The penultimate episode of this season of Nobody Wants This is in many ways the thematic climax of the series thus far. Three storylines that had been developing from either the beginning of this season (in the case of Morgan and Dr. Andy) or the beginning of this series (in the case of Esther and Sasha), reach a fever pitch, ending on an emotional cliffhanger for the finale to capitalize on.

Be warned: spoilers ahead.

The episode begins with Joanne and Noah looking for a new place for Joanne to live. She was evicted at the end of the last episode. Joanne throws out the idea of getting a three-bedroom house for their future, implying that she wants to move in with Noah. Reluctantly, Noah tells Joanne that it’s just not the right time. Joanne says that she’s “fine” with not moving in with Noah and returns to her search. Noah tells Sasha about this exchange and Sasha criticizes Noah because he doesn’t realize that Joanne isn’t actually “fine”.

Joanne shows up at Morgan’s house with an olive branch to try to amend their recent fight over Joanne’s lack of support for Dr. Andy. Joanne apologizes and reveals that she’s really there because she got evicted. Morgan admits she was the one who told Fabrizio, Joanne’s old landlord, to check out the podcast episode in which Joanne admits to ruining the pool. The sisters make up, declaring themselves even. Morgan asks Joanne why she doesn’t just move in with Noah, and Joanne says that Noah isn’t ready. Morgan tells Joanne that maybe it’s for the best, since Morgan and Dr. Andy are now in couples therapy for moving too fast and seeing Dr. Andy’s ex-girlfriend. Joanne resists the urge to say, “I told you so.” Joanne invites Morgan, Dr. Andy, Sasha, Esther, and Noah to a beer garden so the gang can get to know Dr. Andy better.

In couples therapy, it seems the therapist knows Dr. Andy and has some ulterior motive. She met up with him for drinks before their session and knows all about Dr. Andy’s escapades with his former patients. The therapist tells the two to get to know each other better.

At the beer garden, Esther dreams about the peacefulness of living alone, which makes Sasha curious as to how committed Esther is to their relationship. At the beer garden, Morgan brings a card game called “Go Deep,” which encourages its players to ask deep questions to their group- what could go wrong! The game starts out fine, but quickly takes a turn after Esther says that her deepest fantasy is to live alone with no kids and no husband. Sasha gets upset at this because again, Esther is hinting at the fact that she might want to live alone. Noah quickly changes the topic as he picks a card, but things only get worse when he asks, “What is a difficult decision you made recently?” Instead of choosing the decision to not live with Joanne, he says that the difficult decision was leaving Temple Chai. Now Joanne and Noah are mad at each other, leaving it to Dr. Andy and Morgan to break the tension at the table. Dr. Andy’s question leads him to reveal that he has a twin brother, which completely surprises Morgan. All three couples are now fighting at the beer garden. The stakes are raised again after Sasha starts talking about his experience practicing Jiu-Jitsu. Nobody seems to know that he’s taken up this hobby, which makes Sasha extremely angry because he’s told all of them about it multiple times. Sasha started doing Jiu-Jitsu because he was depressed at work, so the fact that no one noticed this new passion makes him all the angrier. Sasha yells at Dr. Andy and Morgan for making them play the game solely because Morgan doesn’t know much about Dr. Andy; he yells at Esther for not taking any interest in his life; and he yells at Noah for not committing to Joanne.

On the way home, Joanne and Noah discuss their future. Joanne criticizes Noah for not committing to their relationship enough. Noah reveals that his main holdup with their relationship is the possibility that Joanne might not convert to Judaism. Joanne tells Noah that she might convert, but if he can’t accept her for who she is, then he shouldn’t accept her at all. The episode ends with Joanne and Noah agreeing to take a break from their relationship.

This episode hits all the right places. Finally, Sasha is getting some of the respect he deserves from Esther and Noah. Instead of being a punching bag or a vehicle to discuss their problems, Sasha is putting his needs first. Morgan and Dr. Andy are having some much-needed conflicts, which gives Morgan some clarity and reveals some of Dr. Andy’s craziness. Noah and Joanne are finally forced to confront the issue that the whole series has been built on: whether their relationship can succeed if Joanne doesn’t convert.

Looking at the episode in a vacuum, ignoring the previous ones, it’s the perfect example of a television bottle episode— an episode in which all the characters are in one space and forced to confront their problems. While most bottle episodes take place inside an actual enclosed space, think “The Fly” from Breaking Bad or “Leslie and Ron” from Parks and Rec, this episode serves the same purpose, even though none of the characters could technically leave the situation. However, all characters are somewhat locked into their emotional relationships. Dr. Andy and Morgan are engaged, Esther and Sasha are married with kids, and Noah quit his job for his relationship with Joanne. All three of these couples might not be physically trapped in a space, but they are all definitely emotionally locked in their relationships.

Rating: 9/10