“And Just Like That,” it’s over.
Earlier this month, showrunner Michael Patrick King knowledgeable the world that the long-awaited, extremely anticipated after which virtually universally hated sequel to HBO’s groundbreaking collection “Sex and the City” would finish. Mere weeks later, it did simply that and somewhat abruptly, with two Thanksgiving-themed episodes, which felt a bit odd in these canine days of summer season. However no less than it allowed the writers to field up and tie off all the assorted storylines as in the event that they had been the medley of pies Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) picks up and delivers to all her mates in the course of the present’s finale.
Should you suppose these pies denote happiness, you’ll be proper. The principle feast at Miranda’s (Cynthia Nixon) house falls far in need of perfection — a great deal of no-shows, the looks of chef Brady’s (Niall Cunningham) passive-aggressive child mama, an undercooked turkey and a bathroom catastrophe — however in the long run, each character is left wallowing in peace and satisfaction.
Miranda lowers her defenses sufficient to inform Pleasure (Dolly Wells) that she is a recovering alcoholic, to which Pleasure responds with deep understanding. Prostate most cancers survivor Harry (Evan Handler) turns into absolutely, er, practical once more and within the afterglow, Charlotte (Kristin Davis) lastly surrenders the girly expectations she as soon as had for her nonbinary daughter Rock (Alexa Swinton). After fleeting concern that her crunchy gardener lover Adam (Logan Marshall-Inexperienced) doesn’t imagine in massive weddings and even marriage, Seema (Sarita Choudhury) accepts that true, and dedicated, love is available in all sizes and styles. As do Anthony (Mario Cantone) and Giuseppe (Sebastiano Pigazzi). Whether or not Lisa’s (Nicole Ari Parker) renewed devotion to husband Herbert (Christopher Jackson) counts as a contented ending is open to debate, however no less than he appears to be letting go of his “humiliating” loss within the New York Metropolis comptroller race.
As for Carrie, effectively, after her renewed romance with Aidan (John Corbett) grew to become blighted by distrust, she had a stunning temporary affair with Duncan (Jonathan Cake), the British biographer dwelling within the basement of her townhouse. However in the long run, she decides, by way of the novel that served as this season’s voice-over, that life in a superb Manhattan house with a closet that appears prefer it was shipped from “The Devil Wears Prada” costume division and a bunch of wonderful trustworthy mates (together with a cantankerous baker who permits her to order pies long gone the pie-ordering deadline), doesn’t require a person to be full.
After breaking apart with Aidan (John Corbett), proper, and a quick affair with Duncan (Jonathan Cake), Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) realizes she’s higher off alone.
(Craig Blankenhorn / HBO Max)
Tradition critic Mary McNamara, employees author Yvonne Villarreal and tv editor Maira Garcia examine notes on the top of one of the mentioned, if not beloved, reboots in tv historical past.
Mary McNamara: Once I wrote about “And Just Like That” a month in the past, I expressed my hope that Season 3 can be the final, so I really feel nothing however reduction (although had I identified the universe was in listening mode, I might have additionally talked about eager to win the lottery and some different issues).
I’m not frightened, as others look like, concerning the legacy of “Sex and the City,” which is throughout us in collection as disparate as “Broad City,” “Fleabag” and “Insecure.” Nor do I believe that the failure of “And Just Like That” has something to do with the present political local weather or the rise of the trad spouse or no matter scorching takes appear useful. It was merely and persistently a really unhealthy TV present.
I tuned in initially as a result of, like many, I used to be excited to see how these characters had been dealing with late middle-age life — by apparently not experiencing menopause for one factor (an early indication that feminine authenticity had fallen by the wayside) or growing any kind of inside life.
Actual crises — Carrie dropping Huge and “dealing” with Aidan’s troubled son, Miranda discovering her queerness and alcoholism, Charlotte struggling to deal with her daughter’s gender fluidity and her husband’s most cancers — had been handled performatively, as plot twists to underline, apparently, the resilience of every character and the core friendship. Not a nasty goal, however the hurdles, which growing felt like a whiteboard guidelines (podcasts! pronouns! prostate most cancers!), got here and went so quick they rapidly grew to become laughable (and never within the comedic sense), culminating with Lisa’s father dying twice.
