And just like that... it’s all over.
Earlier this month, “And Just Like That... ” showrunner Michael Patrick King announced that HBO Max’s “Sex and the City” reboot was coming to an end after three seasons. The news, while only slightly surprising, was met with mixed reactions from fans, some of whom were sad to say another goodbye to the “SATC” universe, and others (like us) who were happy to see the show finally meet its end.
It’s been quite a journey for “And Just Like That...,” which caught up with our favorite gals, Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) as they navigated life and love in their 50s. The revival series was initially received as an exciting return to the “SATC” world, but as the seasons dragged on, it earned more hate from viewers than love.
Much of that has to do with how much “And Just Like That... ” was a far cry from its beloved ’90s predecessor. Between odd storylines, awkward writing and the disastrous portrayal of characters we no longer recognize, the reboot has been one giant mess.
Thankfully, the third and final season, which ended with a two-part finale on Aug. 14, is the last time we’ll ever have to see this poor version of our “SATC” favorites.
Still, we have plenty to talk about, as the “And Just Like That... ” series finale doesn’t quite wrap up the series in a neat bow. Carrie has finally finished her novel and come to terms with being a single woman again after breaking things off with Aidan. However, no one else in the show gets the same finale treatment.
Below, Erin E. Evans and I discuss our overall frustrations with “And Just Like That...,” the worst storylines from the spinoff and why the open-ended finale didn’t feel like a true send-off.
Our High Hopes And Immediate Disappointment With The Spinoff
This is perhaps the first time I’ve been extremely happy and devastated that a television show has been canceled. On the one hand, “And Just Like That…” has been a hack job of a TV series and an embarrassing spinoff of one of the best television shows in a generation. Then, for longtime “Sex and the City” fans like me, getting to see Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis on TV together felt like a fun but socially awkward reunion with some old friends. I’ll miss them, even though each of their characters — Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte, respectively — always felt like shells of themselves in this new iteration. Did I mostly hate the series? Yes. Could I stop watching? Only once mid-season 3, but then I was too curious to just ditch my girls. I kept hoping it’d get better. It got worse. — Erin
My thoughts exactly, Erin. I really had high hopes for the reboot after it was announced, mostly because I had just finished watching “Sex and the City” beginning to end, just in time to see what the girls would be up to in their middle-aged years. Never has a show disappointed me so much, and so quickly. I never liked how they butchered Miranda’s character or turned Charlotte into a ditzy wife and mother who barely has her own identity outside of her family. Don’t even get me started on how they tried to course-correct history by shoe-horning diversity in a place where, frankly, I could’ve done without it! Especially since the show never honored its characters of color by properly integrating them into the “Sex and the City” universe.
So often it felt like I was watching two different shows, neither as interesting as the predecessor. By this third and final season, I was ready to throw in the towel on “And Just Like That.” Thankfully, Michael Patrick King has finally put us out of our misery by choosing to end the show. However, its extremely underwhelming series finale is all the more proof that this show didn’t need to happen. 50-something-year-olds Carrie, Charlotte and Miranda (can’t forget Samantha) could’ve been left alone, but, unfortunately, this stain on the “SATC” legacy will now always exist. — Njera
These storylines were particularly bad.
Carrie’s life still revolves around a man.
I know it’s silly to think that a follow-up to “Sex and the City” shouldn’t revolve around men, but “And Just Like That... ” (before we actually saw it) felt like the perfect opportunity to explore new territory with beloved characters navigating a new part of their lives. Big’s death in the very first episode seemed as though the writers were finally giving Carrie the space to be an individual again; to explore her identity as a widowed woman in her 50s. Sure, bringing her ex-boyfriend Aidan (John Corbett) back was a nice callback to “SATC,” but it did absolutely nothing for her character development. In fact, it made it worse, because what Carrie was willing to sacrifice for that rekindled romance just turned her into a shell of herself. Carrie never made the best decisions, but I find it hard to believe this “AJLT” version of her is the woman she grew to be. — Njera
Who is this Miranda Hobbes?
Oh, my poor Miranda. Every episode of “And Just Like That... ” I couldn’t help but wonder, “What the hell have they done to this woman?” All of Season 1, the writers had the whip-smart lawyer, the most rational of her, Carrie, Samantha and Charlotte, acting completely out of character. I still haven’t forgiven Miranda for ending her 20-plus-year relationship with Steve to have a flighty fling with Che Diaz that, unsurprisingly, did not last past Season 2. And I’ll never understand how she let her life get so out of control that she had to crash at Carrie’s place.
