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And Just Like That… Season 2 Review

The second season of And Just Like That… is a much more confident and stronger season than the previous one as the show finally found its footing here.

The first season of this show failed to compare to ‘Sex and the City’ because it lacked the energy, humor and strong characterization of that iconic series. It was a television season where the creators attempted so heavily to appeal to the woke crowd that they lost its own identity. This second season mostly jettisons those annoying elements and woke talking points in favor of real character development and themes that are universal and relatable for everybody.

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This season was never as funny as the original show, but at least it came close as focused much more extensively on comedic storytelling while still dealing with some dark and important themes. It is this mixture of dramatic and comedic tones that really worked here, leading to a season full of laughter, heart and even some genuinely sad moments.

Sarah Jessica Parker has always been iconic in the role of Carrie Bradshaw and in this season she continued to shine. This is her signature role and it shows as she sold every single emotional as well as comedic beat to her character. I found her arc here quite moving as she had to deal with the trauma and grief after the passing of Big while also trying to forge a new path with Aidan. Yes, they brought him back to mostly solid results. Their dynamic together is just as sweet as ever and once again we see that these two are simply not fit for each other.

I actually loved Carrie’s friendship with Seema, which this time around was the best developed and most interesting relationship of the bunch. The two hit it off well and are quite similar while still being different in their own way. Seema dealing with her own insecurities and uncertainties in dating and relationships was well explored.

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Lisa and Nya were infinitely more interesting this time around as before they were one-note and quite unnecessary. But now they actually got solid arcs for themselves with the former dealing with the possibility of having another kid and the latter dealing with a sad breakup. There is also a very solid arc that the creators gave to Anthony, who was in the previous iteration of this franchise just a gay stereotype, but here he was more humanized. His newfound relationship with a younger man was so well realized and so were his bottoming insecurities.

Charlotte also got some solid storylines here, including going back to work and dealing with both of her children’s differing, but troubling issues. Kristin Davis continues to deliver this very over-the-top and odd performance, but at least the character herself worked and her marriage with Harry was refreshingly positive and healthy.

As for Miranda, she still dated the horrible “non-binary” Che, but thankfully this time the talk of her identity was at least somewhat sidelined. She was still highly unlikable, though, so I was glad that they ended things before it became too prolonged. Miranda is still just as big of a mess as she always was, but at least she tried to show some care for Steve.

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