‘Nobody Wants This’ Season 2 Review: Too Much of a Good Thing

25:42It jumps out. Plus, like, Kristen Bell being like, yeah, I want to sit in bed and watch the Netflix show Love is Blind, or maybe Squid Game, or maybe Stranger Things. You know, it's just like, is this really who we are? Is this really what we're doing? This episode is brought to you by Netflix. The T-Mobile Home Run Derby is right around the corner. Might be one of the best showcases of pure power in all sports. Baseball's biggest sluggers, along with some legendary announcers. Pujols, Rizzo, Bonds, Sabathia, Al Duncan, yeah, Hunter Pence, Matt Faskersian, a whole bunch of people. And it's the one night where you don't swing to make contact.

26:22You swing to make history. I'm interested to see what Bond says about this, actually. Anyway, it is all live from Citizens Bank Park in Philly. Watch the T-Mobile Home Run Derby live on Netflix Monday, July 13th at 8 p.m. Eastern, 5 p.m. Pacific. Right now, get up to 15 % off. select storage solutions. Put heavy-duty HDX totes to good use, protecting what's important to you. The solid, impact-resistant design prevents cracking, and the clear base and sides make items easy to find even when the totes are stacked. Find select shelving and tote storage up to 15 % off at the Home Depot to organize every room in your home, from your garage to your attic.

27:02Visit homedepot.com. How doers get more done. This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome? That's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration block, or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online make sense? There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up required, compatibility and availability varies 18+. Every one of these actors is perfect, and I love them, and I want to be their best friend, and I'll watch them do anything.

27:40And also, my hat is off to the writers. The jokes are so razor sharp. They are. I can't stop thinking about the part where Joanne gets evicted for vomiting in the pool and not telling her landlord. She is truly a prize. and she's telling Morgan she's like well now I'm homeless and Morgan goes Dr. Andy said the word is unhoused. This has also gotten me It's so good. I mean Justine Loop is batting a thousand in this show. It is every line delivery. It is every joke and you're right like all of the throwaway gags on the periphery of the show are really sharp It does have that junk food feel and like my concern is less the feeling of oh hours later as you're saying I'm going to feel like I ate junk food it's a little more in the moment you have that zoom out realization of like, I am just cramming junk food on the couch.

28:32And nothing about this show makes me feel more that way than weirdly the interstitial LA shots. Like it is possible in theory. And I know this because season one did it where you can transition to one scene for another without one, two, three random shots from not just like where we are in LA, but all around LA. It's definitely not where they were. Almost never where they are. So it's not like locating you in a place. And also, like a different pop music needle drop every single time. There was a lot of pop music needle drops. Big budget. Huge. Now we know where that estate a lot of money went.

29:09Yeah, they paid for Apple by Charli Axiax. This is the thing. You got Charli, you got Chappell, you got Taylor, you got Selena Gomez, you got Ariana, you got Renee Rapp, and you got Sabrina. It's like, you don't need all of this all the time. And I did feel like the show was kind of a little smothered in that way. I just want to go from human interaction to human interaction without getting a 15-second sting of a pop song every single time. Weirdly, though, when I zoom out, I'm like, it kind of works because to me it's so giving adult child woman, you know, who's like, what is even your job? And I say this as like— But we know her job.

29:45You are a podcaster who seemingly podcasts once a month. Yep, if that. Without the mic placement, babe, stressing me out so bad. I just know that audio quality is crazy. It's horrendous. It sounds crazy. The episode where Noah comes over to like give his two cents, like you're not getting a word of any of that from either of them. Rob, would you want your wife to come podcast with you? In this fashion, it feels a little intrusive. Like I am team Noah in this respect. Like I'm not out here trying to have a full on relationship podcast on Front Street. Sure. It's not how I choose to live my life.

30:20Yeah. Especially when you are the spiritual leader of a community or trying to be. Yes. Yeah. You can see how the conflicts might arise there. And yet, like, people are giving him shit constantly throughout the show. You know what? It said in the text of the show, and I agree with it, boys do love their privacy. I do enjoy a little bit here and there. I think what it is is that we like this show so much that we want more from it. I wouldn't say I love it so much. I like it. And it's a perfect, like, throw this on, I'm happy I spent time with it kind of show. I don't have, like, the highest, loftiest aspirations of this as art.

