And Just Like That Review Season 2 Episode 4: Gloria Steinem, Triple Abortion and an Older Penis
Yes, I still have marks on my temples from holding my head in my hands a lot during this episode And just like that. A shameful clown car of an episode that could only have been the result of a gas leak in the writers’ room, that was 45 minutes of near-continuous horror: Harry splatters dust! Candice Bergen stares at older man’s cock pic! An aborted threesome between Miranda, Che and Goldie Hawn’s son! Between the guest appearance by Billy Dee Williams and the extended cameo by Gloria Steinem (who plays herself), I’m still not sure I wasn’t hallucinating the whole thing.
First though, a question: is the absence of Carrie? Sex and the CityVoiceover, the reason this show is so unpredictable? In 2022, showrunner Michael Patrick King stated that taking it away was a conscious decision to “[throw] the audience into the unknown”. And admittedly, it’s not as if that made the original series any less arbitrary when it came to taking us back and forth between the themes of each episode (remember “from Jewish to idiot”?). But it gave each part some narrative support, or a sense that the writers were at least trying to follow some map.
“Do I have to appear as a 75-year-old pensioner?”
Enid Frick! Candice Bergen’s demise Fashion The editor always seemed to be a kind of viewer substitute for the original Sex and the City – especially for everyone at home who finds Carrie completely unbearable. Here she is back in shape, meeting Carrie at a restaurant, admitting she’s been ignoring the emails she’s been sending her lately, refusing to promote her book in her popular newsletter, and then repeatedly refers to Carrie as one of her peers, even though they probably have a 20-year age difference.
Carrie is easily offended, all the more so when Enid invites her to write for her Lively, a magazine she publishes aimed at “women of our age”. Seema suggests that Carrie negotiate a deal with Enid to attend the launch of her Old Lady magazine in exchange for mentioning her book in her newsletter. Unfortunately, Carrie turned out to be confused the entire time: Enid didn’t want Carrie’s words in her magazine, just $100,000 of their investment. Carrie ends up investing a smaller amount of money and getting a mention in her newsletter.
At the same time, Carrie is being harassed by text messages from an elderly man named Marlon, who she assumes is mistakenly contacting her. However, he turns out to be a very hung lover with Bitsy von Muffling pushing him in Carrie’s direction. Things go awry from there: Bitsy sends Carrie a very graphic Marlon dick pic, which Enid spies on Carrie’s phone before confirming it’s Marlon her also a new lover.
Also inexplicably blending into this whole penis discourse is American feminist pioneer Gloria Steinem, who manages to avoid all of the nude chat in order to have an open conversation with Carrie at Enid’s party. It feels very And just like that showing a cameo by Gloria Steinem — at least to make up for it early on Sex and the City Episode in which our heroes seemed proudly disinterested in politics of any kind – but also completely off the rails.
Gloria Steinem, Sarah Jessica Parker and Candice Bergen in And Just Like That
(Heaven/Max)
“Steve can’t slap me in the face and I can’t take up more space than the couch.”
Miranda is back in New York, sleeping on the sofa while Steve (cute, inexplicably muscular Steve) angrily waits upstairs for an increasingly distant Brady. It turns out they’re all in family therapy with the focus more on Brady than… well, Miranda, who’s running off with an unfunny stand-up comedian and losing her mind in the process. Her therapist says the structure of the house doesn’t seem to work, so Steve volunteers to move out. Brady, meanwhile, announces that he has no plans to go to college. Miranda is upset, however Who cares when Che Diaz is here?!
When that plan is quickly abandoned, Miranda and Carrie head to a housewarming party for Che, who has wrapped up filming on her sitcom pilot in Los Angeles and has returned to the city. Again…her ex-husband Lyle, who picked Miranda up from the beach in the season premiere and apparently drove Che back to Manhattan. Lyle provides a little Che backstory: They were married for two years, Che wanted to push her “sexual boundaries,” and they remain friends to this day. Oh, and married.
Watch Apple TV+ for free for 7 days
New subscribers only. £6.99/month. after free trial. The plan will automatically renew until canceled
Watch Apple TV+ for free for 7 days
New subscribers only. £6.99/month. after free trial. The plan will automatically renew until canceled
Carrie leaves because she’s uncomfortable with the pegging talk, leaving Miranda, Che, and Lyle in a sexually unclear daze. A phase of group sex begins that Miranda seems a little in love with… until she doesn’t anymore. “It’s just not my style, but you should keep going – I’m fine with this!” Miranda pleads before falling asleep on Che’s sofa. sweet grace
“As the only ejaculator in the group, can you shed some light on this particular phenomenon?”
Okay, so that’s a lot. After their kids are sent off to summer camp, Charlotte and Harry begin their annual freak fest in the bedroom, complete with…err…a big finish on Charlotte’s boobs. However, in the midst of passion, Harry reaches his peak, but presents no proof of it. (Sorry Mom.) A little post-sex discourse at brunch between Charlotte, Carrie, Miranda and Anthony prompts Sarah Jessica Parker to say the word “cum” far too often, with Anthony implying that Harry was among ” Dustballs” suffers. . A doctor goes even further: Harry experiences dry orgasms that can be remedied with a few Kegel exercises. Charlotte and Harry start a fitness plan, but Who cares when Lisa and her husband are throwing an anniversary party?!
Billy Dee Williams, Nicole Ari Parker, Christopher Jackson, Kristin Davis and Victor Garber in And Just Like That
(Max/Sky)
I’m still not sure about Lisa Todd Wexley as she remains more of an idea in search of personality. Nicole Ari Parker is great in the role, but the series struggled to interest us in Lisa’s documentary project or her husband Herbert’s plans to run for city controller. (By the way, that’s someone who looks after a city’s financial health – thanks, Google.)
At an anniversary dinner, Billy Dee Williams emerges as Lisa’s artist father, who isn’t particularly happy with his son-in-law’s capitalist jewelry. Meanwhile, Herbert’s mother remains inexplicably evil. It’s about as compelling as the surreal racial profiling subplot that blurred earlier this season.
Meanwhile, at the party, Charlotte befriends Marcus Sabian, an art gallery magnate she kindly plays titanic And Alias Star Victor Garber. Charlotte is very impressed by his presence, which is a nice reminder of her gallery career in the early days of Sex and the City. He also offers her a job working for him, which Charlotte finds flattering enough to potentially entertain her. “It’s been so long and my kids need me even more these days,” she says — but the thought seems to linger. As much as I liked Charlotte as a wife and mother on the Upper East Side, I also liked her in the art world. (Remember when she posed nude for that vagina painter?) I’m here for it. I’m not here for the dustballs. But given how quickly the series abandoned that subplot here, I’m not sure the writers did either.
“And Just Like That” is available on Thursdays from 8 a.m. on Sky and Now