When S&TC was on HBO in the late 90’s, I didn’t have HBO. I heard about it – interviews with the stars, references on TV shows and the awards. I was single and working in NYC in the mid-90s, but I didn’t have HBO and my life was much different anyway (less glamorous for sure!) Then I got married and didn’t really care about it.
For some reason, in 2001, we got HBO. I had just given birth to my daughter, and I sat down to watch the ladies. I was blown away by Miranda Hobbes. For the first time, someone was not happy with motherhood besides me! I was actually angry after my daughter was born because I felt I had been misled into thinking everything will click once a child is born. I had read every book and website, and thought I knew it all. There’s so much motherhood propaganda out there that it’s magical and easy. Then came Miranda complaining about being a mother – jeans don’t fit, the boobs are out of control, the baby crying, you’re crying, everyone’s partying and living life without you -- ALL of it. I was thrilled to see honest depiction for a change. It doesn’t mean you don’t love your kid or anything, but motherhood is hard.
Miranda hooked me into the show and all the friendships were assuring. I was going through some friendship transitions in real life, so it was appealing to see strong women friends. And, yes, we all watched the last season with excitement every week – waiting for Carrie to get with “The Russian.” Even though I was an Aidan fan, I didn’t mind the Russian.
Now, 20 years later, I watched all 6 seasons on Netflix continuously over two months and here are my thoughts.
Important note – once again, I do not have HBO Max and have only seen one season of “And Just Like That.” So my comments are focusing on the original series and not what’s happening in the new one. Please don’t come after me that it’s changed. I know. Also, I have a review of the first movie when it came out in 2008 on my site.
The Character Story Lines
The best is Miranda’s. She grew from being a tightly closed person who built a protective wall around here to a family woman, allowing people in. The emphasis on being “career-oriented” was realistic since that’s the way people are – they had meetings, going to work in a suit, putting work before personal life. Also, they did an excellent story build with Miranda and Steve — you could plot the relationship with Steve on a timeline and it makes perfect sense. They both grown and change, branch out a little, but come back together. They are connected to each other. When she tells him she loves him while he’s dating that Debbie, he’s like “You’re the one! Are you kidding?” Seriously, excellent writing and character development!
Samantha is also very consistent – she knows what she wants and doesn’t compromise on that. The relationship with Smith is very sweet and again, she grows from it by breaking down her walls. The way she changes is not like a switch, but little by little. Again, masterful writing.
Charlotte has a good story arc as well. She knows what she wants, has her standards, and unfortunately, is continuously told she’s too idealistic. She succumbs to the pressure from others, but she does circle back to her own truth.
Carrie Bradshaw is a hot mess. She is no different at 38 than she is at 30. Let’s start with the basic that she’s irresponsible with money. For reference, even in early 2000’s single women were responsible for themselves. I loved the episode where the friends were all over her for her financial situation. It’s crazy that Americans feel comfortable talking about sex rather than money (I think I heard Suze Orman say this years ago). Yes, it’s cute that she spends money on expensive shoes. But when she has no money or savings, she doesn’t wake up. There was an episode where she needed money, and her friends helped her as best as they could. But then she confronted Charlotte, who doesn’t owe her anything – she’s got a lot on her own plate. Even at 38 she’s still expecting someone else to take care of her, which is how she fell in with Petroskovsky. She should show some sense of growth about money -- I wouldn’t be mad if she said “I’m on a budget and saving now.”
Also, she should’ve seen a therapist. She used her friends as her sounding board, and they tell her things that she doesn’t want to hear (“You can’t see Big anymore”) and she does what she wants. She has the balls to tell Aidan that she can’t give up Big because “he’s in [her] life” as a friend – WTF. It’s not like you share a kid or a dog together. He freaking shows up when he wants to show up. He doesn’t have to be in her life. If she was an adult, she would’ve cut him out fully instead of being “friends.” I’ve always ‘stanned’ Aidan and even more so when I saw all the episodes back to back. He was consistent and reasonable in his actions and his words. Yet, she was too blocked to be open. And, yes, I loved it when he yelled at her for not returning his love and commitment. She needed that.
Mr. Big is an immature rich-man-child. There’s one episode with Joel Grey where Carrie mentions her father abandoning her as a child. Yeah, I wanted to know this earlier when she was acting up. Big calling her “Kid” and picking up the bill everywhere was comforting for her. Even if he was not rich, she still would’ve gone towards him as protector. I remember when the finale originally aired, a friend criticized the ending back “All it shows is that you have to wait around for the jerk to finally show up.”
Back to Carrie’s immaturity, when Aidan asks her to stop smoking, I thought it was refreshing her friends said they agreed and they only put up with it because it’s her. Wow.. that is amazing. That’s a lot to ask of your friends and be totally unaware that you’re the only smoker in the group. (I know I’m acting like they’re all real people, but still. )
For a positive, I was impressed that she offered to babysit Brady. Of course she treated him like an accessory, but she’s gotta be the cool Aunt.
More about Carrie
I think Carrie succeeds as a character because of Sarah Jessica Parker. She has a way of walking into a room confidently, and being unassuming the way she looks down.
Years ago, when the last season aired, I liked “The Russian” and thought it would work. However, looking at it now, they were not right for each other. He told her who he was and how he lives. He doesn’t want to change his lifestyle. She would need to adapt to it – and some women would be fine with it. But not Carrie –she tried to reshape herself and reshape him, too.
I found it especially insensitive of Carrie that when Alexander mentioned his friend died from cancer and Carrie refused to hear it. She was in denial and so self-absorbed (as usual) that she pouted about not being heard. She should’ve acknowledged that Alexander had lost a friend and was still grieving. She always needs a whack to the head.
She gave a speech about giving up her column – “that’s who I am.” Girl, you had a book.. you could promote yourself as an author. People on line are very confused how much a columnist makes weekly (supposedly Candace Bushnell made money writing a newspaper column). However, I wanted her to grow as a writer and have some ambition. Her book that was published was a collection of her articles.
And just like that..
I’m done with the series and I do feel closer to them. I love how the series was a snapshot of pop culture and sentiments of the time. For example, there was a moment of introducing the word ‘frenemy’ as well as the attitudes toward different sexual orientations. And the writing is so witty and tight, that I have to wonder sometimes if the plot points were built around a ingenious line.
Anyway, let me know if anyone can share their HBO Max password with me so I can catch up on the women in 2024.
