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Nobody Wants This mostly nails what comes after the grand gesture

Adam Brody and Kristen Bell continue to charm in season two of Netflix's rom-com.

By Saloni Gajjar | October 23, 2025 | 7:00am

Photo: Erin Simkin/Netflix

TV Reviews Nobody Wants This

Nobody Wants This mostly nails what comes after the grand gesture

It can be a challenging task to sustain romantic comedies for multiple seasons of TV. There’s a risk that the expanded runtime will turn an ever-reliable formula—a meet-cute followed by a fun montage, obstacles, a eureka moment or confession, and a happy ending—into a drawn-out, cyclical experience. There have been notable exceptions, including You’re The Worst, British series Starstruck, and the ongoing Australian import Colin From Accounts. These shows have taken advantage of the this lengthy medium to evolve their protagonists, relationships, and worlds in specific and resonant ways without feeling repetitive. With its 2024 debut, Netflix’s Nobody Wants This became a worthy addition to this lineup—and thankfully, season two maintains that status quo.

NWT now ventures into dangerous territory for a rom-com, exploring what comes after the grand gesture while keeping the swooning factor intact. The 10 new installments follow up on the dating adventures of Noah (Adam Brody) and Joanne (Kristen Bell), total opposites with an undeniable magnetic pull between them. It doesn’t matter that he’s a devoted rabbi and she’s an agnostic podcaster who understandably needs time to decide if she wants to convert to Judaism. In the season-one finale, Noah chased Joanne down after she broke up with him for his benefit. He declared his commitment, choosing her over his work and family. Nobody Wants This, created by Erin Foster and loosely inspired by her life, now grapples with the sacrifices made to pursue a happily ever after.

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The next chapter for Noah and Joanne after the honeymoon phase is hopping on a plane back to reality. The premiere resurfaces the subject of her potential conversion, with Noah still thinking it’s on the table and Joanne assuming they can carry on as an interfaith couple. While this issue simmers in the background throughout the season, threatening to boil over at any point, Nobody Wants This believably deepens their bond. (Think merging friend groups, hosting parties, attending more family events, and so on.) In the process, there’s a satisfying emphasis on healthy communication. And it’s refreshing to watch these adults try to be honest, learn from their mistakes, and work on themselves as people, not just partners. The payoff in terms of character development, particularly for Joanne, feels earned here.

This concerted effort also makes Nobody Wants This realistic despite its improbable setting of constantly sun-drenched Los Angeles, where flowers are always in bloom and characters are impeccably styled, hang out in cool places, and live in chic Nora Ephron-esque homes. How does Joanne afford her big Spanish-style apartment on a podcasting salary? The production, set, and costume design, along with contemporary needle drops from Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter, add to the breezy escapism. But the sincere performances from the two leads ground things, and the pair’s chemistry remains off the charts. (That excellent first kiss in season one was only a teaser.) Brody nails the charismatic lover-boy persona, while Bell shines in discovering newer, softer layers to the sarcastic Joanne.

Thanks to the actors’ captivating work, it’s hard not to root for their characters. Not even Noah’s uptight sister-in-law, Esther (Jackie Tohn, this season’s sneaky MVP), can resist their charms. As the latter struggles in her marriage and has a midlife crisis, her unexpected friendship with Joanne becomes a highlight. Mercifully, there’s far less of the family drama that dominated season one, with Noah’s strict mother (Tovah Feldshuh) popping up in less than half of these new episodes. It’s also nice to see Jewish stereotypes toned down in the portrayal of Noah’s parents. Instead, this round focuses on how the central relationship affects Joanne’s erratic sibling. Morgan (Justine Lupe) finds an unorthodox boyfriend (played by fellow Succession vet Arian Moayed) to try and catch up to her sister’s personal progress, and it’s a rushed, chaotic subplot. It’s not that Lupe isn’t hilarious—she’s actually the ensemble’s funniest performer—but this arc feels contrived and added simply to give the sisters some conflict.

The show also suffers from introducing several promising faces (portrayed by guest stars like Seth Rogen, Kate Berlant, Miles Fowler, and Girls‘ Alex Karpovsky) without giving them much to do and forgetting them entirely after an outing or two. (And the same goes for returning star D’Arcy Carden.) At least Brody’s real-life wife, Leighton Meester, makes a memorable impression as Joanne’s middle-school nemesis. But the true draw here was and will always be the palpable central romance. The dilemmas faced by Noah and Joanne feel relatable and serious, packaged and delivered in a lighthearted yet captivating manner. And as far as TV rom-coms go, it’s so easy to fall for this one.

Nobody Wants This season two premieres October 23 on Netflix