Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for Nobody Wants This.

The Jewish female characters in Netflix’s Nobody Wants This are a force to be reckoned with when it comes to protecting tradition… but that’s about it. It’s glaringly evident that there’s nothing to them beyond imposing their traditional values, meddling with happy relationships, dominating their husbands, and altogether insulting people from afar. Nobody Wants This is a raunchy, passionate, (but still cheesy) romance that gives its central couple plenty to think about — but there’s much left to be desired in terms of the show’s supporting Jewish female characters.

‘Nobody Wants This’ Is About an Unconventional Relationship

Nobody Wants This sees agnostic podcaster Joanne (Kristen Bell) falling in love with Noah (Adam Brody), a Jewish rabbi on track to become the head rabbi at his synagogue. Noah has just broken up with his Jewish girlfriend, who was adored by his family. When he and Joanne begin to connect, the reality of his family’s traditions and customs starts to intimidate Joanne. It becomes clear to Joanne that dating a non-Jewish girl is something of a backward step for Noah, although he earnestly pursues the relationship. While Joanne already contemplates the quality of her character, the stakes are raised when she learns that she will need to convert to Judaism if she wants to remain by his side. The two trudge through religious differences, dysfunctional families, and past relationships to make things work between them.

The Jewish Women in ‘Nobody Wants This’ Are One-Dimensional

Erin Foster, the creator of Nobody Wants This, admitted in an interview with Jewish feminist publication Hey Alma that her depiction of Jewish women in the series “wasn’t really something I was thinking about too much.” The series’ central relationship is based on Foster’s love life, as she translated her own experience in converting to Judaism to marry her husband through the character of Joanne. However, the surrounding female Jewish characters are also perceived through Joanne’s lens, as they become a consistent source of conflict. Some viewers and critics have voiced disappointment at the series’ high volume of Jewish-women-are-mean jokes and gags at the expense of accurate representation. TIME called the series “a tourist’s view of Judaism with an outsider’s observation of Jewish women.”

Esther (Jackie Tohn), Noah’s sister-in-law, is ostensibly cold toward Joanne for the entire season, but it only seems to be on behalf of Noah’s mother and his ex-girlfriend, Rebecca (Emily Arlook), who are both other Jewish women. Esther has also gained the respect of Rebecca’s other female friends and is established as the leader of the group, but the reason for this still only seems to come from the fact that she is a generally bossy, uptight, and scary individual. Noah’s mother, Bina (Tovah Feldshuh), starts her relationship with Joanne with seriously low expectations. She openly lectures Joanne for having what she considers an unsavory lifestyle and for having no respect for herself, arguing, “No woman should act this way.” Bina’s impossible-to-impress attitude is directly influenced by tradition (as opposed to Joanne, whose moral foundation is, decidedly, about as solid as gravel). Her primary concern is especially directed toward Joanne as a potential wife for her respected rabbi son, and she solidifies her position with Noah by stating, “I don’t mind looking like the overprotective mother.”

In trying to befriend each of the WAGs – that’s “wives and girlfriends” – of Noah’s basketball teammates (and, by extension, Esther) Joanne invites them to play a drinking game while at one of the basketball games. By the end of the game, Esther has loosened up enough to agree to a double date with Joanne and Noah. Before that, Esther is only mildly annoyed by Joanne’s presence, making sly remarks about her being more detestable to Bina. Once she makes an acquaintance out of Esther, the next hurdle to get over is Bina — sorry, “Mrs. Roklov.” After the devout Jewish mother is caught eating Joanne’s gift of charcuterie prosciutto, Joanne successfully wins Bina’s respect when she covers for her, but it still doesn’t mean a blessing for her relationship with Noah.

Jewish Women Are All the Same in Entertainment, and That’s a Problem

Image via Netflix

The stigma that the entertainment industry has given Jewish women has been worn out. In addition to Esther and Bina’s behavior in Nobody Wants This, there is a scene where Noah gives a sermon at synagogue, and when the service is over, he is met with a gaggle of mothers attempting to win their single daughters a certified husband in the “hot rabbi” by flashing them in his face. We’ve seen this before in other media. Midge and Joel’s mothers relentlessly push other Jewish dates at them in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Fran Fine’s entire lineage of loud and pushy women live their lives in pursuit of just one of them getting married to a Jewish doctor in The Nanny. Even Barry B. Benson’s mother in Bee Movie is all but stereotypical, only concerning herself with her capable adult son’s appearance, his career, and his relationship with Vanessa, as she throws in, “I just hope she’s Beeish.” Apart from mothers, a plethora of Jewish female characters in film and TV have either been made the butt of the joke for their ethnic features or made the antagonist for their persistent nagging, nit-picking, and seemingly innate sense of control. As with most character-building, there may be some degree of truth to these exaggerations, but the stereotypes have grown tired.

Nobody Wants This may still have time to redeem its female characters from long-lived stereotypes of Jewish women in a second season. Although traditional cultural values are evidently important to the women in the series, they definitely don’t all deserve to be lacking in dimension just for the sake of conflict. A potential Season 2 could round out the judgy, naggy, domineering vessels they serve as through the initial story. There could be more to these women than we’ve been privy to so far, and they deserve the chance to be fleshed out into more three-dimensional characters.

Nobody Wants This is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.