‘And Just Like That’ Season 2 Episode 3 Recap: COVID? Really?

The other day, I was teaching my son the concept of “Ask forgiveness, not permission.” (A driver cut us off and then had the nerve to do a “thank you!” wave. Our car was filled with swears and teachable moments that day.) It seems like the And Just Like That... writer’s room adhered to that concept when it comes to some of the character choices we’ve had to endure thus far this season. And I’m finding it harder and harder to forgive this show, for how foolish it’s making these beloved characters act, and assuming the audience will indeed forgive the totally buffoonery of it all. Che Diaz throwing a tantrum while Miranda worries if Brady might kill himself feels like the writers waving “Thanks!” as they drive into a traffic circle without yielding.

Let’s also not ignore the way that everyone else acts foolish in this episode: Carrie pretending to have COVID to get out of working… Miranda being so technologically inept that she can’t figure out her phone, and then lying about not having a phone, and then her phone going off during Che’s taping… BD calling out Che for being “a standup, not an actor” – to the entire live, studio audience of a show Che is the star of… I hated almost every character in this episode, with the exception of my two favorite MILFs, Lisa Todd Wexley and Charlotte York Goldenblatt, whose tittering immaturity during school meetings was the episode’s only saving grace. Let’s discuss all of the heinous crimes that tested the limits of our forgiveness, shall we?

Let’s start with Miranda and Che. As the episode begins, Miranda is helping Che learn their lines for their pilot, and Miranda is proving she’s a terrible scene partner for several reasons, the least of which is that she can’t figure out why her new phone’s text size keeps changing when she taps the screen in order to read the script. Miranda is trying to help Che with a serious scene where they come out as non-binary to their dad, played by Tony Danza, and she’s reinforcing the fact that the script calls for Che to cry. Che pushes back saying the crying is merely a suggestion and that that stage direction implies that being non-binary is something to grieve. True, but later, it also seems like it’s a reference to Che’s insecurity that they’re not a great actor.

When it comes time to tape the sitcom, Miranda receives a frantic call from her son Brady, who has been in Europe with his girlfriend, Louisa. Louisa broke up with him though, and he’s been trying to reach Miranda for days, but of course her stupid new phone wasn’t working properly so she kept missing him. Now that she’s got him on the horn, he’s despondent. At one point during their call, he has a run-in with a car and says he wishes the car would have hit him, which Miranda takes as a suicidal thought rather than what it was, a hyperbolic teenager wallowing in self-pity. Miranda is frantic, and both she and Brady are taking this far too seriously, but also, this is Miranda in mom mode, she loves her kid and wants to protect him, so it’s understandable. She hangs up because she has to put her phone away for Che’s taping, and she tells Brady to call her back later. Which he does, at the worst time possible, which we all saw coming from a mile away. And what happens next is what I hope will be the low point of the season, because I can’t handle it if it gets any lower.

Miranda’s phone, which she is not even supposed to have on her, rings as Che is supposed to perform their tearful scene with Tony Danza. Miranda loudly apologizes to the entire studio audience, and the show’s writer, BD, yells at her, “Lady with the phone, just so you know, you just ruined our big moment and we’re never gonna be able to get back there because Che is not an actor, they’re a standup!” Does BD hate Che this much that they really would say something so disrespectful?

When Miranda meets up with Che after the taping, she explains that she was panicked because Brady sounded suicidal, to which Che does not respond, like a normal person would, “Oh my God, is he okay? Go, be with your suicidal son!” What they say is, “You ruined the family scene!”

Che does try to calm Miranda, saying, “Just calm down. It’s a kid, and it’s a breakup. It’s a part of life!” (Fact.) But then when Miranda explains “But it’s my kid, the most important thing to me. You don’t know what that feels like.” Che flatly replied, “Then I guess we’re even.” So okay, Che’s sitcom is as important as Miranda’s kid, I guess. The weight of this moment for Che is as important as Miranda’s love for her child?

I get what this moment to Che, but why does Miranda want to be with this person who cares so little about her? Che can’t believe Miranda is leaving L.A. for this, but I think we all cheered when she decided to to just that. I’d like to think that Miranda’s return home to Brooklyn is more than just a trip to comfort her son, but a return to her old character. I would like to believe Miranda’s new M.H. tattoo (oh yeah, she got a tattoo of her initials) is her way of remembering to thine own self be true, but I worry we won’t be that lucky.

