And Just Like That...

The instability is both the point and the problem, the thing that makes you want to watch and cringe at it simultaneously. It’s poignant, even. And Just Like That … is both in on and outside of the joke, but either way the sight of someone falling makes you laugh.

The writing, still, feels most alive when engaging with Carrie. Her constancy as a figure whose fundamental and defining trait is “she’s the protagonist” jangles somewhat awkwardly against the expansion of the show, but it also means that we have a steady center amid much wobbliness.

This is all to say that throughout the adrift but watchable first seven episodes of AJLT Season 2, I found myself most compelled by Miranda and Che’s rocky dynamic.

Whereas And Just Like That Season 1 was deliciously imperfect, Season 2 is imperfect and underseasoned.

Mostly, though, it’s now passable, rising up to the level of nostalgic mediocrity to which most of the recent boom of TV revivals seem to aspire. If you enjoyed Season One specifically for how strangely terrible it could be, this may be a disappointment. If you’re just looking to reconnect with your old friends in something that feels vaguely like the good old days, it’s much closer to the mark.

Carrie’s usually at her best when she’s merrily penning clichés, and there’s not that much of that here – things would certainly improve if she gets off the pod and back on her laptop. So far, it’s all just a bit dull.

In its second season, And Just Like That thankfully stops apologizing for its existence. Unfortunately, this only illuminates the show’s lack of purpose; it is indeed uncanny and lifeless.

The new season is just as smug, irritating and brimming with first-world problems of spoilt, rich, whiney clothes horses we've come to expect.

The new season does have a few things going for it. Carrie is thankfully less catatonic, and while some of her plots feel less than essential, she is thinking a lot about Aidan (John Corbett), her ex. .... It's not necessarily a problem that Che's arc ends up being more dramatic and interesting than Lisa's or Nya's or Seema's. It's definitely a problem, however, that I'm still not sure, seven episodes in, what any of these interesting new additions need, or want.

But what once seemed edgy for primetime TV now feels like a parody of itself.