As the seasons went on, Miranda got even more unrecognizable, to the point where I just stopped caring about her character altogether. Not even her seemingly healthy relationship with Joy in Season 3 was enough to get me back on board. “And Just Like That... ” ruined the Miranda we used to know for no good reason. Unfortunately, I don’t think another season would’ve even saved her. — Njera
I will never forgive the writers for what they did to Miranda. Never. — Erin
Charlotte’s storylines were not worth watching.
If I could have fast forwarded all of Charlotte’s scenes without missing a beat, I would have done it. There were only like two scenes that were really fun — and both times she was drunk off some espresso martinis. I also hated how Harry’s character didn’t seem to have anything to do aside from shopping with Carrie and buying those ugly-ass jeans. — Erin
Respectfully, Charlotte didn’t add a single thing of substance to this reboot. Nothing about her storylines, this season and others, were truly compelling, which is sad because Harry’s cancer diagnosis this season seemed like a chance to challenge Charlotte and give her some depth, finally. She used to have some edge before she became all about being a mom. I can’t say I’ll miss her too much, but her kids kept me entertained. — Njera
The Samantha Of It All
With Kim Cattrall’s alleged beef with Sarah Jessica Parker as a backdrop in real life, it was always a long shot that Cattrall would return as her sexpot, straight-shooter character, Samantha. That said, the writers made up a terrible story about why Samantha and Carrie weren’t friends anymore. There’s no way Samantha would have let a PR business disagreement with Carrie come between their friendship. In “Sex and the City,” Samantha had plenty of riffs between her friends. Samantha even made up with Charlotte in half an episode after Charlotte called her vagina “the hottest spot in time” after Samantha slept with her brother. So I’m just not buying this friendship breakup. There’s also no way she only would have sent Carrie flowers for Big’s funeral. My girl would have shown up and sat in the back row!
There were a couple of moments where Samantha’s presence was sorely needed. When Aidan told Carrie he needed five years to get himself together in Season 2? Samantha would’ve been the friend to say, “Girl, don’t waste your time on that man.” I missed Samantha’s sass and all her adventurous sex moments. But on the other hand, I’m not sure the writers could’ve handled writing her in this revival. — Erin
I’m both sad and happy that Cattrall was never a part of “And Just Like That... ” in any huge capacity. If we weren’t going to get a full-blown return of Samantha, there was no need to throw her name in the mix other than to answer why she’s no longer around. Her cameo in the Season 2 finale felt like the writers throwing old “Sex and the City” fans crumbs to keep us tuned in. But all the “And Just Like That... ” gimmicks in the world could never hold a candle to Samantha’s presence in the original show. Thank goodness her character is still intact, unlike the rest of the crew. Perhaps we got lucky that the reboot didn’t destroy Samantha, too. — Njera
Che Diaz
I love Sara Ramírez; they’re a great actor and, I imagine, did everything they could to bring something to the Che Diaz character. But... Diaz was so cartoonishly written that I was so ready for the character to disappear from my TV and the discourse. I can’t even spend any more time thinking about them. Good riddance. — Erin
No shade to Sara Ramírez, but Che Diaz was never needed in the “And Just Like That... ” universe. At least, not as the longtime romantic interest of Miranda, and certainly not to fulfill whatever diversity quota the reboot appeared to have. Surely, Che will go down as one of the most hated characters on TV, and the writers are all to blame for making them a complete mockery. — Njera
The show tried to fix the original series’ diversity problems.
I was always wary of the “Sex and the City” universe casting women of color to make the reboot more inclusive. In all three seasons, all they did was prove why they were never equipped to handle Black and brown women’s stories beyond making them sidekicks to Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte.
Take Dr. Nya Wallace (Karen Pittman), for instance, whose introduction in Season 1 was a clumsy encounter with Miranda based on a microaggression. Of course, she dealt with more of those throughout the show, which saw her exit after two seasons with little regard or character development. I can’t even recall if her absence is ever even acknowledged in Season 3. And that’s a shame because Pittman is an incredible actor who deserved so much more than what “And Just Like That... ” did for her.
And then there’s Lisa Todd Wexley (LTW, played by Nicole Ari Parker), the documentarian who’s always felt like the outlier of the group because she’s rarely seen outside of that realm. She was introduced as Charlotte’s associate and seems to stay that way throughout the show. All I know is that her life revolves around work, then her kids, and then her husband. She does get some more shine in Season 3 during the funeral episode for her father (yet another fumbled storyline), but not nearly enough to ever make her feel like one of the main cast members.
Seema (Sarita Choudhury), on the other hand, felt like she was brought in to be Samantha’s replacement. The real estate agent certainly oozed the same confident, no-nonsense, sexually liberated attitude that made Ms. Jones famous. And she does get way more screen time as Carrie’s bestie on the show. However, it felt like it took forever to get to know her as an individual character. Her relationship with Carrie’s gardener, Adam (Logan Marshall-Green), broke down some walls in Season 3, but perhaps too little, too late.
