‘And Just Like This’ Chapter 6 Summary: Over Thinking

“I just charged the tomatoes,” Carrie once told her boyfriend Aidan Shaw (John Corbett) in the original “Sex and the City.”

Things change.

In this week’s episode, we find our perpetually out-of-town daughter, Carrie, at a final review of her new downtown pad. She looks out of floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Hudson in a frame reminiscent of the Season 3 episode of “Sex and the City,” in which she flees to Los Angeles and tours a $3 million home with Carrie Fisher’s personal assistant, Keith Travers. (Vince Vaughn). (“That’s where the guys here beat up the New York men,” Carrie says: “The Real Estate.”)

But now Carrie is on a mission to find a new home, as she is swamped with Big’s life insurance payment and is determined to get out of the flat they shared. Although she can choose almost any charming old Manhattan spot with all the crown molding she wants, she chooses instead, or doesn’t like, a large, simple, dazzlingly bright modern loft instead.

Part of Carrie’s motivation in this in-person decision is that she feels bad for dragging Seema into so many different apartments without buying one. Rather than prolonging the search any further, this settles for a “good on paper” place. But apparently his deeper motivation is his need for a fresh start. She doesn’t want to go back to her old apartment because it feels like “retreating”.

So he is transported with little more than a mail-order mattress and an old lamp, but is tormented by a constant beeping that he cannot find the source of. Anthony insists it should be a dishwasher (“It’s always the dishwasher!”) and tells him to turn it off and on over and over, but to no avail.

As it turns out, Anthony, the person Carrie calls for things like this, frankly, feels random. If Willie Garson hadn’t died during filming, maybe Stanford would have been in this scene instead. Perhaps we should assume that with the sudden outburst of Stanny’s – Anthony and Carrie’s joint partner and crime, the two bond over their collective loss. But since we’re not given much context, all we can do is assume.

That’s why it’s also strange to see Carrie accompanying Anthony to the facelift consultation. Anthony says Charlotte gets her ears on the kids, and that’s why she touched Carrie instead, but come on. This is the kind of thing Charlotte will make time for.

In any case, handsome young plastic surgeon Dr. Paul David (Jonathan Groff) tells Anthony he doesn’t need a facelift, but then quickly turns his attention to Carrie, using fancy computer images to give her attention. range of options it has for a little “refreshment”. Carrie jokes around, but when she looks into the eyes of a digital version of the person she used to be — and if she’s willing to pay the money, it might happen again — it’s tempting.

This is where many of us will be disappointed in our hero. Carrie Is Not A Real Housewife! It should be on top of that sort of thing! Even if she thinks so, doesn’t it defeat the purpose of a show focused on aging women?

But maybe Carrie Bradshaw isn’t as thick-skinned as Sarah Jessica Parker, so we should do our daughter a little favor.

Since footage from this series aired, the public has made harsh comments about the stars’ looks, rated that they all look a little worse for wear. As it should be, there was backlash from even the actresses themselves. In November, Parker said, “fashion,” voicing “misogynistic babble.”

“This is what they do to women,” Miranda says in a line that reflects both the plot and the adversities the stars face. “They get us aging wrong.”

Seen from this perspective, it’s not so crazy for a character of Carrie’s age (and socioeconomic status and privilege) to feel the pressure and fall into this trap, especially considering her husband has just died; two of her best friends, Samantha and Stanford, are bailed out; and nowhere feels like home. If something isn’t going well in Carrie’s life and she’s looking for ways to feel better, wiping out a few frown lines might seem like an easy fix.

Of course, Miranda is there to let Carrie know that the doctor is manipulating her and she doesn’t have to fall into the rabbit hole she’s pinched. And Charlotte reassures her that if she really wants to go under the knife, that’s totally fine. The duo play angel and devil on Carrie’s shoulders at a sunny picnic that carries all the feel of the classic food scenes common in the original “Sex and the City.”

As three sips of non-alcoholic wine—because Miranda actually quit alcohol like a woman—Miranda makes a confession to Charlotte: She had sex with Che in Carrie’s kitchen.

Miranda knew Charlotte would be surprised, and she was right. “It’s a relationship,” Charlotte said accusingly.

“It was a finger,” Miranda replied.

She despises acting, but ultimately Miranda knows she doesn’t have answers to Charlotte’s pressing questions: Is she gay now? Doesn’t she want to be with Steve anymore? Was it a one-time thing or something that could happen again?

At the end of this episode, we at least have the answer to the last one: Miranda wants to text Che and hang out again.

But ultimately, what Charlotte wants to know is, “What’s wrong with people staying the way they are?”

On the surface, he utters this as a response to the bombshell Miranda has just dropped, and in reference to Rose’s struggles with her new identity as Rock earlier in the episode. But more than that. Charlotte has worked hard for her happiness forever. All he wanted was marriage, kids and a Park Avenue apartment, and he’s got it all. he complete. That’s why the change bothers Charlotte so much. If those around him are going through such unexpected, drastic changes, what else might he not see to come?

As for Carrie, she also thinks that change isn’t always a good thing. He decides to sell the city center flat and move it back to its old place. He also decides to wear the old Carrie necklace, the ultimate remnant of the original series, because it helps him see his old self again when he looks in the mirror. It turns out that she doesn’t need a facelift to do this.

things I can’t stop thinking about

• If Carrie wasn’t Seema’s favorite client, she certainly is now. It’s not because they’re shopping buddies, or Seema brings Carrie to the Patel family’s Diwali celebration, or Seema trusts Carrie about her dating problems and overbearing parents (although these are all signs that their friendship is thriving). The truth is, Seema is about to get two big commissions from Carrie in an extremely short time.

• I’m happy to see that the show has lived up to its promise of layering new characters; this comes from Nya’s struggle over whether to have a baby or not. Yet this is a plot that we see in triplicate in “Sex and the City”: in Miranda’s surprise pregnancy; Charlotte’s fertility issues, adoption and eventual pregnancy; and Carrie’s civil war over whether she’s a “baby human.” Therefore, this “will or will it not” sadly seems redundant.

• OG fans of “Sex and the City” won’t see him as out of character as Charlotte finds Che attractive. While Samantha is clearly the sexually liberated person, Charlotte has also always been an adventurer between the sheets. Remember in the original series when the ladies were horrified by one of Miranda’s “marathon man” sexual orientations? It was Charlotte who shrugged. “Trey likes to do it,” she said, gaping at her husband at the time. “We married”