Diksha Sundriyal
In the second season of Netflix’s ‘Nobody Wants This,’ Noah and Joanne move forward from their honeymoon period. Now that the warmth and glow of the initial days of romance come to an end, they must confront the struggles of keeping the relationship through the many ups and downs. Over the course of ten episodes, we see the couple try to hold on to each other, even as more and more conflicts emerge between them. At the heart of it, however, remains the one question that has been plaguing them since Season 1: the question of Joanne’s conversion. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Joanne’s Conversion Becomes a Major Point of Conflict in Her Relationship With Noah
With Noah being a rabbi, it becomes clear in the Season 1 finale that Joanne will have to confront the question of conversion. It is clear that if Noah wants to move forward in his career and get his dream job of leading the temple, he must have a Jewish wife. This means that Joanne will have to convert. If not that, then Noah may have to give up on his dream. The duo decides to shelve this problem for the future in Season 1, but the more they push it forward, the more complicated things become. For one, it makes Noah hesitant about seeing a future with Joanne.
While he loves her, he knows that conversion is a deal-breaker for him, especially after it makes him lose his job at Temple Chai. When he gets a new job at Temple Ahava, he is relieved to discover that they are not as strict about rules, which means that Noah can be a rabbi and have a non-Jewish wife. He wished Joanne to move forward in her own timeline, but the more time passes, the more impatient he starts to get. Eventually, when Joanne proposes the idea of moving in together, the conflict bubbles to the surface. Noah clarifies that moving in together is a big step, and he wants to take it, but he knows that the relationship might not survive if Joanne doesn’t convert.
She tries to explain to him that she is trying to find her own path and pace, but she cannot guarantee that she will be confirmed about conversion soon. So, at the end of the day, it seems fair that they mustn’t hold the other person back or push anyone to do something they are not ready for. In the final episode, during Morgan and Dr. Andy’s engagement party, Noah breaks up with Joanne. He tells her that he loves her, but he cannot put pressure on her to convert, and he cannot give himself false hope either. This leaves them both in a limbo, and neither deserves that. He is heartbroken at the decision, but he thinks this is the best way to go forward, and so, the duo parts ways.
Joanne and Noah’s Reflection on Their Relationship Leads to Their Reunion
After the breakup, Joanne comes across Esther, who has also made a difficult decision about her marriage to Sasha. When she notices that Joanne doesn’t look, she sets aside her issues and talks about what’s going on with her. When Joanne says that she and Noah might be done for good, she is shocked. She asks why they broke up, and Joanne reveals that she is still trying to find her moment of clarity about converting to Judaism. Esther points out that Joanne has been looking at this whole thing the wrong way. She has built an idea in her head about what it means to be Jewish, but hasn’t realized that she is already Jewish. Esther points out that all of Joanne’s traits, from her love for her family to the way she talks and thinks, already make her Jewish. This makes Joanne realize that she had been overthinking it all this time.
Earlier in the conversation, she confesses that her breakup with Noah will make her miss Shabbat and all the other traditions she had picked up and gotten to love, even the superstitions. By the end of the conversation, she is convinced that she must get back together with Noah. Meanwhile, he has the same realization. After breaking up with Joanne, he leaves the party, and as he walks away, he looks back at all the good moments that they had. It doesn’t take him much to realize that he and Joanne had a great thing going, and conversion is not something worth losing his soulmate for.
The moment he realizes this, he runs back to the building, unaware of the fact that Joanne is leaving the building to find him at the same time. After not finding her at the party, he leaves the building again, and after one round around the block, he and Joanne finally come face to face. He confesses his love for her and tells her that she doesn’t need to convert for him. He loves her, no matter if she is Jewish or not, and wants to be with her. Before they kiss, she tells him that he’s in luck, suggesting that she has made up her mind about conversion. She will go forward with it, since, as Esther told her, she is basically Jewish. More importantly, she loves Noah and doesn’t want to give up on a chance to have a life with him.
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