The cowboy-ish hat / basket Carrie wears on the coffee date with Seema is really puzzling. It makes her look halfway closer to the age range she fears she might be pigeonholed in.
And thank you for a bit more info on HBO lost its brand. As a lifelong marketer who used HBO as a great example of a top media brand that masterfully navigated a long evolution, it is painful to see it killed off. It is like adding another word after BMW and saying, a year later, ok we don’t need those first three letters anymore. No one remembers what the stand for.
yes!! I really think it's the executives stinking up the joint here. As a friend said, you know that dick pic was approved by like 12 people. When I worked in media, I don't think I was ever in a situation where an executive got involved in a story and it turned out better as a result...
I agree with the majority of what you wrote, Amy, except for knocking Herbert, haha! I actually like him.
I really hope this show can keep improving, it's so nostalgic to watch isn't it. Even though it's terrible, it makes me feel comfort to watch it. And even though the clothes aren't what they used to be, I do enjoy seeing all the outfits. There aren't many shows at the moment where you're watching them for the styling, especially with Succession finished now.
"Is And Just Like That getting better or are we as viewers acclimatizing to its badness?" I wondered that too! But I actually think it's better. Despite a casual 100k Paypal payment.
This show is not trash. Was never a SATC fan - in fact publicly criticised it for "...putting a pretty dress on desperation and calling it empowerment...". and felt that Carrie had zero personality. Add to that I am a Classics Major and a literary snob - read Ovid for breakfast, Proust at night... Didn't even notice the SATC movies when they came out. However, when a NY playwright friend asked for my thoughts re: casting Cynthia Nixon for the lead role in her play, and after reading all the reviews saying how terrible season 1 of AJLT was, I felt compelled to watch it. Because my TV is LG pre 2018 I can't stream off Binge so could only access Season 1 via Youtube - cost $3.99. After reading the cynical reviews I was ready for And Just Like Crap - BUT... AJLT is real. It is moving. It touches a nerve that lives in the real bodies of real people. Put the fashion aside. As a mature age student I have lived that scene when Miranda attends her first class and struggles to find the 'right' way to say what she is trying to, to the black professor with the young students watching on squirming in their seats. I am that 'ageing' woman who goes 'ouch' when a much older woman (or so you thought) keeps referring to you as 'women our age'. When Big pours a glass of wine and sings along with the music in his kitchen that moment is so true - it's what we over 50's do, in an attempt to connect with, or reconnect with how we used to feel - ageing, overweight and singling flat in our kitchens and it is beautiful/tragic in it's futility. Big's funeral is beautifully filmed - ethereal with the misty white and everyone in black. I bawled my eyes out to 'Hello It's Me' playing over Big's photo montage. The scene where we first see the chemistry sparking between Miranda and Che is pure genius - I put this moment right up there with when Dr Schivago (Omar Shariff) meets Lara (Julie Christie) in the library after they haven't seen one another for along time. The scene is beautifully played and I felt the heat, chemistry bubbling up between them. The show, in general, captures a delicate moment where adults are forced to grow up or to wake up to reality - but not so much that we can't go '...baby just one more time...' It does it well - and with feeling.
I enjoyed most of this episode minus the Miranda and Che scenes and the very end — the brunch scene in particular harkened back to what made the original SATC so great. More of that please and less of Che (and Miranda). Harlem, about four thirtysomething black women, is a great continuation of the SATC tropes with recognisable character archetypes (Camille = Carrie, etc), over the top fashion and colourful interiors.
What in the Captain Hook was that awful tricorn hat? AJLT is ridiculous, but I keep watching just so I can enjoy your deconstruction even more. Your choice of photos to show the range ofChris Jackson as Herbert made me burst.
The cowboy-ish hat / basket Carrie wears on the coffee date with Seema is really puzzling. It makes her look halfway closer to the age range she fears she might be pigeonholed in.
