Does anybody want a third serving of Nobody Wants This? (Netflix from Thursday) Kristen Bell’s binge-and-forget romcom has bobbed along anonymously, part of the deluge of middlebrow content the streamer has unleashed in its strategy to woo those of us who watch television with one-third of our brain while devoting the rest of our mental capacity to doom-scrolling or staring into space.
This makes it the quintessential Netflix show, one with huge audience numbers and less cultural impact than a random Twitter meme. But for anyone who wants to tune in and switch off (most) of their cerebellum, this third season bobs along in the same pleasant haze, with no sense that anything is ever at stake or that its cast are real characters you should care about. It’s chicken dipper TV – not unpleasant in the moment, but eminently disposable and sure to leave an aftertaste if you go overboard.
The toothlessness of the whole thing is disappointing given that it tackles the, in theory, serious subject of how couples navigate the challenges of different faiths. In this case, Bell’s Joanne is converting to Judaism, having moved in with love interest/junior rabbi Noah (Adam Brody) – but that potentially deep and meaningful topic is hand-waved away in favour of frothy laughs.
As the action picks up, Joanne and Noah are starting their new life under the same roof, and some gentle friction emerges as they navigate the struggles of sharing their personal space. For instance, Joanne can’t stand sleeping with annoying linen sheets over the quilt (fair), and Noah seems put out when she leaves early to get ahead on her relationship podcast with her younger sister, Morgan (Succession’s Justine Lupe).
The only real tension comes from Noah’s brother Sasha (Timothy Simons), whose marriage to Esther (Jackie Tohn) is crumbling; episode one ends with the devastating reveal that she’s decided to use their trial separation to try out some dating apps. Sasha is shell-shocked, though he is also a hypocrite, given that he only discovered that Esther was dating again when signing up to an app himself.
Interfaith strains and crumbling marriages are topics rich with dramatic promise, and creator Erin Foster is an expert on the trials of dating, having once worked as co-creative head at the app Bumble. But Nobody Wants This is so determined to maintain its frothy, floaty register that it never delivers on that potential and instead lurches harmlessly onward, not actively offensive, but a long way from memorable.
Source: The Irish Times · Ed Power
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