30:49I just enjoy it as an experience. And I enjoy spending time with all these people. I just like live in such a desert of shows that deal with faith. I really am deeply interested in it. And maybe that's not what this is about. You know, maybe this is not about that. But you made the guy a rabbi. You did. And this is one of the areas where you deviate from your own lived experience in inspiring the show, going from like, you know, a husband who is an Orthodox Jew into a full-on rabbi. Like that's a deliberate decision to deal with this more confrontationally in terms of his faith and job. And like that does juice the plot because then you get moments like him sacrificing elements of his career to be with Joanne.

31:30But then you're just not going to deal with a lot of the actual like religious fallout of anything that is happening. Yeah. I just, I want to know, I want to know more. I want to know more about not just his relationship to the dogma of the religion, but his relationship to God and to why this is important to him. Because ultimately, rom-com or not, I mean, rom part is he's going to want a partner who I would think, if that's very important to him, that takes it seriously in the way he does. Yes. Or at least doesn't think it's just like a joke about holla. You know, like, which I was like, babe, you live in LA and you've never met a Jewish person?

32:11You've never had challah bread? We also ran the challah joke back twice. Twice. Your childhood best friend was named Abby Kaplan. This is Los Angeles. There's no way you've never encountered challah bread. I have many questions about almost all these characters' lived experiences. Me too. I mean, to a rom-com custom, like, how do you afford this beautiful house? the rent prices in Los Angeles are egregious I've been on that market I'm not finding a kitchen like the one Noah has I didn't know rabbis were paid that well should I become a rabbi? no we're not allowed why not? I'm sorry I'm a very not real Jew can women be rabbis?

32:53Kate Berlin is a rabbi you could be the Kate Berlin my listening comprehension was clearly lacking. Well, I wouldn't say that character is given a ton to do other than make funny jokes, which she absolutely does. Just facial expressions. She's such a queen. Okay, I can suspend my disbelief for real estate porn, much like our dear friend, Amanda Dobbins. That's a part of the show. I love to see it. I'm into it. The one thing that took me out of it, I don't know whether I want to become so rich and powerful that I can have a sauna I only use for storage, or whether the idea of that deeply offends me.

33:27Yeah, what do her parents do? what again what what does anyone on the breed trauma that she doesn't seem to act again they did like a little they do like and i'm like okay yes i'm like yes like i need to know why she's like this so so you want like in session with dr andy like let's let's work it out let's lay it interiority from that character because without the interiority she's starting to be very annoying. Yeah. Like, and not just annoying, like, you kind of don't like her. I think this is... It's okay if she's unlikable. Yes. But give it some depth. Completely. Like, your show can have unlikable leads.

34:05It can have unlikable characters, but it requires some interrogation. Like, they do it for Morgan really well, actually. They do. They do exactly kind of what I wish they would do for Joanne for Morgan. I know. She has that amazing conversation with Bina. Like, her, that, that storyline was perfect from start to finish. They set her up with the guy at the dinner party. He doesn't like her. She challenges him as to why. He gives her straight real talk. She internalizes it. That conversation with Bina was incredible, where she says, like, you must think it's true. Because you don't care what other people think.

34:35And they have this point. Also, let me ask a question about Bina and Noah's dad. The Eastern European accent, where are they from? Have we ever mentioned it? I don't think we've established it. Is it just meant to signal Jewishness? Yes. Okay, got it. And look, this is one of the big criticisms coming out of season one was that Bina and Esther specifically were just like absolute cartoonish caricatures. People had their criticisms of that, of the way the characters were deployed. I would say that you can even see it in season two in the way that like the show doesn't know what to do with Bina when she is not Darth Vader.

