It’s no secret that And Just Like That … has gotten off to a real rough start. Yes, I’m referring to the multiple sexual-assault allegations that have come to light regarding Chris Noth. Perhaps we can stop talking about whether or not Carrie should’ve called 911 now? But I’m also talking about how some of the show’s attempts to face the obvious failings of the original series when it comes to race, gender issues, etc., have played out. Maybe the show is going for awkward and uncomfortable? But these storylines have gone well beyond that. While it’s great that the show is self-aware, I think part of the problem is how superficial the discussion around some of these more nuanced topics has been. Sometimes it feels like they’re just glossing over things to check them off a list without making any kind of point.
Charlotte’s storyline in “Some of My Best Friends” is an example of this. Let’s be real: The whole thing is a cringefest from beginning to end. She’s invited Lisa and Herbert to dinner with her friends, and upon realizing that the Wexleys will be the only Black couple there (I’m not even going to get started on the fact that her main reason for inviting Stanford and Anthony is because they’re gay), she is sent into an unholy panic. The second half of this storyline — because that cursed dinner party ends up being canceled anyway — has Charlotte and Harry going to Herbert’s birthday party, where they end up being the only white guests and making some majorly cringe-y missteps (at least Charlotte gets to be a good friend while sticking up for Lisa against her dreaded mother-in-law). The button of this whole thing is a quick scene between Charlotte and Lisa in which Charlotte confesses how panicked she’s been because she just wants “to do everything right,” to which LTW responds, “good luck.” It’s great that these two are broaching what can be an uncomfortable subject between friends; there just needed to be more of it. Once again, there’s all this set-up for the show to have an interesting conversation and then no follow-through. Maybe there will be more of this as Charlotte and Lisa’s relationship develops?? Can we hope?
Let’s talk about something great from this episode: The fact that the focus was on women in their 50s forming new friendships. Making friends is hard! And it only gets harder as you get older, so it’s nice to see the show tackle this later-in-life phenomenon. And you know what? Carrie could honestly use a new friend. Remember when her old friends allowed her to stalk a woman last week? She needs some new blood in the mix, someone with an outside perspective who can be like, please, friend, get a fucking grip. I feel like Seema could be that friend! Seema, Carrie’s realtor, is a breath of fresh air on this show. She also gets a great intro. This woman arrives in a car that she doesn’t drive herself but has a vanity plate with her name on it, she has great shoes on, and she uses those shoes to put out a cigarette because I think what this show is trying to say is it wishes cigarettes were cool again. Or it could just be setting up a way for Seema and Carrie to bond later. But still, why is this show trying so hard to make cigarettes a thing in 2021?
Anyway, Seema is a fabulous, successful single woman who isn’t afraid to tell it like it is. And what it is here is that although Carrie and Big’s apartment is gorgeous, it needs to be dialed down 100 percent. There’s too much personality here and it will scare off buyers. That’s valid. What is not valid is her thought that the thing that could really tie the gorgeous bathroom together is to put a Peloton in it. First of all, what realtor in their right mind would suggest this? Second, And Just Like That … is really doubling down on all the Peloton shade. They say “Peloton” so many times in this episode! You can just call it an exercise bike, everyone!
Otherwise, Seema seems great. She gets Carrie out of an awkward open house situation, and the two share easy laughs when they grab lunch together. It’s nice for Carrie to spend time with someone who doesn’t feel the need to keep peppering her with dead husband questions. There is a bit of an awkward moment when Seema, who has never been married, starts talking about the hellscape that is online dating, and Carrie tells her that “it’s great you’re still putting yourself out there,” but Seema lets the moment pass. Cacio e pepe waits for no woman!
The real conflict — and thus, the real stepping stone toward an actual friendship — happens later, when Carrie comes back to the apartment after Seema’s been showing it all day (it still looks great, even in all beige) and has to tell Carrie that she broke a picture frame while trying to put it away. It’s totally fine, just the glass is broken and she’ll replace it. Carrie spirals. It was a picture of her and Big that Big kept on his bedside table, which means he touched it all the time, so no, that glass cannot be replaced. It is irreplaceable! Furthermore, Carrie is angry at how cavalier Seema is acting about the whole thing. This sparks a discussion about how people may not always realize when they are being insensitive, like Seema in this instance or, you know, Carrie, at lunch, whose comment about Seema putting herself out there was pretty patronizing. The two women apologize, and Seema tells Carrie how lucky she was to have found real, true love in her life (can any single woman not be yearning for a soulmate to find fulfillment in life or no?), and they cement their friendship over sushi. I’m excited to see how the dynamic between Carrie and Seema continues to play out throughout the season; it offers some hope that there is some levity and brightness in Carrie’s future, and that is a great thing.
This and That
• Miranda makes a new friend, too! Surprisingly, it is her professor, Nya Wallace. I 100 percent do not believe that Nya would want to socialize with Miranda outside of school — we don’t even get to see Miranda’s big win in class which is supposedly the moment that turned things around. Still, their dinner, in which Nya confesses that she was relieved after her first round of IVF didn’t work but also worried she might regret not having kids if this second round doesn’t work, wants to know if motherhood is worth it, is a bright spot in the episode.
• Does Miranda feel like a completely different character in every episode so far to anyone else?
• Brady and his girlfriend get more insufferable by the minute. Apparently he calls his mom a bitch because she makes his girlfriend leave and forces him to study. We need boundaries and discipline in this house! And now I’m annoyed by this kid even more because he makes me sound like a real wet blanket. Brady!!
• Prior to the premiere of AJLT, we learned that Willie Garson would only be in the first three episodes of the series, having only been able to shoot those three before his death. In this episode, Stanford leaves Carrie a dramatic note (very Stanny) informing his best friend that he’s fled to Tokyo — he’s going on tour with his teen TikTok superstar client. Anthony reveals that Stanford has asked for a divorce. Here’s hoping there’s more to the final chapter of this character’s story — perhaps an offscreen reunion for the troubled couple? Can’t we get some kind of happy ending here?!
• “Stanford lit my old address book on fire one night.” The image of this is still making me laugh.
• Wait, I’m extremely invested in this whole Jackie and Chloe drama. If Jackie could just wash his bath towels more than once a year and make this work, that would be great.
We haven’t gotten too much into the fashion of AJLT yet, but it seems clear that Lisa Todd-Wexley is winning, right? I don’t know how Nicole Ari Parker is pulling off loose yellow knee-length shorts, but she is.
• Colonoscopies are more important than dinner parties; please get your colonoscopy!!
More From This Series
- And Just Like That, Karen Pittman Exits And Just Like That
- And Just Like That, Sarah Jessica Parker Adopted a Cat
- Samantha’s Return Was Perfectly Nice. What a Waste.
