And the Just Like That creator heard the critics, season 2 has more sex and town

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In retrospect, Michael Patrick King, the series creator behind Sex and the City’s successor series And Just Like That, should have anticipated one of the big hurdles he would have to navigate while filming Season 2. “I have to tell you, it was a little risky this summer,” he admits to EW, sitting in his plush New York apartment a day after he and the cast celebrated the end of production with a wrap-up party. mid-April.

It wasn’t the paparazzi, though it looked like those flashbulbs would leak Sarah Jessica Parker’s Carrie Bradshaw’s latest trends online faster than HBO could release an official image. No, it was the Peloton effect.

“This season, every time we wanted to use a product name, people were like, ‘And how are they going to use it?'” King recalled, unable to stop himself from laughing. “We want [SJP] wear Gucci. ‘How will she wear it? Nothing bad is going to happen to our product, is it? »

And just like that… Season 2

HBO Max ‘And Just Like That’ season 2 is back, and so are the modes

The concern stemmed from And Just Like That season 1, particularly when John James Preston/Mr. Big fell from a fatal heart attack after riding his Peloton bike. Real Peloton shares fell when the episode aired, sending the fitness company into crisis mode. His own in-house preventive cardiologist even honked to point out that Mr. Big’s fictional “extravagant lifestyle” of cocktails, cigars and steaks likely caused such an event, not the Peloton itself.

Today, King is far enough away from the situation to laugh about it. “Look, I was in my platoon yesterday. I’m alive,” he said. “That was a story point!”

The seismic reaction to Big’s death was a telltale sign for King at the time. For the past 25 years, Sex and the City fans have grown attached to Carrie and Big, as well as Cynthia Nixon’s Miranda Hobbes and Kristin Davis’ Charlotte York. Anything new that disrupted the happy ending they had cataloged in their minds and in both SATC movies could easily feel like a personal affront to their TV best friends. King is mesmerized by it all and welcomes both cheers and mockery from his And Just Like That audience. “That means we haven’t done the same thing,” he says. “If we had tried to do Sex in the City now without any of the changes we made, it wouldn’t have been on the table in my mind. There wouldn’t have been anything to discuss. There wouldn’t be no change to discuss.”

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And just like that… Season 2

HBO Max Lisa (Nicole Ari Parker), Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and Nya (Karen Pittman) enjoy the city in “And Just Like That”

And just like that… Season 2

HBO Max Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and Harry (Evan Handler) still in the throes of love in ‘And Just Like That’ season 2

Even so, the man was aware of the weekly talk surrounding each Season 1 episode when they aired. King believes, “A lot of Season 2 is a response to the reaction to Season 1 in my thought process. ‘Oh, it’s dark. Oh really? It’s necessary because the opposite of dark is light. , so that [season] is light. And if it was winter, it is spring. “”It doesn’t mean a direct reaction to a specific criticism. “I didn’t see a tweet and say, ‘Oh my God, I have to change everything,'” he clarifies. “It’s a feeling of the times.”

While season 1 was about death and heartbreak, King says season two’s credo is, “Life is short, so live.” It’s like “when a friend is going through something difficult and then you’re relieved that they’re coming through and feeling like themselves again,” he explains. You could say that the friend King is talking about is the show itself. The executive producer mentions And Just Like That now returns to the ideas that made the original Sex in the City fun after such a dark time for Carrie.

Literally, “There’s sex and there’s city. There’s so many restaurants and there’s so much New York. It really is more city than I’ve ever seen in the series,” he said. “When Sex and the City was great, we showed four individuals different versions of the same question, which is, how do you come together? We’re doing that now with even more characters.”

And just like that… Season 2

HBO Max Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) enjoys life with Che Diaz (Sara Ramirez) in ‘And Just Like That’

And just like that… Season 2

HBO Max Che Diaz (Sara Ramirez) comes to town with his girlfriend Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) in “And Just Like That” season 2

King describes Season 2 as “one big story feast” with many different entries. There’s Miranda’s arc with stand-up comedian and podcaster Che Diaz (Sara Ramirez), another surprise lightning rod among Season 1 fans. is like lemon meringue pie. It’s so tart and sweet and fake, in a comedic way,” King teases. “And even [it’s] really interesting to take someone out of a group and put them on their own island with another character. They’re both trying to grow or be happy and that’s substantial, that’s enough.”

Will the pilot take off for Che? “They’ll be back in New York at some point,” promises King. “Don’t worry, everyone. TV pilots are dodgy business.”

Another delicious treat involves the return of John Corbett as Aidan Shaw, one of Carrie’s great loves in life. “It’s a big entrance into our party,” King confirms of this arc.

And just like that… Season 2

HBO Max Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) reunites with Aidan Shaw (John Corbett) in “And Just Like That” season 2

“I knew personally that I was killing Big in Season 1. I knew that when I started and I was very attached to that,” King continues. “I started Season 2 knowing I was bringing Aidan back, and I was very attached to that. How when he shows up what happens is part of the great fun and headache of writing a series. , to give people what they’ve been waiting for and yet find ways to grow people and still be that person.”

The last time we saw Aidan was in the Sex and the City 2 movie sequel. not as solid. Is this a suggestion of how he comes back into Carrie’s life in And Just Like That? “Yes,” King said. “I wouldn’t make Carrie Bradshaw a home wrecker. That’s the biggest leak I can give you. That’s not the story. The story is [they’re] Open for business. They are both single. You know how single she is. You don’t know how Aidan is single.”

Perhaps on the side of caution, King quickly adds, “It had nothing to do with a Peloton bike, I can tell you that.”

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