And Just Like That… has no idea what it's doing

Even in an episode about death, the stakes are nonexistent.

By Lauren Chval | July 3, 2025 | 9:45pm

Photo: Craig Blankenhorn/Max

TV Reviews And Just Like That...

And Just Like That… has no idea what it's doing

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What are we doing here? We’re halfway through the third season of And Just Like That…, but it does not feel like we are in the middle of a strong narrative arc. Or any narrative arc. Episode to episode, these women flit and flail about with either the dumbest problems imaginable (Will my new girlfriend like my 20-year-old son who no longer lives with me? Can I find replacement antique glass that creates the same rainbow effect?) or serious problems (cancer of a partner, a parent dying) that aren’t given the emotional heft to make a viewer feel anything.

It even seems like the hate-watch value is slipping, doesn’t it? I know we all hated Che Diaz in previous seasons, but at least we could make jokes. Now I’m just bored.

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But let’s start with Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), as her narcissism demands. She and Duncan (Jonathan Cake) are buddy-buddy now, talking shop over his horribly prepared mutton dinner and glasses of Malbec. He asks her to read his first chapter of the Margaret Thatcher biography, saying, “I never show my work in progress to anyone. But with her, I need an outside female eye.” And you’re asking Carrie? Given the novel voiceovers we’re now subjected to, I’m not convinced this is a great idea. She agrees, if he’ll read the first chapter of her novel too.

But Aidan (John Corbett) is coming into town this episode because Wyatt has decided to attend a weeklong wilderness program in Wyoming. Aidan is so excited about this that you know it’s going to go horribly wrong—and boy, does it ever. When he shows up, he tosses pebbles at her window—an homage to their Sex And The City days—but accidentally shatters one of the window panes. Carrie is beside herself about this, making remarks about how these doors have survived Hurricane Sandy and the Civil War but get shattered by a pebble from him. I am not an expert on windows, but don’t they need to be replaced more frequently than every few hundred years? What’s her heating bill like?

If Carrie is weird about the glass, Aidan is even more so. He keeps saying he broke it, so he has to fix it, which means driving to Pennsylvania to buy four antique doors hoping it’s the same kind of glass that creates the rainbow effect Carrie likes. None of them do, and Aidan is distraught. Carrie asks him why he’s being so weird about the glass, and he admits that when Wyatt had a hard time getting on the plane to wilderness camp, it was very upsetting and he slept with Kathy. He slept with Kathy? He slept with Kathy!

Carrie is stunned for a minute as Aidan blathers on about how it was such a mistake and he’s so sorry he betrayed her, and for a second I thought I was going to have to pull up the infidelity receipts in the long history between these two. But Carrie clearly remembers that for me, because she says she understands how something like this could happen, and it wasn’t a betrayal because they’re not really in a relationship. And here’s where my brain started to melt a little bit: Aidan freaks out because he says he violated their agreement to not sleep with anyone else for five years, and Carrie says she never agreed to that—only to be waiting for him when he could finally be with her. And she asks, “Why have we not had this discussion until now?” You guys!!! (In my notes: “OMG I HATE THIS SHOW.”)

The kicker is they still do not have the conversation. She just says she still wants to be with him, and they have sex. No! Sit down and map it out! Establish boundaries and expectations! This isn’t working for anyone, least of all me!

The other big development this week is the death of Lisa’s (Nicole Ari Parker) father. Though he was almost 90, this was a shock to her because the doctors said he was in great health, and she put her phone in silent mode while working with her hot editor and missed Herbert’s (Chris Jackson) calls to come say goodbye once he had a stroke.

This had the potential to be a moving storyline. When Lisa calls Charlotte (Kristen Davis) to tell her, she laments missing out on the moment for work. “Work he raised you to do,” Charlotte reminds her empathetically. But instead of letting Lisa wrestle with this work-versus-home question in a meaningful way, the show introduces a bizarre fight for control of his funeral arrangements with the woman who ran his theater company. We’ve never met this woman! Who cares?

Of course, the reminder of death rattles Charlotte, who still isn’t allowed to tell anyone about Harry’s (Evan Handler) cancer diagnosis. She’s determined to be positive when he chooses surgery over radiation, but then her anxiety spikes when faced with the reality that sometimes doctors are wrong. She finally gets to tell someone when Carrie finds her buying adult diapers for Harry in Walgreens, and it’s actually a very lovely moment between the two. I couldn’t help but wonder…why is Carrie a better friend to Charlotte than she is to Miranda (Cynthia Nixon)?

And finally, Seema (Sarita Choudhury) is on the hunt for a perfect apartment for Miranda, who turns up her nose at the idea of paying $150K over asking on a place she loves. The only alternative Seema finds for her has a no-pet policy, which makes Miranda pause because of Joy’s (Dolly Wells) two dogs. Things are getting serious because Miranda asks her to meet Brady, and while Joy is nervous about that, she is won over immediately when Brady asks to pet her dogs. Glad we solved that problem immediately with nothing interesting happening at all! Miranda goes for the more expensive, pro-dog apartment.

It’s a fairly toothless ending for an episode that had brushes with infidelity and death. But we’ve got Carrie’s review of the Margaret Thatcher biography to look forward to, so at least there’s that.

Stray observations

• I do love that Seema is more depressed about having to break up with her driver than any loss of romantic love we’ve ever seen her suffer. “As soon as the Patel Group is up and on its feet, I will come back for you,” she promises.
• There are several Bitsy Von Muffling (Julie Halston) gags this week, if that’s your thing.
• “Okay, Ms. Coretta Scott King styled by Liberace.”
• As soon as Aidan said, “Dunkin’, like the doughnuts” to describe Duncan, I knew it was a done deal: Carrie and her neighbor will sleep together before the season is over.