Nobody Wants This Recap: Waiting For The Right Mother-in-Law

As a seasoned observer of human dynamics, I must say that “Nobody Wants This” seems to be a fascinating exploration of relationships, particularly familial ones. The characters are well-crafted and their interactions, while at times predictable, are relatable and engaging.

Eventually, Joanne could no longer postpone this encounter. With the tumultuous events surrounding her contemplation of conversion and the heated argument she had with Morgan about Noah, it’s now time for Joanne to meet up with Bina Roklov. Brace yourself.

Joanne appears quite composed in this situation, despite the significance of meeting Noah’s parents. She understands how much his parents mean to him, but she seems confident in her own skin, letting others decide whether they like her or not. Her parents don’t offer much guidance on such a significant relationship milestone. In fact, Lynn claims meeting Henry’s parents was effortless. “That’s because they were both deceased already,” her ex-husband points out. Moreover, they provide no advice on converting to Judaism, and Joanne even has to explain the terms ‘converting’ and ‘Judaism’ to them. Her mother merely responds with confusion, “Oh, that sounds interesting. I’m not sure.” Lynn remains a reliable friend, having supported me even before we learn about her habit of dismissing jury summonses due to her sympathies with the accused.

In this situation, Lynn and Henry seem unwilling to intervene in Joanne’s romantic troubles with Noah, but they are deeply troubled by the disagreement between their daughters. When they discover themselves in a Parent Trap-like scenario, Joanne expresses her distress saying, “I feel like I’m being torn apart,” indicating the emotional turmoil she experiences. This unexpected confrontation does little to alleviate the growing tension: Joanne continues to view Morgan as a habitual liar, while Morgan still sees her sister as delusional for pursuing a man who is not a serious prospect. (And both are still deeply hurt by their sister’s labeling of each other as desperate.)

Joanne might suspect Morgan is being dishonest, yet it’s clear she’s speaking truthfully since, following the argument, Morgan rings up her friend Sasha to clarify Noah’s situation. She shares with him the same story she told Joanne: Rebecca claims they will reconcile. Sasha doubts this – Noah confides in him. “Wait a minute, could he be hiding this from me? That’s tough to accept,” Morgan muses, making it seem like it’s all about him. It still appears unusual (and inconsistent with the show’s usual tone) for Noah to manipulate Joanne in this manner, but Morgan insists that Rebecca told her this. Something suspicious is definitely happening, folks!

Eventually, truth will unveil itself: The Main Act. With an air of assurance, Joanne approaches the Roklov mansion. Noah purchased a present for his mother that he believes she’ll appreciate, but Joanne declines—she has her own gift and is determined to succeed with it.

Joanne’s presentation of the elaborate charcuterie board was not impressive. The beautifully crafted board, made specifically for her, indeed contained pork, which she mistakenly believed to be a fancy type of Italian beef. However, everyone present knew that it was actually prosciutto. When asked if they could simply avoid it since it wasn’t kosher, the group discovered that the prosciutto had contaminated the entire board. Bina promptly instructed their housekeeper to discard it. Coincidentally, Noah’s gift was impeccable. The charcuterie mishap, combined with Bina unexpectedly finding Joanne and Noah on Noah’s childhood bed, made for a challenging beginning. (Noah’s present, of course, was flawless.) This charcuterie incident, along with Bina stumbling upon Joanne and Noah kissing on Noah’s old bed, got things off to a rocky start.

To begin with, Joanne seems to be having a tough time adjusting, while Esther is thriving. Given Bina’s dislike towards the newcomer, Esther finds herself in a favorable position as Bina’s cherished daughter-in-law. Remarkably, Bina allows Esther, of all people, to prepare cucumbers in her own kitchen. Esther appears close to fainting when she hears Bina say, “I trust you.

