The Show Struggles Fitting into New Shoes

“F*ck the new me,” Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon) rants during one of her angst-ridden existential moments in season two of And Just Like That… Elsewhere, our beloved laptop/fashion queen Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) muses: “I’m still fighting to save Sex and the City, and I’m not sure it fits me anymore either.” Whoa. That’s so meta.

Welcome to 2023, where And Just Like That… seems to have trouble understanding its own existence. Season two is a nice improvement over round one of HBO’s rebooted Sex and the City series, yet it never truly rises to the occasion, as it were. Still, like a relationship you’ve been committed to for decades, you tend to forgive its misgivings, then crawl back into the bed with it and enjoy the ride. However, it shows up this time. The most interesting thing about And Just Like That… this season may surprise viewers, and it has nothing to do with the show’s main character. This really isn’t a show just about Carrie anymore.

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Everything Everywhere And Just Like That…

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To be sure, the addition of a brand-new ensemble cast looked good on paper when the series’ first season was in development. Things went bonkers politically and culturally after the 2016 election. Diversity and inclusion became a much-needed topic of discussion and taking action to expand the worlds in which we experience on TV became a major agenda. All good.

Adding diversity to any show is welcome (see The Conners for reference), but here it still feels forced. It’s great to see Nicole Ari Parker as Lisa, Karen Pittman as Nya, and Sarita Choudhury as Seema. If only And Just Like That… would give these exceptional actresses and their characters enough to do. As a result, we’re diving into more half-stories outside of Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte (Kristin Davis). That’s not a bad idea. It’s just that those stories don’t necessarily land well and aren’t fully executed. The result feels like we’re watching a bunch of different shows inside one show that doesn’t really know what it wants to be. There’s not a cohesive through line in season two. That said, any one of the three new characters could potentially lead a new series featuring Parker, Pittman, and Choudhury. They’re that good.

Related: Sex and the City: The Feud Between Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Cattrall, Explained

There are a few exceptions to the “new character” thing here, most notably Che (Grey’s Anatomy’s Sara Ramirez in fine form), who became Miranda’s love interest at the end of season one. Miranda had a big breakthrough, if you recall, and went off with podcaster/comic/new love Che. Season two opens with Miranda in Los Angeles while Carrie and Charlotte remain back in New York. In one of the most refreshing twists, the show manages to handle the evolution of Miranda and Che’s relationship with great care. And believability. There were moments when this reviewer stopped what he was watching and said: “Wow. Miranda has really evolved as a character. So has Che. Good for them.”

That sentiment doesn’t always carry over with some of the other characters, and the fact that we’re three quarters through this article and not one mention has been made of what’s going on with, well, Carrie, gives you a hint of how impactful things are. Oh, it’s not all bad, really. We just expected more from series creator Michael Patrick King, a juggernaut in his own right, and Parker, who’s on board as executive producer here, of course. Did we even get to Samantha (Kim Cattrall) and Aidan (John Corbett) yet? Pour yourself another cosmo because…

Surprises Await in the Second Half of the Season

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It may be a lot to ask of viewers to be patient for four or more episodes, but fear not. By the time episodes five and six roll along, there are moments of levity and rewarding scripts that want you craving more. As has much-been reported, Kim Cattrall does return in season two. But fans will have to wait until the final episode drops later this summer for that. Cattrall reportedly makes a cameo toward season’s end and her appearance is tied into the events that are unfolding at that time. Stay tuned. Samantha is missed in this version. She’s mentioned, sure, but Cattall’s unique take on the character still leaves a gaping creative hole in this series.

Meanwhile, there’s been good buzz about John Corbett’s return as Carrie’s ex, Aidan. This plot point shows the most promise, and if you have patience, you get the sense that something marvelous lurks beyond episode six. Carrie and Aidan have a passionate if not ill-fated history, after all. It will be interesting to see how the series moves through that. By what little critics have seen thus far, all one can say is: Thank you, John Corbett for returning to this story.

Related: Sex and the City: 8 Reasons Why Samantha Jones Is a TV Icon

In the meantime, early on in season two we find Carrie promoting her new book, which chronicles the death of hubby John/Big (Chris Noth). Parker infuses Carrie with vulnerability and awkwardness as she still attempts to find new footing. It’s a delight to see Candice Bergen here again, too. She’s a delight as outspoken Vogue editor Enid Frick, who also is in a major life transition. If you’re wondering how the show tracks last season’s surprise potential hook up with Carrie’s podcast producer, Franklyn (Ivan Hernandez), rest assured. There’s plenty of “play” there and how Carrie handles it is par for the course — for Carrie, and this version of the show.

To Wit… And a Payoff

Witty quips and jaw-dropping one-liners arrive here and there. Missing, at least for the show’s first few episodes, are those delicious conversations the core group had over cocktails. When Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte do connect in that fashion, the show is immediately elevated. The same can be said for Mario Cantone’s Anthony. It would be good to see more of this actor and the character. Cantone’s spitfire delivery is spot-on and why this character isn’t given more to explore here seems to be a missed opportunity. Hopeful storylines with Charlotte’s kids (Cathy Ang, Alexa Swinton) entice. There’s some drama involving Miranda’s son, Brady (Niall Cunningham) that could go somewhere, too. Let’s make that happen, please.

Other notables: The series goes to great lengths to create crowd scenes — the Met Gala, for instance — that don’t necessarily go anywhere. Like those ellipses at the end of the show’s moniker, “something bigger this way comes” is always teased. It better. After all, many viewers, like the adventurous characters in this show, love getting off, too.

And Just Like That… debuts its first two episodes on Max on June 22. New episodes air weekly on Thursdays.

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