Goodbye, And Just Like That: why it's the right time to end the cursed spin-off
If a theme could be pulled from the scrambled threads of the third season of the Sex and the City reboot, it is, I think, the question of appearance versus reality. Early on in the series, rattled by the discovery of a rat infestation in her meadowy garden, Carrie seeks comfort from Aidan, the man she's technically in a relationship with but due to a muddled and implausible arrangement, can't actually be with for five years. Carrie thought her garden was perfect, she says, 'but I just wasn't looking underneath'.
After three seasons of And Just Like That the answer to what lies beneath is, I fear, nothing. Take the shoes – in a frankly criminal throwback to one of the best plotlines of the original show, Carrie namechecks a superior earlier episode as she complains about her curmudgeonly downstairs neighbour asking her to remove her stilettos in the house. In A Woman's Right to Shoes, Carrie's stolen Manolo Blahniks stood for, in no particular order, the gulf that can open between friends at different life stages, the way marriage and motherhood are celebrated when the milestones of an independent life are not, attention inequity in friendships, and a woman's right to spend her money however the hell she chooses. In Under the Table, Carrie's shoes signify … that she has a crush.
That's not to say And Just Like That hasn't had its moments of insight – they just tend to be immediately binned in favour of something silly. Despite episodes averaging 40 minutes in length, this season has been the trimmest so far, with excisions both necessary (Che Diaz) and unexplained (Nya) giving the remaining characters room to breathe. Seema learns that the key to romance is not pretending to be someone else, but letting go of the desire to be seen in a certain way. Lisa flounders in her attempt to balance work and family life. Charlotte, previously troubled by such challenges as the cancellation of her dog, finally gets a storyline worthy of her default mode of hysteria when Harry is diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Charlotte and Lisa's Park Avenue-set struggles with family life have some meat to them, but are bedevilled by every interaction with their children seeming to have come straight out of a toothpaste advertisement, or hell. See: Charlotte freaking out about not being able to work the party circuit to sell art as her smug children talk about veganism and polyamory, or the Todd Wexley family's cringe banter and Lisa's dismissive comments that her husband should start Ozempic.
At times like these the show feels like a charmless sitcom about the super-rich. In Sex and the City, the weekends in the Hamptons were just the backdrop to more resonant storytelling – in And Just Like That, sometimes the setting is the story. In one scene, Charlotte begins to spiral at Tiffany's, wondering if life is as fragile as the glass cabinets around her – but what might have been a serious meditation on midlife and mortality morphs into an unfunny joke about which society events Bitsy von Muffling is and isn't invited to. Sometimes these vignettes verge on outright cruelty – after Lisa's nemesis is marked as a gauche interloper by her Michael Kors handbag (wrong kind of designer, honey), it's a lot harder to see her mother-in-law's pronouncement that she has no time for the working class as mere satire.
Meanwhile, the inexplicably homeless Miranda deflowers a nun, becomes a meme and gains a girlfriend, who, in lieu of a personality, possesses two Italian greyhounds and vile British colleagues apparently scooped straight from the cutting room floor of Too Much. It's not until the 10th episode that we get to see Miranda, who barely resembles the beloved judgmental ice queen of Sex and the City, do the first Miranda-y thing of the entire series so far, when she stalks the woman her son got pregnant.
The one bright spot of the season has been its treatment of Carrie's faltering relationship with Aidan. A standout episode in which she visits him in Virginia sees a diminished Carrie, too afraid to ask for what she wants, settling for the smallest thing he can offer her – a spot in the guesthouse. Carrie switches her magenta Vivienne Westwood for a 'sister wives' prairie dress, to attempt the role of cool country stepmum. But the performance of a happy blended family falls to pieces in a rare decent domestic scene, in which resentment and alienation explode into a conflict that ends with a broken window and a return to reality.
The relationship eventually crumbles when Carrie realises that no matter how she changes for Aidan – selling her apartment, not being a brat in the countryside (remember Suffern?) – he cannot move past her previous infidelity. This, to me, is the point of returning to a story decades later: to show how people change, and how they don't. How the cracks in a relationship can run so deep that even the layering sediment of time can't fill them in, but only hide them. When Carrie finally ended it, I felt a tug of genuine emotion that can only come from having spent so much time with these characters.
