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Carrie Bradshaw gracing the streets of New York holding a JW Anderson pigeon clutch can only mean one thing – everyone’s favorite Manhattanites are stepping out for a second season of life, love and fabulous fashion.
The first season of the hugely anticipated Sex and The City sequel, And Just Like That…, brought back Carrie Bradshaw, Miranda Hobbes, and Charlotte York, 12 years after the release of the second sequel film, Sex and The City 2, in 2010 and 25 years after the premiere of the first episode of the series in 1998. Notably absent in that first season was Samantha Jones, played by Kim Cattrall – but if the rumor mill is to be believed, sassy Sam is making a brief appearance in this new season. The cast remain tight-lipped over the details but there’s one thing they can all agree on – women’s complicated, funny and sometimes messy stories are as vital and interesting as ever.
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While season one of And Just Like That… reintroduced old favorites along with new characters – “Hey, it’s Che Diaz!” – in this second season, the women and their extended circle of friends are more settled into their roles, the shocks of the previous season having worn off. Season two finds our girls more mellow, yet with flashes of that essential Sex and The City spirit still shining through. We find Carrie neurotically contemplating relationships, Miranda exploring her boundaries, and Charlotte and husband Harry experiencing a quintessentially SATC problem as only they can. The peripheral characters of Che, Nya Wallace, Seema Patel and Lisa Todd Wexley are also coming into their own with fleshed-out storylines and deft development. Overall, the season is a return to form – not to mention the tantalizing return of some other fan-favorite characters…
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“Carrie is pretty buoyant this season,” Sarah Jessica Parker – who plays the iconic role – says in an exclusive Vogue Arabia interview. “The season feels really joyous to me but there are a couple of occasions where she is reminded – as is everyone else who has experienced loss – that you have great days and great months and then all of a sudden you are overcome.” While Carrie navigates this complicated emotional journey in her typical way – writing and shoes – she also tentatively opens her heart to new opportunities. “For Carrie, to be newly single in a city that she loves and relies on is very interesting and very different,” Parker shares. “Not just because of her age – although, what comes with that is a question of, what do I want? How important is romantic partnership? What do I need to sustain myself, to keep my life interesting, how do I find contentment and joy? But also, the city has changed and the way we meet has changed, so those questions are playing a significant role in her life experiences.” How would Parker navigate this suddenly-single-at-50 life if it were her? “The choices are meeting through an app, or through people, right?” she contemplates. “I think there’s a third choice, which is being set up by a friend who you trust. If I were single today, I would first rely on friends or acquaintances to help broker, like, a cocktail at a place. I feel like an app would be my last choice. I know people use it to find love and companionship, but it sounds hard!”
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This season also features a range of interesting and unexpected cameos, one of whom is legendary feminist activist Gloria Steinem. “We got her by being brave enough to ask, and she said yes immediately,” Parker explains. “We happened to be shooting across the street from her own home, so she walked across the street and spent a good 12 hours with us. She was gracious and smart and funny and fascinating.”
That is also an apt description for this season of And Just Like That…. After the initial teething problems of the first season – shoehorned-in, zeitgeisty topics, characters that bordered on caricatures – the show has found it footing. The sharp dialogue is back, provocative storylines are candidly and sometimes hilariously explored, and the women are figuring out this next phase of their lives. “This time in a woman’s life, her 50s, can be like a second adolescence,” says Cynthia Nixon, who plays Miranda Hobbes. “Women have often gotten to a point in their career where they’ve had success and they wonder if there’s something more or if it’s time to make a change. The same kind of excitement that Miranda is having, not only sexually but in her life and her career, harkens back to when she was younger and the excitement she felt about everything, that she had sort of lost in the staid, boring confines of her marriage and career.”
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If there’s one person who is not surprised by the triumphant return of these beloved characters, it’s Kristin Davis, who plays the adorable Charlotte York. “It didn’t surprise me because I have a lot of Charlotte in me, I’m hopeful and excited,” Davis shares. Nixon agrees about the longevity of the show, saying, “I think it’s a perfect storm of perfect ingredients. We started with a very strong core of characters who were friends but also debated each other about life and then we allowed those characters to grow and evolve and age and change. I think that’s the reason that the show can stay evergreen.”
Season 2 of And Just Like That… premieres exclusively on OSN+ and OSN Showcase tonight, at the same time as the US premiere.
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