Do people change? Well, as viewers of And Just Like That ... learnt, they evolve whether we like it or not.
This was one of the biggest lessons (and upsets) from the first season of the Sex and the City spin-off that first aired last year.
The revival and sequel of the popular HBO television series about four women who live in New York City and the two films that followed have left fans with polarising reactions.
Some vented their frustration at the absence of fan favourite Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), while others were confused by choices in the storyline, such as Mr Big’s (Chris Noth) shocking death, while others weren’t completely convinced by new characters.
Above all, fans were surprised that Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon) and Charlotte York (Kirstin Davis) were not as they remembered them.
“Nobody is who they were at 34,” the show's director Michael Patrick King tells The National. “If you're very lucky, you can stay the essence of who you are. But things can get even bigger.”
King’s work on Sex and the City is prolific.
He has written or co-written every premiere and finale episode of all six seasons, directed the film adaptations and developed, wrote and directed the first season of the spin-off. He returns to the second season, which is out on Thursday on OSN+.
Not only is he responsible for developing the character's story arcs since the beginning, but he has fleshed them out of the archetypes they represent and into real people who have grown, changed and aged, yet remained in some way the same women audiences first connected with in 1998.
“The evolution of a character is such a luxury, because very rarely are you used to creating a character for so many years,” King says. “I had worked with Sarah Jessica, Cynthia and Kristin for 25 years. I already knew what I was doing in And Just Like That ... and who they were. So, the question was, who else can they be? What situation can I put them in, to grow them even further.”
King proved in the first season of the spin-off that fans of the show are still hungry to see the characters again in the later stages of their lives. The mission in season two though is more complex.
“For Carrie, it was to have Mr Big die and to understand what that means – that was season one,” King says.
“For season two, it's really Carrie coming out of the dark into the light when a tragic thing like that happens. How do you regain who you were? And who are you now? What parts of you have grown, and what parts have you left behind?
In January, Parker – in character as Carrie – posted a series of photos to her nine million followers on Instagram, embracing Aidan Shaw (John Corbett), her character's other great love.
Parker captioned the post, which has more than one million likes: “Shh. Don't tell anyone.” After weeks of online speculation, Parker’s post confirmed to fans what season two of the show, and what Carrie’s journey, would centre on.
In the past, King has stated that he felt Aidan wasn’t right for Carrie because Mr Big was her primary focus. He added that Carrie “likes a complicated puzzle” and Aidan was designed to be Mr Big’s antithesis – available, transparent and traditional.
“Aidan was less complicated then,” King hints. “He's a different person now. We find more out about who he is and what his complications are.”
This new version of Aidan aims to help Carrie evolve – for better or for worse, at this stage of her life – and King believes that is grounds for fans to watch the second season.
“I wouldn't have brought Aidan back if I didn't have a reason. And the reason is to show love now, love then and how love is affected by life,” King says.
“It's another chance for Carrie to grow, another chance for the audience to hopefully be surprised or go on the journey and say 'he's my guy', or 'he's not my guy'. I'm ready for it.”
And Just Like That ... will be released on OSN+ and OSN Showcase on Thursday
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The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Top tips to avoid cyber fraud
Microsoft’s ‘hacker-in-chief’ David Weston, creator of the tech company’s Windows Red Team, advises simple steps to help people avoid falling victim to cyber fraud:
1. Always get the latest operating system on your smartphone or desktop, as it will have the latest innovations. An outdated OS can erode away all investments made in securing your device or system.
2. After installing the latest OS version, keep it patched; this means repairing system vulnerabilities which are discovered after the infrastructure components are released in the market. The vast majority of attacks are based on out of date components – there are missing patches.
3. Multi-factor authentication is required. Move away from passwords as fast as possible, particularly for anything financial. Cybercriminals are targeting money through compromising the users’ identity – his username and password. So, get on the next level of security using fingertips or facial recognition.
4. Move your personal as well as professional data to the cloud, which has advanced threat detection mechanisms and analytics to spot any attempt. Even if you are hit by some ransomware, the chances of restoring the stolen data are higher because everything is backed up.
5. Make the right hardware selection and always refresh it. We are in a time where a number of security improvement processes are reliant on new processors and chip sets that come with embedded security features. Buy a new personal computer with a trusted computing module that has fingerprint or biometric cameras as additional measures of protection.
THE BIO
Occupation: Specialised chief medical laboratory technologist
Age: 78
Favourite destination: Always Al Ain “Dar Al Zain”
Hobbies: his work - “ the thing which I am most passionate for and which occupied all my time in the morning and evening from 1963 to 2019”
Other hobbies: football
Favorite football club: Al Ain Sports Club
Two products to make at home
Toilet cleaner
1 cup baking soda
1 cup castile soap
10-20 drops of lemon essential oil (or another oil of your choice)
Method:
1. Mix the baking soda and castile soap until you get a nice consistency.
2. Add the essential oil to the mix.
Air Freshener
100ml water
5 drops of the essential oil of your choice (note: lavender is a nice one for this)
Method:
1. Add water and oil to spray bottle to store.
2. Shake well before use.
Coffee: black death or elixir of life?
It is among the greatest health debates of our time; splashed across newspapers with contradicting headlines - is coffee good for you or not?
Depending on what you read, it is either a cancer-causing, sleep-depriving, stomach ulcer-inducing black death or the secret to long life, cutting the chance of stroke, diabetes and cancer.
The latest research - a study of 8,412 people across the UK who each underwent an MRI heart scan - is intended to put to bed (caffeine allowing) conflicting reports of the pros and cons of consumption.
The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, contradicted previous findings that it stiffens arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke, leading to warnings to cut down.
Numerous studies have recognised the benefits of coffee in cutting oral and esophageal cancer, the risk of a stroke and cirrhosis of the liver.
The benefits are often linked to biologically active compounds including caffeine, flavonoids, lignans, and other polyphenols, which benefit the body. These and othetr coffee compounds regulate genes involved in DNA repair, have anti-inflammatory properties and are associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, which is linked to type-2 diabetes.
But as doctors warn, too much of anything is inadvisable. The British Heart Foundation found the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study were most likely to be men who smoked and drank alcohol regularly.
Excessive amounts of coffee also unsettle the stomach causing or contributing to stomach ulcers. It also stains the teeth over time, hampers absorption of minerals and vitamins like zinc and iron.
It also raises blood pressure, which is largely problematic for people with existing conditions.
So the heaviest drinkers of the black stuff - some in the study had up to 25 cups per day - may want to rein it in.
Rory Reynolds