A lot has been made this season of the idea of the hate-watch, especially given Miranda's obsession with a Love Island-style show called Bi Bingo. 'I finally discovered the joy of hate-watching,' she says, in what I assume is meant to be a winning nod at self-awareness by the showrunners.
The thing is, I don't believe that's what those of us who loved Sex and the City (for who else would bother watching And Just Like That through three unexceptional seasons?) were doing. I'd describe it as something closer to hope-watching. We wanted to see the characters we loved, women once so convincingly and lovingly drawn, being flirty, frivolous and fabulously dressed in New York City. But more than that, we held out hope that something substantial might still remain beneath the sparkle. In two episodes' time we'll finally know the answer – and if we're disappointed again, at least it'll be for the last time.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
24 minutes ago
- The Guardian
‘The economics made it a challenge': CBS boss talks Stephen Colbert cancellation
After much media consternation and criticism over the cancellation of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, CBS's CEO has spoken up about the company's decision to end the television institution after 32 years. Speaking at a press conference following the takeover of Paramount by the media conglomerate Skydance, George Cheeks, the chair of TV media at the company, attributed the cancellation to financial headwinds faced by the format. 'The challenge in late night is that the advertising marketplace is in significant secular decline,' he said. 'We are huge fans of Colbert, we love the show. Unfortunately the economics made it a challenge for us to keep going.' Cheeks added that as soon as Taylor Tomlinson, the 31-year-old former host of After Midnight, declined to return for another season in the slot formerly occupied by the Late Late Show with James Corden, he knew the network 'couldn't stay in that daypart'. 'I know [Skydance] is going to invest, but they're going to invest cautiously and wisely,' he said, indicating a focus on prime time and sports. Many had criticized the decision to cancel Colbert during a crucial window in the merger of Paramount and Skydance, which depended on approval from the Trump administration to proceed. The cancellation came just two days after Colbert publicly criticized his parent company's settlement with Trump over a 'frivolous' lawsuit regarding a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris. During one of his monologues, Colbert referred to the $16m paid by Paramount to Trump a 'big fat bribe' to approve the $8.4bn merger. Colbert's announcement that his show would end next year was met with an outpouring of support from celebrities, as well as speculation that the decision was another effort by Paramount to appease Trump as well as the Skydance head, Larry Ellison, who has close ties with the president. But Cheeks asserted the decision was indeed financial, following reports that the Late Show, which premiered in August 1993 with David Letterman as host, was losing upwards of $40m a year. The late-night genre as a whole has faced significant financial challenges in recent years, with ad revenue plummeting 50% from just seven years ago. Cheeks declined to confirm how much the Late Show was losing, even as the ratings leader in the field for close to a decade, but said it was 'significant' and in the 'tens of millions of dollars'. 'At the end of the day, it just wasn't sustainable to continue,' he said. Cheeks, who came up in late night at NBC, also said that the timing for the decision came down to contract renewals for crew, including writers and producers. 'We were at a period from a production standpoint where every year seasonally, this is [when] we negotiate new deals for writers and producers,' he said. 'In addition, this is going to be the third season of Colbert's three-year deal. So, in order to do those deals, we were going to have to change the terms from what we traditionally are, September to August, to September to May. 'It was it incumbent upon me and us to make it clear to Stephen and his reps that this is where we were,' he added, noting that it was 'too early to speculate' on what might replace the program in the 11.35pm ET time slot. Colbert will continue to host the show four nights a week until April 2026.