Bottom line, “And Just Like That... ” had no business forcing women of color into the show’s DNA if it didn’t know what to do with them. — Njera
The Treatment Of Steve
David Eigenberg, who portrays Steve Brady, has dealt with hearing loss for the last several years. So the AJLT writers incorporated that into his storyline. But it doesn’t make any sense that they started treating his character like an old man. Steve deserved better. — Erin
Not Nearly Enough Sex
The first season barely had any sex, Season 2 got better and then I don’t know what was going on with Season 3 tbh. There was talk of sex, but not enough doing. Show, don’t tell, HBO. — Erin
I honestly stopped asking for more sex from this show after that phone sex scene with Carrie and Aidan in his truck. It wasn’t sexy. It wasn’t needed. If anything, it was just straight-up weird. Then again, I’m also scarred from Miranda and Che having extremely loud sex in Carrie’s kitchen, with Carrie wide-awake and listening from her bedroom. Like many things “And Just Like That... ” tried to do, “Sex and the City” did it better. — Njera
The show fumbled an abortion storyline.
It doesn’t surprise me that the one time “And Just Like That” had the chance to do something profound, it fumbled miserably. I remember watching Season 2 when LTW revealed that she was pregnant, thinking we were finally getting somewhere with her character. While discussing the pregnancy with her husband, the topic of abortion came up, at a time when the hot-button issue needed to be discussed more widely and matter-of-factly on TV. Yet, “And Just Like That...” abandoned ship for a miscarriage storyline, which, while equally important, felt like it got them off the hook. I don’t know if the writers weren’t prepared to open that can of worms or what, but it was a cowardly choice to make. One that robbed LTW of a plot worth exploring. Add that to the long list of reasons this reboot pissed me off. — Njera
The Reintroduction Of Aidan
I feel like “Sex and the City” fans should be able to launch a class action lawsuit against the writers and showrunner, and hell, John Corbett, too, for bringing Aidan back into the fold after Big’s death. He was insufferable, and he made it impossible to take Carrie seriously, too. It would have been so nice to see Carrie find a new man to date — hey, whatever happened to that podcast guy from Season 1??? — but instead we were subjected to her trying to get that old thang back. We are owed a settlement, HBO! — Erin
Seriously, why did they bring Aidan back?! All ghosts of Carrie’s past should’ve died right along with Big. This was probably the most infuriating storyline of the entire reboot simply because it was a complete waste of time. Why get Carrie and Aidan back together and have them buy a house, just for Aidan to say he needs five WHOLE years before he can focus on their relationship because his teenage son, Wyatt, needs him more? Old Carrie would never wait around for a man that long, much less barely bat an eye when he admits to cheating on her with his ex. This is also the same man who admitted to having trust issues with Carrie DECADES after her infidelity, yet he gets a slap on the wrist. I’m glad they broke up before the finale, but they really didn’t need to put us through that emotional rollercoaster. — Njera
Why We Think That Series Finale Wasn’t Actually Planned
I’m just not convinced that showrunner Michael Patrick King and Parker knew that the series wasn’t going to go on at the beginning of the season.
“SJP and I held off announcing the news until now because we didn’t want the world ‘final’ to overshadow the fun of watching the season,” King said after announcing that AJLT would end with a two-part finale. “I have learned not to say goodbye, but to say farewell,” Parker told reporter and influencer Evan Ross Katz. “It’s such an extraordinary job and you have to honor it and sometimes it feels like an anathema to say we’re not going to do more. But if you love something, you know where to leave it sometimes.”
So that’s the official word on the series’ end. That two-part finale just didn’t feel like a neat bow on the spinoff. A poop scene? Why? They also aren’t slick for adding the original theme song to the end credits. It stopped me in my tracks. On the AJLT thread on Reddit and other gossip sites, rumors are swirling that SJP is “fuming” about the series’ cancellation. And look, I’d be mad too if I’d invested so much time in a series — and a network for that matter — and was unceremoniously canceled. — Erin
The fact that the show ends on such a lackluster note is nothing short of hilarious. After three seasons of giving die-hard “Sex and the City” fans absolutely nothing, it shouldn’t surprise me that the finale is just as pointless — the gall of the show to think it needed a two-part finale for Carrie to come up with her book’s one-sentence epilogue. After watching the series finale, King’s announcement of “And Just Like That... ” ending seems more motivated by all the hate-watchers (us included) who couldn’t stand to keep up with the show. Season 3 felt like they were running out of ideas and direction for Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and crew, so I’m glad they made the right call.
I can’t say “And Just Like That... ” is going out on a high note, but it’s definitely given us something to remember: Not all reboots are meant to see the light of day. — Njera