I saved watching, as many did, not as a result of I beloved hating it, however as a result of there was a superb present in there someplace and I saved ready for it to emerge. When it didn’t — effectively, the Thanksgiving/pie finale was a bit a lot — I actually didn’t care the way it ended, so long as it did.
Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) confronts points like her alcoholism and discovering her queerness within the present, however heavy points had been handled performatively as plot twists to bolster characters’ resilience.
(Craig Blankenhorn / HBO Max)
Maira Garcia: Mary, after you wrote your column, I made a decision to take a break from the present as a result of it summarized a few of my frustrations with the reboot that appeared to return to a head this season — Aidan’s unrealistic expectations for his relationship with Carrie, the perfunctory means it addressed ADHD, the dearth of rugs on Carrie’s flooring. After all my break didn’t final lengthy as a result of I caught up and now I’m right here questioning what it was all about and what it may have been. Whereas the road from King and Parker is that this season felt like a superb place for the present to finish, primarily based on the variety of growing storylines, like Brady changing into a father, I’ve a really exhausting time believing it. However the issue of repair this present was too massive — it was higher that they ended on this chapter (whether or not or not that call was made by them).
I believe like many viewers, I simply needed to get pleasure from spending a while with these girls once more at a later stage in life after a few many years with them via reruns and the movies. However this was one thing else and whereas the addition of recent characters appeared well-intentioned, they both lacked dimension, meaty storylines or had been plain annoying (ahem, Che) — aside from Seema. I like Seema. Please get Sarita Choudhury a by-product.
Yvonne Villarreal: Uh, is it unhappy that I’m unhappy? I do know, I do know. However, look, I really feel just like the woman who cried “Che?!” too many instances and now it’s actual and it’s like I’ve been mentally positioned in that insane DIY mini lobby of Carrie’s outdated house attempting to emotionally discover my means out. Such as you, Mary, I’ve been pissed off endlessly by the collection and have lengthy felt prefer it wanted to be put out of its distress, however I nonetheless dutifully watched each episode with a bizarre mixture of enthusiasm and dread — and the neighborhood that grew (in my TikTok algorithm and in my group texts) from that shared expertise was oddly one of many brilliant spots. So for HBO Max to name my bluff by truly ending it nonetheless appears like a breakup as flabbergasting — albeit, crucial — as Berger’s Submit-it notice peace-out.
I got here in able to method this stage of my relationship to those characters the identical means I method the friendships I’ve maintained the longest — excited to catch up as soon as our schedules aligned, attempting to fill within the blanks from the lengthy absence brought on by life, however nonetheless recognizing the inspiration of who they’re and the way they’re selecting to navigate life’s curveballs. However with every passing episode, it at all times appeared like I used to be on the mistaken desk, perplexed and attempting to not be impolite with all of the “But why?” questions. Miranda’s quote from this week’s finale, as she took in essentially the most weird Thanksgiving dinner tv has ever put onscreen, felt just like the epilogue to my expertise watching all of it: “I’m not sure exactly what’s happening now, but let’s all take a breath.”
The scene the place Carrie, left, Seema, Charlotte and Lisa are on the bridal trend present, expressing their emotions about marriage, is one thing our author needed extra of within the collection. (Craig Blankenhorn / HBO Max)
I’ll mourn the potential of what this collection may have been. Like Carrie’s playful tiptoe stride via the streets in heels, the present pranced round matters that, had it walked via them with intention, would have given the collection traces of its former self. That good friend second between Seema and Carrie exterior the hair salon in Season 2 — the place the previous is reluctantly however bravely expressing that she appears like she’s being dropped now that Aidan is again within the image — was such a real peek on the vulnerability between mates that so many people valued from the unique collection. And that second from this week’s finale, the place the ladies are gathered at a bridal runway present, sharing their various emotions on marriage at this stage of their life — I simply needed to shout, “MICHAEL PATRICK KING, this is what I wanted more of!” Although, I might have most popular in the event that they had been round a desk, taking a look at one another as they shared and unpacked. I needed an prolonged scene of that, not Carrie ordering pies! I don’t wish to be teased with goodness. And that’s the way it usually felt.
