SATC New Season - And Just Like That...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There’s a reason why the Miranda jackpot on the Sex and the City slot machine was always the lowest. No one wants to see a screen full of Miranda, even in Vegas.

I acknowledge and admire the specificity in this comment!!

LOL, thank you. I’ve been waiting.

[Anonymous]

One of the biggest problems I have with AJLT is Miranda. In SATC she was independent, hard working, clever as well as cynical & self deprecating. AJLT Miranda is a mess; she often acts lost, doesn't behave with conviction, has a victim mentality - I know we all change as we age but this seems like an entirely new character. She even speaks differently. It makes me nuts and it has nothing to do with Che (even though I'm not in love with that storyline). This version of Miranda reminds me more of Cynthia Nixon's character on Gilded Age than Miranda.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of the biggest problems I have with AJLT is Miranda. In SATC she was independent, hard working, clever as well as cynical & self deprecating. AJLT Miranda is a mess; she often acts lost, doesn't behave with conviction, has a victim mentality - I know we all change as we age but this seems like an entirely new character. She even speaks differently. It makes me nuts and it has nothing to do with Che (even though I'm not in love with that storyline). This version of Miranda reminds me more of Cynthia Nixon's character on Gilded Age than Miranda.

Her storyline lacks subtlety. That's why it feels cheaper/worse than any of the others in the new show. Instead of creating a believable storyline about a middle aged woman having a professional and sexual awakening in her 50s, leading her to leave her job and her husband and start a new life, AJLT has chosen to make the entire plot hamfisted, melodramatic, and cartoonish. Miranda doesn't merely leave her husband -- she turns down a great professional opportunity and moves across the country to be with a new SO who doesn't even seem to like her that much. She doesn't just struggle with that move, she stumbles from one absurd scenario (loses phone, has to borrow from surfer, winds up driving across LA with SO's husband) to another (son threatens suicide, so she disrupts her partner's huge professional moment). The only self-aware or productive thing she does is attend an AA meeting, where she meets a woman who seems like she could be interesting, and that woman is literally never seen again. It's just grounded in nothing except "how can we make Miranda look silly here?"

Meanwhile the other characters are getting more nuance and interesting storylines with shades of gray. Charlotte makes a black friend and she's awkward about it, but it turns out the friend is awkward too and the humor comes from the situation -- we're not supposed to just laugh AT Charlotte. Similar with her struggling with Rock coming out as non-binary. She has moments where she's wrong, or embarrassing, or unreasonable, but also moments of growth and maturity. Same with Carrie as she processes Big's death, runs into Natasha, starts dating again -- it's not all roses and rainbows, but it's also not some humiliating death march with no payoff. There is growth. It's subtle and you can look at it a few different ways, which makes it interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wtf Che is 46? Makes them so much more unlikeable, especially in regards to the their response to Miranda being upset about Brady saying he wanted to die. What 46 year old doesn't get how that is the more important than a pilot . . .

Feel that they dropped this little factiod to make Miranda not look as insane, but honestly it just paints the "I Wish They All Could Be California Girls" announcement in a more ridiculous light. This is not a 46 year old!!!!

Eh, I wonder if they are trying to make Che unlikeable?

Comedians are often broken people. Ditto for actors.

Feel like they were trying to make it seem like they aren't that far off in age in reality although Che comes off as so immature. So its not like Miranda robbed the cradle. I have no idea how old Sara R is, but would easily believe late twenties on physical appearance.

Ramirez is 46 or 47.

Ramirez played Dr. Callie Torres on Grey's Anatomy for 10 years and that character left the show in 2016.

Cool. She looks like she could be late 20s. For people who didn't watch Grey's Anatomy, I am not sure how they would have known Che was in her mid-forties from what we have seen.

Ramirez looks fantastic for her age. I loved her character on Grey's Anatomy but I can't stand her on this series. Very unlikeable character and unbelievable Miranda would fall for someone like her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Che also can't act, which only makes her character more grating.

When did Miranda become a bumbling fool?