And thank you for a bit more info on HBO lost its brand. As a lifelong marketer who used HBO as a great example of a top media brand that masterfully navigated a long evolution, it is painful to see it killed off. It is like adding another word after BMW and saying, a year later, ok we don’t need those first three letters anymore. No one remembers what the stand for.
yes!! I really think it's the executives stinking up the joint here. As a friend said, you know that dick pic was approved by like 12 people. When I worked in media, I don't think I was ever in a situation where an executive got involved in a story and it turned out better as a result...
I agree with the majority of what you wrote, Amy, except for knocking Herbert, haha! I actually like him.
I really hope this show can keep improving, it's so nostalgic to watch isn't it. Even though it's terrible, it makes me feel comfort to watch it. And even though the clothes aren't what they used to be, I do enjoy seeing all the outfits. There aren't many shows at the moment where you're watching them for the styling, especially with Succession finished now.
Haha I respect a Herbert stan. I kind of think if he was a successful Wall St person he would be a dick? But of course that wouldn’t work in the show
No I completely agree with the characterization of Herbert. He drags down every scene he is in!
"Is And Just Like That getting better or are we as viewers acclimatizing to its badness?" I wondered that too! But I actually think it's better. Despite a casual 100k Paypal payment.
it needed the dumb (yet enjoyable) sex blather
yeah. i totally agree that we needed the jizz brunch. it felt like old school SATC! esp with charlotte's new nickname.
Yes so I had the same thought while watching it. I thought it was finally getting back to its roots and added some more 'fun' moments.
This show is not trash. Was never a SATC fan - in fact publicly criticised it for "...putting a pretty dress on desperation and calling it empowerment...". and felt that Carrie had zero personality. Add to that I am a Classics Major and a literary snob - read Ovid for breakfast, Proust at night... Didn't even notice the SATC movies when they came out. However, when a NY playwright friend asked for my thoughts re: casting Cynthia Nixon for the lead role in her play, and after reading all the reviews saying how terrible season 1 of AJLT was, I felt compelled to watch it. Because my TV is LG pre 2018 I can't stream off Binge so could only access Season 1 via Youtube - cost $3.99. After reading the cynical reviews I was ready for And Just Like Crap - BUT... AJLT is real. It is moving. It touches a nerve that lives in the real bodies of real people. Put the fashion aside. As a mature age student I have lived that scene when Miranda attends her first class and struggles to find the 'right' way to say what she is trying to, to the black professor with the young students watching on squirming in their seats. I am that 'ageing' woman who goes 'ouch' when a much older woman (or so you thought) keeps referring to you as 'women our age'. When Big pours a glass of wine and sings along with the music in his kitchen that moment is so true - it's what we over 50's do, in an attempt to connect with, or reconnect with how we used to feel - ageing, overweight and singling flat in our kitchens and it is beautiful/tragic in it's futility. Big's funeral is beautifully filmed - ethereal with the misty white and everyone in black. I bawled my eyes out to 'Hello It's Me' playing over Big's photo montage. The scene where we first see the chemistry sparking between Miranda and Che is pure genius - I put this moment right up there with when Dr Schivago (Omar Shariff) meets Lara (Julie Christie) in the library after they haven't seen one another for along time. The scene is beautifully played and I felt the heat, chemistry bubbling up between them. The show, in general, captures a delicate moment where adults are forced to grow up or to wake up to reality - but not so much that we can't go '...baby just one more time...' It does it well - and with feeling.
definitely the best episode they have done. My question for you is, what was LTW wearing in their espresso martini scene? Hot pink, fabulous sleeves…
I enjoyed most of this episode minus the Miranda and Che scenes and the very end — the brunch scene in particular harkened back to what made the original SATC so great. More of that please and less of Che (and Miranda). Harlem, about four thirtysomething black women, is a great continuation of the SATC tropes with recognisable character archetypes (Camille = Carrie, etc), over the top fashion and colourful interiors.
What in the Captain Hook was that awful tricorn hat? AJLT is ridiculous, but I keep watching just so I can enjoy your deconstruction even more. Your choice of photos to show the range ofChris Jackson as Herbert made me burst.
Excellent piece.