If you are in a relationship, then sleeping with an ex is often grounds for a breakup. Sadly, that is not the case in And Just Like That.
For a brief (glorious) moment, it looked like Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) was about to become a single woman again. Instead, Aidan (John Corbett) got a pass because the on-again-off-again couple hadn’t set ground rules about having sex with other people. That sound you hear is me screaming into a cushion because we were almost free. I doubt I am alone in this.
The chorus against the Aidan-Carrie pairing has been vocal this season, growing louder after Carrie’s trip to Virginia. Then, a welcome respite from this ongoing long-distance saga, saw Carrie and grumpy Brit neighbor Duncan Reeves (Jonathan Cake) go from enemies to friends in the span of a single episode. This flirty back-and-forth offers a window into the kind of show AJLT could be if dating were back on the table for Carrie. Rather than take this much more appealing path, Aidan cashed in a second chance option.
The parameters around this romance reboot have been confusing at best. First, they decided to put their romance on hold for five years so that Aidan could focus on his wayward teenage son, Wyatt (Logan Souza). Then it was postcards, phone calls, house keys, and face-to-face meetups. Part of my irritation with this storyline is that the goalposts keep shifting to suit Aidan’s needs alone. That and how undefined it all is. Who knew until now that screwing other people was an option?
“I’m having a harder time understanding why we’ve not had this discussion until now,” says Carrie. You and me both, Carrie.
Okay, so Aidan didn’t think they could still hook up with other people. To Aidan, f---ing his ex-wife, Kathy (Rosemarie DeWitt), breaks Carrie’s trust and their sacred bond. Taking into account the emotionally heightened circumstance that found the pair falling back into bed with each other—more Wyatt drama—Carrie is compassionate about the whole thing.
Carrie doesn’t hide her shock, but instead of spiraling, she offers up a mature response that took me by surprise. While I struggle with the resolution because this ongoing storyline, which has already taken up half the season, is a drag, I begrudgingly respect Carrie’s choice and reasons. Well, I did until I factored in how this might be years of guilt for cheating on Aidan with Big, manifesting as taking the high road.
Everything goes back to Sex and the City, including this full circle moment to Season 3 when Carrie stepped out on Aidan with her ex. However, in this case, it was a three-week dalliance with Big, not a one-time thing. When Carrie confessed to Aidan the morning of Charlotte’s (Kristin Davis) wedding to Trey in “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (an episode title very much of its time), she did so to unburden her guilt. Aidan’s odd behavior in AJLT mirrors Carrie’s in that episode of SATC, underscoring the parallels between them.
Unlike Aidan, Carrie doesn’t leave. But is she only staying because she is still trying to absolve herself of the original Big betrayal? Carrie continues to do everything to make it work with Aidan, including selling her beloved apartment last season, as he refused to step inside. Everything is always on Aidan’s terms, making this dynamic so uneven that it is impossible to root for.
Aidan’s arrival at the Gramercy Park home gets off to a bad start when he thinks it is cute to toss stones at the downstairs window to get Carrie’s attention (because it’s their thing). Of course, the glass smashes, and Carrie gets to flex her knowledge of the 19th-century building materials and historical events. I have to assume this is from her research on her work-in-progress novel about “the woman,” and not when she bought the property. The French door glass has survived multiple wars, riots, and even Hurricane Sandy. It could not survive Aidan.
“Why is nothing going my way?” Aidan whines when Carrie reveals that contemporary glass doesn’t have the same rainbow-making properties as the old-timey stuff. Before going on a quest to find a suitable replacement (and failing), Aidan reveals the Wyatt airport drama (minus the Kathy tryst detail) has led to his woe-is-me mood.
Given how charming the opening scene with Carrie experiencing mutton stew in Duncan’s kitchen plays out, this French door antique glass quest is like a record scratch on the fun AJLT momentum. Sure, this episode features death and serious health concerns, but there is still appeal in those other conversations that keep this season alive and kicking.
It is also worth mentioning that Aidan has not been paying attention when Carrie shares stories about her writer neighbor. Or he doesn’t until he sees Duncan.
Despite coming to a mature resolution regarding the Kathy news dump, it doesn’t go unnoticed that Aidan looks disgruntled when Duncan drops off his first chapter of the Margaret Thatcher biography for Carrie to read. Now, Aidan notices that the guy downstairs is a dreamy Brit, realizing that this is the man for whom Carrie removed her shoes (Aidan asked why she was barefoot after the window broke).
I swear, if we have to deal with jealous Aidan again, then I might scream without the cushion to muffle the sound. Yes, I am already warming up my pipes.
No doubt, Carrie saying, “You expected me not to sleep with anyone else for five years,” is playing on repeat in Aidan’s head. It probably isn’t enough for Aidan to remember that she also said she doesn’t want to get naked with anyone else because Carrie didn’t specifically say she hadn’t gone to bed with another man during their reignited romance.
Who is ready to place a bet that Aidan thinks Carrie and Duncan are trading more than pages? Aidan hasn’t even seen the hot gardener yet.
