'And Just Like That' : Carrie Bradshaw Makes Her Not-So-Triumphant Return to Dating

This article contains spoilers for episode seven ofAnd Just Like That…

Carrie Bradshaw is getting back to her roots of writing and dating.

During the latest episode ofSex and the CityrevivalAnd Just Like That,Sarah Jessica Parker’s iconic character wrote a new book about the recent death of her husband and longtime love Mr. Big (Chris Noth).

Carrie, who worked as a sex columnist in the original series, got mostly glowing reviews from her book editor, Amanda.

“I just have one note, okay? This whole thing is so raw and honest and, let’s face it, brutal. I mean, you spend your whole career writing about your quest for love and then you finally find it, and then he dies. It’s pretty dark,” she said. “It’s a real departure for you as a writer.”

“Well that’s what happened. He departed,” Carrie replied.

“I would love — and I think this is very doable — if you could give the reader some element of hope. Just a suggestion of a brighter future. I mean, for example, I imagine at some point you’re going to start dating again, right?” Amanda said.

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“Is there a tiny part of you that’s open to the idea of even just one date? It would be great if it could happen in the next few weeks. I would love to hit that stocking stuffer deadline,” Amanda said, later adding, “Just to be clear. I’m just talking about a toe-dip into the dating pool — one guy. It doesn’t have to be a whole chapter. It could just be an epilogue.”

Amanda added, “A single page, half a page. Just remember that glimmer of hope.”

In a subsequent meeting, Carrie floated the idea of just scrapping the book altogether, but Amanda’s mention of it being included in Oprah’s book club changed things.

“I guess I’m going on a date,” she told friends Charlotte York (Kristin Davis), Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon) and Seema Patel (Sarita Choudhury).

Craig Blankenhorn/HBO Max

Charlotte said she had already been scouting for divorced dads at her kids' school, but Carrie noted that she would prefer the “anonymous route,” prompting real estate agent Seema to jump in.

“It’s already done. I listed you on three different sites. I narrowed it down to one — I don’t want to waste your time,” she said.

Carrie agreed to go on the date and met Peter (Jon Tenney) at a restaurant. After establishing that it was both of their first dates following their respective spouse’s deaths, Carrie said, “I think we’re gonna need some drinks.”

Some drinks led to one-too-many drinks and the pair stumbled out of the restaurant first laughing and then vomiting.

“Apologies to my readers. There is no light at the end of the tunnel — just vomit,” she told her friends the next night at a fundraiser for Charlotte’s kids' school.

Sarita Choudhury and Sarah Jessica Parker.Craig Blankenhorn/HBO Max

“I once s— myself on a date,“Mario Cantone’s Anthony Marentino responded. “What? I’m empathizing.”

“I appreciate it but unless you s— yourself on a date after your husband died, I win worst night ever,” Carrie said, later telling Miranda, “I’m just gonna go back in and tell Amanda I didn’t find that glimmer of hope. Guess my book’s dead too. Darn. My sad book keeps getting sadder.”

In a cruel but ultimately fortuitous twist, Peter ended up being at the fundraiser and won a lunch date with Carrie after the auction item wasn’t getting any bids.

“What are the odds? Wait, you’re a math teacher, you probably know,” Carrie said to him after the auction was over.

“Definitely involves an x to the power of hangover,” he quipped.

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“I’m impressed you even remember the subject I teach,” Peter continued. “We should go out again — we have so much to discuss. Like how did I get home? Did we even pay for those drinks?”

“Oh, we paid,” Carrie said, before agreeing to see him again.

“And just like that, I found a glimmer of hope,” she added at the end of the episode.

New episodes ofAnd Just Like That…drop Thursdays on HBO Max.

source: people.com