I think over the course of two decades while stagnating at home in a relationship that was comfortable but not right - and then going on a sort of rumspringa with Che, who is a disaster for Miranda but is also unleashing something in her that feels (to her) authentic and necessary. I think the problem is that usually we understand the powerful attraction that a character has to another character, but they've written Che so weirdly that none of us can imagine feeling that way about them. So it makes Miranda seem crazy, not just like someone who's bursting into something new in later midlife.

I continue to think that Miranda's midlife crisis can be narratively exciting, while we see her make mistakes and also find the person she believes herself to be at this stage of her life. It's just hinging so much of it on an unappealing character that makes this story hard for any of us to get with, I think.

Bingo.

The posts upthread about the intent to have Miranda and Nya together helped crystalize this for me. If they'd stuck with that, we'd see Miranda's sexual discovery being matched with intellectual growth, which would feel so authentic to her character. That would have been so fun to watch. She's clearly the smartest, best educated, and intellectual of the original four.

Instead we're supposed to believe that she's attracted to someone with the maturity of a teenage boy who plays video games with his friends until 4 in the morning. It makes no sense.

I think it makes sense, Nya is a type everyone would expect her to end up with (though, why is the assumption that because Miranda has discovered she is bisexual that Nya is open to a same-sex relationship? That jump is puzzling to me but I am firmly heterosexual so there is that) but Che is different from anything she has experienced before so she needs to do this, it's part of her journey.

[Anonymous]

Che is basically a 19 year-old college bro: parties late with friends, playing video games, always getting high, makes crude jokes and remarks, pawing at their partner for sex, awkward threesomes, etc.

Why is Miranda basically dating one of her son’s friends?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Che also can't act, which only makes her character more grating.

When did Miranda become a bumbling fool?

I think over the course of two decades while stagnating at home in a relationship that was comfortable but not right - and then going on a sort of rumspringa with Che, who is a disaster for Miranda but is also unleashing something in her that feels (to her) authentic and necessary. I think the problem is that usually we understand the powerful attraction that a character has to another character, but they've written Che so weirdly that none of us can imagine feeling that way about them. So it makes Miranda seem crazy, not just like someone who's bursting into something new in later midlife.

I continue to think that Miranda's midlife crisis can be narratively exciting, while we see her make mistakes and also find the person she believes herself to be at this stage of her life. It's just hinging so much of it on an unappealing character that makes this story hard for any of us to get with, I think.

Bingo.

The posts upthread about the intent to have Miranda and Nya together helped crystalize this for me. If they'd stuck with that, we'd see Miranda's sexual discovery being matched with intellectual growth, which would feel so authentic to her character. That would have been so fun to watch. She's clearly the smartest, best educated, and intellectual of the original four.

Instead we're supposed to believe that she's attracted to someone with the maturity of a teenage boy who plays video games with his friends until 4 in the morning. It makes no sense.

I think it makes sense, Nya is a type everyone would expect her to end up with (though, why is the assumption that because Miranda has discovered she is bisexual that Nya is open to a same-sex relationship? That jump is puzzling to me but I am firmly heterosexual so there is that) but Che is different from anything she has experienced before so she needs to do this, it's part of her journey.

Just going off what a pp said-- that Nya was originally supposed to be her love interest, but Cynthia Nixon wanted Sara Ramirez/the Che character. If so, Nya's character was rewritten as a straight married woman.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Che also can't act, which only makes her character more grating.

When did Miranda become a bumbling fool?

I think over the course of two decades while stagnating at home in a relationship that was comfortable but not right - and then going on a sort of rumspringa with Che, who is a disaster for Miranda but is also unleashing something in her that feels (to her) authentic and necessary. I think the problem is that usually we understand the powerful attraction that a character has to another character, but they've written Che so weirdly that none of us can imagine feeling that way about them. So it makes Miranda seem crazy, not just like someone who's bursting into something new in later midlife.

I continue to think that Miranda's midlife crisis can be narratively exciting, while we see her make mistakes and also find the person she believes herself to be at this stage of her life. It's just hinging so much of it on an unappealing character that makes this story hard for any of us to get with, I think.

Bingo.

