Stream It Or Skip It: ‘And Just Like That…’ Season 2 on Max, Love It Or Hate It, You’re Still Going To Want To Watch It

Let’s be honest. You haven’t come here for a review of And Just Like That… Season 2, you’ve come here for reassurance that it’s okay to be watching the second season of And Just Like That… despite its flaws.

The Max series was loved and hated (usually all at once by the same person) when the first season premiered – the thrill of familiar faces was a balm for many of us, while many of the updates to the show (Samantha and Carrie’s estrangement, Miranda’s whole deal) were befuddling and frustrating. What I think you’re here to find out is whether this new season will tarnish the legacy of a franchise that means so much to so many, or whether Michael Patrick King and Co. have looked inside the Customer Complaints box and actually made any changes for the better. Let’s discuss.

AND JUST LIKE THAT… (SEASON 2): STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) seductively exits her closet wearing an oversized sweatshirt with a New York Times logo on the lapel – and nothing else. She saunters to her bed where we see her podcast producer Franklyn (Ivan Hernandez) waiting for her. A Gray Lady in the streets, a freak in the sheets, that’s what they say.

Carrie’s tryst is just the beginning of a montage in which each of the show’s main characters, Charlotte (Kristin Davis), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), Lisa (Nicole Ari Parker), and Seema (Sarita Choudhury), pair off with their respective partners for some fun in the sack. Well, everyone pairs off except for Nya (Karen Pittman), who curls up on her couch alone watching Netflix.

The Gist: And Just Like That… Season 2 picks up roughly three weeks after AJLT Season 1 ended. Carrie is sleeping with her podcast producer but she isn’t interested in a relationship and has to figure out how to tell him that. Miranda has flown to L.A. to be with Che who is filming their TV pilot. Nya is estranged from her husband who wanted children – a desire she gave up on – so now he’s out on tour and she’s home alone trying to figure out life as a separated woman. And everyone else is preparing to attend the Met Ball, because somehow they all got tickets. (This being Sex and the City-adjacent, of course a plot involving the Met Ball features Anthony (Mario Cantone) declaring he loves balls. I expected nothing less.)

Of all the newcomers on the show, Seema feels like she has assimilated into the cast the best (maybe because she is the most suitable stand-in for Samantha). Her storyline involves dumping her boyfriend when she learns he still lives with his ex-wife, and while it’s light on substance, Sarita Choudhury’s glamorous, rich-bitch persona feels like she’s been there all along. Nicole Ari Parker, who I never want to stop looking at, is glamorous and successful and yet her entire storyline is basically that of a mom struggling to have it all – can she prep for the Met, manage her kids, have sex with her husband, and pitch her documentary all at the same time? And Karen Pittman’s Nya, Miranda’s law professor friend who was a strong, proud, independent woman last season, has been, for some reason, relegated to phone call scene partner, calling Miranda for advice about her separation while Miranda’s about to float in a sensory deprivation tank and another scene where she gets incredibly drunk and calls her husband for phone sex and is rejected. I hope Nya gets more to do this season, because her entire role feels like an afterthought in this episode.

And then there’s the “What’s Carrie wearing to the Met Ball?” subplot which is completely on-brand, and results in a total disaster, with Carrie offering to give her podcast partner Jackie’s (Bobby Lee) girlfriend, a budding designer, the chance to make her dress. But there’s a “seamstress stomach flu” going around – for real – and the dress doesn’t fit, so Carrie has to dip into her own closet to find something to wear. The only thing suitable happens to be her wedding dress, the one Mr. Big never got to see because he stood her up at the alter in the first Sex and the City movie. It was then that I realized that was the first and only reference during this episode to Mr. Big in a show whose entire first season was based on the loss of that character. But it’s also the point, because it gives Parker the freedom to revert back to being Carrie the woman instead of Carrie the widow, and that’s what we’re here for. Bring on more of messy, single Carrie.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Unfair question! While there are plenty of other shows about city-dwelling friends in the city, And Just Like That… is inextricably linked with Sex and the City, and the voice of both shows is so singular, so comforting and familiar and fun, while often being frustrating for myriad reasons, that there is nothing else to compare it to.

Our Take: As with Season 1 of this show, Season 2 exists purely as Sex and the City fan service, and its biggest flaw is toying with the formula that made the original series so important to us. Of course we have to allow characters to evolve and change, but the show flourishes when the characters have less to do, when they can just have conversations with one another, the way that people who have known each other for 25 years can. In episode two, there’s a silly, almost throwaway gag where every time Carrie and Miranda chat on the phone, Carrie keeps asking Miranda “Why are you so fancy?” when Miranda explains what she’s been doing that day, like picking up trash from the beach. It’s dry and has nothing to do with anything, and it’s a perfect encapsulation of what it means to be old friends.

