Warning: SPOILERS for And Just Like That episode 3.
Carrie made many mistakes in Sex and the City, and her worst act is finally being amended in And Just Like That. While posed as the main protagonist of Sex and the City, Sarah Jessica Parker’s Carrie Bradshaw did plenty of inexcusable things in the original series. Incidences such as cheating on Aidan with Mr. Big or pretending to show up for an injured Miranda just to make it about her own relationship problems have made viewers see Carrie as overly selfish, and the series hardly ever held her accountable for her mistakes.
And Just Like That is finally addressing one of the worst things Carrie ever did, namely how she treated Big’s wife Natasha in the original series. In Sex and the City season 3, Big and Natasha were married, but Carrie never got over him, and the two engaged in an affair. Carrie felt awful, but it wasn't until Charlotte pointed out that Natasha was a real person with real feelings that Carrie recognized she might have just helped ruin someone’s life. Carrie eventually ended her affair with Sex and the City's Mr. Big but continued stalking Natasha, who wanted nothing to do with her. When Carrie finally cornered her at a restaurant to “apologize,” Natasha didn’t forgive her or Big, with Natasha’s last moment on Sex and the City having her tell Carrie she ruined both her marriage and her lunch.
While it takes two to tango, meaning Big was even more in the wrong during the affair, Carrie was horrible to Natasha while she and Big were together. She then engaged in an affair with him with little regard for Natasha’s feelings. Additionally, Carrie’s apology was completely self-serving, as she only did so because she felt she needed to get rid of her bad karma. After two decades without seeing Natasha or fixing the situation with her, And Just Like That's sequel series finally brings her back, and in almost the same fashion Natasha was last seen. Carrie discovers Big has left his ex-wife $1 million in his will, leading Carrie to spiral down a path in which she incessantly stalks and harasses Natasha – again. Carrie unknowingly walks in on Natasha in the bathroom at a coffee shop, leaving the women with no other choice but to address the 20-year-old elephant in the room. While Carrie didn’t initially set out to apologize to Natasha, And Just Like That’s episode ends with the feud finally being resolved and Natasha getting a genuine apology.
Natasha reveals she had no idea why Big left her the money, and she doesn’t even want it. Telling Carrie what she actually wants to hear, Natasha says she doesn’t know “why [Big] married [her] when he was always in love with [Carrie].” After addressing Big's surprising death, Carrie takes this moment to officially and genuinely apologize to Natasha, leading Natasha to finally forgive Carrie after all these years. Natasha says everything between them is in the past, and they’re on good terms now. And Just Like That has made it a point to address the shortcoming of Sex and the City’s original series, such as its lack of diversity or personal faults of the main girls. By fixing one of Carrie’s worst acts that were never patched up, And Just Like That is truly allowing Carrie to leave the mistakes of her 30s in the past and enter a new era.
And Just Like That is taking fans’ critiques of Carrie's time in Sex and the City to heart, and while the character isn’t, nor should, be perfect, accountability for her actions is important in moving forward. The Carrie and Natasha feud has finally been put to rest, and while this is a big load off of Carrie’s shoulders, it also allowed Natasha to fully move on as well. She mentions that she’s given far too much time to Carrie in her life already, so And Just Like That’s confrontation gives both women the closure they’ve needed to leave the past behind.
And Just Like That releases new episodes Thursdays on HBO Max.