Netflix Rom-Com never gets too deep

The soundtrack to the Netflix rom-com film Nobody Wants This is positively filled with Top 40 songs. Season 2 features instantly recognizable synths from Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, and Charli Lightly. This approach to organizing the music of course reflects the show’s status as a genuine hit with the right resources. It also sums up the style of the chain’s house. As for its follow-up, “Nobody Wants This” remains the television equivalent of an earworm stuck in your head, even if the substance of the song leaves no lasting impact and the melody itself is borderline annoying.

At least Season 2 removes some of the drawbacks that made the original setting more fun than it should have been. By depicting the romance between narcissistic TV presenter Joan (Kristen Bell) and “hot rabbi” Noah (Adam Brody), a courtship that unfolds in the eastern half of Los Angeles, Nobody Wants This drew criticism for its portrayal of Jewish women as antagonistic. The highly volatile Joan begins to consider religious conversion as her relationship with Noah becomes more serious, an interesting internal conflict that is illustrated throughout the series with external obstacles such as Noah’s mother Bina (Tova Feldshuh) and sister-in-law Esther (Jackie Tohn). Esther refers to Joan’s sister and co-host Morgan (Justin Loeb) as “Bitch No. 2,” which tells you everything you need to know about her and Pena’s description: as domineering bullies who pester the men around them into doing their bidding. “Nobody Wants This” is loosely based on the life story of creator Irene Foster, a semi-influencer who herself converted to Christianity, and seems to reflect a mismatch in empathy between Foster’s fictional surrogate and these stereotypical others.

But Nobody Wants This’s new directors, “Girls” alumni Jenny Konner and Bruce Eric Kaplan, know a thing or two about making captivating TV shows out of selfish city dwellers. Over the first few episodes of Season 2, they recalibrate the series’ status quo: Esther gets a heartbreak when her marriage to Noah’s brother Sasha (Timothy Simmons) hits some bumps in the road; Pena is pushed into the background, albeit somewhat abruptly. (She gets a threatening line at the end of the episode about her intention to keep Noah and Joan away from each other that is never followed through on.) Joan even gets a Jewish childhood friend, Abby Kaplan (Brody’s real-life partner Leighton Meester), to reconstruct some basic knowledge of the tribe to a woman who previously claimed she didn’t know what the Sabbath was. It’s enough to cross off “the strange affair with the Jewish women” from the list of the show’s problems, even if that list still contains some procedural elements.

“Nobody Wants This” also begins to spread the wealth of dysfunction a little more evenly. Noah was initially an ideal fantasy. Now, his people-pleasing tendencies have developed into a full-blown character flaw, presenting both challenges and opportunities for growth. Joan learns that Noah has a history of making grand romantic gestures regardless of how he actually feels about whoever he’s dating, because he believes that’s what friends are supposed to do—a conflict that carries far more weight than the garden-variety misunderstandings that tend to generate plot on this kind of show. Professionally, Noah finally stands up for himself when he gives up the job of chief rabbi at his old employer, Temple Chai. He resigns rather than agree to play second fiddle to a man who, to make matters worse, is… also Rabbi Noah (Alex Karpovsky – I told you this was a “girls” meeting!).

These changes certainly give Nobody Wants This more depth than it had in the first season, but it’s not quite the same as going deep. This is still a low-stakes sitcom designed for a second run and handing paychecks to an entire class of comedians. (Kate Burland, Seth Rogen and Lauren Weidman join Karpovsky and Meester in the cast list.) Morgan is finally getting a romance of her own, with a challenged therapist she still automatically calls Dr. Andy (Ariane Moayed, Loeb’s former “Succession” co-star), and her previous marriage and divorce remain unexplored, which after two full seasons feels like More of an oversight than an intentional mystery.

While watching Nobody Wants This, I found it hard not to think of Long Story Short, another Netflix comedy about Judaism. “Long Story Short” is unusual in how it treats being Jewish as a spiritual practice and not just fodder for, say, Purim episodes. (You’d expect the latter from an anime and the former from a show with a real rabbi as co-hero, but it’s a wild world we live in!) Noah’s search for a new professional home gives “Nobody Wants This” 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, over whether Joan will convert to Islam and whether Noah will accept that she may not choose to, still feel untethered from any broader religious reckoning. It’s a set-up for the couple’s tearful farewell and emotional speeches — which isn’t a spoiler for Season 2, because that’s exactly what happens in Season 1, too.

However, all of the above objections came to me while I was enjoying the season at the speed of light. The same issues that prevent Nobody Wants This from being a meaningful and nuanced story are also the ones that make it airy enough to be devoured like popcorn. You won’t be emotionally overwhelmed enough to have to pace between chapters, which keeps engagement metrics where Netflix likes them. Bill and Brody are professionals who can pull off cute banter in their sleep; With Conner and Kaplan at the helm, they are now backed by fellow veterans smart enough to stay out of the way of potential clients. “Nobody Wants This” is a more nuanced version of itself in season two. The self in question is essentially minor and not particularly ambitious.

The second season of Nobody Wants This is now streaming on Netflix.