And Just Like That, I Hate Myself
I long for the days of blow job jokes and empty pocketbooks, but I guess every woman needs to grow up, even Carrie Bradshaw.
I’m not impressed. I don’t even know why I’ve continued to watch And Just Like That, the Sex and the City spin-off. Like many, I was a giant fan of the original series — so much so that I would get together with some of my girl friends on Sunday evenings to watch the new episodes. I also saw the first and second movie in the theater, the second one being a total turd. You could say I’m a super fan of the OG series.
When HBO (or Max, as it’s been changed to) said they were going to revive the series with a new title, I felt skeptical. It’s really difficult to revive a series because fans are usually heavily attached to the original series, and I wasn’t sure how they would navigate these broads in a different era. Nevertheless, I wanted to give it a chance, so I did.
The first episode of the first season was really important because the writers needed to hook the audience. They did this by killing off Sarah Jessica Parker’s character Carrie’s longtime love and husband, Mr. Big. It was around the time of the first episode’s release that Chris Noth, who played Big, was accused of sexual misconduct, so I doubt that, even if they hadn’t killed off his character, Noth would be in the series after those accusations.
The rest of the season was weird. Fans knew that Kim Cattrall was not going to return to play Samantha because of her bad blood with SJP, which was a bummer. Cattrall’s character in the original series was so awesome! Witty, sexy, smart, strong, and a true friend that never judged her friends. So, when the audience found out the reason for Samantha and Carrie’s friendship ending being that Carrie had to fire Samantha as her publicist, and it came down to a financial reason, it seemed like the writer’s really did Samantha dirty. They made it seem like Samantha was only in it for the money, which is far from the character’s truth because she was always the wealthiest of the friend group.
The next big shocker was Miranda, played by Cynthia Nixon, leaving Steve because she couldn’t deny her true sexuality any longer. Her storyline in the two seasons has just been an absolute shit show; she’s all over the place with her career, her newfound attractions, her relationship with her son, and trying to piece together some kind of peace between herself and Steve.
I’ve been really disappointed with the way that her character has been portrayed in the new series. Miranda almost always had her shit together. Of course she was very uptight and at times very emotionally messy, but she was never reckless, which is what they did to this character. Maybe it was purposeful to have Miranda not be so together all the time, but her behavior has been totally out of character.
Kristin Davis as Charlotte is totally unhinged. Many of the episodes feature her practically screaming about something trivial and frantically running herself ragged. Her character is a shell of the classy woman that she was in the original series and has been replaced with an over-obsessed, screeching, neurotic woman with way too much time on her hands.
One of the most unhinged plot lines was when she went out in a blizzard because her oldest daughter called her in need of condoms. The old Charlotte would’ve been absolutely horrified that her kid was sexually active, but this new version is willing to pound on a drugstore window begging the cashier to open up so she can get her daughter some rubbers. It was completely preposterous!
It wasn’t until the last three episodes that she started to regain some of that old Charlotte charm and poise, and that’s because the writers decided to send her back to work, and thank God they did! She seems to have realized that she’s been being taken advantage of by her family by being too available for all of their needs. Hopefully in the new season they will keep Charlotte’s story lines more authentic to her true persona and less frenzied.
That finally brings us to Carrie. SJP did a good job of playing a widow that was trying to navigate life without her husband in the first season of And Just Like That. She moved back into her iconic apartment, she was on a podcast about love and relationships, she wrote another book, and she went on a couple of dates. All of these things are very Carrie, but SJP seems to have lost that Carrie luster.
Carrie was always humorous and human, but in And Just Like That, she’s as stiff as a board! Her jokes are mediocre, at best, she has some new friends that don’t seem like the kind of people Carrie would spend time with, and she seems lost. This is understandable because her husband did die, but I just don’t know where the writers are taking her storyline.
After Big’s death in season one, the writers brought back Aiden in season two, her other great love. Couldn’t they just let her find someone new? Or no one at all? Carrie even questions whether it was a mistake to marry Big because things are going so well with Aidan! I mean, wow, what a slap in the face to that pivotal relationship.
The whole series seems off at this point, but Max has renewed it for a third season. Maybe they can right this ship, maybe they’ll continue throwing every idea at the wall until something sticks, or maybe the third season will be more of the same blahness. Sadly, I’ll continue to hate-watch the series because, despite my dislike of this new direction, I just can’t get enough of these characters that are entrenched in my nostalgic heart.