- Nobody Wants This will soon return to our screens for a second season
- So before that lands on Netflix, what actually happened in the first series?
- Here’s a recap of season one of Nobody Wants This
Nobody Wants This left rom-com lovers across the globe wanting more after the final, 31-minute tenth episode of season one.
And thankfully, we will be getting more – as a second series is on its way (but more on that later).
Before it hits Netflix and has us all gripped once more, here’s a recap of everything that happened in the first season of Nobody Wants This.
*Spoilers ahead*
Noah and Joanne face romantic obstacles in Nobody Wants This
Of course, the biggest plotline in the whole series is the complicated romance between agnostic podcast host Joanne – played by Kristen Bell – and the Jewish Rabbi she meets at a dinner party, Noah (with Adam Brody perfectly cast in the role).
While their love may be simple, what is far more complicated is that Noah’s lifelong dream of becoming head Rabbi means that he has to be with someone Jewish – a decision which Joanne grapples with throughout the ten episodes.
Not only that, but they have to contend with Noah’s disapproving family (especially his mother and sister-in-law, Esther), Joanne’s overly emotional parents… and Noah’s ex-partner/almost fiancée Rebecca, who is determined to win him back.
There’s also a budding friendship and possibly romance blossoming between the happy couple’s siblings, Morgan and Sasha – which Esther is furious about.
In the final episode of the first season, Joanne shows up to Noah’s niece Miriam’s Bat Mitzvah and tells Noah that she has decided to convert to the religion.
But after a conversation with an emotional Rebecca, who essentially tells Joanne she has “won” the race for Noah’s affections and to enjoy her “dream” as Mrs head-Rabbi, the podcaster becomes overwhelmed and has a change of heart.
Rather than make Noah choose between his role as a religious leader and his relationship with her, Joanne ends things with Noah, telling him that running after her will only make the split more difficult.
But it didn’t end there…
After walking out of the party and telling Noah not to follow her, Joanne boards a shuttle bus back to her car – only to find that Noah had sprinted the distance to plead with her.
Creator Erin Foster previously revealed that there were three options for the ending: one where she gets off the bus and he is standing there, another where he says, “It’s you and me,” and a third where they ask, “Well, how is this going to work?”.
“We just played with different levels and took a vote and ended up where we are,” Foster added, which resulted in the final scene of Noah running after Joanne to be there when she gets off the bus, having another (perfect) kiss, and questions how the couple will make it work.
Foster told IndieWire in September 2024, “I fully understand some people who make the artistic choice to not give the audience what they want, but I don’t think this is that kind of show. I don’t want people walking away frustrated or annoyed.
“I think this is the kind of show where you want to get the thing you’re there to get and I wanted to give people that moment of, ‘We choose each other, but everyone knows we’re giving up a lot to choose each other, so how are we gonna do it?’
“And that, to me, felt like a realistic but still satisfying ending still with conflict, so you have somewhere to go.”
When will Nobody Wants This return for a second season?
While we don’t have an exact date just yet, fans of the Nobody Wants This don’t have too long to wait until the next season.
On October 10 last year, Netflix renewed the show for a second series – and like season one, we imagine that season two will also have ten 20-30 minute episodes.
Just four months later on February 7, Jackie Tohn (who plays Esther in the show) revealed that filming is scheduled to begin on March 3, 2025.
The second season is due to premiere this year.
Is Nobody Wants This based on a true story?
While a lot of the story is fictional, Nobody Wants This is loosely based on the early beginnings of writer and creator Foster’s relationship with her now-husband, Simon Tikhman.
Like Noah, Tikhman is Jewish – and Foster (who, FYI, also hosts The World’s First Podcast with her sister, Sara) converted to the religion so they could be married.
Foster originally wanted to play the role of Joanne herself – but on Netflix’s insistence, the part went to Bell.
