And Just Like That Review: Hello It’s Me (Season 1 Episode 1)

On another show, a main beloved character dying to a soundtrack of Mozart might be dramatic, unexpected, and we dare say beautiful. On the Sex and the City revival And Just Like That, it’s telegraphed, unnecessary, and uninspired. 

And Just Like That is promoting the idea that Carrie can only be compelling in her 50s if she’s starting over again. It’s a ridiculous notion that does not do women her age favors where representation on TV is concerned. 

But the premiere has a bigger problem than a death fans of the franchise were somewhat prepared for. 

So far, And Just Like That has added three characters from diverse, marginalized communities. But these people only seem to exist to educate Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte. That kind of representation hurts communities more than it helps them. 

But we must point out that it’s also completely out of character for Miranda to be as dumb as she is in the first scenes with Nya. 

She’s a lawyer for goodness sake! Even if a little bit of a white savior complex tracks for her….to make ignorant comments about Black hairstyles is too, too, much. 

I do appreciate a bit of a darker side, so the excessive drinking and intervention storyline that’s inevitably coming I can deal with. But, that’s about it. 

Moving on to Charlotte, by the end of Sex and the City she was tolerable, if uptight. She’s regressed a lot, and Rose is clearly suffering for it. Rose is the best thing about this new chapter so far, so it’s rough to watch. 

As far as Charlotte’s token Black friend, Lisa Todd Wexley might be a mini Charlotte, but she’s the least offensive new character because at least she has her own personality. She’s not here to guide privileged white women through “wokeness.” 

And speaking of being woke, I forget the name of the podcast Carrie is on but it’s not worth knowing. Anyone who needs a “woke moment” button on their podcast to flag liberal, tolerant behavior does not deserve a podcast. 

I had high hopes for Sara Ramirez as Che Diaz that were absolutely dashed when they unironically pushed that button. 

On the surface, Che is a cool character. But they’re definitely trying very, very hard to get that across to us, making them decidedly uncool. 

Since when is Carrie too shy to talk about mastrubation? As Che says, she had a column about sex in the ’90s. Isn’t the point of And Just Like That to show that women of a certain age can be sexual and vibrant? Why is everyone so dulled down. 

This brings us to Samantha, whose absence may be the biggest presence on And Just Like That so far. There is no good way to write her out.

But the explaination that her pride hurt so she moved to L.A. is blastphamy. Fire Samantha and she’ll blacklist you all over NYC, simple as that. 

If And Just Like That had just said she had reconciled with Smith Jerrod, I’d have more respect for it. 

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New episodes of And Just Like That are available to stream Thursdays on HBO Max.

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