FASHION

And Just Like That, Sex And The City Is Back, But Is It Worth The Watch?

marie claire recaps the first episode of the highly-anticipated reboot.

Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers to And Just Like That episode 1. 

And just like that, the highly anticipated Sex And The City reboot has finally been released.

While fans have been counting down the seconds to see the awesome foursome (well, threesome in this instance) return to the small screen in all their haute-couture glory, we can’t help but wonder if the new set of trials and tribulations of our favourite middle-aged Manhattanites fell a little flat.

Although the countless stills of Carrie, Charlotte and Miranda gallivanting around the Upper East Side certainly ignited our curiosity to see what the next chapter of the franchise entailed, the questionable story lines and cheesy dialogue weren’t quite to our appetite.

But for all it’s unexpected twists and controversial moments—don’t worry, we’ll unpack those later—the fashion forward ménage à trois certainly brought it home with their impeccable style and enviable looks.

In the first episode alone, we saw many iconic silhouettes, including Carrie’s recital look—complete with her signature Manolo Blahnik royal blue stiletto and an exaggerated boutonniere à la Peter Do—and a matching Oscar de la Renta from the Goldenblatt girls.

Carrie-Bradshaw
(Credit: Source: Getty)

To put it frankly, if it wasn’t for the fashion we probably wouldn’t be quite so enthused to watch the second episode. But that’s the allure of the series, because deep down inside we all want what Carrie has—a Fifth Avenue apartment and a Fendi baguette for everyday of the year.

Below, we breakdown all the entertaining (albeit cringy) moments from And Just Like That so far.

The series opens with the trio at an overpriced brunch, Bloody Mary’s in hand of course, discussing how the pandemic has impacted them. This is just the first of many instances where this group of undoubtedly privileged white women attempt to appeal to the masses by being ‘relatable’.

They complain about COVID while wielding a designer garment bag, which to us seems a little tone deaf given the current climate.

The biggest question going into the series is undoubtedly where is our favourite PR executive, unmarried woman, Samantha Jones?

Fortunately for the impatient viewers amongst us, you only had to wait a mere 45 seconds before this topic is broached. Their response? “She’s no longer with us”, which is the mature equivalent of “she’s not dead, just dead to me.”

They reveal that after Carrie dropped Samantha as a publicist, Samantha dropped Carrie as a friend and subsequently took a job in London, because apparently there’s still a market for “sexy sirens in their 60’s”. We’re not sure if that’s supposed to be humour or not but that’s the damn truth.

Another point of contention for us was the shaming of Miranda’s grey hair. While we love her as a fiery redhead, we love to see women (of all ages) ​​unabashedly embrace their natural hue and hate to see her friends be unsupportive!

Another cringe moment (and there are many), was seeing Carrie starting a style blog, considering in the first movie she barely knew how to use an iPhone. Perhaps the trauma of being left at the aisle was enough to send her to the Genius Bar. On a side note, the pairing of a Balenciaga lampshade hat with an ‘I heart New York’ shirt was a crime against fashion.

This episode also saw the debut of Lisa Todd Wexley a.k.a LTW and Che Diaz. From what we’ve seen so far, they’re absolutely flawless and we’re so happy to see more people of colour make an appearance in the show.

The most gut wrenching moment came towards the end of the show, with the shocking death of Mr Big. It was the loss that reverberated through the industry and definitely one of the most heartbreaking moments on modern television. While Big certainly had his downfalls, will we fondly remember this sauve crooner? In his own words, Abos-fucking-lutely.

Sadly we know this won’t be the only loss of the season, with the fabulous Willie Garson, who plays Stanford Blatch, passing away earlier this year.

https://twitter.com/helcnsharpe/status/1468889969984950272

While there were many questionable moments, we can’t help but be happy that Sex And The City is back on our screens. There is no denying the cultural impact of this show on the zeitgeist, and we are forever thankful for Candace Bushnell, Sarah Jessica Parker and Patricia Field for creating this masterpiece.

Now, if you don’t mind us, we’ll be binge watching the series from the start.

And Just Like That and Sex And The City are both available to stream on Binge. Sign up here.

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