The posts upthread about the intent to have Miranda and Nya together helped crystalize this for me. If they'd stuck with that, we'd see Miranda's sexual discovery being matched with intellectual growth, which would feel so authentic to her character. That would have been so fun to watch. She's clearly the smartest, best educated, and intellectual of the original four.

Instead we're supposed to believe that she's attracted to someone with the maturity of a teenage boy who plays video games with his friends until 4 in the morning. It makes no sense.

I think it makes sense, Nya is a type everyone would expect her to end up with (though, why is the assumption that because Miranda has discovered she is bisexual that Nya is open to a same-sex relationship? That jump is puzzling to me but I am firmly heterosexual so there is that) but Che is different from anything she has experienced before so she needs to do this, it's part of her journey.

Just going off what a pp said-- that Nya was originally supposed to be her love interest, but Cynthia Nixon wanted Sara Ramirez/the Che character. If so, Nya's character was rewritten as a straight married woman.

The actress playing Nya is doing a lot with very little here. Her storyline has been confusing and inconsistent. Are she and her husband trying to get pregnant? Breaking up? Simply weathering a midlife crisis? Sometimes I'm confused because it feels like she moves from one phase to another very quickly with little or no explanation.

So I could totally see the show deciding suddenly that she's bisexual or even, like Miranda appears to be, gay, just so they can have a "roomies sexually attracted to each other" plot and provide Miranda with another queer relationship. Her character seems to have very little agency despite the fact that she's a Columbia professor who is obviously very intelligent and well-respected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of the biggest problems I have with AJLT is Miranda. In SATC she was independent, hard working, clever as well as cynical & self deprecating. AJLT Miranda is a mess; she often acts lost, doesn't behave with conviction, has a victim mentality - I know we all change as we age but this seems like an entirely new character. She even speaks differently. It makes me nuts and it has nothing to do with Che (even though I'm not in love with that storyline). This version of Miranda reminds me more of Cynthia Nixon's character on Gilded Age than Miranda.

Her storyline lacks subtlety. That's why it feels cheaper/worse than any of the others in the new show. Instead of creating a believable storyline about a middle aged woman having a professional and sexual awakening in her 50s, leading her to leave her job and her husband and start a new life, AJLT has chosen to make the entire plot hamfisted, melodramatic, and cartoonish. Miranda doesn't merely leave her husband -- she turns down a great professional opportunity and moves across the country to be with a new SO who doesn't even seem to like her that much. She doesn't just struggle with that move, she stumbles from one absurd scenario (loses phone, has to borrow from surfer, winds up driving across LA with SO's husband) to another (son threatens suicide, so she disrupts her partner's huge professional moment). The only self-aware or productive thing she does is attend an AA meeting, where she meets a woman who seems like she could be interesting, and that woman is literally never seen again. It's just grounded in nothing except "how can we make Miranda look silly here?"

Meanwhile the other characters are getting more nuance and interesting storylines with shades of gray. Charlotte makes a black friend and she's awkward about it, but it turns out the friend is awkward too and the humor comes from the situation -- we're not supposed to just laugh AT Charlotte. Similar with her struggling with Rock coming out as non-binary. She has moments where she's wrong, or embarrassing, or unreasonable, but also moments of growth and maturity. Same with Carrie as she processes Big's death, runs into Natasha, starts dating again -- it's not all roses and rainbows, but it's also not some humiliating death march with no payoff. There is growth. It's subtle and you can look at it a few different ways, which makes it interesting.

Miranda has gone through waaay more upheaval and growth than Carrie & Charlotte. I find her scenes with Che completely cringy, but also more realistic than any other the other characters. At middle age, she left her husband, realized she was a lesbian and has embarked on a relationship that she never in a million years expected. Yes, she is often awkward, embarrassed, insecure - a complete change from her usual self-assured self. But people often have to go through awkward of phases to have true growth and (hopefully) that’s the direction Miranda is going in.

[Anonymous]

Did anyone else think Charlotte and Harry's costume choice was super random? What is going on with Kristen Davis' vanity? First she is number 3 on the MILF list. Really?!? Then she is dressed as a character twenty years younger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone else think Charlotte and Harry's costume choice was super random? What is going on with Kristen Davis' vanity? First she is number 3 on the MILF list. Really?!? Then she is dressed as a character twenty years younger.

