Like a cosmo without vodka, the recipe forAnd Just Like That… such as sex (crucial!) and frivolity (crucial!).
With its plots steeped in alcoholism, bereavement, urinary incontinence and hip surgery, the first season ofAnd Just Like That… transformed our resourceful heroines into bedridden grandmothers disconnected from reality, prudish and downright depressing.
The second season ofAnd Just Like That… curbs this problem by bringing sexuality back to the heart of salty brunch discussions, like in the good old days when Samantha talked, between sips of coffee, about the taste of her latest conquest’s sperm, insert here a play on words as funny as it is effective .
In the seven episodes that I have seen, the first two of which are released Thursday on the Crave platform and on Super Ecran at 9 p.m., a lover of the fabulous Seema uses a penis pump to start the machine, Charlotte’s husband does not ejaculates more (even if he orgasms) and Miranda, still in a relationship with comedian Che Diaz, struggles with a harness and her built-in dildo. It’s lighter and less loaded, finally.
Also, the dialogues have been stripped of their speech woke very first degree, which sounded out of tune and flattened. Thank goodness Carrie no longer yells at her neighbors to turn the music down and Charlotte no longer freezes when her teenage daughter Lily, who yearns to break into the pop world with her very bad song The Power of Privilegeannounces that she will lose her virginity.
We must also talk about Aidan, Carrie’s ex-boyfriend, whose return has inflamed or enraged, depending on the fans of Sex and the City. Alas, the broadcaster forbids us to reveal when and how Aidan reconnects with Carrie. From what I’ve seen, it’s plausible and charming, so far.
Actually, And Just Like That… 2 surpasses the first chapter, but falls short of the brilliance and genius of Sex and the Citywhere the superficial always led to a deeper theme (than a throat, pudoum-tish!).
The first episode ofAnd Just Like That… 2 opens with a montage of all the heroines in bed – except one! – with their current partner. Three weeks have passed since the first-season finale and, yes, Carrie is dating her podcast’s handsome producer, Franklyn, which pulls her out of her grieving phase and back to her 30-something dating years.
Do not be surprised: the new Carrie even cooks poached eggs (sorry?) and discovers that her oven is used for something other than storing her winter coats (impossible!).
Miranda begins the series in Los Angeles, where she accompanies her non-binary partner Che Diaz who is filming the pilot show for his sitcom there. Che Pasa! with Tony Dance. So delightfully cynical and sarcastic in Sex and the City, Miranda was transformed, in contact with Che Diaz, into a fifty-year-old dependent, unsure of herself and 100% out of phase. Don’t worry, the Miranda we love, not the one who dedicated her career to garbage, will resurface eventually.
As for Charlotte, she appears on the list of MILFs – the sexually attractive mothers – of her daughter Lily’s high school and this honor does not displease her. Housewife Charlotte receives an extremely tempting offer, one that could bring her back to work and rekindle a dead part of herself.
Carrie’s three new friends, Miranda and Charlotte, take up lots and lots of airtime. The most interesting remains the real estate agent Seema, who embodies the new Samantha with her long, thin cigarettes, her ardor and her unquenchable professional and personal desires. She is perfect.
The other two, Lisa and Nya, inherit less captivating stories, to put it mildly. The elegant Lisa polishes her committed documentary (zzzz!), while Professor Nya goes through a marital crisis that passes ten feet over our heads.
It is there, the biggest stake ofAnd Just Like That… 2 : we want more Carrie, Charlotte and Miranda, but we are given – or forced? – Che, Nya and Lisa instead. It sparkles less, let’s say.
But all is not lost. The girls (and Anthony), who are now 56, are getting invitations to the Met Gala, and renting a summer house in the Hamptons promises to be fun for the newly single group.
The fans of Sex and the City will smile at the appearance of Enid (Candice Bergen), Carrie’s former boss at vogue, in a well-crafted episode on old age with, as a bonus, a cameo from feminist Gloria Steinem. The portion where Carrie records the audio version of her book is very touching and written with finesse.
Of course, the series is full of flamboyant dresses, Birkin bags and wacky hats. Let’s not forget that when John died, uh, when Big died, Carrie inherited a mountain of money, even though she still lives in her thirty-year-old Upper East Side apartment.
Twenty-five years after the airing of Sex and the City, I feel the same thrill when the camera shows Carrie Bradshaw at the window, tapping on her MacBook. And just like that, you almost find Che Diaz likeable. Almost.