The newest episode of And Just Like That… explored new beginnings that tapped into a generous dose of nostalgia.
Having reunited with Aidan, Carrie tried to make up for lost time with her old flame, while Charlotte ran into a snag trying on a dress for her new gallery job. Miranda started a new job, and sparks flew between Anthony and his lone Hot Fellas hunk.
In last week’s episode, Carrie ( Sarah Jessica Parker) and Aidan ( John Corbett) reconnected after 13 years, and despite Aidan’s initial reservations, the two slept together. The pair woke up in a hotel, where Aidan regaled Carrie with the particulars of his “big, classic, red brick farmhouse” in Norfolk, Virginia. Carrie was so charmed by Aidan’s country life, she Googled “Norfolk” and farmhouses to find a photo.
Over lunch with Miranda ( Cynthia Nixon), Charlotte ( Kristin Davis) and Seema ( Sarita Choudhury), Carrie gushed about Aidan’s abode, which looked a lot like the ivy-covered country house from Howard’s End. She alsoinvited the girls to dinner to meet him. Seema seemed less-than-thrilled at the idea and pointed out the home Carrie loved was the actual house from Howard’s End. “You clicked on the UK, b — — ,” Seema said.
While walking with Miranda afterward, Carrie continued to describe how happy she was in her reunion with Aidan and dropped a bomb. “Was Big a big mistake?” she wondered, which stunned her friend.
“I don’t know how to respond,” Miranda said.
Later, Carrie and Aidan opted to stop paying for a hotel room and instead rented Che’s place as their own little lovenest. They even were giddy during a shopping spree for kitchen essentials.
But not everything went as planned. Carrie ran into Seema, who was avoiding her texts. Seema, it turned out, was thrown by Carrie’s speedy reunion with Aidan. Worse still, she reneged on plans to rent a summer house together and asked for space. “You’ve had these two great loves, and I’ve had none,” Seema admitted. “Please don’t say ‘I will,’ because I might not.”
But when the time came for dinner, Seema showed up to support her friend, who eventually boarded that short flight to Norfolk.
“And Just Like that… I went to Aidan’s farm,” she said via voiceover. “It wasn’t Howard’s End. It was better. It was our new beginning.”
While Carrie got carried away by Aidan, Charlotte went shopping with Lisa ( Nicole Ari Parker) and bought an adorable new dress for her first day working at Mark Kasabian’s ( Victor Garber) gallery. Only problem: its sweet pink belt kept riding up due to her belly.
But Charlotte was determined and went looking for a photo from her previous “gallerina” days. In the process, she stumbled upon a photo of herself, Carrie and Miranda with their long-lost pal, Samantha Jones ( Kim Cattrall). Yes, that’s right: We caught a glimpse of Samantha before Cattrall’s much-anticipated cameo coming in the season finale!
But we digress: After enduring a judgy, young saleswoman, a week-long bone broth diet and several layers of Spanx, Charlotte’s belt was still on the move. Eventually, she accepted that her thirtysomething figure was a thing of the past, but she was still every bit as beautiful.
Miranda, meanwhile, begged to get the Human Rights Watch internship she’d previously turned down to be with Che in L.A. — and it worked. From her first day, the Harvard alum and former attorney with 30 years of experience impressed her manager, who asked her to take notes during an important meeting.
Miranda’s fellow interns weren’t quite as impressed and wrote off Miranda’s plum assignment as something she was handed because of privilege. (Their taste in cookies didn’t quite impress us — chocolate chip and garlic?! -but we didn’t write them off!) When her manager also asked Miranda to cover for her while she’s on maternity leave, Miranda balked at first, worried about what the other interns would think.
“You have 30 years of experience, and you’re the best person for the job. Full stop,” her manager assured her.
Over at Hot Fellas, Anthony ( Mario Cantone) realized Giuseppe (Sebastiano Pigazzi) was gay during an intense bread-kneading session where the Italian poet got up close and personal. Realizing he was in danger of falling for the young man, Anthony tried to fire him.
“I cannot work side-by-side day after day next to a gorgeous, sweet, way-too-young Italian from Italy with a huge… heart,” he explained.
Quitting his job on the spot, Giuseppe kissed Anthony, who replied, “I’m f — -ed.”
“Not yet,” Giuseppe quipped.
New episodes of And Just Like That… drop Thursdays on Max.