Does And Just Like That Remember What Happened in Sex and the City?

Warning: This post contains spoilers for Episode 4 of And Just Like That Season 3.

A few weeks ago there was a video going around of Sarah Jessica Parker appearing to acknowledge that she doesn’t remember the episode of Sex and the City that produced the viral “Hungover Miranda” meme. The moment, clipped from a BuzzFeed roundtable interview with Parker and her And Just Like That costars Cynthia Nixon (Miranda), Kristin Davis (Charlotte), and Sarita Choudhury (Seema), resulted in a number of annoyed comments from fans on TikTok pointing out Parker’s apparent lack of knowledge surrounding the events of the original series. The reveal also came in the wake of a May interview with E! News in which Parker said she’s never seen “most of” Sex and the City and doesn’t watch And Just Like That.

Despite being an executive producer, Parker is obviously not the only person who has control over the creative direction of And Just Like That. Now in its third season, the sequel series has made some controversial leaps—remember Che Diaz?—while staying more or less true to spirit of the original. But after the events of episode 4, we’re beginning to question whether anyone in charge of And Just Like That recalls the show’s massively successful predecessor at all.

Titled “Apples to Apples,” the fourth episode of Season 3 largely takes place in Norfolk, Virginia, at the down-home country farmhouse of one Aidan Shaw (John Corbett). Aidan has moved up in the world since the time he coerced Carrie into spending a weekend at his, let’s call it, rustic cabin in the vaguely upstate and aptly-named New York town of Suffern, a 40-minute drive from Manhattan. That little getaway took place in Season 4 of Sex and the City and featured a Carrie we recognized, one who shrieked at squirrels, drove over state lines to get cell service and fast food, and, for some unknowable reason, invited her ex-boyfriend Big (Chris Noth)—the very same one she had previously cheated on Aidan with—to come stay for a night. The country just wasn’t for her. As she put it, “I’m what you call a bona fide city girl.”

This time around, Carrie spends the weekend acting pretty much completely un-Carrie-like. After smuggling in an illicitly-obtained supply of Adderall for Aidan’s son Wyatt (Logan Souza)—a favor Aidan was unaware his ex-wife Kathy (Rosemarie DeWitt) had requested of her—Carrie participates in such activities as fishing, driving an ATV, family game night, and wearing outfits obtained from local boutique Daisy’s Dress Shop (after her incomprehensible first suggestion of Target turns out to be an hour away). Throughout all this, she delivers barely a sarcastic quip about her distaste for the simple life. No mention of being a “hick town hostage” or how the “silence is deafening” or her desire to instead be out “cocktailing and sample sale-ing.”

Of course, you can make the argument that it’s been 20 years since Sex and the City and Carrie, as people do, may have changed in that time. But who among us is watching And Just Like That to see Carrie mature? Especially if that means her becoming an entirely different person than the Carrie we alternately love, hate, and love to hate. At least part of the reason many Sex and the City fans are tuning in to And Just Like That is out of a inclination to see Carrie continue to live her messy and fabulous life as a pretty egregiously out-of-touch Manhattan socialite.

There’s a reason (or several) that Carrie and Aidan broke up not once, but twice, in Sex and the City. And despite the fact that Big is no longer around to drive a wedge between them, it still doesn’t seem like they’re truly a match. And Just Like That is certainly piling onto their problems by throwing over 300 miles of separation, a troubled teen, and incompatible texting styles into the mix. Yet, Episode 4 still ends with Carrie committing to staying in a long-distance relationship with Aidan for the next five years despite his inability to promise her basically anything in return. It’s understandable that Aidan needs to prioritize his children’s wellbeing, but it seems like the Carrie of old would have taken that as a sign that they maybe aren’t meant to be. At least for the time being.

As her dear friend Miranda suggested before Carrie’s first trip to the country all those years ago, if “you need to pretend to be someone else in order to be in a relationship,” perhaps it’s not the right fit. We can’t help but wonder if And Just Like That will ever take that advice to heart.