TV Review: "Nobody Wants This"
The new Netflix rom-com series may not break the mold, but the chemistry of its leads and its representation with a thorny inter-faith make it remarkably entertaining.
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There’s a moment in the sixth episode of Nobody Wants This in which Kristen Bell’s Joanne, having seen her new beau Adam in a very unflattering light–what she refers to as “The Ick”--starts to believe that their little fairy-tale romance is doomed and that she needs to cut him loose before they both get hurt. Noah, however, isn’t the type to just let something like this slide, and so he essentially forces her to look at him and grapple with her discomfort. As we watch, we can literally see the light going on in Joanne’s eyes as she realizes that, despite what she might think, the Ick isn’t the death sentence she thought.
It’s an extraordinary moment for a host of reasons. To begin with, there’s something remarkable about the acting work that Bell is doing here, though, because she allows us as viewers to see the exact moment at which Joanne works through the Ick rather than just letting it destroy what has up to his point been a remarkably healthy and emotionally honest relationship. The very idea of the Ick is also quite brilliant when you think about it, because who amongst us hasn’t had a moment just like that, when we suddenly realize that the person we thought was perfect instead has some very annoying habits that we’re just not sure we can live with?
Maybe, like Joanne, I’m just kind of a horrible person when it comes down to it, but I like to think that this series’ ability to combine emotionally honest performances with some surprisingly astute reflections on the complications of modern romance might just be key to its instant appeal for many Netflix viewers. It certainly helps that it stars two beautiful people falling love with each other and having some pretty steamy sex.
Kristen Bell has made quite a career out of playing beautiful but deeply (deeply) flawed characters, most notably when she portrayed Eleanor Shellstrop in the beloved sitcom The Good Place. There are shades of Eleanor in Joanne’s character, too, though the latter is not nearly as selfish or conceited as the former. Like her predecessor, though, Joanne does seem to move through the world with almost no awareness of how not to be shitty to people, whether that’s her sister, Morgan (a marvelously talented Justine Lupe) or the many men who end up as fodder for their podcast. Less plausibly, as many reviewers have pointed out, she seems to have somehow lived in Los Angeles for a long time without even knowing what shalom means. Then again, given that see how callous and oblivious she is to pretty much everyone’s emotional needs but her own, perhaps it’s not so implausible after all.
Adam Brody’s Noah is as unlike Joanne as it’s possible to be. Unlike her, he has a very clearly-delineated sense of morality, ethics, and philosophy. Being a rabbit isn’t just an incidental part of his character; it defines his entire personality and the way that he engages with the world. Indeed, one of the most refreshing things about Noah is his pronounced lack of cynicism and his willingness to be open and honest and vulnerable with Joanne. In one fell swoop Nobody Wants This manages to give us a character who is both the epitome of nontoxic masculinity and yet also devoutly religious without being lame. In this cynical age in which we live, this combination is nothing short of a miracle.
Once Joanne and Noah start their relationship, things truly get hot and heavy. Bell and Brody have undeniable chemistry together, and the series is worth watching for that if for no other reason. However, it’s also quite funny, particularly when it leads into some of the more ridiculous tropes and scenarios that are traditional rom-com territory. There are also lots of side characters, though of these Lupe’s Morgan is the most fascinating. And, despite all of the wackiness, it still manages to get to the meat of the matter, particularly as Noah’s ambitions to become head rabbi run head-first into his love for Joanne, who is reluctant to convert.
There’s been a lot of commentary about the way that the series depicts Jewish women. To be sure, Noah’s family–particularly his mother and sister-in-law–view Joanne with skepticism and sometimes outright hostility, and they think nothing of hurling epithets, both English and Yiddish, in her direction. However, while this makes them the “villains,” the series makes it clear that they have good reasons for believing this way. Esther, for example, was Rebecca’s best friend before the breakup, and Bina is a pretty typically conservative Old World matriarch (and it’s also Tovah Feldshuh, who is impossible to hate even when she’s being a bitch). Moreover, it’s not as if either Bina or Esther are utterly irredeemable. Bina is shown to be genuinely devoted to her sons, and she even finds herself liking Joanne. Esther, for her part, is devoted and loving toward her family, and even she finds herself thawing toward Joanne.
One of the most surprising things about Nobody Wants This is just how lukewarm some of the reviews have been. While I agree that it may not break the mold when it comes to the romantic comedy formula, since when is that counted as a sin in this particular genre? I can’t help but wonder whether the critical hostility to this series has more to do with Netflix than it does with the strengths or weaknesses of this particular show. By now it’s become clear that the streamer is becoming increasingly averse to any kind of risk, which helps to explain its rash of cancellations of series that may not be ratings blockbusters but which were never really given a chance to find their audience. The list is too long to go into with any detail, but one of the most egregious new examples was the series Kaos, which ended up being axed a mere five weeks after it premiered.
Taken on its own, however, I’ll be the first to defend Nobody Wants This. What it comes down to is this. When I watch a romantic comedy I want two things: to be amused and to shed a few tears. I did both of those while watching this series. This isn’t to say that everything lands quite as it should in this show. I would like to see some more development of side characters and their arcs, particularly that between Joanne’s parents, who are fabulous in their own right but who are sketched in too broad strokes to really be anything other than simply colorful. However, given that we know that there is already a season two in the works–again, unlike Kaos and other beloved shows, which were cut off at the knees before they even had a chance to find their feet–these are kinks and wrinkles that can be worked out as the series continues to develop and find new layers to its characters.
I know that I’ll be watching!