And just like, what was that?
Decoding the Sex and the City reboot’s season finale
Is Samantha being held hostage? Does Aidan have to die so that Carrie can live? The Sex and the City reboot And Just Like That was a bonafide streaming hit in its second season. It's now the most watched show on Max and will, in fact, be returning for Season 3 — something that was not at all clear until the announcement three days ago.
Today on Commotion, The Cut writer (and occasional Commotion guest host) Amil Niazi, Vanity Fair writer and podcaster Chris Murphy and pop culture guru Lainey Lui of Lainey Gossip join guest host Talia Schlanger to discuss the big questions surrounding the new adventures of Carrie Bradshaw and Co.
We've included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, listen and follow the Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud podcast, on your favourite podcast player.
Talia: Chris, you co-host a podcast for Vanity Fair called Still Watching about And Just Like That. What are you thinking now? How satisfied were you with the season finale?
Chris: It felt like it was going to be a series finale, and I was sort of shocked to hear that And Just Like That was getting renewed for a third season. If that was the end of Carrie's journey and the gang's journey, it would have been fine. But I'm sort of happy that we're continuing because I do think and hope there's more story to tell. I don't know what that story is, but I hope there's more story to tell.
Talia: Did you find the season at large satisfying too?
Chris: I can't say it was good, but I looked forward to every episode and I had fun watching every single episode. And I think that's what matters.
Talia: OK, there you go. Lainey, this is the most popular thing streaming on Max right now. Chris has just said he didn't think it was good, but maybe that doesn't matter. You've described it as a hate-watch. Why?
Lainey: I don't think it's just me. I think that there are a lot of problems with the story, and I don't think they necessarily originated with this series or this iteration. I think the problems kind of started with the films. And so I am glad to see Chris nodding there because I feel like, with the films, it had already shown that maybe it had run its course in a series and then to bring it back to the films and then this series.… I don't think that the decisions that a lot of the characters are making really correspond to what we knew of the show before.
Of course, there's one woman missing or who has been missing, so that's the big Samantha in the room. And so I think a lot of the talk about this season and especially that final episode, was about the return of Kim Cattrall for the, what, 74 seconds that she showed up on screen and why she wasn't even with the other characters… I don't know that it's high quality TV in the way that, ironically, Sex and the City ushered in the era of peak TV back in the '90s alongside The Sopranos.
Talia: The New York Times' review this morning was talking about Kim Cattrall's 75-second cameo, and they described it as more of a hostage proof of life movement. You know, she's calling in on the phone and we can see her on screen. So we know she's alive. We need a counterpoint here. Amil, I'm looking to you. What's your take?
Amil: Yeah, I don't think it's a hate watch at all. I think a hate-watch is something that you dip into once or twice and then you stop. But as you mentioned, it's the most streamed show on HBO Max. And it's streamed for a reason. People can't stop watching. And I'm more in the Chris camp where it's not necessarily good, but I don't think it matters. It's never mattered if Sex and the City is good, it's never mattered that the storylines are coherent or make sense, or that a writer can afford to have a closet full of Manolos. That's not why we watch. We love these characters. We find comfort in their ridiculousness. I just love hearing Sarah Jessica Parker's voice. She has such a lovely voice. She makes clothes look good. And I think we're watching for the fantasy and the nostalgia at this point. I really think Rayne Fisher-Quann put it best when she said "I think the show is terrible and yet I never want it to not be on." And that's how I feel too. It's like, please make me a thousand more episodes. Let's have like 12 seasons.
Why Aidan has got to go
Amil: I'm going to say something so shocking, but I really hope Aidan also dies because I'm not interested in a happy, satisfied Carrie. Can we please get a woman in her 50s into her 60s dating and showing what it's like to be living like that without children — living your life out loud and proud. It would be fun. And I'm sorry to the Aidan fans, whoever they are, but that man needs to go. And we need to see Carrie in that apartment dating and being happy because I'm just not I'm not into this romance at all.
Chris: I don't want to see Carrie sitting around for five years waiting for Aidan and his stormtrooper jacket to come back from Norfolk, Virginia. I don't want that.
Talia: But does he have to perish? Can he just stay in Virginia?
Lainey: No. He has to die. I'll tell you why he has to die. Because I think it's a safety net, you know, for shows to go back all the time. The fact that Aidan was brought back, it was kind of an eye roll. I was never for Aidan way back when — I thought he was dull. So dull. And so you have to kill him so that they can't, you know, three seasons from now, be like, "wait a minute, ratings are dipping let's bring back Aidan." I don't want that option for them.
Talia: Well OK, it's settled. He's got to perish.
You can listen to the full discussion from today's show, including segments on the enduring appeal of Meghan Markle's Suits and a new NSYNC single on CBC Listen or wherever you get your podcasts.
Panel produced by Jessica Low.