Why I'm Done With Carrie Bradshaw (And And Just Like That)

Edua
Jul 6
9 min read

I’m so angry at Carrie Bradshaw. There. I said it.

How does one of the most complex, witty, and, to some, aspirational characters in television go from being a glamorous Upper East Side girl, to an utterly boring and lifeless Gramercy Park home-owner? I just don’t get it.

I just finished rewatching the entire Sex and the City series, and the last few episodes always stir something in me. It is probably because life has always had weird ways of giving me what I want, such as the first time I went to Paris, which I did in complete Carrie fashion: I went there with a foreigner, stayed at a fabulous apartment, got engaged (and regretted it within five seconds), and felt extremely homesick being away from my friends. But rewatching didn’t only bring back memories, it also made me realise how much I feel absolutely nothing about this new version of Carrie in And Just Like That…

I loved the character precisely because she was so flawed. Carrie was a bit of a pop culture encyclopedia -she was, in some respects, an intellectual and more developed version of Holly Golightly, another character that I found fascinating growing up. And even though the years have gone by, and younger generations continue to discover the show—often criticising Carrie for her choices with Big, or Aidan, or her friends, expecting her to behave with unwavering righteousness—I’ve never been a harsh critic of her behaviour. Not even during the affair. Not even when she guilt-tripped Charlotte for a loan. Not even—brace yourself—when she ran back to Big at the end of the first film.

That is, until now.

I spent my childhood in the late 90s and early 2000s, so of course Sex and the City was inescapable. It was on TV, it was in my sister’s Cosmo magazines - it was everywhere. But I never really watched the show until the early 2010’s, when I was seventeen. In fact, I watched the film first, in 2009, before I ever watched the series. When I did, I found it the most refreshing, hilarious, and aspirational show I’d ever seen… and I had already watched Desperate Housewives, so believe me that is a bold statement!

I wanted to be like them. I wanted to live in New York - or any big city - and have my little townhouse apartment, spend my days eating at trendy restaurants, going to chic events in incredible clothes, and having dates for days with the hottest of men. Yes, of course, the women of Sex and the City were miserable at times, and the drama revolved around, well, being single. Yet, it was so aspirational! You wanted to live like that, you wanted the drama - the highs and the lows - because ultimately, the show held the promise of glamour and unconditional friendship in your thirties. And back then, at seventeen, that promise meant everything.

Two films, and seventeen years later, after the original series wrapped up, they had the brilliant idea of bringing it back in a new format - enter …And Just Like That. To be honest I didn’t know what to expect, especially knowing Kim Cattrall was not returning. But I was willing to put that aside and focus on the new promise that this show could bring. Carrie, Charlotte and Miranda are no longer thirty something single gals - they are in their fifties, divorced, widowed, or going through what seems to be a drinking problem (coff, coff, Charlotte).

Killing off Big felt like a bold but strangely satisfying choice. Sure, he and Carrie were “meant to be”, and in many ways they deserved each other, but I drew my line with the first film. NO ONE - and let me repeat- NO ONE bounces back from being stood up at their wedding while wearing a bird on their head. I was okay with Big having his little redemption arc over six seasons and finally realising, “You know what? I’m an idiot. Carrie has always been the one.” But after that wedding? I was done. So when they killed him off in AJLT, it felt right. Absofuckinglutely right.

But it’s been three seasons, multiple bad outfits, unnecessary storylines and shit characters like Che Diaz, that have done nothing but insult the prestige of the original show. I haven’t even watched episodes four and five of the latest season. I don’t know if I want to. I know I’ll give in eventually, but at this point, I don’t have the will to become more disenchanted with characters I once adored.

This new show is supposed to inspire women in their fifties and give us youngsters something to aspire to, as we did with the original SATC. But I’m sorry. No. I don’t want to be like Carrie anymore. I’ll take her house in Gramercy Park, but I want nothing to do with the dull, beige life she’s living. And let’s be VERY clear.. the show isn’t dull because they’re older. It’s dull because the writing is terrible!

Lets dive into what I think ruined this new show from the get go - starting with the least offensive and saving Carrie for last.

Miranda Hobbes:

I get that Cynthia Nixon is a lesbian, and maybe that’s what prompted the writers to say “hey, let’s make Miranda queer now ”. But the way they’ve handled it is sad, miserable, and rather pathetic. The way they disposed of Steve was brutal, and trying to make us like Che? Insulting.

I was never surprised that Miranda left Steve. I always thought her storyline in the fourth/fifth season of SATC felt off, and her relationship with Steve in the sixth season was extremely rushed. It always gave me the vibe that she only married him because she realised that, otherwise, she would end up alone, and ultimately he’s the father of her child, so…marriage it is! However, I always considered Steve to be a good guy -underwhelming, sure, but good - but Miranda always minimised him until the end, and treated him like crap, which is why I never felt bad for her when he cheated in the first film.

The wokeism of it all in the first season, with Miranda going back to uni, pronouns, the “awareness” of white privilege, and the lesbianism were, I think, the first signs that the show was going to be bad. I think there are other ways to write a show, and a character, to say “hey this is 2021”, without putting every single socio-political movement packed in the show. Not that pronouns are not important, not that white privilege is not a thing, but the way they were crammed in felt inorganic and forced.

From then on, every single date Miranda’s had with another woman has been cringer than the previous one. That one with the nun? Awful. The one with her coworker? Not feeling it. Miranda became such an awkward, sad woman, that is just painful to watch her scenes. You know what I think would’ve been a better plotline? Miranda entering politics. If they wanted to go down that route, and get Miranda to be the vessel for exploring the socio-political issues of the 2020s, they should’ve gotten her into politics. Let her run for Mayor of New York City! She’s a barrister after all, and Nixon has some real life experience on the field. A woman in her fifties going through a divorce, whilst running a political campaign in full Miranda mode, would’ve been more exciting to watch than her sleeping with Rosie O’Donnell. And THEN, maybe, if you REAAALLY have to make her a lesbian, let her have an affair with her 20 something head of PR for some added drama. Just saying.

