A few weeks ago, Sex and the City fans found themselves in a frenzy when Sarah Jessica Parker seemingly teased that Carrie Bradshaw would be moving back into her iconic brownstone apartment in And Just Like That… Season 3. However, the latest episode of AJLT, aka the penultimate installment in the entire series, crush these dreams.
**Spoilers for And Just Like That… Season 3 Episode 11 “Forget About the Boy,” now streaming on HBO MAX**
Carrie does return to her old Upper East Side address in And Just Like That… Season 3 Episode 11 “Forget About the Boy,” but it’s soon clear that the location has undergone a radical change. Lisette (Katerina Tannenbaum) has erected walls, making the unit into a two bedroom place so she doesn’t have to live alone.
Even if Carrie spends the final episode of And Just Like That… buying the apartment back from Lisette, she’d still have to renovate the unit to make it anything like it was before. As Carrie herself points out, you really can’t go home again.
So what does this all mean for the And Just Like That… finale and Carrie’s future? And why were fans so excited by the possibility that Carrie could return? Here’s everything you need to know about Carrie’s living situation in And Just Like That…
Carrie Bradshaw is a character who has long been associated with very specific things: Manolo Blahniks and Jimmy Choo shoes, Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood dresses, and a dreamy one bedroom on the Upper East Side.
After Big’s (Chris Noth) death in And Just Like That… Season 1, Carrie returned to her old place as an emotional sanctuary during her grief. It was as if she were reclaiming a key part of herself. In Season 2, Carrie reconnects with Aidan (John Corbett), but he’s haunted by the negative memories of their breakup in the apartment. Carrie makes a huge sacrifice for love. She sells the apartment to neighbor Lisette and buys a gorgeous duplex in Gramercy Park. The idea is there’s enough room for her, Aidan, and Aidan’s teen boys.
About halfway through And Just Like That… Season 3, it became obvious that Carrie was dragging her (designer) heels when it came to settling into the duplex. When Sarah Jessica Parker stopped by Watch What Happens Live in July, Andy Cohen asked her what was up with the delay and added that he “likes her old place better.” When Parker coyly smiled and shrugged, Cohen asked aloud, “Oh! Oh, my God. Is she moving back to the old place?”
“I don’t know, maybe,” Parker replied.
In And Just Like That… Season 3 Episode 11, Carrie has to confront the fact that she now lives alone in the massive Gramercy House. She’s clearly uncomfortable with all the extra space and misses her old neighborhood. Lisette invites Carrie over for a party, which our girl reluctantly attends. She’s nervous about going back. However, Carrie doesn’t recognize the apartment. A new generation has taken it over.
Carrie’s own admission that she can’t go home again suggests that, no, Carrie will not be moving back to the old place. She visited it, yes. Which is probably why SJP was so reluctant to drop spoilers. But Carrie’s probably not going back in next week’s And Just Like That… series finale. So where will she end up?
The And Just Like That… series finale premieres on Thursday, August 14 at 9 PM ET on HBO MAX.