And Just Like That has been renewed for season 3, and fans have mixed feelings
Its official: And Just Like That will be back for a third season (HBO)
And Just Like That has officially been renewed for a third season and fans have very different thoughts about the news, to put it mildly.
The Sex and the City spin-off first hit our TVs in 2021 and brought back TV icons Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), as they continue their lives as fifty-somethings, 11 years on from the events of the big-screen outing Sex and the City 2.
Since then, the show has faced criticism from fans for its writing and characterisation, with new addition, non-binary comedian Che Diaz (played by Sara Ramirez) facing a significant backlash from viewers.
Some fans branded Diaz a simplistic representation of the non-binary experience while others took a more hateful aim and labelled them “insufferable” and an “a**hole”.
On Tuesday (22 August), US platform Max announced the show would be returning for another season.
Series creator Michael Patrick King said: “We are thrilled to spend more time in the Sex and the City universe, telling new stories about the lives of these relatable and aspirational characters played by these amazing actors.
“And just like that, here comes season three.”
Some fans – using that term loosely – were not happy to hear that the programme has been renewed again.
“Why, God, why? one person wrote, while a second said: “Speechless, why keep tarnishing this brand?”
Writing on Instagram, another pleaded: “This season was trash. Get better writers.”
Others took a more specific aim, saying: “Please no Che. We all thought [they are] ruining the franchise. Stop, it feels so fake.”
However, some people were pleased by the announcement, although they did have some suggestions.
“The voiceovers were what gave everything that deeper vibe. Even if the viewers are divided on the new writing, I think we can all agree that the voiceovers were the element that tied everything together,” one fan wrote in a lengthy comment.
“When you watch the old episodes and imagine the voiceovers gone, [they] become kind of tacky, and I say that as a die-hard fan.
“The voiceovers were the coolness and deepness of it all. Please: voiceovers. And thank you for another season.”
Another passionate fan wrote: “OK. please take these notes into (serious) consideration: 1. Remove the Che character 2. Remove the Dr Nya Wallace character 3. Keep Carrie and Aiden together 4. Maybe have Miranda and Steve try to mend their marriage 5. Leave Samantha off (I adore her, but this show has found its footing without her and integrating her at this point would do more harm than good). Yay for series three.”
Sara Ramirez hits out at The Cut
The announcement came the same day as Ramirez took to their Instagram account to criticise an article published in in The Cut.
“Been thinking long and hard about how to respond to The Hack Job’s article, “written” by a white gen z non-binary person who asked me serious questions but expected a comedic response, I guess,” Ramirez wrote, under a post which shared two photographs from their photoshoot with the magazine.
“Here’s the good news: I have a dry sense of [humour] and a voice. And I am not afraid to use either.”
The profile, published in June, was written by non-binary features writer Brock Colyar, who saw parallels between the actor and the character.
While Ramirez said they are “not the characters I play, I’m not Che Diaz”, Colyar cited Ramirez’s now deleted Instagram bio which described themself as “abolicious” and a “Mexican Irish non-binary human”, language, the journalist suggested, that echoed Diaz’s.
Colyar noted criticism of Diaz faced from fans, writing: “Plenty of eye-rolling from the (mostly younger) queer people I know, who found the character a hyperbolised, hyper-cringe representation of non-binary identity.”
In response, Ramirez wrote on Instagram: “[I] trust those of you who matter, who are not petulant children, who are smart enough to catch on to what was actually going on there, can perceive it [the article] for what it is”.
They went on to describe the piece as: “An attempt to mock my thoughtfulness and softness, while dismissing a valid existence and real human being in [favour] of TV show critiques that belonged elsewhere.
“I am not the fictional characters I have played, nor am I responsible for the things that are written for them to say. I am a human being, an artist, an actor, and we are living in a world that has become increasingly hostile towards anyone who dares to free themselves from the gender binary, or disrupt the mainstream.”