Additionally, I do know it’s a comedy, though the choice to lean into the sitcom model of humor stays perplexing (Harry and Charlotte, I’m taking a look at you), however I felt like there was a option to discover grief — the dying of Mr. Huge and Stanford, plus the pressure on the group’s friendship with Samantha — in a means that felt more true to the characters and the model of the present. Heck, even Miranda’s ingesting drawback was squandered. I really feel just like the lack of a partner (via dying, divorce or emotional distance), the fading out of friendships and reconsideration of life-style habits are essentially the most talked-about matters in my good friend group at this stage in my life — typically the convos occur whereas we’re huddled round a Chili’s triple dipper, which is as bleak and actual because it will get. And I’m sorry, but when I had been to make use of a kind of outings, once I’m in my mid-50s, to inform them an ex desires me to attend 5 years whereas he focuses on being a poisonous mother or father earlier than we are able to actually be collectively, they’d slap me with a fried mozzarella stick — I’ll by no means forgive the writers for the way lobotomized these characters really feel. Mary and Maira, how did you’re feeling about how the present dealt with its greatest absences? The present started in such a unique place than the place it ends — did it evolve in the precise path? The place did it go best for you?
McNamara: Oh Yvonne, you might be a lot kinder than I’m. I by no means felt it was going proper — the writers appeared so decided to show that girls of their 50s aren’t boring that they consistently compelled them into all method of absurd conditions with out a lot thought for what sort of precise girls these characters may need turn into. Age was represented principally by weird, grannified reactions to youthful folks and their unusual methods (up till the finale, which gave us that child mama and her buddy Epcot), as if the ladies (and the writers) had been saved in a shoe field for 20 years.
Trying again, the dearth of Samantha, and Cattrall, appears like a deal-breaker. For all her campy affectations, Samantha was at all times essentially the most grounded of the characters, in a position to reduce to the guts of issues with a witty line, biting remark or only a easy reality. Seema, and Choudhury, did her greatest to fill that void, however she by no means bought fairly sufficient room to work — her relationship was virtually completely with Carrie for one factor and Carrie was, much more than in “Sex and the City,” the driving power of the present.
Kim Cattrall made a quick look as Samantha Jones on the finish of Season 2, however she was sorely missed all through.
(Max)
I agree that grief was given very quick shrift, and the truth that nobody appeared to overlook Samantha very a lot, or be in contact along with her in any respect (past the few exchanges with Carrie) was each weird and a disgrace — dealing with the lack of an expensive good friend, via misunderstanding or distance, is a wealthy matter and one which many individuals cope with.
As for the resurrection of Aidan, effectively, who thought that was going to work? Particularly when it grew to become clear that the writers thought it made good sense to maintain Carrie and Aidan’s kids separate — so unbelievable, and demeaning to each characters. Carrie’s last “revelation” {that a} lady doesn’t want a person to be pleased would have had a way more significant resonance if Carrie had been allowed to discover her grief, concern, frustration and hope past a number of platitude-laden conversations and that god-awful novel. Which, fairly actually, was the funniest factor about this season. When her agent went bananas over it, I actually walked out of the room.
Garcia: Samantha, and Cattrall in flip, had been sorely missed. And also you’re proper, Mary, Seema crammed a few of that void, and you really want that connection throughout the completely different characters. Which leads me to my greatest gripe: Why did some characters really feel so distant? Lisa’s storyline this season was so disconnected from the remainder — it appeared like she was with the core group solely in passing. And it occurred with Nya (Karen Pittman), who disappeared after Season 2, although that needed to do with scheduling conflicts.
So far as its evolution, I used to be glad to see the podcast group, with its overbearing members, whittled away — although we needed to cope with Che for an additional season. These overbearing characters saved getting changed with different overbearing characters like Giuseppe’s mom, performed by Patti LuPone, and Brady’s child mama and her odd friends (if the writers had been attempting to get us to scratch our heads at Gen Z, they did it). Whereas I’ll miss having the ability to flip my mind off for an hour every week, together with the occasional shouts at my TV over some foolish line or second, I can’t say I used to be happy in the long run. Not less than when somebody stated or did one thing silly in earlier iterations of the present, it was acknowledged in a means that felt true the characters and there was some development expressed. After the return of Aidan, I can’t say that’s true right here.