35:10Yeah. And so she just kind of like falls out of the show. She's such an incredible actress. Incredible actress. I don't know why they're styling her like she's Dracula sometimes. No, but she looks so chic. I'm not saying she's not pulling it off. I'm just going to say, somehow that's also my mother. My mom's not Jewish, but she is Bina. Spiritually, she is still Bina. And in season two, again, that's not a bad thing. Those conversations, I think, are useful and valuable. And ultimately, the side characters and the supporting characters are pretty well served by this season. It felt like, though, that everyone involved in making the show was like, okay, we got there with Noah and Joanne.

35:44We get that relationship. We get there in our lives. Let's focus on everything else. And in doing so, you're just spinning the wheels with Joanne. You're just, not only is she being a little annoying in the ways you described, but she's hitting that same button over and over again, where if you're going to slow down the fallout of all the rom-com elements of the show, it's a real concern. Like, how do you make these characters feel like they are dynamic and growing when they don't have that interiority? When you're not letting them progress forward on the big picture stuff of, you know, conversion or engagement or whatever you think the future of their relationship is.

36:16it just kind of felt like Joanne is stalled out in place all season. Totally. And listen, I don't need her to be like a girl boss, like you go girl or anything. But like, I would love it if she wanted something other than to move in with her hot boyfriend. Yes. You know what I mean? Like, I don't, I'm like, no clue. Again, the sporadic podcast isn't really prominently featured. Not a lot of ambition there. Like, what do you want? Unclear. You know? And what does she know of what Noah wants other than... Sounds like they've never had a conversation about it. It kind of does. Like, again, you get all that interrogation of Morgan as far as like, you've had this one-sided relationship with your therapist where he knows all the intimate details about you, but you don't actually know a lot about this guy.

36:59I don't know that Joanne knows a lot about Noah either. Like, when it comes down to it, she's like, I'm going to ask his buddies what movie poster I should get him. Right. And like, that's a flex within the world of the show that like, oh, I found out this personal thing about you. But I would not say she's a woman who asks a lot of questions either. Yeah. Can I give a shout out to the nightstand? Absolutely. That was an incredible moment. Like they were really so right about the thoughtfulness behind noticing a need and just filling it because you wanted to care for someone. That was very beautiful.

37:32How did you feel about the primordial nightstand of just like, I don't even know what the base of it was, but the tower of stuff that she has constructed for herself. It stressed me out. It really did. But again, I mean, I've dated guys who own one towel, so it's like, this is, the bar is in hell, you know? It unfortunately can't be. But again, those little relationship things, some of the actual human moments of the show really, really hit. It's so clear that the emotional soul of the show comes from a place that's very real. And yet there's all this roller coaster artifice around it that is driving it somewhere, but I don't always know where or why.

38:10now that like we've partially resolved i think the tension of is she gonna convert or not because now she knows she's warm and cozy and likes to gossip so she's jewish yeah um well let me let me stop you let me stop you even right there okay because it's clear in the season two finale which i would say is like a pretty close mirror of the season one finale right you get them running after each other this time it's kind of flipped it's a little more joanne coming after noah versus vice versa uh some of the parts of that by the way really did work for me like the two elevators like going in opposite directions.

38:41There's just stuff that absolutely clicks. That shot being in front of the beautiful place by LACMA with the - I don't know who the artist is. Sorry, I'm stupid, but the show encoded. No curiosity, but that was gorgeous. Something like that specificity and the visual look and elements like that, I think really, really work. But ultimately when you think about season one and like Noah's making this big sacrifice and then you come into season two and they walked it back like immediately. It was like, oh, we've never had a conversation. We're not on the same page at all. about the conversion conversation.

39:11Noah made this big gesture at the end of season one about how he's like giving up his career for her, but then came into season two expecting to still have his career and her, which just makes me feel like as we go from season two into season three, it's like, would they just also walk this back? Like, I have a hard time knowing what to believe with any of these characters. Because she also doesn't speak. He speaks. She never says to him what she decided. You know, she just does that sort of cryptic coy, while I have news for you. I don't remember what she said or whatever. I don't like to be the Jewish police at all.

