{"id":86501,"date":"2025-07-23T17:39:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T17:39:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/86501\/"},"modified":"2025-07-23T17:39:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T17:39:12","slug":"and-just-like-that-hate-watching-and-why-we-cant-stop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/86501\/","title":{"rendered":"‘And Just Like That’ Hate-Watching \u2014 And Why We Can’t Stop"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tTrawling through TikTok last week, I came across a scathing review of a recent episode of And Just Like That.<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tA user named Sabrina Bendory had picked up over half a million views on a video in which she was dissecting bizarre plot choices for characters old and new in HBO\u2019s revival series<\/a> of Sex and the City<\/a>. \u201cMiranda Benjamin Button-ed herself back into a 5-year-old,\u201d she said of Cynthia Nixon<\/a>\u2018s child-like performance in season three, episode seven. \u201cBalloons!\u201d Miranda exclaims while setting up for Charlotte\u2019s birthday party. \u201cAnd they\u2019re pink!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBendory asked: \u201cWho is this person?\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tCynthia Nixon\u2019s Miranda is excited about pink balloons in season three of And Just Like That<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWarner Bros. Discovery\/HBO<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019ve been a lodger in this corner of TikTok for a while. Watching audiences try to make sense of this sequel has become a pastime of mine, in fact, and it\u2019s never a shock that people want to hash out their frustrations with like-minded fans. What did make me laugh, however, was a comment left on Bendory\u2019s post from a fellow AJLT watcher: \u201cI\u2019m hoping at the end we will find out it\u2019s a huge AI-written experiment,\u201d they said. \u201cAnd everyone will be like, \u2018SEE? AI is TERRIBLE. You are welcome.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThis user is just one among thousands of self-dubbed AJLT \u201chate-watchers.\u201d<\/a> Simply, we are in a toxic relationship with this show. So, LTW\u2019s (Nicole Ari Parker<\/a>) father seemingly died twice (see here<\/a> for HBO<\/a>\u2018s clarification on that) and an entire episode arc for Charlotte revolved around her dog, Richard Burton, being canceled. But as some of the most iconic women in television history descend into what some savage viewers describe as caricature, it feels like a disservice not to, at first, celebrate exactly what keeps bringing all of us back.<\/p>\n

\n\tTo say Sex and the City<\/a> was ahead of its time is an understatement. These women were on the front lines of sex, love and relationships at the turn of the millennium. Sarah Jessica Parker<\/a> dazzled as the shoe-obsessed sex columnist Carrie Bradshaw. Cynthia Nixon was the cynical and straight-talking lawyer Miranda Hobbes. Kristin Davis<\/a> started out as glamorous art curator Charlotte York before she turned into the Park Avenue princess we came to love, and of course, Kim Cattrall<\/a> was deliciously naughty as sex-positive publicist Samantha Jones.<\/p>\n

\n\tTogether, they ushered New York into an era that has us still romanticizing the city today, and left no stone unturned: anal sex, STIs, marriage, divorce, babies, abortion, cheating, swinging \u2026 you name it \u2014\u00a0it was a show that dared to go just that bit further than any others had before. Based on Candace Bushnell\u2019s 1996 book, creator Darren Star and writer Michael Patrick King<\/a> had uncovered TV gold: These three 30-somethings (and one 40-something) were so utterly fleshed out, so 3D, that watching it almost felt like an immersive experience; you could practically smell the cigarette smoke, or taste their cosmos.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe show\u2019s reception reflected that creative treasure trove. It won seven Emmys and eight Golden Globes, catapulted Parker, Nixon, Stewart and Cattrall to television stardom and, per Nielsen, had over 10 million U.S. viewers by its season six finale in 2004, making Sex and the City HBO\u2019s second-most-watched show at the time (tucked behind mob hit The Sopranos). Netflix then did an enormous act of public service by adding it to their U.S. platform last year for a whole new, sex-curious Gen Z audience to gobble up.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tCynthia Nixon, Kim Cattrall<\/a>, Kristin Davis and Sarah Jessica Parker<\/a> in the original Sex and the City series.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHBO\/Publicity<\/p>\n

