I feel bad every week complaining about And Just Like That, even when I appreciate what I’m seeing and identify good things in the episodes. I am more and more convinced that the problem is not the inclusion of new characters and diversity, but how Carrie, in particular, remains oblivious to her own universe. By taking her voice, inquisitive, narrator, and curious, we lose the soul of the universe of Sex and The City and the daily life of the rich in New York fills our eyes, but does not transport us as before.

The arc of the first season already seemed reduced to mourning and aging, in the second the thread of argument is “moving on”. Literally every episode has been some kind of response to previous criticism and while we should appreciate what they’re doing, it’s done! Moving on never meant to separating Che (Sara Rodriguez) from Miranda (Cynthia Nixon). There’s only one thing more annoying than Miranda judging everyone and being, well, annoying, and that’s having a single Miranda judging happy people and complaining about new partners. They may still get along, but the only one who wants to be with Mirandas seems to be Steve (David Eigenberg). When Miranda became her true self with Che, love ended. Hence the universal ‘poor Steve’ trend. More on that soon.

The modern domesticity of Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and Harry (Evan Handler) has saved the season’s arid plot so far, but it doesn’t sustain even 30 minutes by itself. That’s because we come back to the question: what are we tracking? How do these people have a problem we can relate to and care about? How will they overcome their obstacles? There are not many, either material or sentimental.

Charlotte and Harry deal with their teenage daughters, but since they are understanding and up-to-date, they form a healthy environment. Anthony has been the same since he joined the franchise. Nya (Karen Pittman) has already gotten rid of her leaning husband and already has casual sex and an amicable divorce. Lisa (Nicole Ari Parker) and Herbert (Christopher Jackson) are like Charlotte and Harry: in tune and too rich for us to relate to. Seema (Sarita Choudhury) is well resolved, her obstacles are minimal and easily overcome. What’s left?

Our (supposed) protagonist Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) is still overcoming the pain of widowhood, so she is on automatic and has given space for others to shine in her place. Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) took advantage of the stage with pleasure, the character who has always been problematic for her cynical and aggressive attitude is feeling the pressure to fill some challenging shoes. Miranda found herself in love with a woman, ‘destroying’ Steve’s life and heart (for the third time), to now be dealing with the consequences. It has a defined arc, perhaps the only one with three acts, but not every supporting role can hold the weight of the protagonist. Even an opinionated protagonist would have to have something to revise, to overcome. It’s not what’s happening.

Miranda is passive-aggressive: as she did what she wanted, now she poses as a martyr, propagating her suffering to everyone. She’s always saying that she “deserves” to be homeless, out of hours, helping everyone without expecting anything in return because she “feels bad about what she did to Steve”. Let’s clarify that no one should stop being happy and doing what they want, that her love for Che was something inevitable for Miranda at that moment, and that yes, it brought pain to Steve, but that is his journey, not hers. By not confronting Steve about getting on with his life, not sitting down and clarifying that materially the Brooklyn house has to be sold or that he has to leave, all those practicalities of a breakup, Miranda seems to atone, but she is simply playing the victimhood card. Miranda’s life is chaos, Steve is a masochist that enjoys it, and it’s good that Che decided to get out now, however pointless it makes the whole journey so far. Miranda hasn’t learned a thing about true love and that seems to be the only story in And Just Like That. One that we never asked for in the first place. Her arc in Sex and the City was the opposite of it, and it was beautiful. She didn’t want marriage or motherhood, she stumbled in both and found peace and happiness. Only she didn’t, I guess.

Being without a Carrie leading the drama is And Just Like That‘s major problem. Now they’re going to bring Carrie’s Steve to the plot, none other than Aidan (John Corbett), betrayed by her at least twice, humiliated, and exchanged for Mr. Big (Chris Noth), whom he took in and tried to be friendly with only to see BIg was the starter for Carrie, and Ainda himself was just a spare. To get him back into her life with just an email invitation sounds like he still doesn’t know better. I take that back, with Big dead, he actually finally has a shot while still confirming his role as a substitute. Also, w know that the movie Sex and the City 2 was really bad, but it seems that Carrie suffered from amnesia, right? After all, she hooked up with Aidan in Dubai just over eight years ago and says to Nya that she hasn’t seen him in 30? She googled him to learn about his divorce, which was probably the aftermath of that kiss in the UAE.

I don’t envy the screenwriters for And Just Like That. See how fans don’t forget? Aidan somehow represents us. Even though he has been heartbroken twice, he heeds Carrie’s call. We want our Carrie to deal with the typical Sex and The City problem: does the past stay in the past? What will it be like to be called Mrs. Brashshaw-Shaw?

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