Sex & The City’s Reboot Is Repeating Its Worst Character Betrayal

Warning: This article contains potential spoilers for And Just Like That…

The long-awaited Sex & The City revival, And Just Like That… has worked hard to cast off some of the sins of the past, but one teased romantic twist risks repeating the biggest past character betrayal. And Just Like That… is clearly intent on ensuring that the mistakes Sex & The City made, particularly in terms of representation and diversity, are dealt with, courtesy of an expanded, far more diverse cast and storylines tackling so-called “woke” issues. In reality, the show has simply adapted to the 2021 landscape – whether it’s been entirely successful is a matter for debate about fans – but it’s also keenly preserving some of the past.

While there are lots of new characters, And Just Like That… is being careful to cater to the old Sex & The City crowd of fans, almost offering a reset for Sarah Jessica Parker’s Carrie to before her marriage to Big. In the latest episode, Carrie even takes up smoking again, her former beloved vice, after meeting And Just Like That…‘s Samantha replacement, Sarita Choudhury’s Seema Patel. As Carrie takes on her own journey of loss and self-discovery head first, the other main characters, Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) are exploring their own new adventures, both philosophical and sexual.

One of the most progressive potential storylines of And Just Like That… seems to be positioning Miranda for a new relationship with Sara Ramirez’s Che Diaz – the co-host of Carrie’s hyper-sex-positive podcast. Che is a formidable character and a huge positive strike for the show’s improvements in representation, but unfortunately, the flirtation with making her the agent of Miranda’s sexual awakening has an overlooked victim who has already been badly mistreated by the Sex & The City franchise, David Eigenberg’s Steve Brady. By having Miranda betray her husband, And Just Like That… will be once more unnecessarily hurting a character who was hung out to dry by Sex & The City: The Movie in an unforgivable copycat move.

In the first Sex & The City movie, Steve was a victim of terrible writing for the sake of drama, as he cheated on Miranda despite his character arc in no way suggesting that he would. That was sort of the point, as he was ultimately forgiven as Miranda realized there was more to love than holding grudges, but it was all done in the interest of narrative tension that never felt earned. They took a moral, loving character and twisted him out of shape into uncharacteristic behavior – just as the second SATC movie did when Carrie cheated on Big with Aiden – to serve the plot. Steve was a victim then and having Miranda cheat on him to find her own true identity would be repeating the same issue.

And Just Like That… is not Steve’s story, and the central characters have been shown to cheat on their partners previously, but Miranda’s story with Che feels more substantial. Steve should have been left out of it, whether as a result of their marriage failing off-screen or his death (a cruel end markedly less cold than once more writing him into an unfair storyline), and allowing Miranda to find herself. The tension created by her relationship with Steve as the backdrop Miranda’s exciting new adventure with her sexuality and Che feels like a cheap addition of drama in And Just Like That… that comes at the cost of an undeserving character once more.

New episodes of And Just Like That… release every Thursday on HBO Max.

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Simon Gallagher
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Simon is a veteran editor who has been writing online since 2010 – long before anyone wanted to read his work. He loves Clueless. Like, a lot.

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