Daily Mail
24 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Jason and Kylie Kelce attend funeral of dad Ed's girlfriend
A somber Jason and Kylie Kelce were seen attending the funeral of his 'heartbroken' father's girlfriend - but his younger brother, Travis, and his superstar girlfriend, Taylor Swift , appeared to have stayed away, the Daily Mail can reveal. The retired Philadelphia Eagles center arrived five minutes before the start of Maureen Anne Maguire's funeral at St. John Vianney Catholic church in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania, suited and booted and with a Starbucks coffee in hand. The 37-year-old appeared downcast as he arrived with wearing a light-colored shirt, dark tie and slacks with wife Kylie dressed in a simple knee-length black shift dress and strappy heels. The celebrity couple – who live a short drive from the church in a $6 million megamansion in the wealthy suburb of Haverford, Pennsylvania - were among the last to join the line of mourners filing through the front doors of the church to say farewell to the partner of the Kelce patriarch, who died last Friday aged 74. The older Kelce brother appeared to be representing both of Ed's sons - after his Kansas City Chiefs brother Travis was spotted this morning playing at his team's training camp at Missouri Western University in St Joseph, ahead of season start on Saturday. The 35-year-old appeared in great shape at the training camp, pouring cold water on any imminent retirement suggestions. 'I love it here,' Kelce said of training camp. It gets me away from everything else that's going on in this crazy world. You can really just focus in on your craft and focus in on being the best you can for the guys around you, man.' 'Football has always been the biggest driving force I've ever had. I love coming out here and focusing on this and getting better for another run at hopefully a Super Bowl. Travis's popstar girlfriend Swift was nowhere to be seen at the small Catholic mass – despite Kelce senior Ed sharing sweet photographs of Maguire and him with the 'I Can Do It with a Broken Heart' hitmaker. Announcing Maguire's death on his Facebook page with an online obituary, Ed shared photo of the three of them in Kansas City Chiefs merch, with the singer holding a card and what appears to be a friendship bracelet. Ed also shared a photograph with Maguire from Saturday Night Live in March 2023 in New York, when three-time Super Bowl winner Travis was the guest host. In an interview last year with the LA Times, Ed revealed how his girlfriend and Swift had struck up a bond. Maguire, according to Ed, jokingly told Swift 'hey, that's my boyfriend' when the singer took a selfie with Travis and Jason's father at an NFL game. Maguire's obituary doesn't explain how she and Ed met but revealed how much football was an influence on her later years. 'She also grew an unexpected love for football later in life, sharing many laughs and adventures with her beloved friend Ed Kelce and her loyal dog Butch,' the obituary said. 'Together, they traveled often and attended football games and concerts, and embraced every opportunity to enjoy life to the fullest.' The older Kelce brother's appearance at the funeral comes after the Mail exclusively pictured him at his sprawling estate – dressed down in his casual gear with his wife and four daughters. spotted him Wednesday on the driveway of his sprawling property in the wealthy suburb of Haverford, Pennsylvania, with wife Kylie and their four daughters. Kelce kept it low-key and ate from a small bowl while entertaining two of his daughters as one rode a bike, and another played on a toy horse. Wife Kylie, who cut a similarly casual figure barefoot and in a black sweatsuit, cradled their newborn and kept an eye on another daughter as their huge Irish wolfhound padded around them. Kelce and Kylie married in 2018 and share four daughters, Wyatt, 5, Elliotte, 4, and Bennett, 2, and newborn Finnley, who arrived in March . They are raising their young family at their massive 10-acre compound, which boasts three properties and a swimming pool with waterfalls and a hot tub. Kelce – brother to Kansas City Chiefs star Travis - recently got permission to build a fourth home on his estate and do other extensive updates, including adding a fence to improve 'security' on the property and 'deter foot traffic'. The couple appeared on their driveway briefly as an unknown older man and a young girl wearing matching blue t-shirts arrived at the huge compound yesterday afternoon and were seen chatting with Kelce before admiring his luxury Tesla cyber truck. Kelce's appearance came just a day before the funeral of Maguire, the partner of his father Ed, who is said to be 'heartbroken' over her death from a long-term illness. 