Carrie and Aidan’s five-year plan and more thoughts on the ‘And Just Like That’ Season 2 finale

This article contains spoilers for the Season 2 finale of “And Just Like That.”

Another season of “And Just Like That” has come to an end, and what a wild ride it has been.

In its sophomore outing, TV’s most unhinged reboot took us from the trash-strewn beaches of Malibu to the snow-blanketed streets of Manhattan. It brought us the return of two essential characters from “Sex and the City,” Aidan Shaw (John Corbett) and Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall) — at least one of whom fans were thrilled to see. It gave us fashion that was as head-scratching as ever, including pigeon purses, puffer ball gowns and vaguely menacing jackets.

Unlike Season 1, no one died and there was a fair amount of sex, much of it boundary-pushing or at least cringe-inducing. Penises were pumped. Strap-ons were worn. Orgasms were had (though sometimes they were dry). And at least one middle-aged gay man decided it was time to be more versatile in the bedroom.

Everyone — except for Che Diaz (Sara Ramirez), who wound up working in a vet’s office when their pilot didn’t get picked up — seemed to have vast amounts of money to blow on designer clothing and four-bedroom apartments in Gramercy Park.

In the finale, “Last Supper Part Two: Entree,” our lord and savior Carrie Bradshaw throws a party to say farewell to her Upper East Side bachelorette pad, just in time for Aidan to announce that he needs to put their rekindled romance on hold for, uh, five years. (Good thing she now has a kitten to keep her company in that $15 million apartment!) Miranda mends fences with Steve. Samantha dials in from London. And Che — well, Che remains Che.

Below, we on the television staff unpack “And Just Like That” Season 2, consider whether the show has improved and ponder Carrie’s future as an eccentric cat lady.

Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), left, and Aidan (John Corbett) make a five-year plan.

(Craig Blankenhorn / Max)

Meredith Blake: Any discussion of the season finale has to begin with Aidan and his inexplicable decision to call off his romance with Carrie for five years — an arbitrary deadline that makes no sense except as a narrative contrivance that will: 1. Get his character to go away for a while, and 2. return Carrie to the singles scene for a few more seasons. Like much of the plot on this show, it feels motivated by narrative expediency rather than rational decision-making.

Ever since we met Wyatt over FaceTime, it was clear this kid was going to mess things up for Carrie and her handsome golden retriever of a boyfriend. Still, I found myself irritated by the flimsy rationale Aidan offered. Sure, Wyatt is going through a hard time, took a bunch of ‘shrooms and crashed the car. Sounds like he needs a therapist and some more attention from his parents. So maybe they could just put things on hold for six months and reevaluate? Or maybe Carrie could look for a place in Norfolk? It’s certainly cheaper than Manhattan!

The extreme decision was especially irritating because Carrie and Aidan had been able, until now, to rekindle their romance with an almost suspicious lack of drama, particularly given their turbulent history. The biggest challenge they faced together wasn’t overcoming Carrie’s grief or Aidan’s mistrust — it was finding the right apartment for their biweekly trysts. While anyone who has lived in New York can relate to the struggle to find real estate, Carrie’s solution — buying a massive apartment, presumably with the fortune she inherited from her dead financier husband — was somewhat less accessible. Which leads me to another complaint: Does everyone in this show need to be quite so rich? And when did real estate transactions take the place of believable human interaction?

Maira and Yvonne, what did you make of Season 2? And shall we discuss the fabulous f— elephant in the room, Samantha Jones? Were you thrilled by her return, or just sad she won’t be back on a more permanent basis?

Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), how we missed you!

(Max)

Yvonne Villarreal: Somehow Berger’s Post-It breakup seems quaint and reasonable. As someone who can barely tolerate waiting five minutes in a Starbucks drive-thru line, I have been trying to make sense of this five-year plan Aidan has concocted. (I guess I was hoping all of Aidan’s finger snapping would wake me up from the fever dream. Though, even that detail drove me absolutely insane — the soundless snapping? What?)

