‘Nobody Wants This’ Season 2 Takes a Major Gamble By Putting More On Its Supporting Characters — It Pays Off in a Big Way

Any show can have a great first season; the term “sophomore slump” exists for a reason, as it’s all too common for a student, musical artist, director, or professional athlete to have a killer debut, only to follow it up with a lackluster second act. When I first sat down and pressed play on Nobody Wants This Season 2, the thought of the possible (but hopefully not imminent) sophomore slump kept circling in my mind. Questions of “Will I still root for Joanne (Kristen Bell) and Noah (Adam Brody) to figure out their differences?” and “How can they ever keep the magic alive without encountering the issue of odd pacing for a TV rom-com?” These are the concerns that flashed as I picked up the remote, selected Nobody Wants This on Netflix, and hit start. I would love to say that my fears and worries melted away instantly, but they did not. It took a good 10 or so minutes to be reminded why there was no reason to worry. In its second season, Nobody Wants This not only hits its stride, it takes off with a sprint. While the Erin Foster series — now under the lead of new showrunners and Girls alums Bruce Eric Kaplan and Jenni Konner — certainly made me laugh in Season 1, there was a reliance on the romance side of the rom-com genre as the show laid the groundwork for this couple’s epic love story. Now, having introduced all of its key players and figured out what it wants to say about finding (and, more importantly, holding onto) love in the modern world, Nobody Wants This begins to win in ways I would never have predicted. Fans who tune in and expect to get more of Joanne and Noah will not be disappointed, but so much of what works about Season 2 is the expansion of characters like Morgan (Justine Lupe), Sasha (Timothy Simons), and Esther (Jackie Tohn). While we may have gotten a cursory look at their lives in Season 1, I can’t help but feel as though we have the new showrunners and their history with crafting complex characters to thank for building out three of the best parts of the series. And, to be clear, if you walk away from Season 2 thinking that these three do not steal the show, something may just be wrong with you. Joanne and Noah will always be the heart of the story, don’t get me wrong, but if we’re looking at it anatomically, Esther, Morgan, and Sasha are the blood that keeps this vital organ pumping. It would have been easy to play it safe for Season 2 and just keep the Noah and Joanne show front and center, using the supporting characters to do exactly that, support. Rather, Nobody Wants This takes a gamble by pulling us deeper into the lives and troubles of those around our lovebirds, and by doing so, makes the most realistic rom-com we’ve seen in years feel somehow more relatable. I often think of the scene in 13 Going on 30 where Jenna Rink (Jennifer Garner) is attempting to revitalize her magazine by featuring everyday people, the ones you grew up with, pass by on the street, hung out with once at a bar… etc. Her whole argument is about wanting to feature the people you would root for, people who look, feel, and think like you. It’s this that makes me applaud the creative team behind Nobody Wants This Season 2, as they gave us three more characters we don’t just watch, but we hold hopes for. In one episode, you feel Esther’s layered but relatable confusion over Sasha’s relationship with Morgan. Another episode makes you laugh at Morgan’s tough exterior that comes down only in moments where she finally admits a hard truth to herself or to Joanne. And Sasha, well, we’ve been rooting for him since the pilot, but our love only grows as we watch him work on being a better husband, son, and brother to those in his life. All of this while also dealing with the personal struggles every person faces and can understand. It’s nothing short of a miracle that Nobody Wants This Season 2 shifts so much of the story onto its supporting cast members’ shoulders, and they lift it up as though it’s weightless. Dare I say all three actors should be in the mix come time for the 2026 Emmy Awards? Nobody Wants This Season 2 is a winner in all ways. From start to finish, the new season is laugh-out-loud funny, heart-warming, and beyond relatable. In fact, there are too many arguments between Joanne and Morgan that I — and every woman with a sister — have had a million times over. Yelling expletives at each other over something that happened a decade ago only to finish the conversation by confirming dinner plans is not only funny, it reaches into the recesses of my soul. It’s the kind of attention to detail that makes Nobody Wants This one of the smartest and most humane shows on television in recent years. It’s easy for a show to come out swinging in its first season and leave a lasting impression, much harder is for a series to keep that going and wow the world with its second. Nobody Wants This does just that. In every conceivable way, Season 2 put this series on track to be one of the best rom-coms in television history. It’s exactly what the world needs right now. Nobody Wants This Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix. Netflix offers three subscription plans to fit your streaming needs. The plans start at $7.99/month for standard with ads and go up to $24.99/month for unlimited ad-free streaming in up to 4K UHD quality.