Spoilers below.
Over the past few weeks, and certainly in the last episode, Carrie had been losing her patience with Aidan. Is their long-distance romance really worth it? Why would she get a new apartment if he wasn’t going to live in it? And did he really have to be with his kids all the time? So she wondered. But in this week’s And Just Like That… she finally understands why.
Carrie wakes up in Aidan’s guest house to find her man and two of his teenage sons, Homer and Wyatt (the one who needed Adderall and got into a drunk driving accident), painting the house together. The former greets her with a warm welcome, while the latter gives her the cold shoulder. He’s standoffish even as they eat pancakes together, and as Carrie hops onto the family ATV to drive into town to buy some new clothes. (Did you ever think you’d see Carrie Bradshaw riding an ATV in rural Virginia?) Naturally, this tension urges Carrie to want to bond with Aidan’s kids… with fishing. Of course, Wyatt would rather be playing at the VR video game spot at the mall. Aidan is not a fan of this place—too much screen time!—but he coalesces with some convincing from Carrie. It turns out to be a great idea, the four of them blasting zombies into virtual oblivion. But Wyatt accidentally hits Carrie in the head, which sours the mood.
Meanwhile, Lisa is so stressed about hiring a new producer in Grace’s absence that she’s talking in her sleep. (Loud enough that her husband, Herbert, has to sleep in another room.) Luckily, she has a dream candidate, named Marian, with a near-perfect resume coming in for an interview. However, Marian turns out to be a very gorgeous man (Mehcad Brooks) who leaves Lisa speechless. He has great experience, he’s watched Lisa’s own films, and he even knows Grace personally; but Lisa is torn. Should she be hiring a man to edit a documentary about unsung women? Seema, on the other hand, is ready to start her own real estate company, but first, she faces Ryan Serhant as he makes yet another cameo to try to hire her. Seema refuses, and she even poaches the secretary on the way out.
As for the Goldenblatts, Harry gets a bit more of the spotlight over Charlotte this week, as his worries about aging—which he faced in the last episode with a rough night out at the club—get worse. And there’s no better reminder of old age than a visit from his own elderly father, who’s brought all his eccentricities along with him: hitting on the neighbor, questioning the sexuality of Lily’s ballerina boyfriend, and getting lost on the way to get the morning paper. Harry’s anxiety is so overwhelming it affects him in the bedroom. His father used to be such a beast, and now he walks around with “a limp banana” (referring to both the fruit and a euphemism here). Charlotte has a thoughtful response: “Will not having sex mean that we aren’t Harry and Charlotte?” It’s a no-brainer; of course what really matters is their love and connection with each other, even if it isn’t physical. It’s an interesting conversation for a franchise known as SEX and the City. But when they realize Harry’s father has been searching porn on Rock’s iPad and left to spend the night with the neighbor, Harry has hope again.
Miranda seems to be making progress with Joy. Their “media training” sessions have been productive, and it shows as Miranda does a live broadcast interview in front of the UN building. All is going well, she’s raising awareness about human rights issues across the globe—but a slip-up turns her into meme fodder. While saying the word “wild country,” she awkwardly pauses, leading the internet to think she said “wild cunt.” The clip is now going viral across TikTok, and her son, Brady, and Charlotte’s daughter, Lily, have already seen it. Miranda fears that Joy has too. When she’s slow to respond to Miranda’s invite to drinks, Miranda thinks it’s because she’s seen the meme and got the ick. Joy and her very British friends eventually do come over to meet Miranda (at Carrie’s apartment, by the way, because she is house-sitting), but Joy is quiet and keeps to herself. Miranda is convinced this must be because of the viral video. She asks Joy about it on her way out. Luckily for Miranda, Joy’s strange behavior is actually a sign that she likes her back. She tends to shut down when she likes someone, she says. Miranda kisses her on the stoop of Carrie’s new apartment, and although Joy is convinced she’s a bad kisser, Miranda confirms she is not.
Back in Virginia, Aidan’s eldest son, Tate, arrives for his 21st birthday celebration. Aidan’s ex, Kathy, and her new boyfriend, Bob, also join the party. Here they all are, a happy blended modern family. But as the night progresses, the cracks start to show. Bob reveals to Carrie that Aidan is against Wyatt taking Adderall, even though Kathy has supported it. No wonder Kathy asked Carrie to smuggle the prescription drugs from New York to Virginia; she was doing it behind Aidan’s back. And that explains Aidan’s confused reaction to Carrie’s delivery. Upon hearing this, Carrie goes into the kitchen to apologize to Aidan right away, but he doesn’t want this argument to ruin his son’s birthday. He snaps at Carrie, and takes out the cake for his eldest.
Things seem to hit a high note later that night as the whole crew is enjoying a game of Apples to Apples, but Wyatt is at his wit’s end. When Carrie wins a round of the game over him (sorry no one understood your X-Men reference, king), he lashes out and curses at his family, claiming that they never cared about him. He storms out of the house and the arguments ripple throughout the rest of his relatives. The boys think Aidan babies Wyatt; Kathy uses this as a case to put Wyatt on Adderall; Aidan refuses, citing Wyatt’s substance abuse problem, and scolds Kathy for getting Carrie involved. The pressure comes to a head when Wyatt smashes the dining room window. Carrie responds with a look that says, What did I get myself into?
But Carrie is more understanding than that. She retreats to the guest house to give the family some space, and Aidan meets up with her after a swim to clear his mind. She sits him down for a serious confession: When Aidan said that he had to be down in Virginia with his family, she didn’t really understand why. She isn’t a parent, how could she know? But now, after spending time with them in their home, she really gets it. And she’ll no longer let that stop her from living her life. For so long, she put off decorating the house or buying furniture (remember that dining table?), believing Aidan might suddenly change his mind and come back to New York. Now she’s comfortable with giving him all the space and time he needs.
Aidan tearfully asks what we’re all wondering at this point: “Are you breaking up with me?” Well no, Carrie will opt for something far more complicated than that. She confirms they are not breaking up and gives Aidan a key to her apartment—sorry, their apartment. When she flies back to New York with her uncharacteristically frilly dresses, she wonders whether she’s now “closer to or further from” what she really wants. If this is about that dining room table, the answer is further—it’s already sold out. But when it comes to her relationship with Aidan, we’ll need to sleep on that.
