‘And Just Like That’ Season 2 Episode 4 Recap: Dust Balls and Gloria Steinem

As much as I hated And Just Like That... Season 2 Episode 3 (“Chapter Three”) I have to admit that I genuinely liked Episode 4 (“ALIVE!”). This is probably because the episode put equal weight on both Harry’s “dust balls” a.k.a. his invisible ejaculation, and the appearance of Gloria Steinem, and who knew that, much like chocolate and peanut butter, those would be two great tastes that taste great together?!

It’s the beginning of summer, so all the rich parents of Manhattan are sending their kids off to sleepaway camp. For Charlotte and Harry, this gives them an opportunity to really go for it in bed. When the kids are away, dad will cum on mom’s tits, that’s the old saying. For a show called And Just Like That… thus far we haven’t had a lot of scenes with characters moaning “Yeah, just like that!” but this episode delivered. The problem is that after Harry orgasms, nothing comes out. This leads, once again, to Charlotte really owning the episode and describing in incredibly granular detail to her friends the fact that Harry didn’t cum while they enjoy brunch. “According to Harry, the orgasm was very present and powerful, just… invisible!” she says, as if holding a flashlight to her chin and telling a scary story.

She and Harry visit a Power Bar-eating doctor (Why? Why this choice, to make the doctor explain Harry’s diagnosis with his mouth full? I’ll never know!) who tells Harry he needs to do Kegels to strengthen his pelvic floor. Charlotte, the Tracy Anderson of Kegels, takes it upon herself to become Harry’s trainer, and she coaxes him to tighten his muscles by pretending his penis is an elephant’s trunk slurping from the river. Kristin Davis and Evan Handler’s chemistry and comedy throughout the episode is solid.

Also enjoying their child-free summer are Lisa Todd and Herbert Wexley. With all of their free time, they’re thriving at work, though Herbert takes a moment to acknowledge just how hard LTW works, and for that reason, he tells her he will not run for the coveted position of City Comptroller, knowing how much more work that will add to LTW’s plate. She is the one who holds the entire Wexley crew together, but Herbert wants to try and make her life easier for once. That’s also why he has agreed to be the one to send all of the invitations to their upcoming anniversary dinner, so LTW doesn’t have to.

The night of the dinner, only a few guests, including Charlotte, Harry, and art dealer Marc Kasabian (played by Victor Garber) arrive, all having received verbal invites from Lisa. Herbert’s cantankerous mother, Nana Wexley, and Lisa’s father Lawrence (played by Billy Dee Williams), who dislike one another, are also there. But Herbert forgot to send the invites, and no one else shows. It seems like it would be the catalyst for LTW and Herbert to fight, but actually, the ones who spar are Herbert’s traditional mother, who blames Lisa for not ordering a cake for the party and disparaging Lisa for not being more of a homemaker, and Lisa’s father, a playwright, who defends his daughter’s career. “Mrs. Wexley, just because you let your dream wither away doesn’t mean my daughter has to,” Mr. Todd says.

The evening instantly becomes awkward for the few guests who did show, and it gives Charlotte a chance to chat with Mark, who runs a gallery. Charlotte offers Mark parenting advice, and he’s impressed by her past as a gallerist herself, and he offers her a job. Charlotte declines, citing the fact that her kids need her, but this certainly sets up an opportunity for more Garber, and I really love having more Jack Bristow in my life.

As the night wears on and the in-laws continue to argue, Lisa tries to move the attention away from the fighting to make an announcement. Herbert, she says, will be running for City Comptroller. Everyone, including Herbert, is surprised. And it’s certainly going to create more drama and chaos in the Wexley house.

I should point out that this episode takes place three weeks after the previous episode and Miranda and Che have fully made up and did not, as I hoped, break up. Che’s pilot is done filming and they have returned to New York – driven there by ex-husband Lyle (Oliver Hudson) and his many rings.

They’ve moved into a fancy Hudson Yards apartment that they have filled with shitty Ikea furniture. I kinda thought that only Russian billionaires were buying Hudson Yards apartments, but sure, okay, maybe the struggling comedian whose pilot hasn’t even been picked up got some kind of artist subsidy.

Miranda has been living in her Brooklyn home, sleeping on the couch, and in a full 180, Brady, who was crying during Episode 3 that she, his mother, was the only person who could help him get through his post-breakup funk, is now repulsed by her. I guess three weeks of familiarity has bred contempt. Steve, now just a grim husk of a man, has gotten a speed bag to punch at all hours to, I don’t know, visually represent his anger at his ex-wife. The three of them go to a family therapy session where Brady calls out his parents for creating chaos and tension in their home, and Steve ultimately agrees to move out. I’m still in the Justice4Steve camp, so I’m hoping we get to see more of his journey. The guy needs a happy ending the way this show needs more double entendres about happy endings.)