Charlotte York:

Ah, Charlotte has always been my favourite character alongside Carrie. I just love her. I never needed a quiz to tell me: I’m a Carrie-Charlotte hybrid. Torn between craving the perfect cookie cutter life, and seeking adventure through a string of impulsive decisions.

The thing about Charlotte is that she’s right where she’s meant to be. Would Charlotte be in the parental board of her daughters’ school? Yes she would. Would she be a hands on mom? Absolutely. Would she try to control everything about the lives of her daughters? You bet. And would she have to shake her conservative values to give space to their new ways of thinking? 100%.

In fact, Charlotte is the one reason why I keep watching the show, even when I don’t know why I’m doing it. I want to see what she’s up to, and how she maintains and continues making her cookie cutter life flourish in authentic Charlotte fashion. That said: the acting is spiraling. Kristin Davies is such a good actress. Thats out baby! The crying? Hello?! I cried too. I curse the day you were born! On point, and with a whole finger gesture included. NO! Protecting Carrie from Big? Magistral. But in AJLT, she’s becoming a caricature—wide-eyed, high-pitched, and constantly on edge. Is she drunk 24/7? If so, just tell us! An alcoholic Charlotte dealing with her cookie cutter life would be great to see. Maybe not in such a dramatic way as Bree in Desperate Housewives, but in a lighter way, I’d be down for that. I guess at least now they’ve put her on Adderall this season, so we’ll see how that goes.

The other characters?

Sema, and Charlotte’s friend and her husband whose names I can’t remember? I couldn’t care less. I don’t know why they felt the need to include new regular characters to show us that these women have extended social circles. We knew they did in Sex and The City, because they were subtly inserted in some episodes as guest stars, and they contributed to the overall arch or plot of the episode in question ( Amalita, Anthony Marentino, Enid, Stanford, etc), but in AJLT they bring nothing but insufferable storylines that most of us don’t want to see. Sema is clearly a Samantha replacement. And while she tries, she still feels like exactly that: a replacement, not a fully realised character with a reason to be there.

And finally, Mrs. Carrie Bradshaw:

The issue with Carrie Bradshaw is that she died, and no one told her.

Carrie could be loud and sometimes a bit annoying (personally, I find her extremely annoying in the fifth season of SATC), but she had energy. Charm. Magnetism. In this version, she’s flat. She doesn’t emote. She seems perpetually sad or mildly confused. She’s awkward. Beige. Boring. I get it that her husband died, but come on, nobody wants three seasons of grief. Move on girl!

The cheapest storyline of them all? Aidan! Why do we need him? We know that he has always been Carrie’s second best. She literally cheated on him. Then called off their wedding. Then married his nemesis. Oh but now - now she wants to be with him? Because she suddenly realised he was “the one” all along? What a bunch of bollocks!

And worse: we don’t even get real Carrie and Aidan. We get drip-fed scenes of a “maybe” couple, because Aidan has family drama and can’t commit Their relationship comes in installments. Why would I be thrilled to watch a fifty-something woman who used to be a glamorous party girl and successful sex writer, who is now the multi million dollar widow and heiress of Big’s estate, be all sad, beige, and waiting for her second best while he deals with his family drama? Why is that a good storyline? And who came up with it?! Fire them!

You know what? I hope she bangs the gardener. That would bring the first spicy plot to Carrie throughout the whole series. It infuriates me that she’s so plain and sad. Is the character supposed to be dull and lifeless now? Or is SJP simply collecting a check and phoning it in? Because that’s what it looks like. Whatever spark she once had—that whimsical, magnetic charm—is gone. That last scene in SATC, where she smiles and struts down the street? That Carrie is dead. This woman now? I don’t know her.

And what happened to the voiceover? SATC’s secret sauce was Carrie’s narration. Fine, they wanted a new tone. But when season one ended with her podcast voiceover—“...and this is Sex and the City”—I got chills. I thought, okay. Season two will deliver. This is Carrie reclaiming her voice. It made so much sense that now that she was done grieving, she would reclaim her voice, and it would come back through her podcast, which would fit perfectly in the on-screen narration, because what is a writer doing in the 2020’s if not launching a podcast?!

Instead of that, we got nothing. Season two gave us nothing. And now, in season three, we get some weird disconnected narration that’s supposedly tied to her new novel? It makes no sense. It’s not the voiceover. It just... exists. Randomly.

We don’t need a groundbreaking reinvention. We know Carrie’s story has always revolved around her friends and her love life. But even her dates in AJLT are cringe. Is the message that Carrie lost her charm and became a lonely, awkward, middle-aged woman who can’t flirt anymore?

Where’s the fun? The spark? The sex? Give us real, messy, midlife romance. Give us a podcast that women across the world tune into for advice. But no. Instead of that we get nothing. But what can we expect from a show that couldn’t even bother having a better font for the show title! Am I the only one bothered by it?

At this point, if you’re a SATC fan, and you’re still watching, like me, it’s out of pure inertia. And it breaks my heart that this is what became of such a postfeminist cultural icon. Will they improve the show? I don’t think they will. But I do hope that they revive Carrie. Because in AJLT she has lost everything that once made her who she was: Manhattan’s most whimsical wordsmith. A dreamer. A high-heeled philosopher chasing love, shoes, and the perfect cosmo.