By: Emma Bullimore
So it’s official: Carrie, Charlotte and Miranda will return for a second season of Sex and the City spin-off And Just Like That, despite a lukewarm reception from fans the first time around (check out our And Just Like That review for more on that). It would be fair to say that Aleksandr Petrovsky’s large-scale light installations got better press than the Samantha-less sequel, but there’s no stopping SJP.
As viewers brace themselves for more divisive storylines, we couldn’t help but wonder… what can showrunner Michael Patrick King do to salvage the show? We still love these characters, so surely there’s a way to breathe some joy back into their lives?
Here are a few suggestions to get us onboard.
More fun, and more sex!
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SATC wasn’t just a valentine to singledom, it was also an unapologetic, hilarious and fun dance around the exciting streets of Manhattan, full of warmth, sass and glamour. Naturally, Samantha’s absence toned things down a little, but AJLT suggests there’s next to no sex in the city (apart from in Charlotte’s bathroom, of course) – and very few laughs.
Carrie’s grief was heartbreaking and well-handled (although we’ll never know why she didn’t call an ambulance), but Big’s death was heavy subject matter for a show that prides itself on puns, Prada and Post-it Notes. Let’s lighten up a bit in season 2, please.
Justice for Charlotte
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Thankfully, Charlotte was on hand to provide some much-needed comedy in AJLT, from her badly-timed period to her tennis match strop, but she still wasn’t immune from the unfair treatment that she often endured in SATC. Her concerns are routinely dismissed by self-obsessed Carrie (did she ever get an apology after flagging Miranda’s alcoholism? No.) – and it was all too easy to transform her into a PTA mum caricature.
Give her some credit – Kristin Davis can do so much more.
Let’s talk about Miranda and Che
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We can’t go any further without discussing AJLT’s most controversial storyline: Miranda having noisy sex in Carrie’s kitchen, coming out and ditching Steve quicker than you can say, ‘Brooklyn Bridge’, all because of a certain Che Diaz. Whether or not Cynthia Nixon’s personal story has elbowed out Miranda’s, the whole thing was a mess.
Sexuality aside, Miranda has undergone a personality transplant. She has always been independent and rational – what is she doing giving up an incredible work opportunity for someone she’s been dating for five minutes, regardless of gender? Why is she running round New York making a fool of herself, like the rom-com clichés she hates? And couldn’t the writers have made Che slightly funnier/more charming/less toe-curlingly preachy and annoying?
The less said about turning Steve into a bumbling idiot, the better. This storyline needs a serious overhaul to get fans back onside, preferably by bringing back cynical, old-school Miranda.
What about the other new additions?
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As well as Che, we were introduced to the unflappable LTW, fabulous single gal Seema and Miranda’s professor Nya. They’re all accomplished, brilliant women who bring something new to the series, and Seema’s talent for handing Carrie home truths is particularly welcome. But is the show spreading itself too thin?
Those characters need to be developed further and given meatier storylines, or ushered out pronto. Let’s face it, Carrie is never going to move out of that brownstone now, so why is she still going for cocktails with her estate agent?
Less is definitely more
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Watching Sex and the City in 2022 throws up a lot of questions about diversity and representation, which the AJLT crew were determined to answer immediately, and all at once. Within just a few episodes, we had major storylines about Rose becoming Rock, Miranda’s white saviour panic, Charlotte not having enough friends of colour and Miranda’s sexuality, all held together by Che’s relentless comedy ‘concerts’.
All of those storylines are both engaging and a way for AJLT to reckon with some of the missteps it made in the original series, but juggling all of them at once was a choice that didn’t always work. In season 2, the show would do well to streamline its focus.
It’s not all bad though…
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Nobody takes the time to criticise a show they don’t care about – and there are still lots of us who love these women. Let’s not forget, this series is still making strides forward that aren’t happening anywhere else – how many other TV shows give a flying Fendi about the personal lives of 50-something women? Plus, the fashion is still dreamy and the nostalgic cameos – from Natasha to Bitsy von Muffling – are glorious.
On that note, where did Aidan go? The rumour mill promised a return for our favourite rugged carpenter and we’re primed and ready for his arrival. Season 2 is likely to see Carrie dating again – if she gets bored of her podcast producer, maybe she could rekindle the Shaw/Bradshaw romance? Or match with Berger on Bumble? The possibilities are vast, so let’s embrace the positives and give the writers a chance to impress us in the show’s sophomore season. Any excuse to mix a Cosmopolitan and daydream about Manolos.
And Just Like That is available to stream on Sky Comedy and on streaming service NOW in the UK. For all the latest news, visit our dedicated Drama hub, or find out what else to watch with our TV Guide.
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