Carrie Brashaw wears an orange dress and pink gloves as she prepares to spread Mr. Big's ashes in Paris in season 1 of 'And Just Like That...'

5 Things We Actually Loved About ‘And Just Like That…’ Season 1

Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte lit up the screen in 'And Just Like That..', but not all fans were impressed. We found five things to love about season 1, though.

by Andrea Francese

Published on March 29, 2023

3 min read

And Just Like That… season 1 was lambasted by fans. Despite harsh criticism, the series remains HBO Max’s most successful original series to date, and season 2 is on the horizon. Considering how many people watched the first season to its conclusion, there has to be something good about the series. We think there is, at least. We’ve collected five aspects of the show’s first season that we absolutely loved. Do you agree?

Here us out, Mr. Big’s death was an absolute necessity

Chris Noth and Sarah Jessica Parker in 'And Just Like That...' Mr. Big first appeared in season 1 of 'Sex and the City' — Carrie and Mr. Big | Craig Blankenhorn/HBO

We were as shocked as anyone else when Mr. Big died in the final moments of the show’s first episode. Some of us even vowed not to watch another moment (we broke the vow quickly). Still, after viewing the rest of the episodes and putting a bit of space between ourselves and season 1, we must say his death was necessary.

Carrie and Mr. Big’s love story wasn’t ever about the tedium of married life. The real interest in their story was the cat-and-mouse game the duo played. Seeing them divorced would have felt hollow. Mr. Big dying put a final punctuation mark on their romance. They were deeply in love, and now Carrie had to move on. We wouldn’t have seen the growth we did with Mr. Big by her side, or even if the duo had just broken up instead. The finality of the character’s death was exactly what we needed to see Carrie into the next stage of her life.

Susan Sharon had a moment to shine

Whenever a show is rebooted, fans of the original wonder who they’ll get to reconnect with. For Sex and the City fans, there was good news and bad news. Plenty of great characters returned to the series, but one did not. Although we missed Samantha Jones, we enjoyed seeing some of the less important side characters.

If we are being really honest, we loved seeing Susan Sharon again, and while her brutal honesty in the middle of Mr. Big’s memorial service might have been a bit harsh, it really tied the reboot back to the original series. We’d love to see more of Susan Sharon in season 2 if only to hear her take on Carrie Bradshaw and Aidan Shaw reconnecting. She always seemed like a bigger fan of Aidan than Mr. Big.

We smiled seeing Charlotte and Harry still in love in ‘And Just Like That…’

Harry Goldenblatt and Charlotte York sit at their child's school in season 1 of 'And Just Like That...' — Harry and Charlotte | Craig Blankenhorn / HBO Max

There was a lot of heartbreak in season 1 of And Just Like That… Carrie lost her husband, but that wasn’t all. Miranda Hobbes admitted to being miserable in her marriage, and Seema Patel revealed how lonely she could get. The heartbroken look on Steve Brady’s face when Miranda asked for a divorce is burned into our brains. Thankfully, Charlotte York and Harry Goldenblatt were there to remind us that true love exists.

Seeing Charlotte and Harry still happily married after so many years helped the season feel lighter and a bit closer to its predecessor. We were always fans of the duo, but seeing them older, with two teenage children, sealed it for us. Charlotte and Harry were the ultimate endgame couple of Sex and the City, and they must be protected at all costs.

Carrie Bradshaw’s return to her iconic brownstone felt appropriate

Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw walks down a New York City street wearing magenta pants and a emerald green top during the filming of 'And Just Like That...' season 2 — Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw | Gotham/GC Images

What would a Sex and the City reboot be without Carrie Bradshaw’s iconic brownstone apartment? The apartment was never not going to be in the series. We could have guessed that as soon as the project was announced. The brownstone has appeared in every single Sex and the City project thus far.

Seeing Carrie return to her roots instead of using the space as an office or a closet felt right to us. The home she shared with Mr. Big was beautiful but too full of memories for her. The sleek abode on the water that she purchased didn’t feel at all like Carrie, or even Carrie after Mr. Big, for that matter. Seeing her head home to regroup and figure out her life was the perfect way to remind everyone who Carrie always was.

Mr. Big’s final resting place made sense for the couple

When Mr. Big died, Carrie had his body cremated. His ashes sat in her closet for months while she struggled to let go of him and think of a place fitting enough to spread his ashes. In the finale, she spread his ashes in Paris, where the duo had reconnected in the final moments of Sex and the City.

Despite the odd glove choice for Carrie, we can’t think of a spot that would have been a more fitting place to put the couple’s love story to rest. It rounded out the season nicely and seemed like a perfect way to end one story so another could begin.

While And Just Like That… season 1 gets some hate, we think it had moments that offer plenty of hope for the future. HBO Max has not announced a release date for Season 2 yet, but rumors are swirling that we’ll reconnect with the trio sometime in the summer. We hope the rumors are true.