And Just Like That... Carrie's Back On Her Bullshit
An Upper East Side girl goes to Gramercy and pisses me off in the process // SPOILERS FOR "AND JUST LIKE THAT..." SEASON 2!
Ding dong, the wicked apartment wherein Carrie Bradshaw made all of her shittiest relationship decisions is finally dead — at least to her. That’s right! After more than 2 decades of terrorizing our television screens from the Upper East Side, Ms. Bradshaw has officially left The Apartment™.
And once again, Carrie is left looking lonely, goofy and dealing with a massive life transformation made for a man who is no longer with her.
To say Carrie is back on her bullshit might be a mischaracterization, because truly, when has she ever been off her bullshit? 25 years of nonsense on repeat with this girl. This 50-something-year-old girl.
Because, truly, why else would Carrie part with a piece of her life that feels so vital to her identity if not for a man she’s obsessing over precisely because of his inability to commit to her? There was Big, then Petrovsky, and now, there’s Aidan. He finally joins the ranks of Carrie’s highly-coveted circle of Men With Commitment Issues, a role he so desperately auditioned for throughout the course of their on-again/off-again relationship.
It’s a glimmer of hope for those looking for a sign that there is life after death (on TV shows, at least): if you don’t get the role you want the first time around, there’s always the reboot!
Speaking of reboots, this episode was so… disconnected from the rest of season 2? I mean, really, what the hell was going on? My only attempt at a guess is that SJP and the rest of the creative team saw the lackluster reception for the show’s first season and wrote an ending that felt like a series finale in case the show got canned after season 2.
And honestly, after the way MAX canceled “Gossip Girl (2021)” last year, I can’t really blame them. But, like Jesus himself, “And Just Like That…” rose again, on the third episode of their second season, just enough to snag the viewership necessary to cinch a third season.
(Lots of three’s tearing up the page here… note to self: google 333 angel number meaning after this.)
But, my god, did some of these plotlines in this finale feel nonsensical!
First of all, we finally get the Samantha cameo we’ve all been desperately waiting for, and I’m so confused by it that I’m still reeling.
Riddle me this: why would Samantha come to The Last Supper? We have not heard from this lady in the two years we've been following Carrie and ‘nem around. She didn’t even make it to Big’s funeral. So why would she attempt to show up to mourn an apartment?!
And on what planet does it make sense that she’s been talking to Charlotte and Miranda without the audience knowing? “And Just Like That…” is meant to be an ensemble show, for god’s sake. If Charlotte and Miranda were casually kiking with Samantha on the phone throughout this season, we’d at least have a glimpse of it by now!
Also, massive kudos to the HBO/MAX publicity teams for generating all that noise about Kim Cattrall’s return to the SATCU (the “Sex and the City” Universe) when the woman had a measly 74 second cameo. Y’all had us all rattled over that?!
And then, there was all the chatter about legendary costume designer Pat Fields’ return to the show to dress Cattrall for her cameo, and we couldn’t even see her outfit because Miss Samantha was stuck seated in the back of a small ass sedan…
Listen… I can respect PR spin when it’s that good.
On the topic of spins, this finale was working overtime to convince us that the writers on this show are Hearing Us™. We first see this attempt at the very top of the episode, when we get a real glimpse of Steve Brady’s new life.
And to really show that Steve is Moving On™, the writers continued to flesh out his Dominican-ification.
Yup, Steve got out of that raggedy living situation and moved to Queens, where he now drinks Presidente beers and fights for his life in broken Spanish with his Latine employees. Which is… representation, I guess?
All I know is that when Steve’s Dominican employee Victor looked at this man and went “English, Steve,” I felt seen and heard by the folks in the SATCU. Because what Spanish-speaking Latine among us hasn’t had that uncomfortable conversation with our Gringo counterparts in the workplace? Sorry to Che Diaz, but Victor won this year’s Token Latine award. Better luck next season.
