And Just Like That&#8230; &#8211; Party of One

After three seasons, the deaths of significant characters, the introduction of new characters, and plot lines that went nowhere, And Just Like That… has reached the end of the road. Sarah Jessica Parker and Michael Patrick King attempted to influence the narrative by sharing, ahead of the season three finale, that they had decided to end the series. In some ways, this episode does seem like a neat little bow on the series by giving some of our characters resolution and ending with Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) dancing by herself while the original SATC theme song plays during the closing credits. Still, I can’t imagine anyone wanting an overflowing toilet at Thanksgiving to be a major plot point of a series finale.

Party of One starts with Carrie dining at a hip restaurant with robots delivering food. Not sure what is less believable, that Carrie’s flummoxed by ordering on an iPad, or that she’s horrified by the stuffed Tommy Tomato they have keeping her company so she doesn’t dine alone. At least she’s wearing that gorgeous shade of blue.

Lisa Todd Wexley (Nicole Ari Parker) continues to edit her documentary, and there’s still some sexual tension between her and Marion (Mechad Brooks). Still, it shuts down early when Lisa’s clear that they cannot see each other outside of the editing bay. They agree to keep things professional. That’s it? That’s the resolution after weeks of building tension?

The best scene of the episode is between Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Steve (David Eigenberg), where they talk about the possibility of becoming grandparents. Their conversation feels genuine, with them questioning how they got into this situation. Steve always knows how to calm Miranda down, and he tells her that there’s no way their grandkid is not going to know them. I trust Steve when he says that they’ll figure it out.

Adam (Logan Marshall-Green) and Seema’s (Sarita Choudhury) relationship continues to develop, but Adam reveals that he doesn’t really believe in weddings or marriage, which is alarming to Seema, who has been searching for the right spouse since the show began.

We gather most of our main characters at a bridal fashion show (Miranda wouldn’t be interested in attending this). The setting and the dresses are stunning, serving as a backdrop for a discussion on marriage. Does Seema really want to get married, or does she think she needs to get married? Seema gets an old-school SATC Carrie voiceover moment when she says about marriage, “Do I really want it, or am I just programmed for it?” Carrie is asked why she got married (wait, are we acknowledging that she was married?), and she says it meant she was chosen. I need a moment to process this line. Based on Seema’s reaction, we’re supposed to think it’s romantic, but it feels like Carrie didn’t have a say, and we all know that wasn’t the story.

Lisa and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) have an honest discussion about marriage, and that the dress and wedding aren’t the real parts. Marriage is dealing with illness and knowing how to be supportive. In the end, they both agree that they would get married all over again, even knowing what they know now. That felt real.

Carrie waxes philosophical about being alone for the rest of her life, wondering who she is without the “maybe” of a partner. She thought that after Big (mention number two!), going back to Aiden felt like the right step, but that didn’t work. There are no more men who feel like “maybes” in her life, and she needs to accept being alone.

Carrie plays the protective friend and confronts Adam about his feelings for Seema, using his non-recognition of Thanksgiving as a primer. Adam doesn’t believe in these traditions, but he believes in Seema. She’s not a Thursday, she’s a lifetime. With that, Carrie decides to switch gears and asks Adam to transform the garden into something “more wild.” I can appreciate that she wants the garden to reflect herself, not Aiden, or who she was with Aiden.

For Thanksgiving, Carrie delivers pies all over town. There’s one for Harry (Evan Handler) and Charlotte, who are celebrating the return of their love life, and apple crisp for Lisa. For Seema, it’s a gluten-free pie, and for Anthony (Mario Cantone), it’s a chocolate cream pie. Anthony thinks Giuseppe (Sebastiano Pigazzi) is marrying him for a “mommy” and plans to break things off. I hate this, and the less said the better. With that, Carrie is on her way to Miranda’s for the most disgusting Thanksgiving ever.

Attendees at Miranda’s Thanksgiving went from 13 to six, with Joy (Dolly Wells) having to take care of her sick dog and Anthony planning a fight with Giuseppe. Carrie gives Miranda some good advice to reach out to Joy to check on the sick dog, and Miranda rushes to be with Joy. Now it’s just Carrie and Brady (Niall Cunningham) holding down the fort, so it’s up to Carrie to greet Mia (Ella Stiller) and her friends, Epcot (Spike Einbinder) (her parents were Disney enthusiasts), and Silvio (Paulo Hernandez-Farella). Epcot is lactose intolerant, and Mia claims she only eats cucumber, brown rice, and seaweed. This is supposed to be humorous, but it comes across as awkward and cringeworthy. I hate the way Mia says, “That’s on you.” Also, there’s no chemistry between Mia and Brady. Carrie must then play host to Charlotte’s boss, Mark Kasabian (Victor Garber), who shows up for dinner. After Carrie told Charlotte about being alone, of course, Charlotte had to try to fix her up.

Miranda finally returns home to find the lactose-intolerant Epcot urgently needing to use the bathroom after eating cheese, Silvio getting a groove on, and Mia talking about a lost puppy. After dinner, Mia and her crew skip out, and only Mark, Carrie, and Miranda remain, and here’s where things go from painful to just plain mean. Mark’s going to the bathroom (for those keeping score, that’s the second man peeing in this episode) and flushes only to have the toilet overflow. That cheese was indeed no joke. Poor Mark. Justice for Victor Garber, who deserves much better than this series.

Carries returns home, doesn’t remove her heels (reminder that the Duncan-era is over), and fires up the karaoke machine. We get little montages of the other characters in their settings: Miranda and Joy sharing a pie, the Goldenblatts being supportive of Rock (Alexa Swinton) and sharing a nice moment, Giuseppe throwing a pie in Anthony’s face, resulting in laughter, and Herbert (Chris Jackson) telling Lisa to sit down while he cleans up.

We’re back to Carrie dancing around her house in her fabulous red tulle skirt (another nod to SATC), realizing she can be on her own and be fabulous. It’s reminiscent of the final episode of SATC where Carrie says, “But the most exciting, challenging, and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself.”

In the end, And Just Like That… felt, at best, unnecessary. At its worst, it tarnished the legacy of the original series by altering the characters we knew and loved, introducing ponderous plot points and new characters who never truly gelled. The characters were too rich and too shallow to be interesting, but there were brief moments of compelling television. That’s what was so frustrating. You could see glimmers of a good show in there, but it never came together. And Just Like That… felt like a series of short stories meant to have unifying themes and characters but really didn’t. Thank goodness it ended before we had to watch an episode where Carrie Bradshaw received a National Book Award for her work of historical fiction.

What did you think? Was this a failed experiment? Will it be missed?

Meredith Howell

Meredith lives in Chicago where she and her husband made sure their two boys were fluent in all things pop culture. She loves talking about all things GG- Gilmore Girls, Gossip Girl, and Golden Girls and indulges in a yearly viewing of Pride and Prejudice (the Colin Firth version is the only one recognized).

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