Happy “And Just Like That” recap day! I woke up this morning at 7am to workout, and then immediately turned towards watching and recapping this show. I was pleasantly surprised when my workout turned out to be the more painful of the two endeavors. After a rocky start, these last two episodes have been really enjoyable! When I saw that this episode was titled “Diwali” I must admit I was nervous; I was fully expecting Carrie to be the unbearably racist one this episode. That just wasn’t the case at all, and instead we got a great episode of friendship and bearable parenting. Cynthia Nixon actually directed this episode and she did a fabulous job!

The show opens with Carrie, Seema and Anthony checking out a new apartment for Carrie. Apparently, she’s decided that the best way to move on and accept her widowhood is to get a brand new sparkly apartment. She’s been looking at apartments for three months and has hated all of them, and she hates this one too, but decides to sign the papers on it anyways. The apartment only lasts in Carrie’s life until the end of the episode before she decides to sell it off again, but it’s beautiful while it lasts.

On the other side of the neighborhood, Rock would love to change up their living situation too. They ask their mother if they can redecorate their side of the room. Before Charlotte can say anything, Rock explains. They want to replace the doll collection with a longboard and paint over the “Rose” decal above their bed. Lilly and Rock truly have the pinkest room known to mankind. When Charlotte objects about the dolls, citing Lilly as a reason, Lilly takes her sibling’s side. She thinks the dolls are culturally inappropriate, and she’s kind of right! Charlotte stands there in shock as her children walk out of the room. Lilly tells her to breathe on the way out in a way that I find super endearing! I honestly love this family dynamic because even if it’s imperfect, Charlotte is trying to be supportive (saying “girls” and then instantly correcting herself to “kids” this episode) and Lilly is always in Rock’s corner!

Nya is still having internal conflict regarding her fertility/lack thereof. In fact, it seems to be the only personality trait that the show has given her thus far. This time, she goes for a walk with Miranda that devolves into Nya dumping all of her anxiety and annoyance about getting dinner with couple friend “fertile myrtle”. Miranda listens and tells her that she can control the conversation, an idea which Nya tries to take into dinner that night. It ends up being very awkward until Nya’s husband finally suggests that she calm down. We find out that Fertile Myrtle is pregnant once again, and she thinks that Nya and her husband NEED to have children. That night, post some very hot sex, Nya confides in her husband that she doesn’t know if she wants to ever do IVF again. He’s super supportive and it’s a very sweet moment between the two of them.

Anthony has a facelift appointment, and he begs Carrie to go with him because Charlotte is busy. Once there, the hot young doctor says that Anthony doesn’t even need a facelift because he is also hot and young, but suggests that Carrie might need some work done. I would suggest that the work she needs done is a new outfit, because those suspenders are a choice. The last 15 years could be erased, just like that! Carrie’s not really sure whether she should sink all that money into a whole new face, so she takes the topic with her to girl’s lunch.

Miranda suggests that it’s awful to get work done, and Charlotte makes the very good point that women should be allowed to get work done without being shamed for it by other women. This is a very funny topic when some of these actresses have clearly had work done! In other news, the women are all drinking non-alcoholic wine to support Miranda, who has gone completely cold turkey. I’m so curious whether they’re just going to forget about the alcoholism storyline altogether or whether it’ll come back up soon, especially given that Che and Miranda have drank together pretty much every time they were together! It’s not all smooth sailing for Miranda, because she’s replaced her drinking with masturbation. So much so, that she doesn’t even bother stopping when her son knocks on the door to talk to her. ew.

What is the topic of her masturbation fantasy? The one and only Che Diaz. Carrie’s boss and noted nonbinary legend. Charlotte shares that she also had a sex dream about Che– they’re hot– but Miranda confesses it’s not a dream, so much as a memory. Charlotte is first mad that Carrie knew and nobody told her, and then mad that Miranda is having an affair. I would argue that it’s not an affair yet, because it only happened one time, and Miranda would agree but not for the reason I cited. She says “it was not an affair it was a finger” which is a really shitty thing to say because you can absolutely have an affair with someone that doesn’t have a penis (even if you identify as a straight woman), but it also felt like a really realistic reaction for this woman who is just coming to terms with her sexuality.

After she calms down about the affair situation, she asks Miranda if she’s gay. Miranda says no, I don’t know, it’s not that simple because Che is nonbinary. All she knows is that she’s never felt more alive than when she was with them. “Them?!? There’s more than one?” Charlotte exclaims, before Carrie explains that Miranda was just using Che’s pronoun. I honestly thought that was pretty funny and brought some levity to the conversation for the audience. Unfortunately, Charlotte then announces that Miranda is not progressive enough for that relationship, and Miranda nearly storms off. Charlotte doesn’t understand why everyone can’t just stay the way they were, and Carrie says “Some of us don’t have that luxury”.

Honestly, Sarah Jessica Parker truly ACTED in this episode in a way that I don’t think she did in all of the original Sex and the City and I really appreciated it. I also appreciate the genuineness of all of their reactions to Miranda, and the fact that none of them seem upset about the fact that she might be gay. Charlotte’s comment was a bordering on unsupportive to queerness, but it’s clear that it’s coming out of a place of panic, and honestly, based on Miranda’s previous conversations and misgendering confusion, I sort of think she might be right. At any rate, I loved the way this scene was executed, and props to Cynthia Nixon for directing it beautifully.

Over the course of the three months it’s taken Carrie to find a new apartment, she’s become good friends with Seema. Good enough friends that Seema takes Carrie with her shopping for a new sari to wear to her family’s Diwali celebration. Seema’s parents desperately want her to get married, and soon. Their arranged marriage worked out beautifully, but Seema admits that she would never even consider it- she doesn’t even want people picking out her wine. Carrie offers to go with her to Diwali, and Seema announces that she’ll need a sari. After a brief explanation of the difference between cultural appreciation versus appropriation (because it’s not an episode of And Just Like That if at least one person of color doesn’t teach a white person something) Carrie picks out the sari she’s been admiring.

At the Diwali celebration, Carrie gets cornered by Seema’s parents, who want to know the scoop on Dennis. Who is Dennis? Carrie would like to know the same thing! Apparently, he’s the fantasy doctor that Seema has been telling her parents she’s been dating for the past 8 month. Carrie covers for Seema, and shares that she thinks Seema can do better. Seema says that it’s easier to lie to her parents, which is understandable but also sad! I love this Carrie and Seema friendship and I can’t wait to watch it keep getting stronger!

The episode ends with Carrie putting on her “Carrie” necklace and listening to Big’s records in her old apartment, Charlotte and Rock (with their newly short hair) redoing Rock’s room to remove the dolls and cover up the “Rose” wall art, and Miranda texting (actually, DM-ing, but I’m trying to block out that cringe line from last week) Che to hang out. Everyone’s coming to terms with where their lives are at right now and it’s very sweet to witness!

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