\n\tThis isn\u2019t to say Sex and the City is a flawless show. Some storylines have aged like milk: Carrie\u2019s bi-phobic reaction to Sean (Friends star Eddie Cahill) was uncomfortable and very weird, considering she\u2019s a sex columnist; Samantha\u2019s relationship with record producer Chivon Williams (Asio Highsmith) in a season three episode was also an extremely tough watch (Samantha tried to squawk about \u201creverse racism\u201d \u2014\u00a0yikes). These are just a couple of moments that have, understandably, put off some newer audiences.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut that version of Manhattan was all-encompassing. The world built around these women was so convincing: the parties they attended, the exes they bumped into, the stories they told. I believed them. When the Sex and the City movies came out, I forgave the films for their missteps (of which there were plenty). The characters, their lines, their personalities and quirks were still the same ones we\u2019d grown up with.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd this is why people are so outraged by what\u2019s transpired in And Just Like That. These characters once felt like friends, a tonic to a real world even scarier (if you can believe it) than the one centered on dating men. To witness in real time the writers stray so far from the stories that set us up for adult life can feel like a kind of betrayal.<\/p>\n

\n\tWe lost Samantha<\/a> from the get-go \u2014\u00a0Cattrall\u2019s rift<\/a> with Parker seemingly irreparable \u2014 but there was hope for the other three, wasn\u2019t there?<\/p>\n

\n\tYet over the course of three seasons, fans have been forced to unlearn everything we thought we knew and loved about Sex and the City: Miranda is now goofy, obnoxious and uncharacteristically frightened of confrontation (this is the same woman who challenged Carrie several times about her subservience to Big in the original series). The charming cynicism that captured our hearts has been replaced by what I can only assume is Nixon\u2019s own pep spilling into Miranda as the two women, so intimately connected for the best part of 30 years, become one.<\/p>\n

\n\tCharlotte is reduced to a flustered housewife, though there have been some attempts at reintroducing her love of art and life away from Upper East Side motherhood. But the nuance to Davis\u2019 character has vanished; she fusses over children Lily and Rock, she walks the dog, she cooks. One of the more tender moments in the entire show came when husband Harry (Evan Handler) finally admitted it was wrong that Charlotte wasn\u2019t able to confide in her friends about his prostate cancer diagnosis<\/a>. Finally, Davis is given a chance to show off her acting talent with some meatier material \u2014 something she used to have in abundance.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tKristin Davis, Sarah Jessica Parker and Cynthia Nixon in season three of And Just Like That.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWarner Bros. Discovery\/HBO<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd then there\u2019s Carrie, who is a heightened version of her lesser traits from SATC: prudish, private and lacking in humility. Living in a decadent Gramercy Park brownstone feels a far cry from the Carrie that used to hole up in her familiar apartment, getting splashed by passing buses and clambering around for a cigarette she dropped down a drain. She isn\u2019t this woman anymore, of course \u2014\u00a0the writers made clear that this was an exploration of 50-something New Yorkers who have things a little more figured out \u2014\u00a0but everyone\u2019s edges have been, well, smoothed.<\/p>\n

