‘And Just Like That’ Creator, Sarah Jessica Parker Break Down That Charged Aidan Dinner
Note: This story contains spoilers from “And Just Like That” Season 3, Episode 4.
When “And Just Like That” brought (John Corbett) back, the writers knew Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Aidan’s new shot at romance would be far from simple.
“We made a decision that Aidan got pulled away from Carrie because of his family, which felt realistic. Our goal was then to make a realistic family so that you could believe it,” series developer and EP Michael Patrick King told TheWrap.
In Season 2, Aidan explains that he has to return home to Virginia to deal with his youngest son Wyatt (Logan Souza), who’s acting out in the wake of Aidan’s separation from his ex-wife. For most of Seasons 2 and 3, Aidan’s home life is a murky concept that simply stands in the way of Carrie and Aidan being together. But with Carrie’s visit to Virginia, the gravity of Aidan’s family life comes into sharp focus. After a disastrous dinner that involves Aidan’s son screaming at his parents and storming out of the house, Carrie finally understands why the man she loves asked her to wait five years before he can fully commit to her.
“The most fun thing about it was that we admit to the people watching the show that Carrie says, ‘I didn’t believe you until now.’ That was the journey,” King explained.
The dinner scene stands as one of the more dramatic and emotionally raw moments in “Sex and the City” and “And Just Like That” history. Adding to the high stakes, it was crucial to King that this scene didn’t portray Carrie as the villain of the relationship.
“Since we had brought Aidan on twice before, a lot of people thought Carrie was the bad one. We want to make sure that no one could say Carrie’s the bad one,” King said. “Carrie cares enough to go way outside her comfort level, even to the point of killing zombies in a virtual reality to make this work. It was exciting because it is a new level of grown-up Carrie, but it’s also vulnerable and familiar.”
“I’ve had some pretty intense scenes on the show, I will say, really awful scenes. [Episode 4] was different because she was an observer,” Sarah Jessica Parker told TheWrap. “Aidan had tried to express that he felt his son was in danger in a way a parent would characterize it, which is just not doing well. When you feel you don’t understand, it feels really terrifying. I think her witnessing it is important, and it felt like that. It felt awful and really ugly and very sad.”
Originally, Parker thought the scene would be a difficult one to shoot, partially because of how demanding the scene was for Souza and partially because of the scheduling demands that pertain to underage actors. But after talking through the dinner with Corbett, Souza and the rest of the cast, Parker was surprised at how quickly it came together.
“It feels appropriate,” Parker said. “It’s just a sign of [Carrie] being a more informed person and being a better partner. I’m glad that is something we get to see.”
When TheWrap speculated that the Season 1 version of Carrie in “Sex and the City” wouldn’t be able to handle the intensity of Aidan’s family crisis, Parker lightly pushed back.
“I don’t know if she would never. I think she would go through many more conversations before she’d arrive at that. I also don’t know that she would have been exposed to a family and sat at a table and watched the undoing of a son,” Parker said. “I think Carrie is often not given credit for the ways in which she invests in people and relationships, but it takes time to arrive at these places.”
“And Just Like That” releases new episodes Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on Max.
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