In many of my reviews I've argued
that a great show, whether it is a comedy or drama, can cross all racial or
religious lines. I was immensely entertained by the first two seasons of Ramy
even though I'm not a Muslim, found the first season of Beef one of
the best shows of 2023 even though I'm not Korean and am certain Reservation
Dogs is one of the best comedies of the decade even though I'm not an
indigenous person. If a show has themes that are universal the fact that I am a
white cis male has done nothing to interfere with it entertaining me.
With Nobody Wants This one
of the major critical and audience hits of 2024, I found myself on the other
side of the coin for a change. This incredible romantic comedy strikes chords
with me because I'm Jewish and can get a lot of the in-joke between the Roslow
family, the way they view their children and tradition and the way that they
are almost appalled about how Noah (the always sublime Adam Brody) has fallen
in love with a blond-haired shiksa named Joanne. As I joked in my rave for the
first season Noah's parents and his immediate circle are the only people I'm
aware of who don't meet Kristen Bell and automatically fall head over
heels in love with her.
The first season was incredibly
well received earning Emmy nominations for Best Comedy, Adam Brody and Bell's
first Emmy nomination for anything. (Can you believe it?) Having watched every
episode during the winter and early stages of last year when I, like so many
other people, desperately needed something that was just blissfully funny I've
been waiting for Season 2 to drop as much as the next person. And my schedule,
as you might expect, only recently cleared up enough for me to see it. It
helped immensely that, much like last year, the early signs are that yet again Nobody
Wants This will be a major awards contender, having been nominated for Best
Comedy Series by both the Golden Globes and receiving five nominations from the
Critics Choice Awards. I didn't need an excuse to see Season 2 – I loved the
show immensely then – but I spent much of the end of last year watching All
Her Fault and the past month watching The Girlfriend and The
Beast in Me, knowing that Nobody Wants This would be there when I
needed it. And this week I finally got around to seeing the first three
episodes. It is just as marvelous as before.
At the end of last season Noah
was about to ascend to his lifelong ambition of being head rabbi at the temple
he's trained for his whole life. Joanne, who couldn't imagine Noah not doing it
and couldn't face the burden of his parents told him she couldn't see him
anymore. But Noah chose Joanne over his ambition – and perhaps more tellingly
his family. He has not renounced Judaism, as that famous Seinfeld episode
once played out; if anything during the first episode of Season 2 – which took
place three months after Season 1 ended – had Joanne and Noah having their
first argument when it became clear that Joanne had no intention of ever
converting, which would be a permanent obstacle in him become a rabbi.
This led to a major fight at his
temple when his head rabbi did retire and replace him with another rabbi also
named Noah. The two of them apparently knew each other from Hebrew camp and
they were apparently Big Noah and Little Noah. Cue the immediate joke when
someone calls for Rabbi Noah and both say yes. Even worse, the new Rabbi Noah
may be a jerk but he's incredibly good at his job with bothers our Rabbi
Noah.
The ice had not melted one bit
between Noah's mother (every time she's onscreen Tovah Feldshuh steals
everything not nailed down) and Joanne. Bina is very much the cliché of the
Jewish mother, only in Nobody she's far closer to a mob boss when it
comes to her family and the community. Its clear watching Bina that this is the
first time perhaps in his entire life that Noah has done anything independent
of his mother's wishes which in Jewish culture is an unspeakable crime where
the guillotine and the firing squad or merciful in comparison. When Noah
chooses not to show up at Shabbot, Bina makes a completely unscheduled (and
undesired) appearance at her sons pick up basketball game which unnerves her children
and scares the hell out of her daughter-in-law Jackie. Only Joanne decides to
confront her, which is another in the endless line of reasons I love her. Joanne may want the approval of Bina but only
because she wants Noah to be happy. She's used to being hated by the masses and
she doesn't give a damn about anyone else's opinion. For a moment détente seems
to be achieve but we know damn well Bina isn't going to rest until Joanne is
gone.
All of this is hysterical for
someone who is an insider. But like all of the other comedies I've mentioned
above, you don't need to have studied the Talmud to love Nobody Wants This because
everything else in the story – relationships between couples, dysfunctional
families and sibling rivalry – is a universal theme. We keep seeing it between
the always tempestuous relationship between Joanne and her older sister Morgan
(someone give Justine Lupe an Emmy already!) Morgan has tried her best to be
supportive of her sister but it clearly chafes that Joanne has managed to
finally get into a serious relationship. We're reminded in the third episode
just how dysfunctional Joanne and Morgan's family situation was growing up and
if anything it's worse now. Joanne's father came out of the closet and
basically abandoned them to their mother who is essentially so thoroughly
involved as a hippie that she barely even talks to her children something that
they are grateful for.
This played out in the third
episode where Joanne, while at Shabbot, tried to explain that her family didn't
have any traditions and that sending a text for their mother's birthday was the
only thing they did. Noah insisted on trying to set up a tradition to celebrate
it – mainly because he's feeling less needed at his temple – and it turned out
to be a disaster on every level. Her mother wanted the event to end as quickly
as possible because she was more interested in spiritual energy then being with
her family. Her father was more concerned about whether to text his most recent
boyfriend (more likely a hook-up) then anything with his children. And Morgan,
who we've thought is envious of what her sister has, showed up with Dr. Andy
her new boyfriend. Joanne thought something was sketchy because she'd never
heard of him until now.
And she's right to be. As Noah
found out Dr. Andy is Morgan's therapist and there's a suggestion they've been
dating before the official relationship was terminated. Joanne is
understandably horrified by this – it violates every ethical guideline – but
she ends up supporting Morgan later when she lets her guard down. "He
knows all of the traumatic shit I've been through and he still wants me,"
Morgan tells Joanne with a vulnerability we haven't seen Morgan show. We want
Morgan to happy but we also know how bad this will end.
On the other side of this is
Sascha, played by Timothy Simons with such charm and awkwardness that is the
mirror opposite of his iconic work on Veep but playing someone far more
likable. Sascha is very much still in
love with Jackie but the fact that he kept his burgeoning friendship with
Morgan secret all last year set off flares in Jackie that Morgan still doesn't
get. The two of them have spent the last couple of episodes trying to rebuild
their marriage and they actually seem happy in the most recent episode, until
Bina walks in after they've just had sex (something she's unapologetic about)
and basically makes it clear she wants another grandchild. It's still not clear
where this storyline will end up going after three episode but the viewer is
rooting for Sascha like they are all of the other leads in this series. Sascha
is the son who can never live up to Noah in the eyes of his family and he knows
it – though that may change given how the third episode ended.
Nobody Wants This arrived right when comedy needed
it last year as many of the extraordinary comedies that made up the first half
of the decade were coming to an end. Reservation Dogs ended in 2023; Somebody
Somewhere ended in 2024 and Hacks is about to air its final season
in a few weeks' time. (Though its still not considered a comedy by many The
Bear is going to air its final season this summer.) We've gotten some
incredible new comedies last year, including St. Denis Medical and the awe-inspiring
The Studio. Nobody may want the
relationship between Joanne and Noah to work out but we all want great comedies
that have a human touch to them and Nobody Wants This is another
brilliant entry in this decade's remarkable run, even if you think the Torah is
a dance that Jewish people do at weddings.
My score: 4.75 stars.
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