‘And Just Like That…’ Deviates From ‘Sex in the City’ in 1 Small but Significant Way
And Just Like That… showrunner Michael Patrick King made it clear from the start. While the series is a reboot of the cult classic, Sex and the City, it’s still unique. King and the production team have made a few changes that helped set the HBO Max reboot apart from its predecessor. The reboot, for example, seems to be acknowledging holidays and seasons. The small deviation from the original might not seem like a big deal, but it’s actually incredibly impactful.
‘Sex and the City’ didn’t follow a traditional calendar year
Sex and the City ran for six seasons. During those six seasons, fans watched Carrie Bradshaw, Samantha Jones, Charlotte York, and Miranda Hobbes cycle through relationships and one-night stands. They celebrated birthdays with them and occasionally joined them for New York’s special events. Rarely, however, did the girls mention the date or even the month. Even more rarely were actual holidays references.
Sex and the City didn’t seem to run on a whole calendar year. Even the most loyal fans can only name a handful of episodes that made the season clear. In the end, it didn’t matter what time of year it was on Sex and the City. The same is not true for And Just Like That…
‘And Just Like That…’ is paying closer attention to holidays and seasons
And Just Like That… is setting itself apart from the original series in several key ways, but one of its more subtle deviations is having a large impact. The series acknowledges holidays and seasonal changes. In episode 6, Carrie joins Seema Patel to celebrate Diwali. Not only does the storyline cement Carrie and Seema’s friendship, but it subtly informs fans that it’s been several months since Mr. Big died, and they’ve moved out of the summer months and steadily into the fall. Anthony Marantino also references the autumnal light during a conversation with Carrie.
To be fair, And Just Like That… isn’t the first project in the franchise to utilize the passage of time. Sex and the City: The Movie also used holidays to punctuate how quickly time passed after Mr. Big left Carrie at the altar. The 145-minute feature film took viewers across several months and several major holidays. Still, the HBO reboot is the first time a series based on the characters uses a more traditional calendar year, and there is a reason for it.
Michael Patrick King said the seasons help to acknowledge Carrie moving along
And Just Like That is vastly different from its predecessor in the type of story it is telling. The original series was mostly about the friendship between Carrie and her pals as they searched the city for love. The time of year didn’t matter to that overarching story. The same is not true for And Just Like That… Instead of looking for love, Carrie is grieving the loss of her big love.
King explained during the show’s official companion podcast, And Just Like That…The Writers Room, that the progression of time is important to Carrie’s grieving process. By allowing the cast to acknowledge holidays and seasons, the viewers are clued to how much time has passed. Big’s death occurred in the summer, and episode 6 featured the festival of Diwali, which is celebrated in October or November each year. The seasonal details subconsciously show how Carrie moves through her grief as time passes.
