“Nobody Wants That” is a near-perfect romantic comedy — and I watched it on repeat in one sitting

“Nobody Wants That,” Netflix’s new half-hour comedy series starring Kristen Bell and Adam Brody as a spunky atheist podcaster and the charming Hot Rabbi she falls in love with, has soared arrow to become Netflix’s #1 show – and the subject of many text groups.

After sharing the initial recommendation that the well-cast series is genuinely funny and often swoon-worthy, you’ll find out which of your friends finished all 10 episodes in one sitting (that’s me!) and who committed the mistake of starting the series on a night when they couldn’t (amateurs). Let’s see why the series, loosely inspired by the life of creator Erin Foster, is so addictive.

Warning: spoilers ahead!

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The chemistry is clear from the start

There’s nothing worse than watching a romantic comedy that makes you wonder why the couple, whether they like it or not, care. “Nobody Wants That,” on the other hand, makes it clear in the pilot, when Noah (Brody) and Joanne (Bell) meet at a dinner in Los Angeles, why they are attracted to each other .

Noah has just broken up with his longtime girlfriend, Rebecca (Emily Arlook), who orchestrated their engagement without him. Rebecca doesn’t need romance; she just wants to get to the finish line, which is the future she and Noah’s mother, Bina (Tovah Feldshuh), have planned. Noah, on the other hand, is a man who loves to travel and navigate the unknown. When he describes Joanne as a “beautiful, unfiltered, complicated, vulnerable woman” who wants to be seen as special or different, it’s a compliment.

Nobody wants that | Official trailer | Netflix-YouTube

Look on it

As we learn from the podcast Joanne does with her sister Morgan (Justine Lupe), Joanne has always been attracted to emotionally unavailable men. On the surface, a rabbi who needs to marry a Jewish woman if he hopes to advance his career is completely unavailable. But Noah is also funny, non-judgmental and able to take Joanne seriously.

He understands that both of their professions involve building community and connecting with those who join it. Joanne speaks openly about uncomfortable topics to comfort others and alleviate their shame. It’s hard not to be inspired by Noah’s first sermon, when he reminds us – and Joanne – not to pass up opportunities because they come in ways we didn’t expect: “ We have all these chances to wake up and change course. of our lives. Everything can have a purpose if you let it.

Together, Bell and Brody find their own balance between Mindy and Danny’s comical (and sexy) opposing banter on “The Mindy Project” and Leslie’s endearing (and sexy) “I love you and I love you” devotion. and Ben on “Parks and Recreation.” Well done.

The stakes are real

(Image credit: Stefania Rosini/Netflix)

With Noah’s boss, Rabbi Cohen (Stephen Tobolowsky), nearing retirement and the sisters’ hit podcast, also called Nobody Wants This, on the verge of being acquired, this healthy relationship is mutually bad for business . Ten half-hour episodes allow the writers to dance in a believable and light-hearted way. Noah and Joanne’s first kiss at the end of episode 2 is an instant classic – the kind of intimate public kiss that feels both steamy and safe (and inspires whole articles). The way they’re coming together, you can’t expect them to say goodbye.

In episode 3, Joanne worries that she’s not a good enough person to be with a good guy like Noah, and he tries to get his family to accept that he will never, ever get back together with Rebecca. Episode 4’s first official date, an impromptu visit to an adult sex shop so she can properly prepare for an important interview, ends with them getting naked like two adults: Noah admits that he wants more than a rebound, and Joanne admits she’s afraid of being afraid. I will become emotionally dependent on a man who will eventually realize that she is too much and break her heart.

In episode 5, Noah is not ready to make their relationship public during a work trip and tries to hide it from his boss. But since he’s been so frank with her in the past, we think he’d apologize and course-correct as quickly as he does. Noah meets his terribly mismatched parents (Stephanie Faracy and Michael Hitchcock) in episode 6 and returns having given Joanne a voice before she tries to convince the WAGs of his friends, and more particularly his sister-in-law , Esther (Jackie Tohn), in episode 7. Morgan sneaking alcohol into a gym so the ladies can drink every time the Matzah Ballers miss a shot is perhaps the funniest scene of the season and proof that Joanne and bubbly Esther would really get along if Esther wasn’t like that. a loyal best friend of Rebecca.

(L to R) Kristen Bell as Joanne and Adam Brody as Noah Roklov in

(Image credit: Netflix)

Things get complicated in the final 90 minutes when Noah finally has to ask Joanne if she’s ready to convert and the fallout from Morgan and Rebecca playing games with each other during a date fortuitous cause a major rift between the sisters that Noah’s brother Sasha (a scene-stealing Timothy Simons) somehow finds himself in the middle of. Joanne meets Noah’s parents (Feldshuh and Paul Ben-Victor) at brunch in the penultimate episode, which features even more mind games and the best cliffhanger: Bina tells Joanne she loves him more than she would have imagined… before kissing him and whispering. , “but you will never end up with your son.”

And in the finale, which takes place during the Big Apple-themed bat mitzvah of Noah’s niece Miriam (Shiloh Bearman), Joanne completes her transformation into a mature adult: she has an honest, civil conversation with Rebecca, which makes Joanne appreciate what being a wife of the chief rabbi would mean. In turn, Joanne admits to Noah that she loves him (too) but that she only agreed to convert so as not to lose him. She respects Noah and his religion too much to promise that she will one day be ready to make this choice for the right reasons.

“You can’t have both.” And I would never make you choose,” she told him as she said goodbye. Noah ends up chasing her (points for the “Sixteen Candles” style reveal). For what? He realizes he meant what he said in episode 4: “It would really kill me to break your heart.” He wouldn’t be happy without her and might resent the congregation of his dreams for taking him away from someone who loved him enough to let him go.

So what happens next?

Adam Brody and Kristen Bell in

(Image credit: Netflix)

Netflix has not (yet) announced a second season, but the finale certainly announces a good one. Will Noah accept that being with Joanne means staying in his current position forever, or will they work together to try to convince the board members who should support him as Rabbi Cohen’s successor?

Given how fun it would be to watch the pairing project and the possibility of Brody and Bell performing with guest stars, we’d bet on the latter. Plus, we’ll need Leslie Grossman as Rabbi Shira, but do we want that character to remain as warmly supportive as she has been or to compete with Noah for the position so that Grossman can free himself ? I’m torn!

With Rebecca (hopefully) moving on now, Esther will need another reason to dislike Joanne. Discovering Sasha’s “loser siblings” texts with Morgan seems to be the case. The show’s writers established that Esther made Sasha abandon all her friends and that Esther desperately wants to be liked by Bina. So it makes sense that these two would join forces to defeat the sisters.

I can’t decide if we’re supposed to think that Sasha and Morgan’s unexpected friendship is refreshingly normal for them both or a little inappropriate. Sasha seems to be too afraid of Esther to cheat on her – and this couple actually seems happy together, at least when Esther is drunk and Sasha is high. But Morgan learns to have a male friend and is prone to unintentional mistakes, like sipping from Sasha’s drink.

Finally, how will the podcast fit into the story? Will Joanne still hide the juicy details of her relationship with the Prophet from her listeners? Will she and Morgan, or her and Noah, have a fight without realizing it’s being recorded? Can Joanne have both?

Plan to gorge yourself accordingly.