STREAMING
REVIEWS BY IAN HORNER
AND JUST LIKE THAT (HBO Max, Binge)
W
here did the time go! It’s a bit of a shock to those of us who’ve been bingeing on reruns that it’s 17 years since Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha were in the last episodes of Sex And The City. And nothing says time flies as much as Miranda’s little toddler Brady now a grown teenager having noisy sex in the next room. All our favourites are back (well, most), including Miranda’s now-live-in partner/ Brady’s dad Steve, Charlotte’s husband Harry, Carrie’s gay BFFs Anthony and his husband Stanford, and even Big, who gets a scene-stealing cameo that sets in motion the drama through the next eposodes. The biggest hole in the show is the absence Samantha and, after the debacle that was the second movie, who could blame Kim Cattrall for saying never again?! And yet, given the quality of the writing, the acting, directing, clothes and shoes here, perhaps she now rues the day she said no way. The reboot is simply awesome. Anyone who loved the original show will love this. Is it possible it’s even better? Yes. Not only have the characters matured, but the writing has grown up; there are non-white characters for the first time, 24 DNA
there’s a broad spectrum of genders, even some great developments on that front for main players. And yet, the characters are still occasionally silly and vacuous, preoccupied with ridiculously expensive shoes, quick to judge, but, here’s the rub, even quicker to forgive and that’s the whole point. It’s about love and friendship. Willie Garson, as Stanford, is only in the first three eps, having succumbed to cancer mid-shoot. It was a great way to go out, reprising the role of a lifetime in a triumphant return. It’s the quality of the writing, setting up each scene and mining it for depth and comment, that sets this head and shoulders above so many imitators. Let’s hear it for ageing with grace and style and wit. There are a few signs of too much botox here and there but you be the judge. Every bunch of gay guys who’ve clung onto each other as BFFs through thick and thin – and there’s been a lot of thick and thin these last 17 years – will be delighted to see themselves in these girls who’ve stuck by each other and come out looking fabulous! The original six seasons and both movies are also on Binge. (MA 15+, 10 eps)
They’re still quick to judge but even quicker to forgive, and that’s the whole point.
