And Just Like That… season two of the immensely watchable, yet exhausting, reboot of Sex and the City has concluded, leaving this viewer more satiated than the first round provided—yet not quite satisfied.
★★★☆☆
This review contains spoilers for the second season of And Just Like That…!
With all 11 episodes now available to stream, a more gratifying story of where Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and, yes, even Samantha, stand in their lives as middle-aged women is available.
Whilst the first season feels like an over-exaggerated apology for the social and political wrong-doings of Sex and the City, the newest season replaces wokeisms with witticisms. Almost gone are the public service announcements surrounding race and gender, leaving plenty of runtime for each of our leads to have interests, hobbies and dare I say it, a sense of humour. Now don’t get ahead of yourself一70% of the jokes don’t land. But at least the writers are trying this time around.
The hit and miss nature of AJLT quickly reared its fashionable head in the series premiere, ‘Met Cute’. After a suspiciously frank sex montage accompanied by Elton John and Britney Spears’ ‘Hold Me Closer’, my senses were overwhelmed; so much so, it took me until after the credits rolled to notice their mistitling of ‘The Met Gala’ as ‘The Met Ball’. Now this may seem menial, but allow me to argue my case.
SATC is known for much more than its adventurous style choices and sexually-forward approach. In combining contemporary women’s issues with a succinct knowledge of trends, SATC knew exactly what was hot and how to use it to their advantage. With their nose to the ground, every cultural reference felt deliberate and well-researched. SATC set a high bar, though AJLT never comes close to reaching it. In fact, after 21 episodes, it seems the writers aren’t even trying.
It takes one quick google search to find the correct title for The Metropolitan Museum’s annual event. Whilst this could very well be a legal issue, this awkwardness is emblematic of the laziness and unwillingness to create a refined product that resonates with the viewer and continually threatens to drag AJLT down. Whether it be the casual ease in which Carrie paypals her ex-editor $100,000 to fund her newsletter, Miranda mistaking 30 years work experience in corporate law for ‘privilege’, or Charlotte venturing out into a cyclone to buy her spoiled daughter condoms, nothing in this universe feels thought through with the intelligent consideration that made SATC such a phenomenon.
With the lazy elephant in the room addressed, I am able to shine some light on the effort showrunner Michael Patrick King has put into injecting some sort of life into the lead characters as well as the supporting cast. Common criticisms of the first season centred around the tokenistic nature of the new minority characters who were presented as little more than a vessel for discussions surrounding race, sexuality and gender. With the internet picking Che Diaz, a self-proclaimed “queer, non-binary, Mexican Irish diva”, as their most-hated character, many fans begged for them to be removed from the series due to their unlikeable and unrealistic nature. But, to give limited credit where it’s due, the attention to detail given to these characters in this season has been impressive. Issues such as divorce, work-life balance and loneliness are all tackled with both realism and sensitivity, with even Che showing genuine signs of sincerity when it comes to their flailing comedy career. Much like the first season, the MVP remains Seema (Sarita Choudry), the real-estate agent turned friend of Carrie, who successfully provides the class and honesty you would expect from a 57 year old millionaire looking for true love.
The reintroduction of Aiden (John Corbett) and Carrie’s romance proves the writers have at least some idea of what viewers have been longing for. And the fan service is undeniable in Charlotte’s narrative this season—specifically, her return to work, a plotline teased throughout the series and secured in the final episodes. Whether she’s selling art to Sam Smith in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo, getting drunk with her colleagues or finally berating her family for their inability to look after themselves, we saw an injection of life into Charlotte that allowed Kristen Davis to put her acting chops to good use. For fans of SATC it is long overdue, as Charlotte was frequently sidelined with child-related plotlines for both movies and the first series of AJLT.
Whilst Carrie’s romance with Aiden doesn’t take long to stagnate, Miranda finds herself in the opposite position. Reintroducing herself back into the legal landscape, Miranda’s sense of self seems to be healing alongside her career prospects. The same can be said of Carrie, as she attempts to let go of her past and any ‘expectations’, allowing life to determine how her and Aiden end up. Whether you agree with the new-found laissez-faire attitude of Carrie is a different matter, but at least we’re beginning to see some of the development you’d come to expect from someone in their late 50s.
But through all this, there is but one thing that eclipses all the excitement of the new beginnings that AJLT proposes. And that is the return of Kim Cattrall.
After news of her million dollar cameo leaked back in May, fans have been waiting eagerly for another glimpse of Samantha Jones. And for what it’s worth, Cattrall doesn’t disappoint. Calling from London, Samantha apologises to Carrie for being unable to attend her upcoming dinner party and later dons a mock British accent harking back to her season six alias, Annabelle Bronstein. The scene is short and simple, coming in at a sweet 74 seconds, and Parker and Cattrall’s on-screen chemistry still shines despite the disagreements that lead to Cattrall’s refusal to sign on in any bigger capacity.
The Verdict
Given the conclusive nature of this second series, it was surprising when HBO announced AJLT’s renewal for a third series. With the writers having written themselves into a corner narratively, what’s in store for Carrie, Charlotte and Miranda seems as elusive as ever. However, we can find some solace in the significant improvements this series has offered, and can only hope that the writers will continue to push our three favourite New York women in the right direction.
And Just Like That is available to stream on Now, Sky Comedy, and Amazon Prime Video.
Words by Ben Carpenter
Support The Indiependent
We’re trying to raise £200 a month to help cover our operational costs. This includes our ‘Writer of the Month’ awards, where we recognise the amazing work produced by our contributor team. If you’ve enjoyed reading our site, we’d really appreciate it if you could donate to The Indiependent. Whether you can give £1 or £10, you’d be making a huge difference to our small team.