‘Nobody Wants This’ Understands Judaism Better Than Its Star Does

Not a day goes by without another celebrity crawling out of the woodwork to brandish his leftist bona fides. Few, however, can rival the blithe, brain-dead nonchalance with which Adam Brody castigated Israel in a recent GQ interview, delivering a statement one could easily mistake for an In-N-Out order: “Put me down as thinking it’s a genocide.” (“Thinking” is doing a lot of work here.) Which makes his return as the ravishing Rabbi Noah Roklov all the more awkward in Netflix’s increasingly aptly named “Nobody Wants This.”

Season 3 picks up with Noah and Joanne (Kristen Bell) newly “living together.” They affectionately remind one another of this milestone through a montage of morning coffees and shared dinners, punctuated by the inevitable domestic frictions: Joanne’s chaotic disorder, Noah’s unwanted infringement on her trashy tabloid time, and the peculiar adjustments of sharing a home with another human being.

Beyond their squabbles, Joanne has embarked on her conversion to Reform Judaism, under the tutelage of Rabbi Eden (Sarah Silverman). Andrew Rannells is a welcome addition as Sebastien, a snappy, quick-witted classmate whose barbs provide some of the season’s funniest moments. More poignantly, Joanne begins to appreciate the moral and spiritual architecture of the faith she is embracing. In one of the series’ finest moments, she reflects on her hope that Judaism will furnish her future children with a moral framework to guide them through difficult decisions, something she lacked growing up with a cartoonishly unconventional hippie mother and a closeted father.

The parallel storyline follows Noah’s brother, Sasha (Timothy Simons), and his estranged wife, Esther (Jackie Tohn), whose marriage has sundered after Esther decided she was unhappy and needed “space to find herself.” There is something of Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina” in the contrasting domestic trajectories: Joanne and Noah accept sacrifices in pursuit of a shared future, while Esther pursues personal fulfillment at the expense of the family she already has.

Esther plunges into dating apps and real estate, hoping to spice up her life, while Sasha struggles to comprehend the sudden disappearance of the marriage around which he built his identity. It hardly helps that his friends, particularly Joanne’s sister Morgan (Justine Lupe), pepper him with advice to seek solace in sleeping with other people. Sasha confides in Morgan that when Esther left, he scarcely knew how to exist without her. Their growing intimacy yields the season’s finest episode, a trip to New York where Morgan appears on “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen” and the unlikely pair finally confront their burgeoning romance.

The complications that follow expose the trouble with becoming entangled with someone still trying to “figure out” a marriage. Marriage isn’t a spectrum; you’re either married or you’re not. Yet showrunner Erin Foster’s writing also conveys something increasingly unfashionable in popular entertainment: Marriage and family demand sacrifice, fidelity, and a willingness to place obligations above personal gratification. Esther’s reasons for upending her family remain frustratingly nebulous, amounting to little beyond restlessness and unhappiness. Joanne, meanwhile, prepares to celebrate her last Christmas and revises her long-cherished wedding expectations, all to build a life with the man she loves.

But is Noah worthy of such devotion? It has become increasingly difficult to separate him from the dimwit actor portraying him, and I wonder whether Brody understands the character he inhabits. Roklov is a wearer of many hats: a romantic, a rabbi, a man who observes the Sabbath (albeit occasionally while smoking a joint with Joanne), delivers sermons on the High Holidays, and is committed to raising a Jewish family. Brody, meanwhile, seems happy to draw upon Jewish identity for his familiar brand of neurotic charm, yet speaks of the Jewish state with a glibness that makes his identity and onscreen vocation seem cosmetic.

His remarks have drawn a pointed rebuke from Tovah Feldshuh, who plays Noah’s formidable mother, Bina, while Foster herself has publicly disagreed with Brody and described the series as a “love letter to Judaism.” There is an irony in the fact that the show’s convert creator appears to understand the gravity of Jewish continuity more deeply than the actor paid to embody it.

Despite its meandering second season and Brody’s offscreen pedantry, Season 3 may be the strongest installment yet, delivering moments of genuinely touching romance amid the emotional wreckage of its supporting characters. Noah’s proposal is particularly thoughtful; I will spare readers the details, but to the men watching, take notes.

Whether Netflix grants “Nobody Wants This” a fourth season remains uncertain. Perhaps next time Noah will show up at shul wearing a keffiyeh instead of a tallit. For now, if Foster can maintain this level of writing, it will be a great mitzvah.

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Harry Khachatrian (@Harry1T6) is a film critic for the Washington Examiner. He is a software engineer, holds a master’s degree from the University of Toronto, and writes about wine at BetweenBottles.com.

This article is part of Upstream, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.

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