days as Seth Cohen.
Millennial commentator @iamthirtyaf reflected on the show’s aspirational yet unrealistic depiction of wealth, saying they “wondered how any of these characters afford their lifestyles.” They also questioned why the series chose to present its characters in designer wardrobes and luxury homes, joking, “I liked a sweatshirt the brother Sasha was wearing and found it online—it costs $1200 like … why?! I get that some shows need to depict this super unattainable lifestyle … but why do shows like this one get that treatment?”
Fans Still Want This
Some fans expressed anxiety that Season 2 might not live up to expectations. Photographer and programmer Franz Augustin (@augustincaz) posted, “Please, Netflix, do not get creative with Season 2 and ruin the show I have rewatched the most. So it does not turn into a nobody wants to rewatch this situation.”
Thankfully, viewers’ fears seem to have eased. As one fan put it: “I’m currently rewatching Season 2 if that gives you any idea.”
