Meanwhile,fans who had waited patiently through six seasons and two painful films for Carrie’s happily ever after felt robbed.
And yet,it’s undeniable that happy endings are only satisfying because they represent an endpoint.
No one wants to watch ten episodes of Carrie and Big salting fish and planning weekend trips to the Hamptons. Big’s death was a necessary evil,required to move the story forward and give Carrie something to do other than being scared of masturbating and learning how to podcast.
And Just Like That... is already facing an uphill battle and,based on the first two episodes,it could be quite the climb. Much of the focus seemed to be on fast-forwarding the show into a 2021 safe space,one buzzword at a time.
Within the first five minutes,we had three separate uses of the word ‘woke’;Miranda calling herself out for being ‘a white saviour’;and the introduction of several characters of colour (where the show previously had none).
These are all welcome updates,especially the diverse casting,but there is such a thing as too much change. For a reboot to work,we still need to recognise the heart and soul of a show.
Sex and the City has always been at its best when Carrie is navigating the world of dating – whether at thirty,forty or fifty. As she reminded her new non-binary podcast co-host Che (Sara Ramirez),“relationship stuff” is her strong suit.
Once we zip past the grief,Big’s departure opens the door for the show to explore how Carrie bounces back and maybe,possibly,learns to love again in this brave new world.
Where Berger (Ron Livingston) once broke up with her via post-it note,perhaps we will now see Aidan (John Corbett) sliding into her DMs? Or Carrie will accidentally like one of Alexsandr’s (Mikhail Baryshnikov) old pictures on Instagram and experience the uniquely modern shame that follows such a slip-up.
Loading
Big dying will no doubt loom large over the series,but Big living would’ve cast a longer shadow. Had he hung around,puffing on cigars and playing Todd Rundgren records,Carrie would’ve been tethered to him. There was only so far the two of them could go.
“We can’t just stay who we were,right?” Miranda reminds Carrie and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) in the opening minutes of the first episode (one of her few sensible observations). The answer is,well,you can,but it won’t make for an enthralling series.
Is it OK to be sad that Big is gone? Yes. Could it be the one masterstroke that saves this reboot? Absof---inglutely.
Find out the next TV,streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees.Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.