I also want to say something about And Just Like That

‘What is this?’ Wieke texts me after I sent her a photo of my laptop lying on the ground. ‘This is a closed laptop, Wiek,’ I write back. ‘I just couldn't take it anymore, watching And Just Like That.’ And that while the bar of expectations was pretty much at curb height, because I had already read quite a few devastating reviews.

But still, the movies were also torn apart and I had enjoyed watching them too. Well, the first one at least, I never made it to the end of the second. But how hard could it be to keep me satisfied? If you show me some nice outfits and lovely houses in my beloved New York, I would be truly satisfied, or so I thought.

SPOILER ALERT

Especially the first episode was a case of swimming through apple sauce. What an artificial and responsible mess to summarize the past twenty years, to explain why Samantha was no longer among them, and to make up for all the not-so-inclusive aspects of then in one go. Wieke already wrote about that yesterday. What I found extremely uncomfortable was Mister Big's masturbation scene. Probably written to show at what deep level their relationship was to make his unexpected death even more poignant, but so awkward. And, detail, but why does he need lube for this? Everyone is stocked up on lube (lubricant), Mister Big, Miranda's son's girlfriend, Steve when he tries to please Miranda and she apparently isn't quite aroused... Anyway.

What bothers me further as a nearly fifty-year-old person is that the main characters (all around 55) are really portrayed as elderly. Hearing aids, gray hair, burnt-out marriages. I found it a frightening image.

Is everything really terrible about And Just Like That? No. I still enjoy seeing ‘them’ again. I relish their clothes and have rarely seen anyone more attractive than Nicole Ari Parker who plays Lisa Todd Wexley. Then there are the amazing houses of Carrie (she sells hers and Big's to buy another insane apartment downtown) and of Charlotte and Harry, and I find the storyline where Carrie has her first date after Big endearingly sweet.

So I keep watching, really. But every now and then it goes on pause so I can grab a bucket and straighten my toes for a moment.

Image: by Craig Blankenhorn/HBO Max