39:43But isn't it sort of like a thing in Judaism that you're not supposed to proselytize or like push or ask anyone to become Jewish? Well, if you're a rabbi, I think there's maybe some exception to that. No, it's the opposite. You're supposed to, didn't you watch Sex and the City, honey? I might've missed that arc. Charlotte York, when she had to go beg the rabbi, you have to ask the rabbi three times. They have to deny you three times. You know what? Maybe he's not that orthodox in his ways. Clearly there is a gray area here in terms of the form of Judaism that this show would like to participate in.

40:12Maybe the conceit of season three will be what we've been talking about, which is getting down to the brass tacks of what faith means to each of them. Yes. And trying to bridge the abyss that's probably between him and her in terms of how they're going to engage with faith and God. Probably not God because no one says God because it's an extremely bad word. Which to me would be interesting. It would definitely be interesting. And in the show's defense, maybe that is part of the consideration set for season two and season three. You know, if season two is going to be about them kind of finding their places in this and Joanne figuring out if she wants to convert, if we take her kind of at where she is in this finale, season three is going to be about part of that journey.

40:59It's going to be about diving into her version of this faith and what that looks like. And maybe in doing so, we learn more about where all these other characters are with theirs. Yeah, I think that would be great. Is there anything else you would want to see in a season three? I mean, it seems like, you know, an episode of Joanne in therapy would be helpful for all of us. It seems like, you know, Noah just, you know, really out on his own, maybe at Burning Man or something, like really coming to terms with everything he is and believes. I would love to see. Are there any other arcs, any other characters, any other kind of situations you want to see come more to the fore in season three?

41:33Well, I'm definitely interested in what happens with Esther. Definitely. Because she's on a journey, for sure. And obviously that leaves Sasha adrift as well, and Morgan single. And Sasha Nester's child, who is, I guess, alive, but certainly not in this show. Has gone to an extended summer camp. Also, shout out to the PowerPoint presentation that Sasha makes with that AI-generated Renesmee-ass baby that was so terrifying. flying that was very funny the ocean for that yeah that was that was quite amusing it was very good those were interesting things to bring up about a marriage and the idea that one person might want to have another child one person doesn't one person no longer feels i think i saw some fan person be like i think esther and rebecca should become lesbians and go find themselves together and i was like wow that would be a departure but it would be a departure anything could happen anything could happen after seeing those characters like have dinner together i'm not sure that they have a couple energy it wasn't giving me a couple energy was not i enjoyed those scenes honestly it was really glad rebecca still kind of popped up a couple of times this season and i think again the episode of noah sort of in kind of coming to terms with the boyfriend he has been and like the image of the boyfriend he was trying to embody that was actually pretty good stuff for this show the necklace i mean the necklace is very bad uh i would love some of that for Sasha as well.

43:03And I think you're right that like he does have this transformation into wife guy and we get some hints of everything that he's dealing with. I thought the like, is it therapist Lori, the like couples therapist that Morgan and Dr. Andy go to. Incredible. Speaking of capitalists, I mean, just really putting it out there. Her cards against humanity therapy game. Creating the cards, selling the rights. She is ahead of every step of it. That sequence of like them all answering the questions and kind of everything coming to the four I thought was really good. Part of that being Sasha presenting himself as like, oh, I'm just the guy you all come to your problem, like come to me with your problems.

43:41But I would love to know more about him. And like, we've seen him come to Morgan with his problems here and there. But ultimately, season three, I would think would have to position him in an isolated spot, right? He still has his brother. He still has his family. Like he's not totally adrift. He has jujitsu. He has jujitsu, which we've learned, again, in this moment, to no one else's knowledge is very important to him. But, like, let's get him in class, you know? I want to see what moves he really has in jujitsu. Totally. Yeah, I'd like to see. I'd really like to see him find his anchor. Yes.

44:11You know, like, it does feel he's, like, a bit adrift. And he's sort of prioritizing everybody else. And he's not able to, like, you know, have some Sasha time. I have a question to you as, you know, from Angeleno to Angeleno now. Sure, now that you're here. Rachel Sennett's new show, I Love LA, is right around the corner. Okay. Every bit of marketing for that show makes it feel to me like, you know, a younger, maybe even potentially messier analog to this one. Right. Another show about modern dating, a younger set. There's also like such a funny thing happening with Josh Hutcherson is the male lead in that show.