'Maureen wasn't just his partner, she was his person. They were a team. They shared everything… games, concerts, travel, dogs, dinners with family. He's feeling an enormous void,' a source reportedly told PEOPLE magazine. Kelce patriarch Ed was nowhere to be seen at the mansion, or his home in nearby Ardmore, where workers appeared to be clearing or doing repairs. It isn't known when Ed first met Maguire, or how. But an online obituary for Maguire's first husband, Daniel J. Maguire Jr, from February 2023 describes Maureen as 'his loving wife…with whom he was married for 28 years'. But Ed and Donna Kelce, the mother of Travis and Jason, went their separate ways after nearly 25 years of marriage around the time their sons were at college, but remain good friends. Two unmarked police cars driven by uniformed cops were seen watching over the funeral and directing cars entering and exiting the jam-packed church car park – with some mourners having to park at a nearby supermarket across the street. Maguire will be buried at a private ceremony after the funeral. Earlier, workers and family members were seen carrying large bouquets of flowers and sweet picture boards into the church. In a moving nod to Maguire's Gaelic roots, a bagpiper played her out of the church as her grieving partner Ed and other pallbearers carried her coffin down the steps of the church and placed her in a silver hearse before she was driven away for her private burial. Kelce senior, who wore a grey suit jacket, tie and dark pants, was seen shaking hands and hugging mourners – including Kylie - who gathered on the steps of the church, before going inside. She and Jason were later seen leaving the church car park in their green Toyota Sienna vehicle. Two unmarked police cars and a Lower Merion marked police vehicle were seen managing the flow of traffic down the road as mourners drove away. Maguire's long-term illness was not released by Kelce senior, but in her online obituary, he asked family and friends to donate to the Penn Heart Transplant Fund, which he said 'provides support to individuals in financial need receiving heart transplants' instead of sending flowers. A local Philadelphia magazine article about Maguire from February 2014 reveals how she went into ventricular tachycardia (VTAC) aged 32 and later received a heart transplant around 2013, with her care managed by cardiologist Dr Harvey Waxman at the pioneering Penn Medicine. According to the article, heart disease runs in Maguire's family, with her younger brother passing away aged 15 from a sudden heart attack due to an undiagnosed heart condition. In the article, Maguire said that 10 years prior she had had to slow down due to her heart failure but that her heart transplant had given her a second chance at life.
Daily Mail
24 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Richard Gere jets back to US as furious daughter of music icon curses him over sale of her childhood home
Richard Gere was spotted touching down at JFK Airport on Thursday, keeping a low profile in a baseball cap as he returned to the U.S. from Spain—amid the ongoing fallout over the property he sold that once belonged to music legend Paul Simon. The Pretty Woman star, 75, relocated overseas last year, but now finds himself back in the spotlight after Simon's daughter Lulu, 30, tore into him for selling off her childhood home in Connecticut to a developer planning to demolish it. 'Just in case anyone was wondering if I still hate Richard Gere—I do!' she fumed in a since-deleted Instagram post, posing with a peace sign. 'He bought my childhood home,' she continued. 'Promised he would take care of the land as [a] condition of his purchase. Proceeded to never actually move in and just sold it to a developer as nine separate plots.' Gere sold the historic estate in November 2024, months after announcing he and wife Alejandra Silva were relocating to Spain with their children. But Lulu didn't hold back. The airport sighting comes amid the ongoing fallout over the property he sold that once belonged to music legend Paul Simon In another unsettling post, she shared a photo collage of Gere surrounded by images of her deceased pets buried on the property and added: 'I hope my dead pets buried in that backyard haunt you until you descend into a slow and unrelenting madness.' Both posts were scrubbed from her account within 18 hours. Gere shelled out $10.8 million for Simon's former Connecticut estate in 2022—but two years later, he quietly flipped the historic home to developers in an off-market deal for $10.75 million, just shy of what he paid. By May, word got out: the once-grand Georgian-style mansion—where Simon and wife Edie Brickell had lived for decades—was now slated to be torn down to make way for a nine-home development. The sale came just months after Gere and wife Alejandra, 42, packed up and moved their young family to Madrid. The Spanish-born publicist shares sons Alexander, 6, and James, 5, with Gere, and has another son, Albert, 11, from a previous marriage. Gere also has a 25-year-old son, Homer, with ex-wife Carey Lowell. 'For Alejandra, it will be wonderful to be closer to her family, her lifelong friends and her culture,' the actor explained to Vanity Fair Spain in April 2024. 'She was very generous in giving me six years living in my world, so it is only fair that I give her at least another six living in here.' Alejandra later revealed they're not gone for good, saying the family plans to return to the U.S. in a 'few years.' Simon, too, took a hit on the property. He and Brickell originally paid $16.5 million for it back in 2002. They tried to offload it in 2019 for $13.9 million, but couldn't find a buyer. The price dipped and shifted for three more years before Gere scooped it up in 2022. At one point, the Pretty Woman star had reportedly hoped to convert the sprawling 31.8-acre property into a working farm—but that plan never materialized.
