Nobody Wants This season 2 lands on Netflix with Kristen Bell and Adam Brody again playing Joanne and Rabbi Noah — and the new run wastes no time rekindling the show’s fizzy push‑pull while sharpening its questions about faith, family, and commitment. On October 23, 2025, Lili Loofbourow wrote that the series “can’t quite shake the prison of its premise,” even as a “great supporting cast (and some sly cameos) supercharge” the romance, while Rachel Aroesti praised the “chemistry” between the leads as “electric.”
Release & where to watch
Season 2 is streaming on Netflix as of October 23, 2025, and opens with Episode 1, “Dinner Party,” a set‑piece Loofbourow calls “an obvious wink to the legendary episode of The Office,” as Noah and Joanne realize they interpreted last season’s reunion differently. The season’s calendar also includes “a basketball game, a Purim celebration, a wonderfully chaotic baby naming and a grim birthday party.”
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Cast & creators
- Kristen Bell (Joanne) and Adam Brody (Noah), the central couple.
- Justine Lupe (Morgan), Timothy Simons (Sasha), and Jackie Tohn (Esther) return in bigger arcs.
- Arian Moayed appears as therapist Dr. Andy; Leighton Meester pops in as Abby; Alex Karpovsky plays Noah’s rival “Big Noah”; Tovah Feldshuh is Bina.
- A progressive temple storyline name‑checks Seth Rogen and Kate Berlant.
- Series creator: Erin Foster.
Episode guide highlights (spoiler warning)
The episode‑by‑episode guide confirms titles and beats that shape the season’s arc. These include “Dinner Party”, “Leave It at the Tree”, “The Unethical Therapist”, “Valentine’s Day”, and “Abby Loves Smoothies”. Plot points span Noah being passed over for senior rabbi by a social‑media favorite named Noah/Noel Field, Esther confronting the Morgan–Sasha friendship during that first dinner, and a brit bat that re‑centers Noah’s calling while Abby makes amends for a childhood slight.
Why Joanne & Noah still work
Loofbourow argues the show “transposes the rom‑com’s usual progression … to an amusingly spiritual key,” with suspense tied to whether Joanne feels “chosen … by … God.” She adds that the story “almost literally requires a deus ex machina,” even as the season remains “well‑paced” and “engaging.”
From the other side of the spectrum, Aroesti underscores the pleasures that keep the series bingeable: a “respectable joke rate,” and leads whose “chemistry … remains electric.” She flags a pointed moment where Esther sells Judaism to Joanne as “warm and cosy,” “basically Jewish,” “funny” and “always getting in everybody’s business” — lines Aroesti deems glib for a faith “with quite a lot of rules.”
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Morgan & Sasha: boundaries and fallout
Across the season, Morgan and Sasha’s friendship continues to test boundaries. The guide documents Esther’s uneasy call‑in during “Dinner Party,” a frank park walk for the spouses, and Morgan’s rapid escalation with Dr. Andy that grows messy fast. By the finale stretch, Morgan breaks off her engagement “at their engagement party,” choosing to step away from pedestal‑style romance. Kristen Bell frames the core couple’s approach as team‑first: “It’s not Noah against Joanne — it’s Joanne and Noah against the problem.”
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Adam Brody, cameos, and ensemble grace notes
Loofbourow spotlights Alex Karpovsky as “Big Noah,” Leighton Meester as Abby, and Arian Moayed as Andy; she notes fans of The Good Place may miss D’Arcy Carden as Ryann. Aroesti highlights the progressive‑temple thread “helmed” on screen by Seth Rogen and Kate Berlant.
Soundtrack, scores & needle‑drops
The show’s official explainer hub timestamps the Season 2 drop on Oct. 23, 2025, and also teases music features tied to the new run. One pull‑quote anchors the season’s tone: “It’s not Noah against Joanne — it’s Joanne and Noah against the problem.”
Reception & ratings
As of publication, the series overview page lists an Average Tomatometer of 92% (66 reviews) and an Average Audience Score of 85% (500+ ratings), with Season 1 sitting at 95% on its own page. Scores update in real time.
What’s next
Season 2 keeps asking whether integrity and ritual can live inside a Hollywood‑friendly rom‑com. Loofbourow contends that moments which should feel transcendent sometimes “land … like compromises or worse: defeats,” yet also praises a season that “starts by highlighting … how unsustainable” last year’s finale was. Aroesti’s verdict remains sunnier: the show is “easy to buy into and easy to love” — especially if you don’t “think too hard about the knotty theological dilemma at its core.”
Bottom line: Nobody Wants This season 2 doubles down on Bell and Brody’s spark, gives Morgan/Sasha sharper edges, and finds new texture in community rituals. If you’re here for Adam Brody, fizzy comedy, and a relationship that treats conflict as a shared problem, this is the season.
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