Netflix Rom-Com never goes deep

The soundtrack to the Netflix rom-com ‘Nobody Wants This’ is littered with Top 40 hits. Season 2 features instantly recognizable syncs from Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, and Charli This approach to music curation obviously reflects the show’s status as a bona fide hit with the resources to match. It also reflects the corporate identity of the series. For the follow-up, “Nobody Wants This” remains the TV equivalent of an earworm that gets stuck in your head, even though the song’s content leaves no lasting impact and the melody itself is borderline annoying.

At least season 2 removes some of the obstacles that made the original setup a guiltier pleasure than it should have been. Depicting the romance between narcissistic podcaster Joanne (Kristen Bell) and “Hot Rabbi” Noah (Adam Brody), a flirtation that unfolds in the eastern half of LA, “Nobody Wants This” was criticized for its portrayal of Jewish women as enemy foils. The deeply goyish Joanne begins to consider religious conversion as her relationship with Noah becomes more serious, an intriguing internal conflict that the show illustrated with external obstacles like Noah’s mother Bina (Tovah Feldshuh) and sister-in-law Esther (Jackie Tohn). Esther calls Joanne’s sister and co-host Morgan (Justine Lupe) “Whore No. 2,” which tells you everything you need to know about her and Bina’s characterization: as dominant bullies who harass the men around them to do their bidding. “Nobody Wants This” is loosely based on the life story of creator Erin Foster, a quasi-influencer who is herself a convert, and seemed to reflect a mismatch of empathy between Foster’s fictional surrogate and these stereotypical others.

But the new showrunners of “Nobody Wants This,” “Girls” alumni Jenni Konner and Bruce Eric Kaplan, know a thing or two about making compelling TV from self-centered urbanites. The first few episodes of Season 2 recalibrate the show’s status quo: Esther gets heartbroken when her marriage to Noah’s brother Sasha (Timothy Simons) hits some bumps in the road; Bina is, albeit somewhat abruptly, pushed into the background. (She gets a menacing line at the end of the episode about her intention to drive Noah and Joanne apart, which is never really followed through.) Joanne even gets a Jewish childhood enemy, Abby Kaplan (Brody’s real-life partner Leighton Meester), who reflects some basic tribal knowledge for a woman who previously claimed not to know what Shabbat was. It’s enough to cross “weird issue with Jewish women” off the show’s list of problems, even if there are still some action items on that list.

“Nobody Wants This” also begins to spread the wealth of dysfunction a little more evenly. Noah was initially an idealized fantasy. Now his people-pleasing tendencies have developed into a full-blown character flaw, one that presents both challenges and opportunities for growth. Joanne discovers that Noah has a history of making grand romantic gestures regardless of how he feels about the person he’s dating, because that’s what he thinks boyfriends are supposed to do: a conflict far more intense than the garden-variety miscommunication that tends to generate plots in these types of shows. Professionally, Noah finally stands up for himself when he is passed over for the position of head rabbi at his old employer Temple Chai. He resigns rather than agree to play second fiddle to a man who, to make matters worse, Also Rabbi Noah (Alex Karpovsky – I told you this is a ‘Girls’ reunion!).

These changes certainly give “Nobody Wants This” more depth than in Season 1, but that’s not quite the same as going deep. This is still a low-stakes sitcom designed for a second showing and handing out paychecks to an entire class of comedic actors. (Kate Berland, Seth Rogen and Lauren Weedman join Karpovsky and Meester on the cameo list.) Morgan finally gets a romantic relationship of her own, with a boundary-challenged therapist who she reflexively still calls Dr. Andy mentions (Arian Moayed, Lupe’s former castmate in ‘Succession); her previous marriage and divorce still remain unexplored, which after two full seasons feels more like oversight than intentional mystery.

While watching “Nobody Wants This,” I found it hard not to think of “Long Story Short,” another Netflix comedy that focuses on Judaism. “Long Story Short” is unusual in the way it treats Jewishness as a spiritual practice and not just as fodder for, say, Purim-themed episodes. (You’d expect the latter from the cartoon and the former from the show with a real rabbi as co-protagonist, but it’s a wild world we live in!) Noah’s search for a new professional home gives “Nobody Wants This” a little more to work with in defining his personal faith, and the cultural references in Season 2 are a little less superficial than “shalom.” Yet the show’s biggest question marks, whether Joanne will convert and whether Noah can accept that she might not, still feel disconnected from any broader religious reckoning. They’re a set-up for this particular couple’s tearful farewells and poignant speeches — which isn’t a spoiler for season 2, because it’s exactly how season 1 plays out too.

However, all of the above objections came to mind as I spent the season at the speed of light. The same problems that keep “Nobody Wants This” from being a nuanced, meaningful story are also the ones that keep it light enough to gobble up like popcorn. You’ll never be so emotionally overwhelmed that you need to take a break between chapters, keeping the engagement metrics right where Netflix prefers them. Bell and Brody are professionals who can make cute jokes in their sleep; With Konner and Kaplan at the helm, they are now supported by fellow veterans who are smart enough to stay away from their leaders. “Nobody Wants This” is a more refined version of itself in Season 2. The self in question is just fundamentally small and not particularly ambitious.

Season 2 of ‘Nobody Wants This’ is now on Netflix.