We are three-quarters of the way through And Just Like That… season three, and we don’t have too much to show for it. For nine episodes, the show has been coasting along, throwing in mostly inconsequential storylines to keep the characters busy for the week. Sometimes, that tactic proves to be more entertaining than others, but the past two episodes have felt so half-baked that one could argue maybe AJLT doesn’t need 12 episodes. And while last week’s “Happily Ever After” felt short at 32 minutes, “Present Tense” just seems downright fleeting at three less. I’m not complaining about the quick episodes, though, because really, only one thing of note happened this week, and it occurred in the final minutes, when Aidan and Carrie ended things on a West Village sidewalk.
I know I was just complaining about the length of the season, but the breakup means that, while there may only be three episodes left, it sort of feels like things are just getting started. And maybe I’m too optimistic, but we could be turning a corner here. Following her split, Carrie heads out to dinner with the girls as they show off their mismatched looks, and for a second, it feels like vintage Sex and the City (sans the Taylor Swift playing in the background, of course), clothes and all. Shop the styles (and everything else worn in the episode) below.
Despite it being weeks since her trip to Virginia, Carrie on the Prairie seems to live on, though, to be fair, the opening outfit of “Present Tense” is giving more Oktoberfest than Green Acres.
Really, though, Carrie should have been wearing a set of armor, because she gets bombarded when she finds Aidan in the courtyard (beautifully finished, by the way. Good job, Adam) with Duncan. Though Carrie asked Aidan not to engage with their downstairs neighbor, he ignores her request, and the result is the three sitting down for a tense conversation about the origins of Duncan’s pipe smoking. The conversation is overflowing with underlying meaning. Aidan, as a reminder, previously made Carrie quit smoking. He said he couldn’t date a smoker, and clearly, he can’t live above one either.
Giuseppina Dress
Lena Hoschek –
Carrie visits Seema at her new office, where she also meets the real estate agent’s new assistant, the giant Birkin-toting Artold. Talk about ludicrously capacious.
Anyway, the two pals sit down for a sushi lunch while discussing the issues between Carrie and Aidan. Carrie fills Seema in on some of her history, specifically the time she cheated on Aidan with Big (John). Honestly, sometimes I forget this show is connected to Sex and the City. At this point, it barely shares a resemblance to the original franchise, so this conversation serves as a needed reminder of the lore we’re working with here.
During the conversation, Carrie claims she’s happy Aidan is finally in NYC, but I’ve seen no evidence of said happiness. Before she can convince me otherwise, though, Artold informs Seema she has a lunch uptown in 40 minutes. Luckily, she has everything she needs in her Tod’s utility belt and Gucci bag, so the real estate agent is off in a flash.
Valentino Garavani VLogo Signature Leather Belt
Farfetch –
Alex Perry Oversized Wool Suiting Blazer
Moda Operandi –
Alex Perry Straight Crop Trouser
FWRD –
Altuzarra Indiana Double Breasted Jacket
Bloomingdale’s –
Altuzarra Todd Straight Leg Pants
Bloomingdale’s –
This episode is less than 30 minutes, so apparently, there isn’t enough time to give Lisa a full storyline. Instead, we get just two scenes of LTW, both dealing with her husband’s diet plan. They would be utterly pointless if the first didn’t provide a chance to see her custom Volantis dress and Themoirè straw clutch.
Alba Dress
Volantis –
Illumination Dress
Volantis –
Cutler and Goss Sunglasses
Pret a Voir –
When Joy discovers her precious gin has disappeared from Miranda’s apartment, it’s time for the redhead to come clean. Miranda admits to her girlfriend that she’s an alcoholic, and I’m once again left wondering how Joy didn’t see this coming or question why Miranda doesn’t drink. Either way, Joy handles the news very well and takes the opportunity to get vulnerable, too. It’s the first serious conversation these two have had together, and it’s much needed. I was getting a bit tired of Joy’s constant deflecting.
LTW is back for her second and final scene of the episode. Herbert is calling to inform her that he gained a pound. Again, it’s unclear why this was included, possibly just to give Lisa’s Alexander McQueen dress some screen time.
