Netflix's interfaith romcom flops for a second time around

The sign of a successful series in the attention-economy era is hearing people talk about it. In that respect, the first season of Nobody Wants This was an undoubted hit. Netflix’s romcom about the relationship between blonde LA woman Joanne (Kristen Bell) and ‘Hot Rabbi’ Noah (Adam Brody) set plenty of tongues wagging when it dropped last year. Now a second season has arrived in an attempt to keep the kibitzing going.

Season two picks up soon after where season one left off. Joanne and Noah are now together, but as they come out of the honeymoon phase, the thorny issues at the heart of their relationship have returned with a vengeance. Is Joanne ready or even willing to convert to Judaism? What does their interfaith relationship mean for Noah’s career as a rabbi? Will Noah’s family ever accept Joanne? Alongside these familiar beats, writer Erin Foster gives more time to some of the show’s supporting cast. Noah’s brother Sasha (Timothy Simons) and his wife Esther (Jackie Tohn) are having marital difficulties. Meanwhile, Joanne’s sister and podcast partner Morgan (Justine Lupe) begins a questionable relationship with her former therapist Dr Andy (Arian Moayed).

Season one of the show received a barrage of criticism for its cliched and stereotypical portrayals of Judaism – particularly the women. Season two largely avoids this issue by sidelining its female Jewish characters. Noah’s acerbic mother Bina (Tovah Feldshuh) and his former fiancée Rebecca (Emily Arlook) hardly appear. His sister-in-law Esther has a considerably beefed-up role, complete with her own subplot. Unfortunately, she’s also a completely different character from the scheming shrew portrayed in the first season. That’s not a bad thing, but without any explanation, it’s jarring.

Foster based Nobody Wants This partly on her own experience of converting to Judaism for her partner. This is both a blessing and a curse. Joanne’s indecision over whether she really wants to convert does ring true, as does her learning about Jewish traditions and rituals. There are whole episodes dedicated to her experiencing Purim and a brit bat naming ceremony for the first time. However, the show’s engagement with the deeper tenets and history of Judaism is millimetre-deep. Noah’s sermons sound more like motivational posters on the walls of a doctor’s office than anything derived from the Torah. The portrayal of Progressive Judaism (enter a cameo from Seth Rogen) serves a dramatic purpose, but is also a laughable caricature of a hippy-dippy shul. These problems are compounded by basic errors that Jewish audiences will spot straight away, like confusing the festivals of Tisha B'av and Tu BiShvat.

More importantly, season two of Nobody Wants This lacks a strong arc for Joanne and Noah. It feels like a rehash of the same problems they spent all of season one dealing with. By the final episode, they are pretty much back where they started. Bell and Brody do their best to make it worth watching, but there’s a serious lack of chemistry and chutzpah.

By Barney Pell Scholes

Nobody Wants This is streaming now on Netflix. netflix.com