However now that we’re on the finish, I’ve to ask you each how this impacts the SATC universe? Did this disrupt the canon? Was there one thing memorable you’ll take away no less than? A personality, a second, a ridiculously outsized piece of bijou, hat or bag?
Villarreal: Oh geez. There’s no query — for me, no less than — the place this sequel falls within the SATC universe. The unique collection, even with its moments that didn’t stand the check of time, will at all times be supreme; the primary film, whereas hardly good, gave us some memorable BFF moments — like Charlotte giving Huge eye daggers after he left Carrie on the altar or Samantha feeding a heartbroken Carrie — that hold it in my rewatch rotation. I’d place “And Just Like That …” after that, with the Abu Dhabi getaway film useless final.
What’s going to I miss? For positive the style moments, particularly those that broke my mind, like Carrie’s Michelin Man snowstorm getup or her current gingham headwear catastrophe that my former colleague Meredith Blake described as Strawberry Shortcake … and don’t get me began on Lisa’s jumbo balls of twine necklace.
One factor we’ll miss: The over-the-top trend like Carrie’s massive hat and Lisa’s jumbo ball necklace. (Craig Blankenhorn/HBO Max)
I’m curious, Mary, as somebody who has watched your share of collection finales, the way you felt about this conclusion and whether or not it served that mission. This season had episodes that felt like wasted filler and didn’t do a lot to maneuver the plot ahead. Final week’s penultimate episode is what satisfied me the wrapping up of this collection was not deliberate. It was 28 minutes of huh? And what about Carrie’s e book? I might add it to my Kindle simply out of curiosity. Whereas I possibly would have seen all that’s transpired as a chance for Carrie to put in writing a memoir on love and loss à la Carole Radziwill, I did get a kick out of the excerpts from Carrie’s tackle a nineteenth century lady having an existential disaster. And look, possibly I’m schmaltzy, however I did kind of love the final line she tacked on in her epilogue: “The woman realized, she was not alone — she was on her own.” Mary, are you judging me proper now? I promise I didn’t dance to Barry White’s “You’re the First, the Last, My Everything” via the halls of my house after watching. However I might have beloved extra exploration of that thread sooner — I imply, aren’t there research about girls being happier, or no less than much less careworn, later in life as soon as their partner dies? I imagine it! It doesn’t imply you may’t have companionship in different methods. Anyway, what’s the takeaway from what occurred with this present? Hollywood isn’t going to cease looking for new life in established properties. So, what will be realized from what went mistaken right here?
McNamara: Yvonne! I might by no means decide you! And the world can be a much better place if everybody danced round their domiciles extra usually. I believe Carrie realizing that her life is full and pleased with no companion is definitely an ideal option to finish this collection. (She will definitely by no means need for love — So. A lot. Tulle.) I simply want it had felt much less rushed and didn’t contain a bizarre big plushie at a robotic restaurant. No matter sequence of occasions led to the ultimate scene, I’ve to imagine that was going to be Carrie’s journey all alongside. I even preferred the controversy over the ending of her e book — if solely the e book had not been so horrible!
I’ll actually miss marveling at Parker’s Olympics-worthy capacity to navigate practically any floor in heels (and “sell” outfits that appear extra like Halloween costumes than model) in addition to these uncommon conversations, just like the one on the bridal present, that allowed a state of affairs to be seen from a number of factors of view.
As for the finale, it felt very a lot in line with the intention, if not the general execution, of the collection. I’m not cold-hearted sufficient to need any of those characters to depart mid-crisis or settle for lower than a contented life. Certain, it was a bit pat, with everybody’s story neatly boxed up like a Thanksgiving pie. However who doesn’t like pie?
Garcia: I like pie! However let’s not overlook, like the bathroom that overflowed (with a number of logs, as well) within the last scenes, an excessive amount of of one thing isn’t at all times what we want.
Villarreal: Is that this a protected house to share that if the women make up with Samantha/Cattrall of their 70s, I’ll be prepared for his or her return to my display? Sorry, not sorry — I don’t have time to set wholesome boundaries with friendships which are not serving me.