Jokes aside, the sloppy cleanup of the Steve storyline felt like a response to a Twitter thread about how terribly Miranda has dogged him out throughout this reboot.
In fact, so much of this finale just felt like it was anticipating critiques made of the characters and their behaviors this entire season. There was damage control for Miranda being New Miranda, an unconvincing exploration of love for Seema after her emotional confession to Carrie about her jealousy (who, by the way, was actually celebrated for this online) and a mediocre plotline about loneliness for Nya that is immediately wrapped up but definitely needed a little more time to breathe.
When it comes to the writing of this finale, the show manages to undo most of the exciting story choices they made throughout the course of season 2 in order to neatly wrap up the show and defend their characters from expected hate online. Which, fair, given the TV landscape they were walking into this season. They definitely lost the sensical ending award, though.
In other awards categories, shout out to Charlotte for having the most well-written storyline of this finale. She is tired and telling everyone why: saying no to Harry’s fake support of her career, refusing to engage in the drama of Anthony’s ass virginity, and taking a stand in order to regain her independence.
She’s finally come into her own in the ways that both Carrie and Miranda think they have. Her story is quieter, obviously, and is often relegated to the bottom tier of the reboot’s priority list, but god, Charlotte is actually growing! Gone are the days of the mousey little miss who quit her job in an instant because she wanted to start a family: Charlotte is finally realizing that womanhood doesn’t have to be about either being a mother or a careerist, and is no longer celebrating herself for the sacrifices she makes. That’s called character development, folks, and I’m living for it.
Now Miranda, on the other hand… Girl, anyways. They rushed through her whole piece and honestly, I’m kinda glad. She is still running with that stupid “Me and Steve Should’ve Never Been Together” bit that is sooo exhausting. She needs to give that up. I’m sorry, y’all, but no amount of revisionist history will ever be able to convince us that Steve wasn’t right for her when they were together. And the resolution with Che… wasn’t really a resolution? She’s convinced that her and Che needed to happen when literally no one else is… Not even Che, mind you! Miranda keeps getting more delusional as she ages, and it gets worse every episode at this point. Really, what happened to our pragmatic queen?
Speaking of people who haven’t grown an inch emotionally, I think it’s Carrie Bradshaw’s turn to step onto the rostrum.
I wonder how it feels for her to get left again. Like, imagine getting left this many times and still being attracted to men who cannot commit… As a woman of Aries Venus experience, I am simply gagging into my trashcan.
I think she actually loves it, lowkey. If there’s one thing Carrie Bradshaw is gonna do, it’s make a major life decision to prove to a man that won’t be with her that he should, in fact, be with her, and then play the victim about it for a few episodes afterwards.
Now, Miss Bradshaw is talking about waiting on this man for five whole years of her life… No offense to her, and long live Carrie Bradshaw, but she could literally be dead tomorrow! Shoot, I could be dead tomorrow. So why would she wait for a man? At her big age?! She’s wasted literal decades of her life waiting on men!
When it comes to Carrie, there is not an ounce of self-reflection in that head of hers. No growth, no development. It scares me that someone can live so much of their life making the exact same mistakes they made at 21. She is a cautionary tale, I fear. And nobody has ever inspired me to seek out therapy more intensely. God help me if I’m still acting the way I’m acting right now in six months, let alone in 30 years from now!
On the subject of time: it was definitely a wasted resource in this finale. We needed more Lisa, Nya and Anthony and way less Carrie, but it is the “Sex and the City” reboot so… I’ll say a very reluctant “I guess,” especially because I bet they expected to get canceled this time around the block.
For now, my only hope is that those writers can get a fair contract soon so they can be back in the room ASAP and work to give these characters the attention and care they received for most of season 2.
Pop-Closure is back, baby. Yeah, she’s been a lil sparse but hopefully I'm like Carrie Bradshaw and can be back on my BS here.
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Talk to y’all about more stuff I can’t get over soon!! <3