And Just Like That... | TV Show Review

As soon as this show was announced, I was immediately excited about it. I am a huge fan of the original Sex and the City series and re-watch it as often as I can. So the fact that it was getting a continuation was something that I couldn't wait to watch.

There will be a few spoilers in this review.

Years after the events of Sex and the City, Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) are back, and navigating life, friendships and relationships in their mid-50s.

I don't know exactly what I expected this show to be, but what we got was not at all what I expected. And I didn't really like it.

For a start. it is clear that the writers felt like they needed to modernise their world, but I feel like they went about this the wrong way. Rather than deciding to gradually move towards the world as we know it today, they decided to just thrust literally everything at these characters and their audience. 

And while it is realistic in New York to have a plethora of different people from different walks of life being friends and interacting, this is so far removed from the original show that it felt a bit pandering. Almost like the writers were trying to 'make up' for what they got wrong in the original series. 

Then there are the main characters, which I felt weren't written in the best way.

Charlotte, to me, was the most like her original character. She is raising her children, playing sports, joining the PTA, and doesn't really have a lot to do. Her main storyline in the show is adjusting her parenting when it comes to her youngest child, who decides that they no longer want to be known as a girl, and would like to change their name. This was a somewhat interesting storyline, and it was interesting to see the way that the Charlotte from the original series had to adapt to the modern world. This is one of the only circumstances where the update to a more modern world worked in the character's favour.

Carrie was never my favourite character in the original series. She was always a bit narcissistic and was never the greatest friend. In this show, it felt like she had changed - especially when her husband dies in the first episode. She loses her spark and doesn't really regain it until the end of the last episode. Throughout the show, we watch as she tries to deal with her loss. I liked the idea of removing Carrie's husband from the equation, as this brings her closer to the character that she was in the original series. But the problem with this is that, rather than getting closer to the original Carrie, we have quite a few episodes of Carrie trying to find her way back. And as realistic as that is, it isn't fun to watch. I feel like the original dynamic could have been kept if the character of Big could have died off-screen before the show began. As much as I didn't love the old Carrie, I definitely missed her.

And then there's Miranda, who has been a huge topic of conversation due to the way her character has changed, particularly in the last maybe 5 episodes. For me, Miranda was the biggest disappointment in the show. The Miranda in the original series was a strong, independent lawyer who was the most cynical in the group about all things, including love. She begins this show as a strong woman, deciding not to dye her hair from grey, being a mature student in a happy relationship dealing with the trials of having a teenage son. Then she meets Che Diaz (Sara Ramirez) and everything changes. She becomes almost the opposite of her original character. Now, I had no problem with Miranda exploring her sexuality or wanting more from her life, but it never felt like she would do this at the expense of her husband, her family and her friends. She almost felt like a different character entirely, and not one that was fun to watch.

When the show was first announced, the most common topic of conversation was the absence of Samantha (Kim Catrall), and while I don't love how her absence has been explained, I am okay with her not being in the show. It would have been great to see her and see the continuation of her character, but given the way that other characters in the show have changed, I would hate for Samantha's character to change too.

None of the storylines felt particularly significant and having finished the show in the last couple of weeks, I can't think of more than one or two things that happened. So many of the episodes felt like filler that it's quite hard to work out which parts actually mean something.

So overall, while I loved seeing the characters again, I didn't love the way they were written. Having said that, I love the Sex and the City world, and I actually quite like where the show ended. So if there is another season of the show, I'd definitely be interested in watching it.

2/5