Carrie and Duncan are hard at work on the latter’s novel, but Aidan is looking for the two to join him for a steak dinner. I’m not sure how I feel about this whole situation. I understand Aidan having trust issues with Carrie, given her past, and Carrie’s insistence on keeping the two men separate is not helping the situation. That being said, Aidan isn’t coming off as an angel here. He could express himself in a more productive manner than trying to bribe Carrie with steak and then tossing her out of the bed. Whichever side you’re on, though, I think we can all admit this scene’s a hard one to watch.
Anthony continues his futile quest to get Giuseppe’s mother, Gia (Patti LuPone), to like him. He invites her over for dinner, serving risotto in his Theory button-down. Gia, though, is not going to be so easily won over, and Anthony’s Tom of Finland salt and pepper shakers aren’t exactly helping. Gia is scarred by her relationship with Giuseppe’s much-older father, who she claims turned her into a nurse during the prime of her life. Things reach a climax when Gia drops the faux accent and gets real. “Get your old man ass out of baby’s life,” she says, before swiping the meal off the table. Gia quickly snaps back into character and begins to clean up, but wouldn’t you know, Giuseppe just so happens to walk in as Gia is menacingly holding a knife at Anthony. She’s had enough, and she lets Giuseppe know she won’t support him any longer as long as he remains with Anthony. Gia has officially thrown down the hammer.
It was a tense night for everyone, especially Carrie and Aidan, who remain at odds in the morning. Carrie announces she’s going on a walk, by which she means a stroll through the Bergdorf Goodman shoe department. I’m already constantly unsettled watching this show, so I did not need that jump scare of Andy Cohen playing a shoe salesman. Before I can recover, though, Aidan texts Carrie asking her to grab lunch, and it seems like window shopping was enough to calm her down, because she agrees.
Carrie arrives to lunch in her Vivienne Westwood blouse, vintage 19th-century skirt, and SJP Collection Oxford heels. It’s immediately clear this isn’t going to go well. Aidan admits that he has trust issues, but Carrie is too caught up in his verbiage to hear him out. She storms off, and all the tension that has been building throughout the season reaches a boiling point. Carrie feels she has done everything to make the relationship work, but it’s still not enough, and now it’s time for Carrie to play with tenses. She “was one hundred percent in,” but she isn’t anymore, and with that, Carrie and Aidan are no more.
There’s nothing left to do now but turn on the Taylor Swift and call up the girls for a night out. Now, I didn’t peg Carrie as a Swiftie, and hearing the first few bars of “How Did It End?” provides almost as much of a whiplash as that Andy Cohen moment. The song plays as Carrie rids her house of Aidan’s things (guess we are never finding out what was in those duffel bags).
Carrie puts on an ivory satin dress and tops it with a gray cardigan, a la Kim Kardashian at the Met Gala. Her iridescent purple Aquazzura heels take her to dinner with Seema, Charlotte, and Miranda.
The lawyer is wearing a striped Stella McCartney dress with some very funky purple suede Jimmy Choo heels. Charlotte also gets the purple shoe memo and rocks a pair of suede, pointed-toe pumps with a blue short-sleeve blouse and navy pencil skirt. And then there’s Seema, who ignores any purple-footed theme and wears brown slingback heels, all the better to match her Norma Kamali dress worn atop leggings. Blink and you’ll miss these looks, as all we get is a voyeuristic view through the window as the women comfort Carrie and settle into a night of cosmos and conversation.
So Nude Sandal 105
Aquazzura –
Stella McCartney Striped Maxi Dress
Farfetch –
Gianvito 105 Heels
Gianvito Rossi –
Manolo Blahnik 110mm Suede Pumps
Farfecth –
Chiara Boni La Petite Robe Delfina Pencil Skirt
Saks Fifth Avenue –
Giuseppe Zanotti Clandestino Slingback Sandals
Bloomingdale’s –
Norma Kamali Ruched Metallic Shirt Dress
Net-A-Porter –
The Andamane Holly Capri Legging
FWRD –
Norma Kamali High-Rise Leggings
MyTheresa –