Charlotte and LTW, the aforementioned MVPs of the episode, are more excited than they should be about a “MILF List” that a student at their kids’ school created. I know we’re living in an era where this kind of list should be considered derogatory and harmful and sexist, and Charlotte and LTW totally get that, but also, once they actually see the list and realize they’re numbers 2 and 3 on it, they’re much more open to the idea of it and beg for the school to consider their “commitment to restorative justice,” instead of punishing the student who made it.

The show leans in hard to the comedic chemistry between Nicole Ari Parker and Kristin Davis for their scenes, and also leans into the Samantha Jones-ness (which is to say, finding oneself in a ridiculous sexually-charged situation, and relishing it). The whole “ARE WE?” and “WERE THEY?!” moments during the parent-teacher meeting were easily the best part of the episode.

Now that Carrie isn’t podcasting and has all the days of the week free, you might be wondering how she’s been filling her time. It turns out, she wrote a whole book about the death of Big, and now she’s recording the audio version. For memoirs this personal, her agent explains, hiring an actress to read the book just won’t do, it needs to come straight from the author. And so, Carrie has to get comfortable reading the painful chapter she herself put to paper, that described Big’s death in the shower in granular detail. She realizes after about 20 takes that re-living this particular moment and then trying to record it (once more, with less feeling) is near impossible.

After a failed recording session, Carrie runs into her old friend and fellow widow Bitsy von Muffling (Julie Halston). (R.I.P. to Nathan Lane’s character, Bitsy’s husband Bobby Fine, who died doing what he loved, filming Only Murders In The Building.) There really is something to be said for these bit player cameos, they do bring some joy to this confusing reboot. Bitsy tells Carrie how excited she is for her new book and reveals that grief often only gets worse. Not what Carrie needed to know, but it did give Carrie an idea. (Hopefully the idea was not born of the fact that it was revealed last season that Bobby Fine actually died of COVID). Carrie will pretend to have COVID to get out of recording! Preying on everyone’s still-lingering fears of the virus, Carrie calls the producer and bails on the rest of her recording sessions, assuming that an actress can fill in for her. And then she carries the whole COVID charade over into the rest of her life, telling Miranda and Charlotte she’s sick, too.

The only person Carries comes clean to is Seema. Seema spent the first half of the episode mourning the loss of the Birkin bag that was stolen right off her arm and, mirroring Charlotte last week, she spends her time trolling second-hand luxury consignment websites looking for her missing bag. Seema and Carrie, both suffering great losses (Big, Birkin) drown their sorrow at a party for Carrie’s jewelry-designing neighbor Lisette who is launching her jewelry line. But while there, the cater waiters turn out to be crooks and go full Great Muppet Caper, stealing all the jewelry and literally no one is able to stop them except Seema, who pulls a gun on them. A gun that’s actually a lighter. What is happening?

And then, Carrie comforts Lisette, who is mourning the loss of what I’m assuming were all uninsured necklaces, by breaking and entering her apartment, offering her caramels, and snuggling on her bed in a tender moment of shared grief.

The show ends on a slightly more up note when Carrie and Seema go out for a girls night, and while enjoying a meal at a restaurant with a communal table (one of the circles of hell, truly)… Carrie catches COVID. Because you can count on Carrie to take a trend from three years ago and make it chic again.

AND JUST LIKE THAT SEASON 2 EPISODE 3: LOOSE ENDS

• Finally, Nya (Karen Pittman) has scenes with other people! Other women, even! But alas, they last for about 12 seconds. After filming an interview for LTW’s latest documentary, Nya flirts with a sound guy on the set, and LTW encourages her to give him her number. Later, Nya eats lunch with Charlotte, LTW and Carrie and talks more about the sound guy. Look, at least these scenes were not on the phone!
• With Miranda back in New York, does this mean we’re not going to see any more of Oliver Hudson’s Lyle, Che’s husband? That would be a pretty high-profile two-second guest spot if so.
• “And just like that… I got COVID.”

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.