The situation intensifies during brunch as the family gathers, primarily due to Joanne’s unwillingness to feign identity for acceptance and Bina’s frank criticism of Joanne’s lifestyle choices. Matters worsen when Bina questions Joanne about her podcast, expressing disbelief that people pay for such content. “Indeed, that’s how I earn my living,” Joanna replies nonchalantly, deflecting the remark. The conversation then shifts to Bina discussing her busy motherhood and its importance over personal matters. She criticizes the podcast as inappropriate, stating, “No woman should behave this way.” The shocking moment arrives when Noah defends his girlfriend against his mother, saying, “Mom, enough.” The room falls silent when Bina leaves, with Esther exclaiming, “Oh my god, I will never forget this moment!” Clearly, this incident has secured a place in her memory forever. Esther realizes that she now holds the upper hand, as no one will care about the rule against drinking red wine in the house anymore. Esther is thriving.

In essence, since Joanne believes this situation concerns her and Bina alone, she takes it upon herself to investigate in the kitchen. However, I must admit that I’m not entirely comfortable with how Nobody Wants This is portraying the Jewish mother stereotype in a straightforward manner. Yet, if this is necessary for us to witness the heartwarming encounter between Kristen Bell and Tovah Feldshuh where Joanne discovers her boyfriend’s mother hiding prosciutto in her kitchen, I suppose we can tolerate it. Bina has been discovered, and immediately, Joanne realizes she now holds the advantage. Rather than exposing Bina publicly, she instead uses this leverage to make Bina more cordial towards her. The joy on Joanne’s face as she leads Bina back to the table, affectionately calling her “my girl, Bina,” is a pleasure to observe. Kristen Bell skillfully mines every bit of humor from this entire scenario. Joanne will shield Bina provided Bina behaves nicely.

Next thing you know, Joanne has a glass full of red wine, and Bina asks her real questions about her podcast. The pact seems especially sealed once Sasha walks out and announces that someone, in fact, ate all the prosciutto and Joanne takes the hit. Yep, even though the whole charcuterie board was tossed in the trash. She isn’t proud of it, she says, but admits that she “fished it out of the garbage and [she] ate it, like a raccoon.” Bina owes her big time. And yet, she seems to genuinely come around on Joanne by the end of the afternoon. When Joanne tells her she hasn’t gotten married yet because she’s “a hopeless romantic — [she] just hasn’t found the right mother-in-law yet,” Bina laughs so much that Sasha asks if she’s having a stroke; He’s never seen his mom laugh so earnestly. She’s done such a 180 on the podcast thing that now she thinks she could be a good guest. Noah confirms that his mother is a great storyteller, and every story comes with a lesson. Bina launches into a long-winded story about being in New York City for the first time with her grandmother, who got a cold, and Bina winds up alone at the hotel bar. It ends with “Anyway, Frank Sinatra got me drunk and then he stuck his thumb in my mouth.” Confused, horrified, impressed maybe, Noah asks what the lesson is in that story: “Keep your mouth shut around Frank.” Honestly, you know Bina would be a great podcast guest. Sign her up! She’s definitely better than that aura guy.

It seems that Bina is either skillfully acting friendly with Joanne or genuinely enjoying her company, as everything else at the brunch runs smoothly.

It appears that the situation is a bit of a mix. When Bina takes Joanne aside for farewell, she expresses her surprise at finding herself liking Joanne more than expected. Then, she embraces her: “However, you’ll never be with my son.” Just as I was expecting Nobody Wants This to explore a fresh take on this character, it seems we’re back to the original setup.

Good news! It seems like Joanne’s rift with her sister won’t last too long. During brunch, our friend discovers two intriguing tidbits of information that are sure to shake things up. First, it turns out that Rebecca set Morgan up – she knew who Morgan was all along and fabricated stories about Morgan and Noah to create chaos. Sasha, being married to the secret-keeper, can’t reveal this information, but on his way out, he overhears a heated argument between Joanne and Morgan about Rebecca. As the only one privy to the full story, there’s no doubt that our friend will struggle to keep such juicy gossip to himself. After all, he’s too kind-hearted, and this scandalous news is simply too tempting.

2024-09-28 03:55

Nobody Wants This Recap: Waiting For The Right Mother-in-Law

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