We’ve officially made it to the final episode of And Just Like That . . . and I think I speak for everyone when I ask, how the heck are we already here?
This episode opens in much the same way as every episode before it, with Carrie, except this time we also have a storyline that follows her through to the end of the episode. Wild times, team.
Before leaving her apartment for a date with Peter (Jon Tenney), Carrie tells Big’s ashes that she’s going on a date, and it’s clear this episode will be closing the book on Big, or at the very least, leaving Carrie in some state of post-Big acceptance. Immediately, I think this must mean we’re finally getting Aiden (and that thought was wrong — they really ticked us with that one, huh). Thankfully, we don’t get a Chris Noth sighting either, and I’m glad the creators decided to scrub him from the season altogether.
We don’t actually go on the date with Carrie, but we do see her walking back to her brownstone with Peter. It’s sweet and comforting, and he has big “nice guy” energy, which I’m personally a big fan of. They share a quick peck after he asks permission (cute) and she promptly tells the girls at brunch that she felt no spark. Kudos to him for seeking consent, and respect to her for still wanting to feel a little zing of interest during a kiss.
Before this episode, I’d been grateful that the show didn’t slide into the comforting tropes from Sex and the City, but in this episode, I’m thankful that they did. From the moment the episode starts, it feels like a finale, which means it also feels nostalgic and like a cosy place that I’d like to curl up in for a little while. We get the women at brunch together (in a weird echoey café, but I’ll let it slide), Miranda colouring her hair back to her signature red, and Charlotte finally becomes the mum we thought she would be.
On that note, I’d like to admit that I can finally stomach Charlotte’s storyline. It’s been a journey to get here, but it seems that me yelling about how the real Charlotte would embrace her child, no matter what, has finally paid off with the they mitzvah. She went full Charlotte York on this party, with a candy bar that’s bigger than my apartment, a wonderful and forthright trans rabbi that drops nuggets of wisdom in every room she enters, pride kippahs, and a bright pink suit for Rock.
But the best part of the they mitzvah was when Rock refuses to align themselves with religion for extremely valid reasons. In a complete tizzy, Charlotte decides to go through with a bat mitzvah for herself (because, of course). The real moment is when the rabbi asks whether there’s any family who would like to stand alongside Charlotte and with Lily and Harry, Rock also joins their family on stage. It’s a beautiful moment that we (and Rock, and Charlotte) deserves.
Through the episode, there are two continuous plot points that hit at every event: Miranda following Che to Los Angeles and Carrie scattering Big’s ashes in Paris. I’m a little tired of talking about Main Character Miranda and don’t fully buy that she’s managed to lure Che over to the monogamous side (or that she’d even want to dreamily follow them there), however, I’m happy for her. And like I said, seeing her change back to her signature red hair and showing that you can change who you are again and again in your lifetime was beautiful. I got goosebumps. Loved.
What this season has done so beautifully is show that relationships of all types and at all ages are work. Between Miranda and Steve (ugh) and Charlotte getting down on her knees for Harry in the bathroom, Carrie navigating a post-Big world, and even the absence of Samantha — it’s shown us again and again that relationships are hard. Even the easy ones.
Perhaps one of the most real scenes in the episode is Nya revealing to Miranda that she and her husband have decided to take a break from their gorgeous relationship over their challenging fertility journey and a difference of opinions on whether it’s all worth it. That scene is a gut punch, and I’m so glad the And Just Like That . . . writers are doing that story justice.
This episode is all about change and you can feel the way each character is being pulled into the future, while also being pulled back to their past. Carrie deciding to go it alone in Paris and stand on her and Big’s bridge to scatter his ashes (in a gorgeous, floofy dress, no less) is a big move and one that feels right.
But it’s around this time, that I remember London is very close to Paris and I couldn’t help but wonder, IS SAMANTHA COMING TO PARIS? As Carrie stands on the bridge, struggling with her emotions, pouring (a shockingly small amount of) Big’s ashes over the edge of their bridge, I just kept yelling Samantha’s name at my TV and I realise how lame that is, but it would have made the moment perfect.
Instead, we get a text exchange that implies they caught up for a cocktail and all I can think is how let down I feel, and also how thick they’re laying it on Kim Catrall. Whew, will she come back? Is it even fair to ask her to go back into a workplace that she clearly feels is toxic? I don’t know, but I still want her there.
After the quick text exchange, we’re abruptly back in New York, in the podcast studio, where Carrie is recording her first solo podcast with (I’ll just say it), the sexiest man that Carrie has ever dated in Sex and the City history. And she finally gets her spark. As she steps into the lift with Producer Franklyn (played by Ivan Hernandez), and the doors begin to close, they jump one another and, yeah, it just feels right.
And Just Like That . . . is now streaming on BINGE and you can catch up on all of our coverage, here.
