Over the last four episodes of “And Just Like That…”, our awesome threesome has really gone through it.

SPOILER ALERT: We will now talk about what they’ve gone through. Proceed with caution.

• Carrie begins to suspect Big carried a torch for, or had an affair with, Natasha. Then she needs to get major hip surgery due to a congenital defect, and face the possibility of never walking in heels EVER AGAIN.

• Miranda spirals deeper into her alcoholism, finally hitting rock bottom and deciding to quit — oh, and she realizes she’s into Carrie’s boss, Che, and has sex with them in Carrie’s kitchen while her post-op friend lies helplessly nearby.

• Charlotte… has a wonderful child who is exploring their identity. Okay, so Charlotte is not super going through it, but hey, they can’t all be in crisis at the same time!

In this middle batch of “AJLT” episodes, the show also tries — only somewhat successfully — to make space for its four new central castmembers. Nya, Miranda’s professor, gets a mini-arc about her ambivalence about continuing IVF; Seema, Carrie’s glamorous realtor, gets one about the family pressure she’s under to find love. Lisa (or LTW), Charlotte’s PTA buddy, wants acceptance from her mother-in-law, and Che, podcaster and comedy concert performer, wants… to fuck Miranda and perform comedy, presumably.

But their screentime is minimal compared to the original three, and the show still seems to be grappling with how to integrate so many new perspectives — and with how to bring Miranda, Charlotte, and Carrie into 2021. Both Miranda and Charlotte are shown spectacularly fucking up in their attempts to come off as anti-racist and with it (in one episode, Charlotte tries to strong-arm her Black neighbor into coming to dinner so that LTW and her husband won’t be the only Black friends there), and while there’s an honesty to showing the kind of missteps they make, it’s also jarring how few consequences they face, other than some momentary awkwardness quickly smoothed over by their Black acquaintances.

There’s so much more to explore in these four episodes — so much that we went SUPER LONG on this pod, learning that we simply can’t do four episodes in under 2 hours next time. We discuss plotlines about aging and plastic surgery, extramarital affairs, parenting trans children, ultra-modern apartments and mystery beeping, Stanford’s necessary but inglorious exit, problematic dolls, and the rise of Anthony.

We hope you enjoy this very long episode! xo

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We’ve been watching…

I just got the press screener for the “Yellowjackets” finale and I am very relieved to report that this brilliant show about trauma, girlhood, and the viciousness of the latter, sticks the motherfucking landing. Buzz buzz, bitches. -Emma

“Starstruck” on HBO Max. It feels like every week I report to the teacher (all of you) that I couldn’t finish my homework (reading/TV watching/podcast listening/newsletter writing) because my son has been home sick from daycare, but: he’s been home sick from daycare. Since CHRISTMAS. So we needed a light half-hour comedy to watch in the evenings while we shoved frozen pizza in our mouths before falling into bed. “Starstruck,” a sweet romcom series from the U.K., turns “Notting Hill” upside-down as it follows a snarky nanny/cinema usher through her unexpected hookup-turned-romance with a famous actor. It’s a very pleasant way to pass a few hours. -Claire

We’ve been reading…

I really needed to dive into a story that would make me feel warm and fuzzy inside, and Alison Rose Greenberg’s debut novel, “Bad Luck Bridesmaid,” did just that. It follows Zoey Marks, a woman in her early 30s who is uninterested in (and bordering on terrified of) marriage as she navigates the end of a relationship with a man who desperately wanted marital bliss, and the impending nuptials of her best friend. The novel is light and funny and well-written, and wraps up in a way that defies your cookie cutter happy ending. -Emma

I decided to read Colson Whitehead’s “Harlem Shuffle” over the break. My son even helped me out by shouting “MOMMY BOOK!” whenever he spotted it lying around the apartment and running to bring it over to me. Unfortunately I’m stalled halfway because I had to start doing work during naptime again after the holidays, but the first half conjures such a rich world, and creates a compelling protagonist in Carney, a somewhat shady furniture salesman from a family of crooks, who’s trying to keep his family afloat and climbing the social ladder — an almost impossible task to achieve honestly. -Claire

We’ve been listening to…

“Harsh Reality: The Story of Miriam Rivera.” This 7-part podcast looks back at the life of Miriam Rivera, the trans woman who was at the center of “There’s Something About Miriam,” a horrifyingly misguided and transphobic 2003 reality show in which a group of British men vied for Miriam’s affections. The twist? At the end, Miriam would “reveal her secret” — aka her identity as a non-cisgender woman. Rivera died in 2019, and this podcast, hosted by Trace Lysette pays beautiful tribute to her and forces many of the players involved in “There’s Something About Miriam” to reflect on its uncomfortable legacy. -Emma

The ongoing “You’re Wrong About” series on “The Amityville Horror,” the book by Jay Anson that launched the true-haunting media empire. Sarah Marshall and Jamie Loftus walk us through the book, the backstory, and all the weird cultural norms baked into the narrative — like how it’s treated as completely normal that the new husband and stepfather in the family isn’t honest with his wife about anything and constantly shouts at his stepchildren. -Claire

We’ve been buying…

This sweater vest dress from Abercrombie. I am legitimately obsessed with the A&F rebrand and I can’t stop buying their eminently wearable, classic-feeling basics. -Emma

My skin has been, like, terrible lately?? And while Instagram moms always seem to have a full face of makeup on, it feels a bit pointless to me — my toddler literally ground a handful of snow in my face the other day ten minutes after I applied concealer and mascara. But Glossier hasn’t been cutting it, and I was starting to just feel down about my ~whole look~.

So I was in a very vulnerable place for impulse cosmetic shopping, and ended up ordering some Merit products after resisting the Instagram ads for months. The idea is that they allow you to do a quick easy routine, but do offer some coverage — rather than a totally sheer skin tint like Glossier’s, the Minimalist foundation/concealer stick is meant to be applied to targeted areas (like undereye circles and blemishes) and then blended out. They also sell a very popular tinted lip oil, and even with nightly applications of my beloved Laneige lip mask, I could use some more daily lip moisture. So I caved! I will update when I see how they work on my face. -Claire

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