\n\tOne of the buzzier scenes so far this season was Carrie and Miranda\u2019s argument in the kitchen after Charlotte\u2019s party. I don\u2019t mind them sparring \u2014\u00a0it\u2019s something they often did in the early \u201900s (remember, \u201cOh, what are you gonna do, Miranda? You gonna cut me out of your life like you did to Steve?\u201c). But the odd tone of their recent fight when Miranda comments on Carrie\u2019s flirtation with her writer neighbor Duncan (Jonathan Cake) is uncomfortable. Miranda doesn\u2019t dig deeper to try and understand why Carrie is so clearly deflecting. She panics and swiftly backs down. TikTok users were quick to catch on to this: \u201cOld Miranda would have stood her ground,\u201d one person said, \u201cand asked why she was wasting five years waiting on a man when there\u2019s a good one downstairs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAnother wrote, \u201cIf it were truly reminiscent, Miranda \u2026 would have told Carrie exactly what she thought about Aidan.\u201d A comment just below these two read: \u201cThis show is awful. I\u2019ma watch it tho.\u201d Hundreds of others follow, many of them calling Carrie rude, a terrible host and \u201cruined\u201d by the writers. Miranda doesn\u2019t get a nice reception, either: TikTokers say she\u2019s victim of flat out \u201ccharacter assassination\u201d and trapped in a cycle of weekly humiliation rituals.<\/p>\n

\n\tA source tells THR that And Just Like That continues to perform as expected, so the overwhelming majority of fans partaking in online discourse are still watching this show. \u201cIt is the worst show ever created, it\u2019s awful beyond words,\u201d a TikTok commenter called Mary Ann writes on a recent dissection of the latest episode. \u201cPlease don\u2019t let it get cancelled. I\u2019ll be devastated.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOn the question, \u201cWhy the hate-watching?\u201d, I found a Reddit user who captured it quite perfectly: \u201cI can\u2019t look away. I think a part of me still is holding out false hope for a return to the SATC I knew and loved.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s a testament to the bond forged by Sex and the City that we\u2019re willing to persevere through And Just Like That decades on from the expertly crafted original forms of these characters. The world is still a familiar one: Patricia Field\u2019s styling ghost haunts every outrageous outfit choice and Carrie\u2019s heels still clack satisfyingly on the sidewalk. There\u2019s solace to be found in these women, even if we tip further into uncanny territory with each passing episode.<\/p>\n

\n\tNew additions to the cast are, I think, worthwhile: Nicole Ari Parker<\/a> is fantastic as Lisa Todd Wexley and the same goes for Sarita Choudhury as Seema. Though, their arcs feel less explored, their decisions sometimes random, and a cohort of fans refuse to welcome them into the fold in protest of Cattrall\u2019s absence.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tSarita Choudhury as Seema in AJLT.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWarner Bros. Discovery\/HBO<\/p>\n

\n\tBut it\u2019s true: We don\u2019t have Samantha, and with her went the four corners of our perfect Manhattan quartet that so playfully tackled a range of storylines from varying perspectives \u2014\u00a0a realist, a romantic, a party girl and someone who embodied all three \u2014\u00a0an element so blatantly missing in the revival series.<\/p>\n

\n\tStill, hate-watchers of And Just Like That hold out hope. Hope that Samantha might relocate back to New York (she\u2019s still texting Carrie, after all); that Carrie rediscovers her column and gets over this cringe-worthy version of Aidan (John Corbett) in search of a life of city singlehood once more; that Miranda finds her misplaced backbone and owns up to how she hurt ex-husband Steve (David Eigenberg); that Charlotte seeks substance beyond her quasi-tradwife existence (and reacts with a facial expression other than wide-eyed glee).<\/p>\n

\n\tAre we baffled? Yes. Are we tired? Very. Will we be tuning in this Thursday for the next episode? Abso-fucking-lutely.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Trawling through TikTok last week, I came across a scathing review of a recent episode of And Just…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":86502,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[30334,185,51257,171,58350,5560,3594,58351,1097,58352,1096,46533,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-86501","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-and-just-like-that","9":"tag-celebrities","10":"tag-cynthia-nixon","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-fear-factor","13":"tag-hbo","14":"tag-kim-cattrall","15":"tag-kristin-davis","16":"tag-michael-patrick-king","17":"tag-nicole-ari-parker","18":"tag-sarah-jessica-parker","19":"tag-sex-and-the-city","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-unitedstates","22":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114903774858758379","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86501\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}