Ending ‘And Just Like That’ Is Actually the Right Move for HBO After a Divisive Season 3

The time has come: And Just Like That… is ending. It was announced by showrunner Michael Patrick King himself last week that the Sex and the City sequel series will be concluding after three seasons with a bonus two-part finale. In a statement on Instagram, King shared the news personally:

“While I was writing the last episode of And Just Like That… season 3, it became clear to me that this might be a wonderful place to stop. Along with Sarah Jessica Parker, Casey Bloys and Sarah Aubrey, we decided to end the popular series this year with a two-part finale and extended the original series order from 10 episodes to 12. SJP and I held off announcing the news until now because we didn’t want the world ‘final’ to overshadow the fun of watching the season.”

While the announcement emerging now on the heels of Season 3 may have come as a surprise to viewers, the actual confirmation itself isn’t surprising at all. On the whole, And Just Like That hasn’t been a well-received show, and despite having three seasons to get it right, the creative team just hasn’t been able to recapture the magic of the original series. Season 3 was the icing on the cake; it’s time to put this revival to bed once and for all.

‘And Just Like That’ Season 3 Had a Lot of Issues

To say And Just Like That Season 3 was divisive would be putting it lightly, but it’s even more unfortunate considering the show returned with so much promise. Che (Sara Ramirez) was gone, which made a lot of viewers happy. Aidan (John Corbett) and Carrie were back together, albeit in the midst of some long-distance arrangement, and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and Harry (Evan Handler) were as happy as ever. But then things went sideways. Aidan started acting strangely and frankly out of character, while his relationship with Carrie became painful to watch. Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) hooked up with a nun. One of the most devastating story moves of all came when the writers gave Harry cancer! (He’s okay, but seriously, what the heck?)

By comparison, the original series had a sense of its own identity. It was fun and light, but it knew how to balance that with heavier topics from time to time — like when Miranda considered having an abortion, or when Samantha (Kim Cattrall) had cancer, or Charlotte’s struggle with infertility. The characters felt like real people, like real friends. And Just Like That lacks all of that emotion. Even playing the nostalgia card with Carrie and Aidan didn’t work.

Maybe Season 3 was actually intended to be the final installment, but given how many storylines were introduced in just the original finale alone, it seems doubtful. From Carrie and Duncan (Jonathan Cake) finally hooking up to Brady (Niall Cunningham) dropping the bomb that he got a girl pregnant, and subsequently getting into a massive fight with Steve (David Eigenberg), too much was introduced for the episode to be a planned ending; it seems more likely that it was a last-minute cancellation, which doesn’t come as that much of a surprise considering just how divisive Season 3 and the show as a whole was.

‘And Just Like That…’ Never Listened To the Fans

Image via Max

A pretty important piece of a show’s success is the fans. If they aren’t on board, viewership is going to dwindle — and from the start of And Just Like That, fans were saying what needed to change. The biggest loss early on was the lack of Samantha, which was mildly satisfied by brief texts, as well as the series’ single best moment when Cattrall briefly reprised her role in the Season 2 finale. But it took the show two full seasons to write out Che, despite viewers’ negative response to the character. Those who said they only wanted Carrie and Aidan happy after all they previously went through were also seemingly ignored, not to mention the fans who just wanted to see the girls sip cosmos and gossip about their love lives again.

And Just Like That consistently ignored its audience, which undeniably contributed to its downfall, but the worst part is that there was so much potential for Season 3 to be a redemption arc for the series. With some characters not returning, there was a lot more room for the show to focus on the ones viewers already knew and loved, but it just didn’t happen. As nice as it was to see Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte on our TV screens again, And Just Like That went about it all wrong. It had the opportunity to shape television just like Sex and the City did the first time around; it even had three seasons to mend its flaws, and seized no opportunity to do so. Unfortunately, the series ending isn’t the sad goodbye we thought it would be; it’s a long-overdue conclusion.