Romantic comedies rarely have sequels and with good reason. The kind of energy that makes rom-coms so enjoyable isn’t generally reproducible without diminishing results. At best, you end up with some idealized version of passionate love that’s fun to observe but feels entirely unrelatable. At worst, you end up stuck with another frustrating go-round. Missed communications and second-act breakups pile up, feeling less and less like obstacles to overcome on the way to true love. Instead, they scream like red flag warnings about the general health of the relationship. So the deck is stacked against Nobody Wants This Season 2 from the start. That only makes its second season the more impressive.

I’m on the record as someone who has little interest in will-they-won’t-they dynamics. Protracted romances that keep their lovers apart with bad communication and overreaction leave me cold. As a result, I approached Nobody Wants This Season 2 with trepidation. Would another 10 episodes of rom-com tropes be digestible?

The series answers the question by grounding the choices Joanne (Kristen Bell) and Noah (Adam Brody) make in realistic consequences. Noah’s refusal to either force her conversion to Judaism or cast her aside directly impacts his career in a way that feels challenging without being overblown. In turn, Noah’s reticence to “play a role” on Joanne’s podcast continues to cause friction between her and her sister, Morgan (Justine Lupe), as explicit, humorous honesty has been the key to their success to date.

However, the show also avoids prolonging conflicts unnecessarily. While the issue of conversion—a considerably weightier issue than your average rom-com dispute—hangs over everything, the interstitial conflicts are set up and knocked down with reasonable speed. Even better, that extends to the other characters as well. Esther’s (Jackie Tohn) jealousy at her husband Sasha’s (Timothy Simons, no relation) friendship with Morgan is brought up, farmed for several rapid jokes, and set in its proper place all over the course of one episode. An added bonus is that, while it acknowledges the possibly problematic dynamics of a married man having a secret friendship with a woman, it ultimately comes down on the side of it being both good and possible for Sasha and Morgan’s friendship to be honest and nonsexual.

All of the above isn’t exactly comedic, which might be the one ding against Nobody Wants This Season 2. It isn’t that it isn’t funny, just that it isn’t AS funny as Season 1. There are jokes, certainly, and good ones. Additionally, several characters get to be funnier in more well-rounded ways. A complaint by some after the first season—an issue I probably should’ve noticed but whiffed on—was that the major Jewish women characters got stuck as wreckers of fun and little more. This time out, Tohn in particular gets significantly more nuance. Still funny, but more three-dimensional. So while the jokes have lessened, they’ve grown in thoughtfulness and specificity.

Recently, Seth Rogen, also here as a Rabbi but cool, discussed on a podcast how visuals often receive short shrift in comedies. It is thus to this show’s credit that it seems to care about elements like location. I wouldn’t declare it the most visually compelling comedy of the year, as two other Rogen shows, The Studio and Platonic, have it beat. However, Nobody Wants This Season 2 makes an effort, here and last year, to place itself in a time and place.

Its treatment of LA avoids clichés without rendering it generic. It utilizes landmarks and particular local architecture styles well, without overdoing it. Finally, when the moment calls for it, the show delivers scenes with distinctive visual pops that complement the scripting and the acting. It is nice to watch a show, a Netflix show besides, that doesn’t treat its appearance as an afterthought.

So, yes, somehow Nobody Wants This Season 2 keeps the rom-com rolling by getting wiser and deeper. While keeping the incredibly appealing Brody and Bell centered, it wisely widens its lens to give Lupe, Simons, and Tohn more to do and more notes to play. That especially pays off in the case of Tohn, who might just be this season’s MVP. (Although her onscreen husband Simons certainly gives her a run for the money.) Once again, this writer has no choice but to conclude many will—and should—want this.

Nobody Wants This Season 2 is all setup to record at Netflix’s kitchen table now.

Nobody Wants This Season 2 Trailer: