Nobody Wants This Season 3 review: Kristen Bell and Adam Brody keep it real sweet

“We are living together,” rabbi Noah (Adam Brody) and his girlfriend, podcaster Joanne (Kristen Bell) keep telling each other at the beginning of Season 3 of Nobody Wants This. Season 2 ended with Noah and Joanne committing to each other while Joanne’s sister, Morgan (Justine Lupe) called off her engagement.

Sasha (Timothy Simons), Noah’s elder brother and his wife, Esther (Jackie Tohn) have decided to separate with Esther wishing for time and space to find herself. Noah and Joanne have the usual hiccups of living together with Noah closing all the cabinet doors Joanne leaves open and Joanne sneaking off home for the quiet coffee and celebrity gossip she craves in the morning.

When Morgan does an episode of the podcast with Sasha instead of Joanne, it becomes a huge hit and Morgan gets a book deal out of it. Joanne feels left out and wonders if she is redundant. Sasha dyes his hair blond and once Morgan convinces him to get on dating apps is surprised to see that Rachel is on them too.

After Joanne accepts Noah’s proposal, which comes with an elaborate set-up involving a trip to a wedding in Napa and a scary fan, the couple have to deal with their parents’ and relative’s expectations. Noah’s mother, Bina (Tovah Feldshuh) has very definite opinions about the proper venue, who to invite, and the songs to be played for the first dance.  

Lynn (Stephanie Faracy), Joanne’s mother, wants her childhood dream of being a flower girl to come true. The dream was crushed when her aunt’s fiancée died in an accident a day before the wedding.  Joanne is taking Rabbi Eden’s (Sarah Silverman) “Intro to Judaism” conversion classes. Morgan and Sasha take a trip to New York and fresh complications arise.

Travis (Avan Jogia), Joanne’s ex-boyfriend being their neighbour means more trouble for Joanne and Noah. There is a flashback Christmas episode that shows the genesis of the idea for the podcast intercut with the present and Joanne’s last Christmas before converting to Judaism. Her reasons for loving Christmas might not be religious but she is agnostic so it tracks.

The show, based on creator Erin Foster’s real life experiences is charming and moves quickly in easily digestible episodes. The characters are relatable (though Noah is bit too patient for his own good) and their troubles, which are all sorted out in half an hour, give the show a Sex and the City vibe.

The cast is charming from Bell and Brody to Lupe and Simons. The music is hummable with bubble gum pop hits including Usher’s ‘Hey Daddy (Daddy’s Home)’, Taylor Swift’s ‘Lover’, and Miley Cyrus’s ‘You (Demo)’.

Season 3 ends with a wedding, a conversion and a bunch of complications for the couples, which hopefully Season 4, once it is greenlit, will untangle.

Nobody Wants This. is currently streaming on Netflix