Charlotte looks weird all over to me. I always liked her style before but her face doesn't match those clothes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Che is basically a 19 year-old college bro: parties late with friends, playing video games, always getting high, makes crude jokes and remarks, pawing at their partner for sex, awkward threesomes, etc.

Why is Miranda basically dating one of her son’s friends?

And why would basically one of her son’s friends be interested in dating Miranda?

[Anonymous]

I watched a few of the more current episodes, having abandoned ship after episode 2 of the first season, and it has gotten a tiny BIT better. I actually do like the new characters (minus Che) but the thing that I think that bothers me is that there are too many of them and it changes what made SATC great: A tight group of ride or die b*ches navigating their lives but always coming back together. It was an ensemble cast- each characters storyline was interesting or fun in some way. You invested in them. Now it’s a million characters storylines I don’t care about. Introduce one new main friend to replace sam and that’s it. Having a million new faces waters down the intimacy and closeness of the characters. I truly get whiplash between scenes jumping from one new friend combo to the next. The best part of the old show was the banter and chemistry between the 4. So far Charlotte’s character is the worst and most boring part of the show. She’s a cartoon character all the time. Miranda’s character is too far gone from her old self. And Carrie- always looking for a man. What a snooze fest. The thing is, they squeezed out all of the juice that they could from the original SATC storyline wise. Now without Samantha there is no group
Chemistry. It’s like the Beatles without John Lennon. Go on a reunion tour all you like, but it won’t be the same. I’d actually be more invested if they’d just dump all of the old characters and did a show with just the new ones- at least it would be fresh! You actually could come up with some variety and new story lines.

[Anonymous]

You actually could come up with some variety and new story lines.

+1 The penis pump storyline was literally something they planned for the original show twenty years ago and just got around to using now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Che also can't act, which only makes her character more grating.

When did Miranda become a bumbling fool?

I think over the course of two decades while stagnating at home in a relationship that was comfortable but not right - and then going on a sort of rumspringa with Che, who is a disaster for Miranda but is also unleashing something in her that feels (to her) authentic and necessary. I think the problem is that usually we understand the powerful attraction that a character has to another character, but they've written Che so weirdly that none of us can imagine feeling that way about them. So it makes Miranda seem crazy, not just like someone who's bursting into something new in later midlife.

I continue to think that Miranda's midlife crisis can be narratively exciting, while we see her make mistakes and also find the person she believes herself to be at this stage of her life. It's just hinging so much of it on an unappealing character that makes this story hard for any of us to get with, I think.

Bingo.

The posts upthread about the intent to have Miranda and Nya together helped crystalize this for me. If they'd stuck with that, we'd see Miranda's sexual discovery being matched with intellectual growth, which would feel so authentic to her character. That would have been so fun to watch. She's clearly the smartest, best educated, and intellectual of the original four.

Instead we're supposed to believe that she's attracted to someone with the maturity of a teenage boy who plays video games with his friends until 4 in the morning. It makes no sense.

I think it makes sense, Nya is a type everyone would expect her to end up with (though, why is the assumption that because Miranda has discovered she is bisexual that Nya is open to a same-sex relationship? That jump is puzzling to me but I am firmly heterosexual so there is that) but Che is different from anything she has experienced before so she needs to do this, it's part of her journey.

Just going off what a pp said-- that Nya was originally supposed to be her love interest, but Cynthia Nixon wanted Sara Ramirez/the Che character. If so, Nya's character was rewritten as a straight married woman.

Bad choice. I suspect that sexual interest in people with ambiguous gender signals is fairly niche and limited, so it's not relatable. Also, I'm grossed out by how much of Cynthia Nixon's body I'm being forced to view in exchange for watching the show. It's much like the show Girls, which intentionally subjected viewers to ugliness as part of its shtick. But, AJLT isn't pulling it off as well as Girls. And to be clear before someone freaks out-- Nixon isn't ugly. But I can't be the only one who wishes I could unsee Nixon's softcore porn scenes.