Miranda brings Carrie to Che’s new apartment, and Carrie gets to know Lyle and we get a little bit of Che’s backstory (they were married to Lyle for two years back in 2010, and they’re into polyamory). Lyle explains that he and Che has plenty of threesomes back in their day, and Carrie truly seems scandalized, mostly by the fact that there’s talk of pegging, while Miranda laments that ten years ago, she was just cutting carrots for Brady’s lunch. It’s annoying that Miranda seems retroactively annoyed at the details of child-rearing, but here’s the thing: Later that night, when she finds herself propositioned by Che and Lyle who are interested in a threesome, she can’t commit. “Are you okay with this?” Che asks while the three of them lie in bed. I do like that she offered a very thoughtful response, at first rather than just freaking out, saying, “Thank you for asking, I need to think about this for a minute because my visceral reaction is ‘No,’ but maybe that’s fear of the unknown because how will I ever know unless I try it?” But in a total writing cop out, Miranda gets a charley horse while she’s riding Che and bails on the threesome.

We all know Carrie is a prude, but this episode pushed her to her prudish limits. Let us remember that the woman is/was an actual sex columnist, so things like pegging and ejaculate shouldn’t shock her or live deep in the recesses of her mind, and yet, she seems so uncomfortable with it all. I understand the instinct to have Sarah Jessica Parker play the straight man in the show’s more outlandish scenes, but I do wish she wouldn’t be so shocked by it all. This week, Carrie runs into her former editor at Vogue, Enid Frick (Candice Bergen, one of the many great guest stars this week). Enid now runs a Goop-like newsletter and Carrie is hoping Enid will give her new book a mention. Enid declines, but tells Carrie she would love for her to be involved in her new project, a magazine for older women called Vivant. Carrie is offended that Enid considers Carrie “old” but Carrie hopes that if she works with Enid in this capacity, she’ll get the exposure for her book she needs in Enid’s newsletter.

“Just don’t get in any photos with women with walkers,” Seema warns Carrie before Carrie attends the launch party for Vivant in one of Seema’s only moments on the show. And while there are women with walkers, Gloria Steinem is there, and so is Bitsy von Muffling (Julie Halston), who tells Carrie she’s the reason that Carrie has been receiving unsolicited texts from some random guy named Marlon. Turns out, Marlon is what they call a tripod (use your imagination) and Bitsy says he helped her get over the death of her Bobby (who it turns out, was gay after all!), thanks to his huge penis, and Bitsy just wants to share the wealth/girth. (“The best way to get over someone is to get under someone else,” she says.) As Gloria Steinem gives an impassioned speech about the power of older women, Bitsy sends Carrie a dick pic of Marlon, and the sequence of events here, having the world’s foremost feminist extolling the power of women, against a shot of Carrie staring down a huge dick, is a reminder of how good the show can be when it fires on all cylinders.

After, Carrie approaches Enid to discuss working at Vivant and Enid explains that Carrie misunderstood: she doesn’t want Carrie to write for the mag, she wants her to be an investor. She wants Carrie’s inheritance from Big. “I’m not here because of my age, I’m here because of my deep pockets?” Carrie asks. “Due to tragic circumstances, your pockets recently got deeper so, yes,” Enid replies. Carrie suggests that in return for a donation, perhaps her book can get a shout out in Enid’s newsletter.

Later, Carrie asks Gloria and Enid for a photo together, and Enid, being the type to ask for photo approval, scrolls through Carrie’s photo library. “Carrie, are you schtupping my boyfriend!?” Enid asks, happening upon the dick pic Bitsy sent. Because, as it turns out, Enid is also getting under Marlon. Carrie assures Enid “I would never date a man that old!” which Enid takes as an insult, and for a moment it seems that maybe their entire deal might fall apart, until Carrie agrees to send Enid an investment in Vivant. “And just like that… Enid and I became PayPals.”

AND JUST LIKE THAT SEASON 2 EPISODE 4: LOOSE ENDS

• Things this episode did not contain: Nya Wallace. An actual storyline for Seema.
• Things this episode did contain: Some surprisingly great one-liners. Anthony’s serious face when he says of Harry’s condition, “I believe the clinical term is ‘dust balls.'” Bitsy telling Carrie, “Don’t let the Albany area code throw you,” in reference to the man she’s trying to set her up with. Enid’s quip about Carrie’s newly-deepened pockets. And special shout out to Harry, secret MVP of the episode. His excitement at being allowed to cum on Charlotte. His being relegated to sit next to Nana Wexley during dinner (and looking pained the entire time). The man explored a real range of emotions this week.
• Verdict: Solid episode all around. I’ll even forgive the fact that there was literally no reference to or reason given for Che and Miranda’s reconciliation. But as we ease into Season 2, it’s finally starting to feel like it has found its groove.

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.