And Just Like That's Biggest Mistake Was Cutting Carrie's Voiceovers
Warning: Spoilers ahead for And Just Like That.
HBO Max’s And Just Like That diverted heavily from the original formula of Sex and the City, but its biggest mistake was cutting Carrie’s narration and voiceovers. Each episode of Sex and the City’s original series was based on a column that Carrie Bradshaw was writing, which meant every story about herself, Miranda, Charlotte, and Samantha were told from how she interpreted them. As the narrator, Carrie was also able to provide commentary on the women’s anecdotes while connecting their themes for one succinct Sex and the City story.
In bringing back Sex and the City, And Just Like That took a different route in its storytelling, where each character is telling their own tale without Carrie being the know-all figure. Rather than continue Carrie’s narration of the women’s stories for a book or piece of writing, And Just Like That’s only voiceovers occurred at the end of each episode, with Carrie simply concluding the story with “And Just Like That…” Considering And Just Like That is no longer following the Sex and the City format, it’s curious that the revival included Sarah Jessica Parker’s end-of-episode voiceovers at all.
Part of what made Sex and the City so appealing was that even when a character’s story was upsetting, Carrie would still end the episode by tying it together with optimism for their futures. In And Just Like That, no such thing occurs, with the only summary of each episode being about Carrie’s own specific journey. Carrie’s narration in Sex and the City also provided a buffer for the more emotional moments of the series, with a quick wisecrack or pun from her voiceover breaking the tension and allowing viewers to move into the next woman’s storyline without it feeling too jarring of a transition. One problem with And Just Like That season 1 is the series no longer has the light-hearted air and optimistic tone of Sex and the City, which is only exacerbated by the fact that Carrie’s voiceovers aren’t there to soften the blow. Shifting to a more emotional and dramatic mood isn’t necessarily a bad path for And Just Like That, but it contributes to the struggles of losing some of the most interesting aspects of Sex and the City’s original storytelling.
Without Carrie’s voiceovers, And Just Like That’s episodes also felt quite messy in their arrangement. The stories of Charlotte, Miranda, and Carrie hardly overlapped in their themes or even included one another unless they got lunch together, which made And Just Like That season 1 come off as three separate stories connected by old friends rather than one combined narrative in each episode. Even if the Sex and the City characters’ anecdotes in each week were completely different, Carrie’s narration always found a way to bring them together for a more cohesive piece in her writing. And Just Like That doesn’t feature Carrie writing a column, book, or anything to directly conjoin the storylines in a compelling manner, so each episode either appears unfinished or one story feels irrelevant to include with the others.
While And Just Like That made the creative decision to rid the series of Carrie’s voiceovers, it’s been speculated that a better premise for the revival could have followed Carrie continuing to write the stories of each woman, but in a manner that better reflects their new circumstances. Considering And Just Like That still wanted to work Kim Cattrall’s Samantha Jones into the show without including her physically, the series could have been based around Carrie emailing Samantha the anecdotes of what’s going on in their lives each week. This would give And Just Like That’s episodes a more unified expression while allowing for Carrie’s voiceovers to return by making jokes to Samantha, and even including Samantha in the core basis of the series.