‘Nobody Wants This’ Season 2: Kristen Bell & Adam Brody Return With a Romcom So Good, It Might Just Save the Genre

For a brief and terrifying moment, it seemed as though the romantic comedy — once the beating heart of popular culture — had flatlined. Studio slates filled with superheroes, “groundbreaking” dramedies, and endless reboots of things nobody asked for. The warm, fizzy magic of Rachel and Ross felt like an artefact from another era. Then, as if summoned by the collective yearning of a nostalgia-starved generation, came Nobody Wants This — a love story so earnest, so affecting, and so perfectly calibrated to millennial longing that it became an instant cultural CPR machine.

Now, Noah and Joanne are back. And Season 2 proves what the internet suspected from the moment the phrase “Hot Rabbi” began trending: we were witnessing the birth of a modern romcom classic.

The second season of Nobody Wants This (Netflix, from Thursday 23 October) brings a new batch of stomach-fluttering moments, whisper-soft emotional beats and razor-sharp humour, wrapped inside 26-minute episodes that never waste a second. This is a romcom with discipline — a show that knows exactly when to smirk, when to ache, and when to twist the knife.

From Surprising Hit to Streaming Royalty

When Season 1 debuted last year, expectations were pleasantly low. Netflix, deep into its “we’ll greenlight anything you can watch with half a brain tied behind your back” era, didn’t appear to be gunning for prestige. Yet something rare happened: critics swooned, audiences fell hard, and a slow-burn sleeper hit blossomed into a genuine phenomenon.

A large slice of the credit goes to the show’s perfectly mismatched leads. Adam Brody, the eternal millennial crush, has never been better. His portrayal of Noah — a thoughtful, slightly neurotic rabbi navigating faith, love and familial pressure — is warm, grounded and quietly intoxicating. Opposite him, Kristen Bell brings her signature blend of volcanic charm and sharp emotional truth to Joanne, a relationship podcaster who knows everything about love except how to let anyone fully in.

Together, they are lightning in a streaming bottle. Their chemistry isn’t loud or laboured; it simmers. It whispers. It builds slowly in moments so real that you sometimes forget you’re watching actors rather than two people genuinely falling into a complicated, inconvenient, heart-splitting love.

Faith, Family and the Messiness of Modern Romance

Inspired by creator Erin Foster’s own experience of converting to Judaism for her husband, Nobody Wants This walks a delicate line: respectful, curious, and deeply funny without ever trivialising the cultural weight at the centre of the story.

Season 2 continues the delicate dance between tradition and modernity, spinning comedy out of the awkwardness of navigating identity, expectations and interfaith tension. It is a romcom that invites you to laugh — not at religion, but at the universal absurdity of trying to reconcile what we believe with who we love.

Among the obstacles returning this season: ex-girlfriends who hover like unresolved browser tabs, ambitious mothers-in-law armed with expectations sharp enough to cut glass, and the show’s central dilemma — the one that makes every scene hum with slow-burn dramatic electricity:

If Noah wants to become head rabbi, he must marry a Jewish woman. Joanne isn’t. Yet.
And the ticking clock of that tension powers the entire season.

A Romcom With a Real Heart — And an Actual Pulse

Romcoms, historically, are not known for nuance. But Nobody Wants This operates on two frequencies at once: the fizzy serotonin rush of longing, and an unexpectedly reflective exploration of adulthood.

These characters are not fresh-faced twenty-somethings bumbling through Brooklyn; they are grown-ups with jobs, baggage, trauma, and responsibilities. The stakes are real because their lives are real. When Noah’s faith clashes with Joanne’s fear of commitment, it isn’t sitcom fluff — it’s the kind of conflict that fractures people in the real world.

And still, the show remains a joy. It is romantic without cynicism, funny without cruelty, earnest without embarrassment. It understands the power of longing — the lingering looks, the pauses, the unspoken words. It recognises that the most heart-stopping scenes are often the quietest ones.

The Spin-Off We Already Want

While the main duo continues to steal hearts, Season 2 introduces side plots so strong that fans are already campaigning for a spin-off. Without giving away spoilers, one new supporting character — an effortlessly scene-stealing figure who blends chaotic energy with brutal honesty — is tailor-made for their own series. Netflix, take notes.

A Love Story Worth Saving — And Savoring

In an age dominated by noisy blockbusters and “serious” prestige dramas, Nobody Wants This stands out for daring to be simple, pure and deeply human. It reminds viewers that the romcom didn’t die — it just needed new storytellers, sharper writing, and a pair of leads who felt like actual people instead of algorithm-built cardboard cutouts.

Season 2 confirms what Season 1 hinted at:
This show isn’t just a surprise hit. It’s the romcom resurrection we didn’t know we were waiting for.

And yes — the Hot Rabbi is still extremely hot.