‘And Just Like That’: Revisiting Carrie & Aidan’s Relationship Amid Shocking Season 3 Reveal

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SPOILER ALERT: The following reveals major plot points from Season 3, Episode 6 of HBO Max’s And Just Like That… titled “Silent Mode.”

This week’s episode of HBO Max’s And Just Like That… shows just how far Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) has come since we first met her in HBO’s Sex And The City. It also gives viewers a glimpse into why Carrie’s renewed relationship with her ex, Aidan Shaw (John Corbett), might last this time around.

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For reference, let’s go back in time to SATC‘s third season when Carrie and Aidan first meet. At this time, the former is nursing a broken heart after learning her “true love,” Mr. Big (Chris Noth), has returned to New York and is engaged to be married. Carrie and Aidan start dating and one day bump into Big, who is piss drunk and talking about how unhappy his marriage to Natasha Naginsky (Bridget Moynahan). Carrie and Big then begin a torrid affair, leading to Carrie telling Aidan the truth before Charlotte’s (Kristin Davis) wedding to Trey MacDougal (Kyle MacLachlan) and their first break-up.

Carrie and Aidan (Sorry, we didn’t have ship names back then!) reunite in Season 4 and eventually become engaged. However, they never make it to the altar because Carrie refused to commit, and Aidan was trying to rush down the aisle, thinking it would cure his anxieties about her affair. While they did break up “for good,” they saw each other again.

In the Season 6 premiere, Carrie and Aidan bump into each other on the street, and he has a baby strapped to his chest. His name is Tate, and he is Aidan’s son with Kathy, a fellow furniture designer he married. They see each other again in the film, Sex and the City 2, while in Abu Dhabi, but it was mostly a casual way to bring hottie Aidan back into the picture for us fans.

As And Just Like That… fans already know, Aidan is back in the picture, a divorced father of three, trying a third time to make a relationship with Carrie work. Mr. Big died in Season 1, so a Season 2 reunion between the former lovahs is above board. However, we watch this show for the drama, so the writers can’t make “happily ever after” anything less than chaotic, and we are here for it.

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NOTE: Deadline spoke with Sarah Jessica Parker about the episode, which can be found here.

At the end of Season 2, the pair agree to a long-distance relationship because Aidan’s children back in Virginia still need him. The duo takes turns visiting one another, and in today’s episode, Aidan returns to New York to see Carrie at the home she bought for them to share. But in a moment of wanting to be romantic, Aidan accidentally breaks a vintage panel of glass that is irreplaceable. While discussing the damage, Aidan admits he and his ex-wife Kathy, had sex.

“I slept with Kathy,” he tells Carrie after she pulled him in for a kiss.

She replies, “What do you mean you slept with Kathy?

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He fills her in on the details, “it just happened,” during a moment when they were trying to comfort one another. He tells Carrie it was a mistake, something he and Kathy agree on. Carrie is silent and in shock at his admission and later apology that it will never happen again.

As Carrie looks away to gather her thoughts, I can’t help but think of that moment back in SATC when Aidan yells at Carrie, “YOU BROKE MY HEART!” So, I’m thinking, “Wow, here comes the fireworks,” but none came.

“So odd, but I kinda understand,” she tells him with a shrug. “Or, maybe, I don’t know, maybe I’m in shock… No, I do. I can understand how that could happen,” she adds.

Sex and the City Sarah Jessica Parker John Corbett

It’s in this moment that Carrie and Aidan are in each other’s shoes. Carrie understands how you can get swept up in old feelings and the mistakes that follow. Aidan can maybe, for the first time, understand that Carrie wasn’t trying to hurt him when she slept with Mr. Big. There was an undeniable connection and attraction that they succumbed to without thinking of the people they were hurting.

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“I’m so sorry I betrayed you,” Aidan adds, but Carrie counters with, “What do you mean you betrayed me?”

The pair goes on to have a very adult conversation about how they never set boundaries for their complicated relationship and how to move forward.

There has been talk about how many of the characters on And Just Like That… have not changed much since the SATC years, and I disagree. This conversation between Carrie and Aidan shows that these two mature adults have evolved greatly over many years as individuals and now have much more to offer each other. So instead of thinking they are back together to fulfill the wishes of ~half of their OG fans, this could be the real deal. The timing of Carrie and Aidan was off until now…maybe.

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