Just a year after the premiere of the first season, Nobody Wants This is back on our screens for season 2. In an entertainment landscape where some series wait years to bring us new seasons, I’m thrilled Nobody Wants This returned so quickly. It’s just the type of consistency I would expect from a rom-com series that itself is steadfast and reliable. This is the show that I put on a year ago to escape, laugh, and ponder romantic relationships. It was a welcome retreat, and I genuinely enjoyed the first season. I wasn’t alone; there was an explosion of social posts about the show, mostly praising the healthy portrayal of dating and the chemistry between Kristen Bell and Adam Brody. Honestly, the first season couldn’t have been more perfectly timed for what audiences needed in the moment. But does season 2 live up to the hype? Here are my thoughts after binge-watching the entire new season:
If you need a refresher, the first season of Nobody Wants This centered around Joanne, a podcaster, and Noah, a rabbi, who met and began an unexpected romance, attempting to merge their very different lives. The first season ended with Joanne walking away from their relationship, only to be surprised by Noah and brought back together in a very rom-com moment. At the start of season 2, the couple is fully committed to being together. They’re ready to face the challenges that family, faith, and jobs will bring to their relationship.
While the first season felt like a welcome retreat, the second season felt like an exercise in facing conflict and sitting with uncomfortable thoughts. As I watched, it brought to light many of my own relationships, past and present. In short, it felt like therapy. Here’s my full review of season 2 of Nobody Wants This. Warning: mild spoilers ahead.
My review of Nobody Wants This Season 2
The ensemble storylines cover a wide range of issues
Wherever you’re at in your life, happily single, leaving a relationship, or coupled, Nobody Wants This has you covered. The ensemble storylines were my favorite part of season one, and in season 2, those storylines go way deeper. While Noah and Joanne remain central to the plot, this season truly felt like an ensemble piece in the vein of Friends or New Girl. The characters are flawed, just like we all are, but I was rooting for every single one of them. They’re all just so lovable and honest, which is surely what brought audiences in, and will keep us around for more seasons.
In this season, we see Rebecca, Noah’s ex-girlfriend, played by Emily Arlook, finding closure and enjoying her single life. I love that we’ve continued to follow her character, a character that would have been discarded in any other rom-com plot. We also see Morgan struggle to find her own way through a relationship, feeling left behind by Joanne’s relationship. We see couples that everyone thinks are solid question if they actually are. And we see almost every single character wonder whether or not relationships should be “this hard.” The season makes the case that relationships might just have to be hard sometimes in order to break through to the good stuff. And no matter what stage of life you’re in, I’m willing to bet at least one episode will hit right at the core of something you’re going through.
Therapy is basically the new main character this season
Despite the fact that Leighton Meester has an (iconic, adorable) cameo this season alongside real-life husband Adam Brody, for me, therapy stood out as the biggest addition to the cast. While not always spoken about directly, the concept of therapy and examining how past behaviors inform the present was a constant this season.
The characters in Nobody Wants This are, of course, flawed, but they’re all very clearly working on themselves. In season 2, it felt like every character had taken lessons on how to communicate in a healthy way. Or, how to hold themselves accountable when they make a mistake. At one point in a discussion with Noah, Joanne very astutely references moments from her childhood that make her feel insecure as an adult. Joanne and Morgan’s parents, while often comedic relief, also play a bigger role in the emotional reflections of Joanne and Morgan this season. Even Leighton Meester’s new character, Abby, has a moment of honest reckoning with her past, as therapy often brings out in all of us.
“Nobody Wants This is therapy in the form of a Netflix show, whether you watch it to escape, laugh, embrace being single, get over a breakup, or have that hard conversation with your partner.”
Jackie Tohn’s character, Esther, and Timothy Simon’s character, Sasha, are similarly going through their own conflict. They’re my favorite couple to watch in the show, because they communicate with very real (and often hilarious) love and respect. At one point, Sasha says to Noah, “When Esther tells me she’s fine, I understand she’s not fine.” It’s an insightful moment that highlights an age-old therapy lesson: always make an effort to understand the signs that your partner might be going through something. All of these storylines made it even clearer to me how therapy, or simply therapeutic communication, presided over this season.
It reminds us to be honest with ourselves
Nobody Wants This doesn’t force its characters together for the sake of a good ending. Don’t get me wrong, they give us a good ending (the show is great at season finales), but they do so by forcing the characters to be honest with themselves. Everyone has a reckoning, and that propels them into the next season. The conversations between characters in the last episode are particularly moving, insightful, and reflective. It had me thinking about my relationship with just about everyone in my life. It’s the first time I’ve watched a rom-com and didn’t care if the characters stayed together. Not because I didn’t care about the relationships, but because I cared more about the journey each character was on. In a sense, the relationship with self was the rom-com couple I was rooting for in season 2. And when I realized that, I understood how completely therapized the new season made me feel, in the best way.
So, should you watch Nobody Wants This Season 2?
In a world where the content we consume can be unnecessarily complex, going after shock value, or simply overwhelming, Nobody Wants This is a show that knows what it is. That’s not to say the themes aren’t complex, but they’re approached in a confident, funny, and genuine way. It’s here to entertain us, but also to make us think about our own journey. Nobody Wants This is therapy in the form of a Netflix show, whether you watch it to escape, laugh, embrace being single, get over a breakup, or have that hard conversation with your partner. And with that, I can confirm that Nobody Wants This Season 2 is definitely worth watching. As long as it continues to know what it is, audiences will be tuning in for every episode.
Michelle Lema, Contributing Entertainment Writer
Michelle is a Los Angeles-based writer, performer, and on-camera host. She has worked in editorial and on-camera entertainment coverage with brands like Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars.
