‘And Just Like That…’ Now Streaming on HBO Max, Brings Big Changes to the Ladies' Lives

The hotly anticipated Sex and the City reboot, And Just Like That…, is now streaming on HBO Max, and much has changed for the women at its center.

Bridgehampton’s Sarah Jessica Parker reprises her leading role as Carrie Bradshaw, along with costars Kristin Davis as Charlotte York and fellow Hamptonite Cynthia Nixon as Miranda Hobbes. Unfortunately, East Hampton’s Kim Cattrall (Samantha Jones) declined to join the cast due to some bad blood with Parker.

The new series catches up with the beloved trio as they navigate life and friendship in their 50s — 17 years after the original Sex and the City‘s final episode aired in 2004, concluding six seasons of high fashion, fabulous shoes and complicated relationships that began in 1997. The story continued in a pair of feature-length films in 2008 and 2010.

And Just Like That… debuted on Thursday, December 9 with the first two episodes, “Hello It’s Me” and “Little Black Dress.” Eight more half-hour episodes will follow, airing Thursdays on the streaming service. So far, the show has earned an audience score of just 42% on Rotten Tomatoes, and an average Tomatometer score of 64%.

This unexpectedly low rating may come from the loss of Cattrall or, perhaps, because a certain major character is killed off during a Peloton misadventure. That’s all we’ll say about that. Samantha, however, is still alive and kicking, but she’s definitely not around, at least physically.

The series, which has a weightier tone than Sex and the City, makes sure to have its characters explain Samantha’s outsized absence right away — she’s moved to London — the remaining ladies say as they enjoy their first lunch together in post-COVID NYC. To further keep up with the times, beyond mentioning the pandemic, our heroines’ lives have changed quite a bit since they last appeared onscreen.

Carrie is now an Instagram influencer and podcaster; Miranda is back in school and a super-woke social justice warrior raising her 17-year-old son Brady (Niall Cunningham); and Charlotte remains her high strung self but now has tween children, Lily (Cathy Ang) and Rose (Alexa Swinton), and all the struggles that come with them. A number of other personal and professional issues are simmering and likely to boil over as the series continues.

Meanwhile, Nicole Ari Parker steps in as Samantha’s replacement/not replacement as the fourth lady in the group, Lisa Todd Wexley, a documentary filmmaker and mother of three living on the Upper East Side. It also should be noted that Ari Parker adds a bit of diversity to the famously white cast. Sara Ramirez, Karen Pittman and Sarita Choudhury also get in the mix, among others.

Check out And Just Like That… on HBO Max to see how it all takes shape.