The Sex in the City reboot on HBO, And Just Like That, has had a number of issues since the first episode started streaming Dec. 9 on HBO Max. First and foremost is Chris Noth (John Preston, a.k.a. Mr. Big), Carrie Bradshaw's husband, who's been charged with sexual assualt by five women since the first two episodes featuring Noth aired. Spolier alert: It turns out his character is killed off with a heart attack. Did the show know something we didn't?
Another sad aspect of And Just Like That, which features three of the original four female stars (Kim Cattrall as Samantha Jones is missing) was the sudden death of Willie Garcon, who played Carrie's gay pal Stanford Blatch, on Sept. 21.
Che to Miranda: "You mind if I shotgun you?"
But for the purposes of this article, our focus is on cannabis use in Season 1. In the past, Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) toked with Samantha. In the current version, Carrie's podcast partner Che Diaz (Sara Ramirez) is a smoker. In Episode 1 ("Hello It's Me"), Che puffs on a Genius Pipe in the elevator after a podcast. Carrie turns down her offer to share (which is wise during Covid).
The weed hits the fan in Episode 2 ("Little Black Dress") when Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) catches her 17-year-old son Brady (Niall Cunningham) smoking out of the same pipe with Che after Big's funeral. Startled, he drops the pipe. "What are you some kind of funeral pot pusher?" Miranda chastises Che. "This is my son you're getting high on who knows what."
"I felt sad," Brady explains. "I needed a hit."
In Episode 3 ("When in Rome"), Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) go to Che's stand-up comedy show. Many in the crowd are lighting up. "We're going to smell like pot when we get home," Charlotte kvetches. "How am I going to explain this to my kids?
"How I am going to explain this to my doorman?" Carrie jokes.
At the afterparty, Che tells Miranda, "I thnk you can use some weed."
"No, I don't thnk so," Miranda demurs. "I was never good at that. Things that I'm not good at I tend to abandon."
"You mind if I shotgun you?" Che asks.
"Is that where you blow...?" Miranda trails off. "OK."
Che draws and then leans close to Miranda, exhaling the smoke into her mouth, almost kissing.
In Episode 4 ("Some of My Best Friends"), Miranda is hungover after her big night out. In the kitchen Brady says, "Woah, Mom, you really reek of weed. After all that shit you gave me."
"No, I don't," she replies. "I just haven't showered yet."
Brady's girlfiend Luisa (Cree (Cicchino) pipes in: "We're all grown up. When we smell weed, we know it."
"You don't have to hide it, it's legal," Brady adds.
"Carrie took me and Charlotte to a comedy concert last night and there were all these alternative types around us gettng high," Miranda, who's a lawyer, tries to explain.
"Alternative types?" Luisa wonders. "Alternative to what?"
Miranda ends the scene, stating: "I'm not caffeinated enough for this conversation."
In Episode 5 ("Tragically Hip"), Miranda and Che smoke again and this time have sex.
The irony of Nixon getting high was not missed on this viewer. The actress ran for governor of New York State in 2018 vs. Andrew Cuomo. A big part of Nixon's campaign was her support of legal marijuana. She even spoke at the NYC Cannabis Parade & Rally crowd that year.
Nixon lost the race, but it was an important moment for two reasons: Her campaign opened the discussion about legalization in wider political circles (the state's legislature passed a legalization bill in 2021). And Nixon was a woman running against Cuomo, who would be impeached, also in 2021, because of his poor behavior around female staffers.
Nixon's for pot, yet on the show Miranda's against it, until she smokes it. As for Noth/Big, he was their Cuomo.
