And Just Like That is getting into the Taylor Swift needle drop game.
During the Thursday, July 24, episode of the Sex and the City spinoff, Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) arrives home to find Aidan (John Corbett) sitting in the garden and grilling Duncan (Jonathan Cake) about his personal life — including why he opts to smoke from a pipe.
Duncan says it’s a recent habit he picked up as an homage to the subject of his latest biography, Margaret Thatcher, and hints that his ex-wife never liked the smell of tobacco. Carrie becomes visibly uncomfortable as the conversation continues and eventually leaves to meet Seema (Sarita Choudhury) at her new office.
“I could not — could not — have drawn a clearer boundary, and [Aidan] barrels right through it. Holds a mid-morning talk show against my wishes,” Carrie tells Seema.
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When Carrie hints that Aidan might feel “threatened” by the budding friendship, Seema is perplexed. “I cheated on him with John,” Carrie explains, referring to her late husband. “It was awful. He had trouble trusting me after that, and frankly, he had reason not to. I cheated on him with cigarettes as well.”
Seema reveals — much to Carrie’s surprise — that Aidan was asking about Duncan at Charlotte’s recent gallery opening. “I’m hoping it’s a blip, you know?” Carrie says. “Anyway, I’m too happy that he’s here finally to bring up the past and throw a wet blanket on everything.”
Later, when Carrie and Duncan are going over his latest chapters, Aidan interrupts to ask if they want dinner. “I got more than enough food for the three of us,” he says, but Carrie tells him to start without her.
When she returns from the writing session, Aidan’s steaks are still on the counter — uncooked. Carrie finds him in bed and tries to cuddle with him, but Aidan snaps, “Get away from me. You smell like smoke. Go take a shower.” They spend the night in separate rooms.
In the morning, things get even more heated. Carrie accuses Aidan of “waiting” for Duncan outside on purpose. “You’re worried about me and another man, that’s what all the neighbor business is about,” she says, after Aidan calls “bulls***.”
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Carrie goes for a walk and, of course, finds herself browsing for shoes at a department store, where Andy Cohen appears as a doting clerk. She gets a text from Aidan asking to meet for lunch at “that place we love.”
“So I’ve been thinking about everything that happened and what you said, and you’re right,” Aidan begins. “I hate to admit it, but I do have trust issues with you around other men.”
Carrie pauses and asks whether he meant to use the present tense. “You should’ve said ‘had,’” she explains, adding that what Aidan argues is “just a word” is actually a sign of something deeper. “I have done nothing. Nothing. Do you hear yourself? How jealous and suspicious you sound?”
Aidan fires back, “Well, can you f***ing blame me?” Carrie begs him to “stop f***ing blaming” her for the past and storms off. Aidan chases after her, which doesn’t seem to help.
“How dare you?” Carrie says. “No, really. How dare you? How is it possible that I haven’t earned your trust by now? I have done everything to show you how fully committed I am to you. I have moved mountains and apartments. I have agreed to arrangements — arrangements that even you yourself couldn’t live up to. I was 100 percent in. 100 percent! And still …”
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This time, Aidan calls out her word choice. “Is it was? Or are you still 100 percent in?” he asks, to which Carrie replies, “Was. I can’t give you any more than I have. And it wasn’t enough. And there’s all the family stuff. I’m sorry, but there is.”
Aidan says he needs 100 percent, and Carrie agrees. With tears in his eyes, Aidan says, “I really thought we were gonna make it this time.”
As the pair share an emotional hug on the sidewalk, “How Did It End?” from Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department begins to play in the background. Carrie is then shown back at home, putting away Aidan’s postcards from Virginia. She throws on a dress and heels and meets up with Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and Seema.
“The woman had thought that she and her love were very present, but now realized they were still locked in the past,” Carrie says in a voiceover from her novel. “Which meant, of course, that they had no future.”
And Just Like That airs on HBO Max Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET.
