It feels impressive that the Sex and the City reboot And Just Like That… on HBO Max has lasted three seasons. I mean, remember how bad the second Sex and the City movie was? But And Just Like That.. leans hard into fan service, giving us the characters, the costuming, and the luxe NYC-ness of it all, while also trying some new things, too. And not all of that new stuff has worked. But this season, it feels like things are starting to gel (maybe it’s just that the spectre of Che Diaz no longer looms overhead?) but the cast is smaller and the stories feel more like those in the original series. Yes, there are still moments where it’s awkward, but that cringe factor is part of the Sex and the City brand, but this season feels like the whole show is moving in a more confident direction.
Opening Shot: Carrie’s new cat, Shoe, perches on the windowsill of Carrie’s new house – on the edge of Gramercy Park, one of New York’s toniest addesses. The camera pans across a massive closet filled with Carrie’s designer dresses. The rest of the house isn’t as neatly organized. Carrie sits at a desk writing Aidan a postcard with no words, just a simple heart drawn on it.
The Gist: You’ll recall that at the end of last season, Carrie had thought that she’d be spending her days with Aidan in this big new house, but because Aidan’s son Wyatt has been going through some substance abuse stuff, Aidan told Carrie he needed five years (!) to be a parent and not be an active participant in their relationship. And so, Carrie is waiting patiently, sending Aidan non-verbal postcards, pining. Carrie’s not single, but she’s also not with the man she loves, she’s just in a long-term holding pattern, and she mostly seems okay with it and/or doesn’t think will actually last that long. And besides, there’s always phone sex…
Anthony (Mario Cantone) questions Carrie about what all of this means, standing in for the audience as he peppers her with questions about how long Aidan will really be gone and what this means for their relationship. It causes friction, at first, because it forces Carrie to consider that she might not even know their timeline. (Eventually, Anthony apologizes for getting too personal.)
Meanwhile, single Miranda is putting herself out there and going to gay bars, where she meets a cool woman her own age named Mary (Rosie O’Donnell) and hooks up with her, only to learn Mary is a nun who was, before that night, a virgin. Never stop making me cringe, AJLT! Mary, it turns out, is super clingy and Miranda is both annoyed that she won’t stop texting her, but also a little guilty for deflowering a nun, so she doesn’t explicitly ghost Mary.
Charlotte hopefully will have a deeper storyline this season – remember when she was going back to work at a gallery last season and struggling for Harry to pick up some of the slack at home? – but so far, she’s just a defiant dog-mom, defending Richard Burton against some false accusations that he attacked a dog off his leash.
And in what is probably the storyline I’m most invested in, Herbert Wexley (Chris Jackson) is indeed still running for comptroller. Why am I invested? I mean, never in my life have I heard anyone say the word comptroller as much as the Wexleys. And more importantly, he is worried that he’s not gonna be a cool comptroller. Herbert’s wife, Lisa Todd Wexley (Nicole Ari Parker) is working on a documentary for PBS about unsung Black women, and while she tries to make her pitch to the producers, Herbert literally calls her, worried that he’s not cool. This is unhinged behavior on Herbert’s part, but in truth, what marriage hasn’t endured weird phone calls like this? Lisa assures him, “Herbert, you are running for city comptroller, there is nothing cool about that.”
There’s very little going on on this first episode that doesn’t have to do with our core group of women and their relationships; later episodes this season will branch out into the larger universe, with situations set st Charlotte and LTW’s kid’s schools, or featuring Aidan’s ex, Kathy, but the season kicks off purely, easing us back into what it’s like to be a woman in her 50s who is either in or looking for a relationship, reminding us where the show all began.
Our Take: As a devoted fan of Sex and the City, I love the continued existence and evolution of this cast of characters – for nostalgia’s sake, and because I still think the show has something left in the tank. But that’s not to say the show has been wildly uneven and completely polarizing throughout all three of its seasons. Killing off Big, Stanford becoming a monk, the addition of new friend sidekicks for everyone, Che Diaz’s comedy career: these are all things that people have capital O Opinions about, and some of these big swings have worked, while others totally haven’t. It finally seems though, after three seasons, like this reboot has trimmed out a lot of what wasn’t working, and is leaning into what does.
Sara Ramirez, who played Che, is no longer on the show, so this season has led to Miranda being involved with Rosie O’Donnell as a nun – a storyline I didn’t see coming but, between this appearance and her turn on Hacks, I’m here for the Rosie resurgence. But there were moments, both in Miranda and Mary’s awkward interactions, and while watching Carrie and Aidan’s phone sex, that were cringey, but cringey in a way that only this show can deliver. This show has always blended real humor with sweaty awkwardness (Carrie being chased down the stairwell of Big’s apartment by Natasha, Miranda yelling “Mommy’s coming!” at baby Brady while she’s having sex… I couldn’t help but wonder, has SATC given me PTSD?) and this season they’re going all in on the humoir, on the cringe, and on really trying to resolve something for these women. Carrie, Miranda and Seema all now represent various versions of hope – they’re single (or in Carrie’s case, partnered up but alone) – a hope for the ideal relationship that has eluded them for years. Charlotte and LTW represent the balance. Work, family, love, all present but flawed and challenging. As an audience, it’s hard not to feel those same things – hope that the writers don’t disappoint us and completely rewrite the show’s legacy, while still pushing the characters forward, and acknowledging the delicate balance of doing just that.
Sex and Skin: While the first episode of the season features shockingly little actual sex, Carrie Bradshaw (and SJP) get more intimate than I think we’ve ever seen thanks to a phone sex scene with Aidan filled with dirty talk and masturbation. For a woman who has always kept her bra on, this felt kind of revelatory for Carrie.
Parting Shot: Unable to sleep, Carrie gets out of bed to sit at her neglected laptop. She begins to type – not in first person as usual, but what seems to be the first line of a fictional story. “The woman wondered what she had gotten herself into,” she taps. And just like that, Carrie’s life without Aidan this season has a new purpose.
Performance Worth Watching: Everyone is doing their shtick and so far, there aren’t any major standout performances, but I am thrilled that Anthony’s boyfriend Giuseppe (Sebastiano Pigazzi) is back. Notably, there is one performer missing from this season, in case you forgot: Karen Pittman, who played Miranda’s friend Nya Wallace doesn’t show up this season (disappointing, because she had a promising romance budding at the end of season two with a hot chef). Her presence in season two was already a bit limited, but her absence from season three is not the result of any ill-will, she was just busy filming Netflix’s Forever.
Memorable Dialogue: “Why aren’t you holed up in your gorgeous house splitting some rails with Paul Bunyan?” Anthony asks Carrie when he realizes Aidan hasn’t been around for a while. Classic Anthony.
Our Call: This season of And Just Like That… is, so far at least, judging from the press screeners we’ve been sent, firing on all cylinders. The jokes are funny (and punny), the characters feel like they’re back to their old familiar selves, and the remaining supporting characters are all a positive addition to the show. STREAM IT.
Liz Kocan is a pop culture writer living in Massachusetts. Her biggest claim to fame is the time she won on the game show Chain Reaction.