While Season 1’s premiere episode ended with Big’s death, in all of its shocking, Peloton-based glory, this season kicks off with much less fanfare all around. There is no big moment here to speak of, the first episode merely sets up what’s to come – Carrie’s singleness. We don’t get into the Aidan or Samantha of it all for a while, but knowing that that’s on the horizon offers some hope for that familiarity we crave.

Sex and Skin: And Just Like That… is REALLY GOING FOR IT in the sex and skin department this season. Not only does the show feature sex amongst all the main characters (Carrie included, though she sees Ariana Madix’s T-shirt and raises her a whole heavy-weight sweatshirt for her scene), but there’s nudity galore in the first couple of episodes, including a scene of Miranda trying to exit a sensory deprivation tank fully naked.

Parting Shot: Carrie steps onto the landing of her brownstone wearing the wedding dress that she wore in Sex and the City: The Movie in 2008. Unable to fit into the dress she intended to wear to the event, she pulls out the one thing in her closet that she can think of to suit the Met’s theme of that year, Veiled Beauty: the Vivienne Westwood gown (and accompanying feather headdress) that she wore when Mr. Big left her at the altar. We know by now that Carrie’s closet houses her greatest joys, but it’s also where she hides all of her emotional baggage, too. “And just like that,” she says, “I repurposed my pain.” And off she goes to the ball.

Sleeper Star: We usually reserve this space for standout performances, but today I’m going to use it to address the Che in the room. Sara Ramirez is a good actor who deserves a lot better than what they’re given here, because Che is not only turning Miranda into someone no one likes, but Che themself is given so much embarrassing stuff to work with. (None of this is new, Che was the dominant talking point last season, too, but I hate to say that things haven’t improved in season two.) When Che tries on a flashy, shiny blazer during a wardrobe fitting for their new TV show, they squeak in a Mickey Mouse voice, “Hey, America! I’m non-binary!” which feels like a weird punchline (if that’s what that is?), but it’s also not even apropos of what’s happening in the scene. The scene is about Che not wanting to wear an ugly jacket, not about them wearing a jacket that identifies their gender.

Alas, the problem here might be that the bar for this show is set pretty high, and I’m unfairly nit-picking, but if this line were uttered on any other show, I would have turned it off because that writing is so nonsensical. Worse still is Che’s bizarre weight loss journey. When Miranda thinks Che is pushing her away because Che only views Miranda as a sexual partner and not an emotional one, Miranda panics and confronts Che, but as it turns out, Che wasn’t pushing Miranda away for emotional reasons, they were pushing Miranda away – physically – so Miranda wouldn’t touch their body because, as Che says, delivering news like they’re about to reveal that they’re dying, “I’m…on a diet.” And then Che cries into a pillow. I want Che to be nuanced and vulnerable, but Jesus H., Miranda already dated a guy from Overeaters Anonymous and… he over-ate her, remember? This is Che’s emotional arc?

And just to briefly address Miranda and Che’s relationship, I want to clarify that I don’t have any problem with Miranda exploring her sexuality or leaving Steve; like I said, let’s let these characters evolve! But Miranda is a dithering idiot in Che’s presence. Miranda has always been the alpha in her relationship with Steve, and it was always a pleasure to watch a woman who was in a successful relationship as a result of and not in spite of her dominance. But New Miranda has given all of her power to Che. She goes where Che goes and straps on when Che says “Wear this strap-on.” (<– An actual plot point.) Would it have been too hard to let Miranda remain Miranda while also exploring her sexuality? As someone who has always proudly been a Miranda in every “Which Sex and the City character are you” quiz, I am not okay with that designation anymore because who even is Miranda now?

Most Pilot-y Line: “How do I tell him I don’t wanna go out on Tuesday without seeming like a C-U-next Tuesday?” Carrie asks her friends at brunch and THAT’S THE KIND OF CLASSIC CARRIE LINE WE SHOWED UP FOR. It may not belong in the Hall of Fame like “If you’re tired, you take a nap-a, you don’t move to Napa!” but it deserves an honorable mention for sure.

Our Call: Those who want to watch And Just Like That… are going to watch And Just Like That…. The show is made for Sex and the City loyalists who love the show enough that they’ll endure a less-satisfying version of it, and I give you permission to watch and enjoy the show in spite of its flaws. What works best in this reboot are the references that reward the loyal fans: the appearance of Carrie’s wedding dress, the return of more favorite characters who will show up soon. That’s enough to feed our nostalgia-hungry souls. Many of us grew up with these characters, and whether it’s the fact that their return makes us feel young(er) again and returns us to simpler times, or that the show just offers more of the real estate/fashion/glamour porn we love, it’s still a comfort to watch. Whether you plan to LOVE-STREAM IT or HATE-STREAM IT, just go ahead and STREAM IT, it will give us all something to talk about together this summer!

Liz Kocan is a pop culture writer living in Massachusetts. Her biggest claim to fame is the time she won on the game show Chain Reaction.