If almost every And Just Like That… character must be forced under one roof, Charlotte’s birthday party is a far more believable conceit than last week’s funeral for Lisa Todd Wexley’s father. (RIP to the man, who may or may not have died twice, but no one besides Charlotte knew him or is close to LTW to attend.) This is still AJLT… we’re talking about, where it feels like the writers skipped huge chunks of Sex And The City entirely. So they expect us to forget that an episode in the original’s fifth season already established that Charlotte’s big day is actually in January. In “Luck Be A Lady,” she’s nervous about turning 36 when the gang goes out to Atlantic City at Carrie’s insistence.
Anyway, forget that fun fact now because in “Just Wanna Have Fun,” Carrie throws her pal a get-together on a decidedly non-winter day in her spacious apartment. Sorry, Miranda, your new home isn’t big enough for the shindig. Carrie plans to distract Char with a chic party so that she gets a break from thinking about Harry’s prostate cancer diagnosis. She also invites her hot gardener, whom she barely knows, to the event. Look, I’m not complaining about more Logan Marshall-Green or his character’s excellent flirting scenes with Seema; in fact, that’s a very welcome sight. But AJLT… continues to expect us to suspend logic at basically every turn. At this point, we’d best give in.
That’s the only way to process the dynamic between Carrie and Gianna (guest star Patti LuPone) in this episode. Before any talk of Charlotte’s party even comes up, the three women are gabbing at their new favorite hangout, Anthony’s cafe/bread store. And that’s where Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte meet Giuseppe’s mother, who is visiting from Rome. Anthony obviously wants to make a strong first impression on his boyfriend’s mom (Spoiler alert: He does not). Carrie, however, forms an instant connection with her by proclaiming, “We love your son.” Wait, what? Carrie and Giuseppe have barely shared scenes together, but sure, let’s go with this heartfelt declaration.
AJLT… just needed a way to put Sarah Jessica Parker and LuPone—two New York City legends—in a scene together. So when Gia invites Carrie for a meal, much to Anthony’s chagrin, who are we to complain? Gia also shares her romantic past with her new friend: She was 21 when she met her lover, who was 50 at the time. Gia later stopped her work as an artist and started studying Freudian theory to better understand her stepchildren, who still don’t like her. If, like me, you were also sighing out loud and wondering why in the world we are hearing about Giuseppe’s parents, there’s a really on-the-nose connection. After all, Carrie is also having problems integrating with Aidan’s family, particularly troubled teen Wyatt. Gia’s advice to Carrie is to be herself, as if our girl knows any other way. “Inauthentic beings never win,” Gia adds, in a dialogue that feels ironical when spoken out loud on a show like And Just Like That….
Let’s circle back to this birthday party, though. The long list of attendees includes Harry, a surprisingly attentive Rock, a reluctant Lily who has just been dumped, Miranda, Brady, Joy, the Wexleys, Char’s co-workers, Bitsy Von Muffling, Anthony, Giuseppe, Gia, Seema, hot gardener Adam, Carrie’s downstairs neighbor, Duncan, and a bunch of other randos to fill the balloon-infested room. With everyone gathered under Carrie’s sparkling Gramercy roof, tensions are bound to rise, right? And it all happens with background music courtesy of a fancy karaoke machine Miranda brings. (LTW’s son hogs it for the most part, and Miranda’s efforts to get her gal pals up for a round of “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” are a bust. Did she really think Carrie as she is now would come up and join her?)
Cringeworthy as this installment may be, AJLT… infuses a few genuinely heartfelt moments that undercut the silliness and continuity errors. Take, for instance, Harry finally admitting to LTW, Miranda, and Carrie about his health issues and upcoming surgery. He can’t stand to see his wife dealing with the agony alone (especially when he has a personal shopper he’s already confessed to in a scene that’s so random, I’d rather not dwell on it). He is the absolute best man in the SATC universe, as seen also when he agrees with Charlotte that her dog dying of cancer instead would be “almost worse” for her. I will not forgive the powers-that-be if they kill him off. I’m glad Charlotte’s birthday is mostly drama-free for her, no thanks to Lily. Even Seema has a good night with Adam full of intense banter. Best of all, he serenades her on that karaoke machine with “Bette Davis Eyes.” Sarita Choudhury and Green share some sizzling chemistry, so let’s hope AJLT… bothers to flesh their relationship further. Seema’s plot needs to stop revolving around how she’s broke. It’s unbelievable that, as a longtime real estate agent, she has no savings and can’t afford to take an Uber ride to her preferred salon. Let’s not fly so far off the ground, writers.
While all this takes place in her house, Carrie spends time bonding with Duncan. Remember when the two didn’t get along because she wouldn’t even remove her heels? Well, those episode five days are long gone. Now, they’re sharing scotch from the same glass, doing light arm touches, and exchanging drafts of their novels. He can’t stop gushing over the 1846-set period novel she’s writing. We’ve heard snippets of it in her voiceovers, so we know it really isn’t all that he’s making it out to be. Clearly, Duncan is poised to be a love interest and a potential dilemma for Carrie and Aidan. Personally, I think it works.
Carrie’s wishy washy bond with Aidan has been particularly frustrating to watch in season three. She was more bothered by Miranda pointing out her vibe with Duncan than she was last week, when Aidan confessed he cheated on her with Kathy. Carrie’s sooo upset by Miranda’s implication about Duncan because she already has a boyfriend with whom she shares 20 years of history. But wasn’t she just telling Aidan that he shouldn’t have expected her not to sleep with anyone else? What in the world is going on with her? Carrie needs a reality check right now, and Miranda is usually the one to give it to her. So this scene in the kitchen between them was actually lovely to witness. It reminded me of how Miranda would warn her about getting close to Big in SATC. Carrie needs to pay attention to her own words from the novel: “The woman wondered what she had gotten herself into,” a line that stopped Duncan in his tracks when he read it. A crush will make you say and feel the craziest things, huh?
“Just Wanna Have Fun” is a marginal improvement for season three, primarily because the mostly contained setting allows for simmering feelings to bubble to the surface and, hey, no Aidan appearance is a win. And yet, plot-wise, it frustratingly makes a dent in the overarching arc, so let’s hope the remaining five episodes offer more.
Stray observations:
- •Thanks for reading. I was subbing in for Lauren Chval, whose excellent AJLT… recaps will return starting next week.
- •Who else was a little bit shocked to hear Anthony and Carrie both say, “If it comes up, I was never married.”
- •The karaoke machine gets one final use when Bitsy and Giuseppe do a duet performance of “Shallow.”
- •Dare I say, Carrie’s chicest look of the season so far is when she’s dining with Gianna.
- •Getting Patti LuPone to say the line, “Too much singing for my taste,” is why And Just Like That… is the show that it is.
- •Miranda’s still going strong with Joy, who almost give Charlotte a birthday present of CBD gummies for Richard Burton under the assumption that the dog has cancer. It’s okay, Miranda warns her in time.
- •Carrie mentions her high school boyfriend in this episode, and it immediately made me think of how much fun The Carrie Diaries was. The two-season The CW drama acted as a prequel, featuring Carrie in high school while also juggling an internship at Interview Magazine. Let me take this opportunity to shout out the fun YA drama starring AnnaSophia Robb, Austin Butler, and Lindsey Gort as a well-cast younger Samantha.
