There is a tearful scene in the second episode of And Just Like That in which a friend of Carrie’s, outraged by the heroism rendered to Mr. Big, asks the other woman, “Am I the only one who remembers how awful he was to her?” A very important phrase that made – and makes – all the difference.

Carrie and Big’s relationship was toxic in every way. A man who did not assume commitments, who never included her in immediate plans (whether it was when he went to Paris or when he decided to leave for California), we accompany the writer trying hard to forget him, almost succeeding a few times, but always falling into the trap of friendship or casual sex. For years, Mr. Big put Carrie’s life on hold while he was going along just fine, thank you. How do we root for the happy ending of the two?

Because the Charlotte element in all of us dreamed of Carrie “changing” the wrong man into the right one. Big had every chance in the world to make Carrie happy, but it took her leaving for France with another man so that he would – yet again – stop her from moving forward. However, then the two engaged in an apparently healthy, peaceful relationship that became a marriage.

Ah… the wedding. Let’s remember that Mr. Big left Carrie at the altar because he was afraid to commit again? Want a hidden wedding? She was publicly humiliated and yet, a year later, she took him back, on his terms. I thought when I saw the film that there was very little room for Carrie to understand that being left at the altar – with a bird on her head – after being Vogue’s Bride of the Year, was unforgivable with emails using love letters from other people, leaving the original saying only “forgive me”. And she forgave.

In the second feature, I always said that Mr. Big was very out of character. He was like the quiet husband, accepted that Carrie almost betrayed him because “the right ring was missing” and the two followed “happily ever after”. Honestly, one could question whether Carrie was more passionate about lifestyle than truly eye-opening.

So we arrive at And Just Like That, where the first episode shows the idyllic wedding that the writer dreamed of, interrupted by her husband’s heart (a bad metaphor, but his heart broke). Through the tears (yes, I cried), the second episode was all geared to make us think only of the good times (I made a list of them myself!) and, when we get to the third, Carrie sees Mr.Big again as he was: a man of secrets, with an indomitable personality that she never fully understood. Did it take that long?

In times of cancellation, like Mr. Big was getting away so easily? And it seems karma, when they decided to bring several real elements to the plot of And Just Like That (the fight between Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Cattrall, transported to Carrie and Samantha, Miranda’s homosexuality, among others) the accusations of rape and harassment for the actor Chris Noth came very in time with the episode that intended to deconstruct the romantic image of Big.

So far, two women accuse the actor of having raped them during dates, one of them when he was already married. Victims admit they approached Chris Noth with the romanticized image of Mr. Big in their head, only to find themselves in a violent nightmare. The actor, of course, denies the rape (but admits to sexual intercourse), and new witnesses to his inappropriate behavior are coming to light. The honeymoon with the actor and character seems to have come to an end, with many women thanking him for his death. By the way, if we think that one of the criticisms of the premiere was the detail that Carrie, instead of calling for help, just watched her husband die in front of her, it even seems like punishment!

Chris Noth and Sarah Jessica Parker are friends in real life and, from what we’ve seen, they even filmed more romantic scenes between Carrie and Big, even alluding to a new love for the character. Yeah, and just like that, we canceled Mr. Big. It’s about time.

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