Aidan acting like they can’t even look at each other for five years, until his son is out of his teens, is so completely wild to me. There was a part of me that thought maybe I was missing some understanding of his logic because I am not a parent. Then I couldn’t help but wonder if this was Aidan’s twisted ploy at delayed revenge. Asking Carrie, who is pushing 60, to wait five years? And then what? But it’s also in keeping with some of Carrie’s choices in men — guys who have whole lives without her as she tries to find her place within their worlds. It was all the more impossible to be on board with this ridiculous development in the same episode where we got a brief return from Samantha. If anyone would have put a stop to such baloney, it would surely be Samantha Jones.

I don’t know about you two, but trying to process those closing moments alongside that bizarre sex montage was such a weird experience as a viewer. Maira, as an editor, I know you like for us to wrap our stories up with a kicker that brings it all together, so I’m curious how you felt about a minutes-long sex montage to finish off the side character plots. But also, is this the first time Sarah Jessica Parker has shown that much skin in a sex scene for the series? That felt like one of the bigger character developments of the season.

And while I do find that part of the fun of watching this sequel is to see how ridiculous the show can get, I was disappointed it didn’t continue the momentum of feeling a bit like its old self again in the final stretch of episodes. The discussion between Seema and Carrie outside the hair salon was such a powerful moment between friends. I loved how honest and mature Seema is about voicing herself, even while standing outside in salon capes with sopping wet hair. So when viewers learned Lisa was pregnant at middle age, it felt like a missed opportunity to display progress from the show’s last exploration of abortion. Maira, how did you feel about some of the developments this season?

Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) gets a cat as her new companion.

(Craig Blankenhorn / Max)

Maira Garcia: For me, this season further highlighted how strangely New York has been portrayed in this series. I spent the last 10 years in the city (Hello, Los Angeles! I’m officially a resident!) and income disparity has become increasingly apparent. To your point, Meredith, about real estate, I get that these are middle-age people who are on the upper end of the income spectrum and therefore better off than the average New York resident, but it makes me panic-sweat about my own financial situation — is this really how people live? The short answer is, no, most people don’t. The average New Yorker is trying to get by and maybe they have the occasional splurge like brunch at Jack’s Wife Freda (if you can tolerate the wait), or a nice cocktail at Death & Co. But that’s the other thing that gets me — the lack of name-dropping, something we saw in the original series. It just doesn’t quite give us the same vibe, where New York hot spots are showcased.

When it comes to the relationships in this series, namely Carrie and Aidan’s, I’m equally baffled by Aidan’s proposal. Are we really expecting Carrie to wait around with Shoe? Is she really made out to be a cat lady? I think not. Waiting a few months is totally reasonable — heck, why didn’t Carrie suggest that Wyatt move in with them on a more permanent basis? His mom described him as a “puzzle.” Weird kids thrive in New York! I was an artsy kid in high school, and I was dying to get out of my small town. Give that kid the big city life, some good therapy, and we wouldn’t have to worry about him getting behind the seat of a car because no one drives!

I was also surprised by Carrie’s commitment to keeping Che in the friend group after their set where they made fun of their relationship with Miranda. Miranda and Carrie have been friends for so much longer, but not only that, Che’s jokes were genuinely hurtful. Can someone please stand up for poor Miranda? Surely, Samantha could have seen through it all. We need her voice of reason. Though I’m glad to see Miranda patched things up with Steve. They have a son together and keeping things amicable is in everyone’s best interest.

Yvonne, the breakup sex and ensuing montage was … interesting. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it; however, it is refreshing to see women in their 50s being sexual and comfortable with their bodies. I applaud them for that.

Toussaint (Gary Dourdan) and Nya (Karen Pittman) get close in the Season 2 finale of “And Just Like That.”

(Craig Blankenhorn / Max)

Blake: That sex montage, much like the one that opened the season, was a tad overwhelming, but at least this time no one was traipsing around their apartment in negligees and kitten heels.