And Just Like That: What show desperately needs in season 2

And Just Like That has proven very hit-and-miss in a post-Sex And The City world – but these changes would help it find its feet in season 2.

We’d barely had time to adjust to Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte’s new Samantha-less trio in the opening scenes of And Just Like That before the inevitable talk of a second season fired up.

The reboot’s finale will air on Binge tonight, after a season which has attracted a mixed response – critics weren’t exactly raving upon its debut, although it gathered enough steam to justify its purpose as it progressed.

But using Carrie Bradshaw’s own words against her: It’s taken a while for the series to find its “sza sza szu.”

WARNING: Spoilers for And Just Like That season one ahead

And Just like That sees the return of Miranda, Carrie and Charlotte. Picture: Binge

SATC and AJLT creator Michael Patrick King and lead actress Sarah Jessica Parker recently teased their future plans to Variety, making it clear the door was wide open for a second season.

“There’s a calendar, and you don’t want to let too much time pass. There feels like there’s momentum,” said Parker, confirming that she’d “definitely” come back to the role of Carrie.

King added: “We did something that was hard to do, which is we took something familiar and did make it new.”

Top of any fan’s wish list for changes in season two would obviously be the return of Samantha Jones, but that’s just pure fantasy – Kim Cattrall has made it clear the show’s more dead to her than Mr. Big is to Carrie.

So that pipedream aside, here’s what else the show needs more – and less – of, if and when it returns.

More Seema

Seema Patel, played by Sarita Choudhury, is easily one of the best parts of the new series.

Almost immediately after meeting Carrie, the effortlessly cool and straight-talking realtor wasn’t afraid to call BS on her new friend. But she’s not there to cause chaos, or drama – she’s got her own very three-dimensional personality, and serves to add more warmth, humour and thought-provoking moments to the show.

Michael Patrick King, if you’re reading this: more Seema, please.

Seema’s a hit. Picture: Binge

Less Che Diaz

And then we’ve got the flip side of that coin: Che Diaz.

They’re the TV villain no one saw coming – but the queer nonbinary podcaster/comedian character has proven to be a very unpopular addition to the Sex and the City gang, and scaling back their screen-time in season two wouldn’t be the worst thing.

Che Diaz is our new TV villain. Picture: Binge

While a lot of the negative reaction to them is attached to the collective outrage over Miranda’s treatment of Steve, there’s no denying that Che is also just generally rubbing people the wrong way.

The only proper response to "Hey, it's Che Diaz":#AndJustLikeThatpic.twitter.com/DzsCeFhTHC

— banner boy (@MissingMeows) January 27, 2022

Michael, stop trying to make Che Diaz happen. It's not going to happen. #andjustlikethat#ajltpic.twitter.com/jvbQewIkw8

— Marie C (@9woodMac) January 27, 2022

The staff writer who pitched Che Diaz should be in jail

— Nori Reed (@realnorireed) January 27, 2022

Che Diaz taking down #AJLTpic.twitter.com/SbayLzQrDQ

— Jonathan (@j_scott_82) January 26, 2022

Can Che Diaz just stop ???

— Stefie Sabar (@StefieSabar) January 30, 2022

The fact that they are a comedian and are yet to make a single funny joke also doesn’t help their case.

Better dating options

Mr Big’s shoes were always going to be near-impossible to fill. Fans fell in love with him from the very beginning (and then temporarily out of love with him while he messed Carrie around) and were delighted when the couple finally settled down into their happy life together.

Carrie and Big’s time together was cut short. Picture: Binge

With his shock death, the show’s creators have opened up the door for Carrie to re-enter the dating world as an older woman – but her choice to keep going out on dates with Peter, the downright boring math teacher who can’t hold his liquor, is, quite frankly, a disappointment.

Carrie and Peter have zero chemistry.

C’mon – surely we can offer up some better options for Carrie?

Less of Brady’s sex life

Fans bemoaned the lack of sex in the first few episodes of AJLT …, but with one very icky exception – Brady Hobbes.

Yes, Miranda and Steve’s 17-year-old son and his girlfriend, Luisa, were having a wildly inappropriate amount of offensively loud sex under their roof – in fact, while they were sitting in the very next room.

My face, as I’m being forced to listen to Brady Hobbes have sex. Picture: Binge

We were even served with a disturbing scene where Luisa took a break from their noisy activities and walked out in front of her boyfriend’s parents to get ice-cream in just a T-shirt and underwear.

Sorry, but it’s a hard pass from me. This is not the spicy gear we signed up for with this franchise.

The finale of And Just Like That … is available to stream from 7pm tonight on Binge.