In August, the curtain officially closed on HBO Max's controversial Sex and the City revival. Showrunner Michael Patrick King announced that And Just Like That... would end after its third season, a decision met with a collective sigh of relief from many longtime fans. The two-part series finale aired this summer, concluding a journey that began with excitement but quickly devolved into widespread criticism.
A Promising Revival That Lost Its Way
The series, which reunited viewers with Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon), and Charlotte York (Kristin Davis) navigating life in their fifties, initially promised a nostalgic return. However, the excitement was short-lived. Critics and audiences alike felt the revival was a far cry from the beloved original that defined a generation in the late '90s and early 2000s.
Fans expressed that the characters often felt like hollow shells of their former selves, trapped in odd storylines and awkward writing. The final season, intended to wrap up the series, instead delivered an underwhelming and open-ended conclusion that left many storylines unresolved, fueling speculation that the cancellation wasn't initially planned.
Where And Just Like That Went Wrong
The list of grievances from dedicated viewers is long. A primary complaint was the complete character assassination of Miranda Hobbes. Once the whip-smart, rational lawyer, Miranda was transformed into an impulsive figure who abruptly ended her decades-long marriage to Steve for a fleeting, poorly written fling with comedian Che Diaz.
Carrie's arc also frustrated fans. Despite the symbolic death of Mr. Big in the premiere—a chance for her to explore identity as a single widow—her storyline quickly reverted to revolving around a man. The much-hyped return of ex-boyfriend Aidan Shaw (John Corbett) was seen as regression, not growth, culminating in a bizarre five-year waiting period that felt out of character.
Charlotte, meanwhile, was largely relegated to one-dimensional mom-and-wife duties, while attempts to address the original show's lack of diversity were widely panned as clumsy and tokenistic. New characters of colour, like Dr. Nya Wallace and Lisa Todd Wexley, were never properly integrated into the core group, often feeling like afterthoughts.
A Finale That Felt Like an Afterthought
The series finale did little to redeem the show's rocky three-season run. While Carrie finished her book and embraced singlehood, other characters' arcs felt incomplete. The inclusion of a crude poop scene and the sudden use of the original series' theme song in the credits felt like desperate grabs for nostalgia rather than earned emotional moments.
Rumours have swirled that star and executive producer Sarah Jessica Parker was "fuming" over the cancellation, hinting that the end may have been more abrupt than the official statements suggested. Ultimately, And Just Like That... serves as a cautionary tale: not all beloved franchises need or benefit from a modern-day revival. For many fans, the true legacy of Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte, and Samantha remains firmly in the early 2000s, untouched by the reboot's missteps.
All episodes of And Just Like That... are available for streaming on HBO Max.
