Do you remember Sex and the City? A fun and splashy series about four single women in their 30s, living New York City and looking for the great romance, or maybe just a night of fun. It was witty and humorous, honest and uninhibited, and most importantly, highly relatable, not just for the millions of single women around the world, who enjoyed their independence but still felt they had been single long enough. As a result, the show was a huge success, spanning six seasons from the late nineties to the early 2000s. Taking advantage of its popularity, a movie followed a few years later, and then another one. And then... for more than a decade... nothing. Until about a year ago, when suddenly a sequel show appeared, titled And Just Like That... with a continued story line of the same characters.
Up until then I had known Sex in the City just by name, unlike my wife who is a huge fan of the show. So in preparation to watching the sequel, we binged through the entire series and feature films. It wasn't bad, and after all, we've done the same with many other series to prepare for a newly released season.
And Then There Were Just Three
The first shock thrown immediately in the faces of uninformed viewers is the fact that the new series takes place without one of the four Sex and the City protagonists. Being highly promiscuous, and not believing in lasting relationships, Samantha was not just a comic relief character, but an essential aspect of how some women may approach companionship like men typically do, especially in our educated, successful, urban present (of twenty years ago). So seeing And Just Like That... continue without her, feels a bit disappointing.
While the reasons for this probably lie in the personal lives of the actors (there were plenty of rumors and gossip stories), the way the plot was written does leave a door open for a possible reunion in a future season. Samantha, while living in London and keeping a general distance from all three of her friends, does occasionally respond to some of Carrie's text messages.
Time Takes Its Toll
This is undeniable, no matter how many Botox shots you take. And I guess this is pretty much the main theme of the show, which is examined form various aspects. Sure, at first all three girls are presented in their fabulously splendid looks, almost as if the last twenty years had not even touched them the least bit. Pretty soon, however, it becomes obvious that under the surface of shoes, dresses, and make-up even these stylish ladies have been affected by age. This could take the form of benign (though none the less annoying) health issues, to becoming overwhelmed by our rapidly changing culture. Most drastically, this passing of time can manifest itself by the passing of a loved one, and the emptiness it leaves behind, which pretty much dominates the entire first season. (I'm not going to be any more specific here. If you want spoilers, check out the plot synopsis.)
Sex and the 21st Century
Honestly, if the show was all about dealing with death and health problems, I would not even have finished its ten episodes. But there is one other thing that kept me on the edge. This has to do with how much our world has changed since 1998 when Sex and the City first premiered. I was attending college back then, in Buffalo, NY, which is not precisely "The City", but not too far anyway. Remembering how many American students chose to live in the "international dorm" because they wanted to "get to know many people from around the world", or how the gay club Marcello's was the number one place to party even for those who identified as straight, gave me an impression that we as a society had overcome all past hangups about race and sexuality before the end of the millennium. It would be only a matter of time before this would be reflected in mainstream media.
Fast forward two decades, and according to And Just Like That... some of us are still struggling with the notion of only having one couple as their black friends, or that due to a thoughtless faux-pas one might be seen as racist, sexist, ageist, etc. And this is just what "other people" might think. What about your own children? You may remember, by the time the two movies came out some of the characters had kids, who in this new show are teenagers. And contemporary teenagers have contemporary views on things, which may clash a bit with whatever used to be seen as modern in the last century. While back in the day you had gay and straight, these days it is gender fluid, gender neutral, and non-binary that frames the conversation. And while trying to be open and accepting about it, And Just Like That... seems to be surprisingly awkward about it all.
Are They Doing It On Purpose?
This is the question I kept asking myself, as I watched one typically eloquent character put one foot in her mouth after the other in trying to avoid being seen as a bigot, or the celebrated sex writer giggling in embarrassment in her first podcast about that same topic. Is this just a bad script, or they trying to tell us something? Are Gen-X-ers really that cringe, after all this time? Has the carefree LOL of the nineties become an embarrassed crying emoji of our present? Or is it simply the same old pattern that we all fall into when becoming old? After all, at one time even the baby boomers used to be hip and groovy, and now look at them! But maybe there IS a way out.
A Glimmer of Hope
Along with the inevitability of age, the other main message of this series is that it doesn't have to be all bad. Sure, it may not be quite as easy to demonstrate the same flexibility as in our younger years, but that doesn't mean we have to succumb to the rigidity of age right away. In the end, all three women confront the issues time throws at them, in a more or less graceful way. And by the end of the first season they all show that there is indeed a glimmer of hope, if you approach things reasonably. So in spite of sitting through all the cringe that I can also relate to in a way, I ultimately did enjoy this series, and I'm looking forward to the next season. Here is the trailer if you've become interested:
