We are a country in need of healing. We are a country in need of unity. We are a country in need of Che Diaz.
Our long national nightmare is over—or, depending on your tolerance for the usage of the nickname “Rambo,” upon us again—as the trailer for Season 2 of newly-renamed streamer Max’s Sex and the City sequel series And Just Like That… is finally here. Also here: a release date (sort of). While the actual day hasn’t been announced, Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte, and their new circle of definitely-not-responding-to-backlash diverse friends will be back in June.
That gives you at least a month to plan a watch party to rival Che’s “I’m going to rent a bar in order to sing a Beach Boys song that announces to my girlfriend who left her husband for me that I am moving to Los Angeles in order to shoot a comedy pilot” event. Plan accordingly.
What seems to be in store for the ladies? Change! You know how we know this? Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) says so: “We are blissfully unaware when our lives are about to change.”
Charlotte (Kristin Davis) is reeling over her daughter’s announcement that she’s ready to lose her virginity and the existence of a “MILF List” at the teen’s school. Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) is doubling down on her relationship with Che (Sara Ramirez), defying middle-age logic not to be impulsive—not to mention the legions of SATC fans who raged over Che being the most annoying character on TV, and how the plot seemed to betray Miranda as we’ve come to know the character.
And Carrie’s been engaging in a lot of “exit-out-of–grief sex” with the hot podcast producer she shared a steamy makeout session with in the Season 1 finale, nearly breaking Google Search with inquiries for “WHO IS CARRIE’S HOT PODCAST PRODUCER???” (Or maybe that was just me.)
Oh, and who is that who shows up in the end? It’s Aidan (John Corbett), filling the nostalgia role for “romances of Carrie’s past,” now that Mr. Big suffered death-by-Peloton and actor Chris Noth is disgraced. His appearance isn’t a surprise, per se. Parker herself has been teasing his return for months, with photos of the pair filming. But it is welcome: Real ones know Aidan is the guy Carrie always should’ve end up with, and the Mr. Big nonsense was something we all just put up with.
While there were more opinions about And Just Like That…’s first season than Carrie Bradshaw has shoes, there’s no denying that it was watercooler TV. I think we all remember where we were the moment we saw Miranda being fingerbanged by Che in the kitchen, while Carrie slept just feet away, peeing herself. I don’t think it was just my selective bubble that treated the day that new episodes dropped with the same enthusiasm as we would a major episode of Game of Thrones or Succession. Gossip about what happened—both good and infuriating—proceeded to dominate all conversation that day.
Yes, the show was polarizing, but there was also a lot to admire about it.
The new characters, played by Sarita Choudhury, Nicole Ari Parker, and Karen Pittman, were all captivating additions; I’m excited to see more of them in Season 2.
It was also easy and lazy—and misogynistic—to mock the show as Sex and the City’s transformation into The Golden Girls. But And Just Like That… gave us a fascinating portrait of how a woman handles grief—elegantly portrayed by SJP)—the difficulty of maintaining relationships with your platonic soulmates for decades, and how getting older is liberating, mortifying, frightening, and a joy, often all at once.
I can’t help but wonder how insufferable I’ll become, making this show my entire personality when it returns in June.
Keep obsessing! Sign up for the Daily Beast’s Obsessed newsletter and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.
