Warning: Spoilers for And Just Like That episode 8.
And Just Like That has followed a much less optimistic and lively Carrie Bradshaw, but episode 8 hints she’s finally returning to her beloved self from Sex and the City. While many viewers were expecting a more mature version of the city-adventurous, socially inclined, cosmo-drinking Carrie Bradshaw in And Just Like That, the revival series quickly revealed that this wouldn’t be the case. Instead, And Just Like That’s Carrie has been sad, fairly pessimistic, and devoid of the outgoing spark that made her so captivating in the original series. Thankfully, HBO Max's Sex and the City sequel series is bringing Carrie to a place where she can reconnect with her old self.
The first few moments of And Just Like That’s were fairly optimistic in terms of the characters’ lives in their 50s, only for a series of tragedies, life-changing revelations, and life uprootings that give the series a far more dramatic tone than its predecessor. Beginning with Big’s death in episode 1, Carrie Bradshaw has only been a faint glimmer of the character from SATC. Now a widow reexamining her life, fearing getting back into the dating world, feeling out of touch with her modern career, and trying to find her purpose again, And Just Like That first eight episodes have followed Carrie throughout her grief and depression — a side the original series hardly showed. While Carrie Bradshaw’s character journey is deep and real, it’s also far from the tone of Sex and the City, especially coming from its main protagonist.
After an apparent time jump at the beginning of And Just Like That episode 7, Carrie was finally told by her book editor that her writing was too depressing, and that readers want the Carrie who wrote the fun columns of sex and relationships in New York City. Ironically, this has been one of the biggest criticisms of Carrie in And Just Like That, where viewers are eager to return to the old lighter and fun Carrie. With the help of her friends and support system, Carrie has spent months (if not a year) grieving the death of Big and addressing her new life. After seeing a reflection of her youthful self in her And Just Like That neighbor Lisette, Carrie dons the iconic Versace gown that she wore in Sex and the City’s series finale. As she sits in her old apartment wearing the dress, she says she realized “some things should never be put into storage,” which is meant to symbolize herself.
Carrie tells Seema that the last time she wore the dress, she sat in the apartment by the window and ate an entire bag of Jiffy Pop, which is exactly what she does at the end of And Just Like That episode 8. By putting the iconic, extravagant dress back on after all these years as she eats a bag of popcorn, And Just Like That’s scene is symbolizing Carrie’s journey to find herself again, thus picking back up from the Carrie in Sex and the City's original finale that viewers remember. Paired with her assignment by her editor to get back into New York City’s dating scene, putting on her old dress as she nonchalantly eats an entire bag of popcorn is exactly the version of Carrie that viewers have been impatiently waiting to return.
While it was inevitable that Carrie Bradshaw would become single again for Sex and the City’s revival, And Just Like That chose to take the route of rediscovery for Carrie in the first season. Instead of immediately getting back into the enthusiastic, fashion-obsessed Carrie of the original show, And Just Like That gave Sarah Jessica Parker the task of a raw, emotionally vulnerable, and sad Carrie after losing Big. Before getting back to the Carrie that viewers know and love in the season's ending, And Just Like That explored Carrie getting to the point where she could fully embrace who she is as a 55-year-old single woman in New York City. With her newfound friendship with her neighbor, Carrie also has the opportunity to revive the dating mishaps of NYC’s youth in her writing.