Mr. Big's ex-wife comes back into Carrie's life after she attends a reading of his will.
Spoilers ahead! If you have not finished this week's episode of And Just Like That, bookmark this for later or proceed with caution.
Sex and the City spent six seasons with Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) trying to understand why Mr. Big (Chris Noth) made the decisions he made. And even now with the businessman dead in the new reboot, And Just Like That, nothing has changed.
Now that the funeral has occurred, Carrie feels like she's in the "home stretch" of grief at the will reading and starts off the episode with a very optimistic approach.
"It's been a rough few weeks, but I just keep reminding myself that at least we were happy, at the end, never been happier," she tells her podcast co-host, Che Diaz (Sara Ramirez).
Diehard SATC fans should have been alerted by that line alone that something... big... was about to happen.
Turns out Big left $1 million to his ex-wife, Natasha Naginsky (Bridget Moynahan). Carrie was partially responsible for the end of Big's marriage to Natasha after she caught the pair having an affair in her own house. At the time, Carrie was with cheating on her then-guy, Aidan Shaw (John Corbett).
Luckily, the ladies -- and Stanford Blatch (Willie Garson) -- get the chance to rendezvous over lunch, as they are known to do, to discuss this development. For a moment, Carrie turns from a grieving widow back into the woman fans remember, and is adamant about solving the mysteries about the late Mr. Big.
"You know what, it's not even about the money, it really isn't. I would be just as upset if I found out that he left her $10, but why is she in [the will] at all?" Carrie asks.
Cue Carrie obsessing over getting answers on the status of Big's relationship with Natasha, trying to get into his computer and searching his suit pockets during her insomnia-filled haze. She finds his vaccine card, a Pinkberry punch card and an old photo of a dog, the last two, of which, sent her spiraling into a fog of, "What else didn't I know?"
Finally, Carrie decides to email Natasha. When that doesn't work, she direct messages her on Instagram. Turns out, Natasha is a bit cutthroat and immediately blocks her. Appalled, Carrie decides to show up unannounced at Natasha's work after seeing her enter the building. She is promptly informed that Big's ex is away "in Rome."
The unanswered questions lead Carrie to roam the New York City streets in her designer heels, unable to stop walking. She finally confesses to Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon), "I'm really mad at Big. I almost forgot how I used to feel all those years ago, so nervous and insecure and desperate. Like what we had wasn't enough, like I wasn't enough. And I just hate that after all the good years, this is what I'm left with. He ruined our happy/sad ending."
When Carrie has an awkward bathroom run-in with Natasha at a coffee shop, she finally gets some closure on the matter. Turns out, the exes haven't seen each other since their divorce all those years ago and Natasha is just as in the dark as Carrie as to why he'd leave her $1 million.
"Classic John, always a puzzle. At least with me," Natasha says, using Big's real name. "I'll never understand why he married me when he was always in love with you."
Carrie decides that the will money was Big's way of apologizing to Natasha for cheating on her and ending their marriage on such terrible terms.
She ends the episode by walking back to her old apartment with the voiceover, "And just like that, I walked myself home."
It looks like Carrie has plans to sell her and Big's apartment and return to her roots. Fans see her meeting with a realtor in the trailer for next week's episode.
As for the other women, both Miranda and Charlotte have a lot going on. Charlotte York (Kristin Davis) is confronted by her daughter, Rose, who tells her mother, "I don't feel like a girl ever."
This immediately shifts the Upper East Sider into super mom mode as she tries to figure out whether her daughter is struggling with her gender identity or if she simply doesn't identify with traditional feminine standards. She asks her friend, Anthony Marentino (Mario Cantone), what she should do about her child's pronouncement and he tells her to not do anything for the time being and to wait and see exactly what Rose's statement means. Later in the episode, at Che's comedy show, Charlotte is visibly moved by the podcast host's story of coming out as queer and non-binary to their family. Charlotte calls her daughter after the show to tell her how much she loves her.
Charlotte is also the first person to bring up the fact that Miranda just might have a drinking problem. She notices her friend's empty tiny liquor bottles in her backpack and her ever-present wine glass during their outings. When Charlotte brings this up to Carrie, the new widow brushes it off, telling her not to notice so much.
And it seems that Miranda's drinking isn't the only new development in her life. She also shares with Charlotte that she and her husband Steve Brady (David Eigenberg) haven't had sex in years.
"No sex for years, and I don't think either one of us even thinks about it," she says. "The only thing we're passionate about is our dessert ritual. Are we a couple or just roommates with ice cream and a kid? If we didn't have Brady what would we talk about? Chia seeds?"
The relationship is a far cry from where the passionate pair found themselves at the end of the first Sex and the City movie in 2008, having a steamy reconciliation after Steve's affair.
This new reveal moves along Miranda's clear fascination with Che. After attending the comedian's standup show, she eagerly ditches Carrie and Charlotte to go to the VIP after-party where she excitedly rambles to Che about being inspired by their message to change up one's routine. Che suggests the hyper lawyer smoke some weed and when Miranda passes, Che very intimately shot guns the smoke into Miranda's mouth. It's clear that there's something going on between the two as a trailer for next week's episode has Miranda's teenage son, Brady, telling her she reeks of marijuana.
Though Mr. Big didn't show up in this week's episode, Noth has previously teased that his time on the show isn't over after his character's heart attack and death.
"I think there may be something. I can’t tell you what, but…there may be a little… there may be a haunting that happens," he told Vogue. "I don’t know. I don’t want to get in trouble."
Noth had previously been seen filming episodes of the series around New York, but all of Mr. Big's scenes from the show thus far have taken place inside his apartment.
New episodes of And Just Like That drop every Thursday on HBO Max.
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