‘And Just Like That…’ Season 3 Review: Sarah Jessica Parker Shines, but this ‘Sex and the City’ Spinoff Keeps Getting Carried Away [C+]

Are you a Carrie, a Miranda, a Samantha, or a Charlotte? Sex and the City first aired almost thirty years ago, and yet, find a girl today in the West Village (or just one who dreams of moving there) and she’ll still know exactly how to answer this question. The names of the four women who fumbled their way through relationships, sex, and their own great expectations became symbolic of how you could conquer what was directly in front of you, all while living in the greatest city in the world. Sex and the City’s appeal and the chokehold it still has on audiences stems from the show’s escapism and how the fabulous Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) narrates the experience; it never mattered just how unrealistic each woman’s escapades seemed. When Michael Patrick King’s spinoff And Just Like That… came to fruition, he tried to overcorrect the original series’ shortcomings and thrust it away from the fantasy and into the 21st century in a way that never felt true to the characters. The only thing it retained (aside from three of its four leading ladies) was the clumsiness of the characters’ situations, this time exchanging dating and sex mishaps for full-on cringe. Even though the dramatic beats are pretty predictable, And Just Like That’s third season has grown up and settled down a bit for better and for worse, finding a rhythm with its characters and a level of chaos that still makes you question what you’re watching and why. 

And Just Like That’s second season ended with Carrie throwing a last supper in her iconic apartment before moving into her gorgeous new Gramercy mansion. She had gotten back together with her on-again-off-again ex, Aidan (John Corbett), but they had to put their relationship on a five-year pause so he could go back to Virginia to tend to some issues at home. He’s still having some trouble with his son, Wyatt, who, in the show’s second season, spawned one of the series’ most memorable scenes of unintentional comedy–we’ll never forget Corbett sobbing at the wheel in his car. With Aidan away, Carrie lives in her new home with her beautiful cat, Shoe, who fits into the space perfectly. In classic Carrie fashion, the house is completely unfurnished except for her bedroom and a fully decorated closet, but it’s a great new space for the character and one that, without Aidan, makes her seem like a single girl on the precipice of something new. Ever a romantic, Carrie now envisions the women who lived in her old home before her and what they might have been up to–all inspirations as she begins to tackle her first novel. While the spinoff’s first season regrettably let go of Carrie’s classic narration in favor of turning her into a podcast host, the new season thankfully incorporates her cheesy voiceover at the end of each episode. Yes, “and just like that…” is almost always included in her concluding musings. 

Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) has always had a knack for throwing herself into some of the most embarrassing situations and storylines, but the writer’s room of And Just Like That… seems to revel in her slip-ups. Miranda is a woman who, in the original series, fantasized about a man dressed up as a sandwich, and yet, that still feels like nothing compared to what she says and does in this series. With the spinoff’s most notorious addition, Che Diaz (Sara Ramirez) absent from the third season, one would think that Miranda might find her groove away from the turmoil of that relationship. Well, that’s not exactly the case. In the season’s first episode, Carrie and Charlotte tag along with Miranda to a lesbian bar. She’s striking out, drinking her phony Negronis when she meets Mary (Rosie O’Donnell), a Canadian tourist instantly smitten by her. Miranda goes back to Mary’s hotel room, where, after sleeping with her, learns an unhinged detail that could only come from the mind of King. Career-wise, she’s also gearing up to have more on-air opportunities at the BBC, where she’s now enamored by her coworker, Joy (Dolly Wells). While this relationship is far less toxic than whatever was happening with Che, Miranda again makes a blunder that fits right into her arc in And Just Like That… with an unfortunate pause in the middle of “country” that turns her into a meme. It’s admirable that Nixon is up for whatever King throws her way, but it’s a shame that they’ve taken the original series’ smartest, most rational character and turned her into the laughing stock of the show. Nothing about the Miranda Hobbes we met in Sex and the City would suggest that she would be the worst possible houseguest, taking food from Carrie’s refrigerator, messily eating takeout on her brand-new table, and carelessly spilling her last Mexican Coke all over her research. The writing of this character continues to be one of the most baffling aspects of the spinoff, and it’s unfortunate that, after three seasons, they still don’t know what to do with one of the show’s original characters. 

