And Just Like That Season 2 Proves Carrie Bradshaw Is The Worst Friend & Human
In a 2013 essay for The New Yorker, Pulitzer Prize-winning television critic Emily Nussbaum deemed "Sex and the City" a groundbreaking television series for how it portrayed protagonist Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) as television's "unacknowledged [but nevertheless] first female anti-hero." At the time, this was a controversial statement.
But in 2023, Carrie's anti-hero status feels like an accepted fact in the canon of "Sex and the City." Ever since her high heels graced New York City's streets, she's been re-evaluated. Frankly, she's been litigated half to death as a character since the show ended in 2004, since the first feature film in 2008, 2010's second feature, and Max's 2021 reboot, "And Just Like That." Sure, Carrie's flaws have always been observed in her narration. But the original series made them feel authentic. In "And Just Like That," which features Carrie as a widow in her 50s, it just feels ... grating.
Incredibly, Season 2 didn't soften any of Carrie's worst qualities. Instead, it brought them front and center — making it clear that Carrie is an awful friend, a shoddy romantic partner, and generally a terrible human. Carrie is interminable, and "And Just Like That" has made that quite clear.
Carrie's worst sins from Sex & the City
Let's rewind. Carrie Bradshaw has been a part of television's landscape for decades, so there's plenty of evidence that she absolutely sucks. But what are her worst offenses in the original series?
First, she's a pretty bad friend on a routine basis — especially when she gets a boyfriend and disappears into the relationship entirely. Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon), arguably her closest friend out of the main quartet, tends to bear the brunt of this behavior. She only meets her future husband, Steve (Steve Eigenberg), after Carrie ditches her for a dinner date — um, without even calling her to bail?! When Miranda later throws her back out in the shower, Carrie doesn't help her. She sends her boyfriend Aidan (John Corbett) to take care of her completely nude and helpless friend. Worst, Carrie brings over bagels the next day and just wants to talk about herself. Well, at least Miranda calls her out and calls them "b******t bagels." Not great, Carrie!
Speaking of Aidan, Carrie breaks this guy's heart not once but twice. First, she cheats on him with John "Mr. Big" Preston (Chris Noth), an emotionally unavailable monster whose sole purpose in the original series is to ruin Carrie's life. But she then accepts Aidan's later proposal with little intention of getting married.
Yes, an entire PhD dissertation could be written about Carrie's wrongs in "Sex and the City" — but what about "And Just Like That?"
Sorry, Seema ... Carrie isn't your dream vacation buddy
Carrie's friendship foibles reach new lows in "And Just Like That." Miranda has been experiencing a mid-life crisis since the reboot's first season. As her friend tries to re-evaluate her life and newly found queer identity, you'd think Carrie would be supportive. Wrong! When Miranda ends up homeless — thanks to the dissolution of her relationship with Che Diaz (Sara Ramirez) — Carrie, who now owns an enormous apartment in Manhattan's Gramercy Park, doesn't offer Miranda a spare room. Carrie does not give her the iconic studio apartment Carrie has resided in for several decades that she's selling. Carrie gives the apartment to her downstairs neighbor Lisette (Katerina Tannenbaum), a jewelry designer she barely knows.
And, it gets much worse. Later, Miranda attends one of Che's "comedy concerts" with Aidan and Carrie. But she soon discovers the comic spends the whole set bashing their relationship with Miranda. Not only does Carrie not show an ounce of support for Miranda — who runs out crying — but she also tells Miranda that she'll have to deal with her discomfort and attend a goodbye dinner for the apartment (she's not giving to Miranda) at which Che will be present. Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall) would never.
Then, there's Seema Patel (Sarita Choudhury), one of the only characters to call Carrie out on her nonsense. In one of Season 2's most earnest moments, Seema tells Carrie that, no, Carrie's new boyfriend is not invited to their hot girls' summer in the Hamptons. Why Carrie thought that would be okay in the first place, though, feels slightly deranged.
For a sex columnist, Carrie is remarkably prudish... and judgmental
Carrie Bradshaw's whole deal in "Sex and the City" is that she writes about sex in ... well, the city. In the original series, she's a bit straight-laced for a sex columnist, often seeming embarrassed by Samantha's brazen sexuality. This continues into "And Just Like That," where Carrie attempts to be open-minded around new friends like Che. Still, she falls flat at every turn.
In Season 2, Carrie gets her entire podcast canceled — resulting in a whole bunch of people losing their jobs — by refusing to read an ad for feminine products. No, really. She refuses to say the word "vagina" during an ad. When Miranda tries to confide in her friend about her sex life, Carrie can't stand to listen — and it's not just Miranda. Whenever someone discusses anything sexual, Carrie demurs. But it's not just that she seems alarmed or uncomfortable, but she seems openly judgmental of anything that goes against a vanilla cis-hetero norm. Plus, she's never subtle about that judgment. Making anyone feel bad for their sexual preferences or sexuality isn't cool — especially for someone whose job was, at one point, to write about human sexuality.
Carrie isn't a supportive partner
Aidan returns to Carrie's life partway through Season 2 of "And Just Like That," and, truthfully, he probably should have run for a cab back to Norfolk, Virginia. Carrie's been single since Mr. Big died at the beginning of Season 1 — yes, she did marry the emotionally manipulative jerk — and when she and Aidan reunite, it feels like fate. Too bad she's still a selfish romantic partner.
The fact that Carrie never chose to have children is not a problem — far from it. Every person deserves to choose whether they want to be a parent. To her credit, Carrie is a loving aunt to her friends' kids. The problem here lies in the fact that Aidan has three children. Carrie doesn't try to understand what he might be going through as he prepares to leave them in Virginia and cohabitate with her in New York. When his youngest son gets in a car accident caused by his recklessness, Aidan realizes his kids need him at home and breaks down on the phone with Carrie. Carrie's response? "Breaks heal." Carrie doesn't care that her partner is afraid for his son's welfare — as always, she seems more concerned about her needs and desire to see Aidan more.
An anti-hero by any other name is ... Carrie Bradshaw
Sure, it feels like Carrie Bradshaw was meant to be a heroine for our modern era. To be absolutely fair, a great protagonist needs flaws to explore so we can see their growth. Carrie is a difficult, fully human, and complex character. But she can also be deeply selfish, unkind, and utterly unlikable — stagnant facts that she doesn't seem to want to change. Season 2 of "And Just Like That" responded to some audience criticisms of Season 1 by giving Che more emotional depth, bringing Miranda back to New York from Los Angeles, and even getting Kim Cattrall to appear in a cameo. So it makes it especially strange that the show not only doubled but tripled down on Carrie's worst qualities.
A huge issue with "And Just Like That," which many have noted, is that the characters exist in such a rarified world that it's hard to take their problems seriously. Carrie, once a "struggling writer" (though she made four dollars a word at Vogue), is now a wealthy widow. Yes, this definitely makes it harder to sympathize with her issues. Still, she could at least make an effort to be more supportive and understanding and just be less of a jerk. To paraphrase the great American poet Taylor Swift, "It's her, Carrie; it's the problem, it's her."