And with that, everyone is having relationships.
We have informal Thursday sex.
We have sultry married sex.
We have homosexual sex.
We have "things are going so great it's time to meet your family" sex.
The first two episodes of Season 2 of "And Just Like That...," the follow-up to "Sex
and the City," shown on MAX on Thursday, make no apologies for the boning.
One thing is quite evident from the raunchy montage that serves as its opening scene:
This will not be another depressing season.
The grieving Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) of Season 1 is moving on through "exit
out of grief" sex and is bringing along her now-expanded buddy circle on what is being
built up to be a more feel-good, frolicsome season.
She was abruptly widowed in the series premiere.
If Carrie has to pronounce the term "vagina," though, all bets are out and the game is over.
Later, more on that.
The cast of Season 2 welcomes viewers with a more convincing ensemble.
Carrie, Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), and Charlotte (Kristin Davis), who make up the core group,
continue to play important roles, but their on-screen time is now more evenly distributed
with that of their more recent pals, Che (Sara Ramirez), Seema (Sarita Choudhury), Nya (Karen
Pittman), and Lisa (Nicole Ari Parker).
The first two episodes laid the groundwork for each of these characters' future storylines
to be more developed, as well as for their relationships to become closer.
An example of this is when Carrie contacts Che for advise on her new relationship and
discovers that her old friend Miranda is fumbling with a strap-on in the background.
If the three are so at ease with one another, then there is intimacy.
Because she already knows what Charlotte and Miranda will say, Carrie isn't as interested
in their opinions on her dating life.
Che, however, is in a unique position to counsel Carrie because they (Che is nonbinary and
uses plural pronouns) are acquainted with Franklyn (Ivan Hernandez), who is Carrie's
new bedfellow and her podcast producer.
The producer Carrie kissed in the lift at the very end of Season 1 stayed, in case you
were wondering.
We are informed that three weeks have passed since the end of the series, so at least he
did that for that length of time.
In Episode 1, Carrie has developed feelings for Franklyn to the extent that she sleeps
with him and watches cooking shows with him every Thursday after they record their podcast,
but not to the extent that she invites him to the "Met Ball," which is, for some reason,
the Met Gala in disguise, and for which plus ones are tossed around like ping pong balls
for the entire 45 minutes.
As for Carrie, she is unsure about her readiness to take her connection with Franklyn to the
"relationship place."
She accepts his invitation to hang out with his buddies on a Tuesday, but she changes
her mind right away, which is why she calls Che.
Although Che is familiar with Franklyn, he is unaware of what goes on inside his "man
head," as Che calls it.
But Che isn't much of a help.
In the meanwhile, Seema genuinely forfeits her ticket to the Met Ball in order to see
Zed, the son of her boyfriend Zed (William Abadie).
She seems to think this step with Zed is significant enough for her to be okay with seeing his
ex-wife Victoire (Rachel Kylian), who tells her that Zed still resides in her home.
We discover that other potential love interests have troublesome ties to ex-spouses in addition
to this one.
Miranda is trapped in Malibu on the West Coast without a phone to summon an Uber.
Che orders Oliver Hudson's Lyle to pick up Miranda, but oh no!
Che has never revealed that they are still officially married.
The most bizarre aspect of this plot could be how quickly Miranda is persuaded not to
take offence to it.
Che dismisses everything as unimportant, and Miranda only needs a few kisses to forget
the entire incident.
The same woman left a man at a comedy club in the first season when she learned that
he was separated from his wife but not yet divorced.
Which takes me to a point I stated during Season 1 and on which the majority of people
dissented.
But I'm committed to it: Due to the fact that Miranda has never been so severely affected
by love, a lot of who she is now and what she does appear out of character.
Che is the "core shaker" that none of her past lovers, including her ex-husband Steve
Brady (David Eigenberg), ever were, and as a result, Miranda has been softened in a way
that many of us never anticipated.
Our independent queen has never been concerned about her ability to support herself.
She does, however, now have something to lose.
It is evident.
On the other hand, we learn that Nya may have been hanging onto something she ought to have
let go of a long time ago.
Nya discovers her husband, Andre Rashad (LeRoy McClain), creating music with a hat-wearing
aspiring musician in a hotel room, but he claims he hasn't strayed on her "yet."
As if that weren't nausea-inducing enough, he claims Nya still has a chance to avoid
it by having his child through a surrogate.
Nya makes no effort to waste time in banishing him from their flat.
And in these episodes, we see other quick pack-ups as well.
When asked to read an advertisement for a business that promotes vaginal wellness, Carrie
simply cannot do it.
She detests the foul language and finds it difficult to discuss problems "down there."
She is adamant about editing the copy.
One cannot exaggerate the silliness that surrounds this story point.
First off, having a vaginal wellness product sponsor her show is completely in line with
her brand.
It is ridiculous to think that Carrie would be so confused by the coupling.
It is a huge waste of time for her and Franklyn to spend their time revising the content when
they could have easily requested a less geriatric word for "suppository" from a lackey on the
marketing team.
That Franklyn considers it essential to download, and that Carrie, the sex writer, needs to
phone many sources to inquire about the terminology for "vagina" This entire scene reaches a level
of buffoonery we haven't seen since Kim Cattrall's Samantha blessed us with 'Lawrence of my labia'.
Final freaking Draught was used to punch up a few lines of text that could have simply
been changed on a serviette.
However, the most absurd thing the audience is expected to accept is that Carrie's inability
to merely read this content aloud is the tipping point that brings down the whole podcast industry.
I'm done now.
The entire business fails because of just one unsuccessful advertisement.
The Thursday night meetings with Franklyn have ended along with the Sex and the City
podcast.
But perhaps it's better for us, the watchers.
Currently, both emotionally and professionally, Carrie has a clean slate.
She has lots of financial security and the flexibility to do anything she wants, but
no job and no guy.
It's intriguing to consider where it may lead her if she had no chance of turning around
and going back to the late Mr. Big (Chris Noth).
especially for those of us who are Aidan fans.