44:44Is that more of like that generation? Totally. Okay. Because obviously I'm old. It feels that exact way. Like Rachel said in interviews about it has even said like, oh, this is the guy who you feel like has been your boyfriend for years. do you think a show like that if it is a slightly different demo can it come for the messy la dating relationship show crown like do you think it is are those the same market or are they different markets that's really interesting i mean i wonder because as i'm going to tell you a little story i would love it this is going to demean all my credibility right now i've never seen girls okay because which actually i have a big plan this autumn and winter to finally go through the entire thing we should say we did not acknowledge that the season two showrunners jenny connor and bruce eric caplan both of both girls alum both girls alum girls obviously famously known to be an incredible work of art again i haven't seen it but i believe it um i I haven't seen it because when I first tried to watch it in real time, I was just like, had just narrowly escaped with, you know, a bit of my life from having moved to New York in my 20s to be the voice of my generation with some monetary help from my parents.

45:59I would say for the record, you accomplished the voice of your generation bit. Well, it took 20 years, but engaging in terrible situationships, shopping at Beacon's Closet, wearing terrible clothing. Like, I was just hit way too close to home. it was like triggering. Like I was like PTSD. So I couldn't watch it, which is a little bit probably how I'll feel about I Love LA. Not because it's not going to be a good show, but because I'm like, oh no, I did that. So maybe all that to say, maybe the demo is a bit younger. Yeah. But I think there is a sweet spot with Nobody Wants This where it does have some of those very relatable hallmarks you're talking about with shows like Girls, where there's something very recognizable.

46:34But you can still sit on your couch and say, oh, like Joanne sure is acting crazy today. There is a little bit of a distance between whatever you think your lived experience is and whatever is happening on screen. I think that's part of the comfort watch formula in lots of ways. Also, thanks to Botox TM, age is almost not a consideration anymore because with your eyes, you'll watch these shows and everyone kind of looks the same age. They do. What I have learned from just being a person on the internet, though, is that no matter how much Botox you get, the hands don't lie and the neck doesn't lie.

47:07This is what I've been told. You haven't heard about necklifts then. Apparently not. You know, there's a lot for me to learn. You haven't taken a trip to Korea. Again, I'm just beginning to dabble into this world and understand it. Welcome to Los Angeles. Thank you. I do have some final show-inspired prompts for you. Okay, great. Love a prompt. We're presented The Binary by Joanne and Morgan. Are you a DoorDash person or a farmer's market person? They identify as DoorDash people, right? They're just not out there picking fresh produce. Totally tracks for them. Yeah. Which would you identify as?

47:37I'm sadly a farmer's market person. Really? Oh, yeah. I go every Sunday. I'm deeply concerned with the micronutrients that are available in my food. Tell me about it. Well, you know that the soil is compromised. I'm sorry. I don't know that the soil is compromised. What happened to the soil? The soil was inundated with Roundup and glyphosates and has been over time depleted of nutrients, which therefore are not in your food. So you need to go to these small farms that take better care of their soil and give you real healthy food. This is news to me. Thank you for saving my life. Also, if you ever go to a farmer's market and buy produce and then try to eat the same produce from like, I'm not going to name a grocery store.

48:21I don't want to malign anyone, but let's just say a standard grocery store. Sure. You'll be like, that's so interesting how that tomato is cardboard. And this one tastes like what a tomato is. The fruit especially. I mean, it can be a truly diabolical difference. Are you a DoorDash person or a farmer's market person? Well, as someone who's recovering from pneumonia, I've been living as a DoorDash person. Just by sheer necessity. That doesn't count. But I'm kind of, this is why I asked you about the binary, because I find myself to be kind of neither. I have not made the full farmer's market plunge.