Luckily, the writers’ approach to Charlotte (Kristin Davis) feels much more natural. In Season Three, Charlotte is a successful art dealer, navigating international sales and deals at TEFAF, while continuing to try to balance her role as a mom to her two teenagers, Lily (Cathy Ang) and Rock (Alexa Swinton). This season finds Charlotte and Harry (Evan Handler) first focusing on trying to seem cooler to their much younger coworkers, before their storylines evolve to tackle a serious piece of news that makes everything else feel a bit more trivial. Davis succeeds in these moments, her performance feeling much more akin to the dramatic flair and heart of the original series’ illustration of Charlotte and less like the over-the-top (and overacted) iteration found in the show’s first two seasons. Some of the secondary characters also fare better in the third season, too, simply because the writers don’t have to do much legwork to introduce them alongside the characters we’ve known and loved for decades. This includes Charlotte’s friend Lisa Todd Wexley (Nicole Ari Parker), a successful documentarian developing a miniseries on unsung Black women from history. While the development of her storylines can feel a bit on-the-nose and obvious, it’s a much more subtle way (for this show) to explore race than the sledgehammer-like approach of the previous two seasons. 

With Samantha (Kim Cattrall) missing from the spinoff, the sex in And Just Like That… feels quite limited and vanilla. It’s also pretty absent from the first half of the season, save a few morning-after scenes or conversations about sneaking away to a guest house or possible erectile dysfunction. The one character who comes closest to filling the Samantha-sized void is Carrie’s friend, Seema (Sarita Choudhury). Seema is trying to make her relationship with the very busy Ravi (Armin Amiri) work, traveling with him to scout locations for his upcoming movie. When he doesn’t give her the attention she deserves (much like Samantha’s “I love you, but I love me more”), she cuts him loose and goes back to the drawing board, with her checklist of qualities found in a potential suitor in hand. She’s also navigating challenges at work, as Ryan Serhant (one of the show’s many cameos) gets involved and decides to leave her name off the company. Her best scenes are with Carrie, though, as the two have a friendship that feels like a genuine adult relationship between two similar, yet incredibly different women. Unfortunately, as with most of the show’s plot points, Seema’s dating struggles and the issues in her career are told in very simplistic, broad strokes. Fingers crossed, she can throw away her dating checklist and have a moment with Carrie’s hot new gardener (Logan Marshall-Green) in the back half of the season. 

Even though the other characters are more developed in the show’s third season, the only reason to continue watching And Just Like That… is Carrie Bradshaw. It’s difficult to know where Sarah Jessica Parker begins and Carrie ends, the two feeling inextricably linked in the evolution of one of television’s greatest women. This season, Carrie primarily focuses on her relationship with Aidan and how she can make it work despite his Virginia residence and family priorities. As critical as she is about Miranda’s midlife relationship crises, it’s ironic just how much she puts up with from Aidan. It’s refreshing, then, when Miranda jabs back at her, if only because it comes close to resembling their dynamic in Sex and the City. Unfortunately, Carrie and Aidan’s storyline becomes frustrating and repetitive rather quickly without ever evolving past “it’s complicated.” Parker’s power as Carrie is that she has chemistry with just about every actor and character onscreen, making every romantic or platonic relationship feel true to the character and the audience. However, even with Parker’s presence and the years-long history of Carrie and Aidan’s relationship, Corbett can’t match her, and their conversations come off as stilted and awkward. This is made even more apparent when a fun development emerges for Carrie back in New York, and a tall, curmudgeonly British biography author moves into her garden unit. The kicker? He can’t stand the click-clack of her Jimmy Choos on the hardwood floors upstairs, which makes for a perfect meet-cute. Even as a self-proclaimed Aidan girl, I must admit that it’s time for Carrie to throw in the towel on this relationship and pursue the man underneath her.  

As I watched the first six episodes of the new season of And Just Like That… I couldn’t help but wonder why I was still excited to watch the remaining six episodes later this summer, knowing that this show continues to fall short of its original predecessor. Even with its half-baked storylines, cringey comedy, and questionable performances, there is something comforting about seeing Carrie Bradshaw walk around Washington Square Park in a ridiculous hat and mile-high heels. It’s a bit ironic that a show that encourages its leading ladies to search for the kind of “consuming, can’t-live-without-each-other love” ends up doing the opposite for its viewers. As And Just Like That… stretches on to its third season, it seems that if we get to spend time with Carrie again in her version of New York, we’re all content to keep settling.  

Grade: C+

The 12-episode third season of And Just Like That… begins streaming on HBO Max May 29 with new episodes every Thursday.