It’s time to say goodbye to Sex and the City. Again. Because yes, we’ve already done this. Just when you thought Carrie’d hung up her Manolos for the last time, she came click clacking back into the mainstream. Again. But now, she’s saying goodbye. For real this time. Probably.
HBO has confirmed that And Just Like That will be ending with Season 3. A two-part finale will be dropping on August 14th, with Michael Patrick King saying it feels “organic” to end things (again) now. Sarah Jessica Parker and the network have agreed: the cosmos have spoken, and it’s time to be done.
The original series was groundbreaking for the time. Sex and the City ran from 1998 – 2004, and put cosmopolitans back on cocktail menus everywhere. Post-it note breakup references? Those came from SATC. Sex toys being discussed in mainstream media? SATC laid the groundwork for that. SATC dared to normalize safe, casual sex, and gave women everywhere the freedom to talk about that safe, casual sex with their friends. The 4 main women on the show talked to one another about everything, orgasms included, and turned brunch into a sacred friendship ritual. Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte, and Samantha each became an archetype of their own, Halloween costumes included.
The star power behind SATC were a large part of why the show became so popular so fast. Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon, and Kristin Davis were all ‘it’ girls in their own right. The show platformed high fashion in a way that made it accessible for people previously could only flip through magazines. Friendship was always at the center of every story, and while each of the women were single, they weren’t all the young, invincible twenty-somethings that consumers were watching on popular sitcoms. Seeing women past the Hollywood approved age of 25 continue to take centerstage in their own lives while treating their friendships with each other with at least as much importance as their romantic relationships was powerful imagery back when the show first aired.
The feminism represented on SATC… well. For the time, it was powerful stuff, but it’s safe to say that it didn’t age well. Regardless, Carrie Brashaw walked so that future spicy disasters could run (in heels).
As is the way with so many nostalgic reboots, the whole thing was a bit of a rollercoaster (looking at you, Fuller House). And Just Like That was filled with issues. Between one of major actors being missing (Kim Cattrall and Sarah Jessica Parker don’t exactly get along), the confusing character arcs, and the overall awkward vibe of the entire thing… And Just Like That was a case study in just leaving good things alone. Some fans were thrilled to see (most of) the gang again, but others called it “cringe-core fanfic with a budget.” The rewrites that made the show more culturally sensitive felt like poorly done overcorrections, and the sex scenes that once set it apart for centering female pleasure were woefully scarce. Carrie podcasting? Weird. Miranda vaping? No. Aidan back again? Has that poor man not been through enough? It’s been kindof like watching your cool older aunt try TikTok, and I don’t mean that in a good way.
Producers of the show must have agreed, because it’s time to drink one last cosmo, and say goodbye for reaslies this time. The two-part finale airs on August 14th, and Sarah Jessica Parker’s emotional Instagram post suggests that this might actually be the end. To SATC, we shall all lift our glass and toast you one last (?) time. To New York. To love. To letting go… probably.