48:49I'll dabble. But I do have those moments where I'm like, more of like a, more of like a Sprouts. Okay, sure. Sprouts is wonderful. You know, I want fresh produce, but I don't know that I want farmer's market pricing and inconvenience. You know, like I'm a man about town. I'm out here trying to churn out some podcasts. Okay, so Sunday mornings, you're busy podcasting. Well, not even that. Just like I want to be able to shop at three o 'clock on a Wednesday. Got it. It's a convenience issue. When the farmer's market opens up at my convenience, I will be a frequent customer. And maybe the issue is like, I just need to hit you for the right recommendations.

49:20I did love some of the setups of this season. Just like, again, the engagement party at the end, the Valentine's Day situation, the opening dinner party, I thought was a real stroke of genius as far as like the exact kind of supposedly low stakes thing that could drive a couple to insanity. The lighting. If you were to host a dinner party, would you try to match make your single friends by sitting them next to each other? Yeah. I wish someone would do that for me. Yeah. Are you guys listening? Dinner party? Invite me over. Your invitations are forthcoming. I'm the single friend. Bring me to your house.

49:53So you would like to be match made? Yeah. I think that's actually a wonderful thing to do and it's very human. and like they say it on the show, nobody's going back on those apps, babe. You can't, you couldn't take me to Guantanamo and get me to go back on those apps. It's not happening. See, my concern, and I've seen this in friends of mine who are in couples as well, is it's like, it's the coupled person's version of being on the apps. It's like, I don't get to participate in this date. So let me just like mash these two people together and see if it works. What's the worst that happens? there's an incredible awkward tension that stews that then devours the respective friendships and maybe ruins whatever relationship you're in I just think there's a lot of potential fallout but I'm also someone who's much more concerned with the dinner party of that formula than the matchmaking part of that formula you don't want it to ruin the vibes I'm not trying I am Joanne on the light dial like 30%, 50%, 70 % what is the exact preparing your sprouts based meals this is what I'm all about this is how I live my life are there any other closing thoughts positive or negative you have about this show feelings, extrapolations love letters to Adam Brody whatever you would like to do I think I just had a broader thought maybe this is like galaxy brain that they were like the honeymoon phase is over and that is when people's relationship is a little bit less hot and heavy and interesting so perhaps they were through art trying to telegraph that.

51:29I think that's true. I'm stretching. And then when it gets interesting is when it hits the inflection point where you have to either like shit or get off the pot. And then it's like, what's the real world tagline? When people stop being polite and start getting real. It's the real world, babe. I do think you're onto something. And we're in that nebulous zone in between where neither of those things are quite happening. in a way that the show clearly wants to talk about post honeymoon period. It is like they're talking about it constantly. And in particular, Morgan is like chiding her sister about this all the time.

52:04Yeah, because that's what it's about, right? It's going to boil down to like, who are you? What are your beliefs? What are your morals, Joanne? Like, what is the infrastructure of your psyche? Like, let's get into it. I hope we can find that out in season three. I hope this show, in addition to all the comforts that it brings us, cares to dive into some of that stuff. I guess we'll find out kind of what sort of show they want to make. We've been served what they think we want based on what we said we want based on season one, which is, you know, Hot Rabbi, et cetera, et cetera. The big kiss scene.

52:41I can handle you, all of that. We're living in a world beyond that world. And I have hopes for season three, but I can't pretend I'm not a little bit let down. I believe in them to turn it around season three. I also believe in them. In part, like this cast, we've said it over and over again. It's just phenomenal. You put these people in a room, good things are generally going to happen. You put them across LA and various spots. Like, why not? Why can't this work? Maybe the huge, big thing of season three is they're going to go west of the 405. You think that's even a possibility? I don't know.

53:13Tune into season three to find out. Potentially next fall. Yossi, thanks so much for doing this. Thank you for being here. It was such an honor. It was an honor for me. You can hear Yassi all the time on Bandsplain. I would highly encourage you to do so. Thank you to Kai Grady. Thank you, as always, to Justin Sales. I will be back with Joanna next week to talk about the double premiere of Pluribus. So come on back. We'll see you then.

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