Kristin Davis on ageing gracefully and living boldly in 'And Just Like That...' season 3

Having been a die-hard of the “Sex and the City franchise, I was delighted when the spinoff series, “And Just Like That…”, arrived. 

Admittedly, it was disappointing to see that Kim Cattrall didn’t make the final cast. And, no, that pacifying guest appearance in season 2 doesn’t count. 

But Sarah Jessica Parker (Carrie Bradshaw), Cynthia Nixon (Miranda Hobbes) and Kristin Davis (Charlotte York Goldenblatt) do a commendable job of holding down the fort at 50-somethings, navigating different challenges, albeit wiser, while also untangling the complexities of love, family and work.

The addition of Sarita Choudhury as Seema Patel and Nicole Ari Parker as Lisa Todd Wexley elevates the girlfriend dynamics, while Mario Cantone and Evan Handler add comic levity in their respective roles. 

Amid her home renovations and penning a new book, Carrie is adjusting to life mostly apart from Aidan Shaw (John Corbett), who is taking care of his boys. 

Having recently come out, Cynthia is still navigating the complexities of LGBTQ+ dating, experiencing several comic mishaps along the way.

This brings us to sweet Charlotte. Juggling work and family commitments, she also experiences significant FOMO, missing out on the afterparties and "after-afterparties" – a trend among her arts section peers that reportedly leads to successful business deals.

During a press junket, she unpacked her character’s journey for the third and final season.

But first, she addressed the question of ageism that unfailingly crops up at every junket. This time, she was asked how the show unpacks it. 

“Well, I hope that it's shifting the narrative. This is a pretty popular question lately, which I think is a great sign, right? It's hard sometimes when you're in it to really be sure about what the impact is or isn't, you know? 

“But I do love that there are just so many women out there talking about this, like Naomi Watts doing such great work talking about menopause and the different issues that people are facing at this time in life, and there are some great doctors out there talking.

“But sometimes I don't know if maybe I'm just seeing this because obviously, I'm also a woman over 50 in real life. I love the idea that we're kind of all coming together and talking in unison in a different way; each of us is going to have our own perspective. 

“But we're also kind of helping each other have a louder voice and talk about the fact that we're still here, our lives are still going on, and they're interesting … women at our time of life have so many different things that we're facing.”

Having been in the industry for several decades, Davis shed light on how the narratives around women have shifted. 

“When we were doing the first show, there was criticism, but we were kind of like, ‘Ah, we're not even going to listen because we just had to go forward.

“And I know that we all believed in what we were doing, and we all felt like, ‘Why should these women characters be perfect? Like, no one's perfect. We've got to break these moulds, these ideas that you've got to have it all worked out.

"But I don't know that I really realised until later, like now, that, especially Carrie, as being the central figure, is struggling with her choices the whole time, and people have such strong feelings about it, which is funny. 

“But, of course, she's struggling. Don't we all struggle in life? You never know what the right choice is. This is life. I wish there were more women characters like this. I still feel like there's not enough. 

“And that's what I really love about our characters in ‘And Just Like That…’; we're still searching within.”

Although the friendships appear to be a lifeline for Charlotte, she is an anchor in the sisterhood. She’s also in the know with all the right circles, as evidenced by her ability to score Carrie some Adderall for Aidan’s son in episode three. 

She added, “One of the things that I love about ‘Sex and the City and ‘And Just Like That…’ is that we really honour those friendships. With younger women, if you look at their social media, there is so much girlfriend content, which is so great.

“So I really hope it’s trickling down to place equal importance to say, okay, I may have my husband or my boyfriend or girlfriend or whatever, but my friendships are going to sustain me through whatever happens with that.

“You need your friends when you have kids. That’s also something I found out. I’m a single mom with kids. I do feel for our characters, the friendships are chosen family, and we are so lucky to have new friends.”

On the journey of her character through the different seasons and iterations of the show. 

She smiled before saying, “Michael Patrick King (creator) really includes us in the planning, so we're not necessarily surprised by the larger story arc. But sometimes when I do get a script, I'm surprised. He will tell us the beginning idea, and then when you see how it actually translates into each script, sometimes it's surprising.

“For instance, later in the season, Charlotte decides that she needs to be more competitive at work with her younger co-workers, and she decides to try to keep up with them and go out at night. 

“And, oh my gosh, it was so funny on the page and also really funny to shoot because it was very much like the earlier days of ‘Sex and the City’. And I was like, "Wow, we used to do this all the time. It's so hard.’

"But that's pretty much how Charlotte feels as well. So sometimes it is funny in terms of the actual playing of it.

“There are a couple of those episodes. I think they're mostly later in the season, where I'm like, ‘Ooh, that was a lot of work. Charlotte's very busy. But it's really fun.”

Davis also admitted to relating to her character’s tricky juggling act this season. 

Amid the show’s allure of head-turning fashion, the drama, sassiness and close-knit bonds are relatable. 

From iconic characters to unforgettable moments, the third and final season promises to deliver everything you could ask for and more.

Rating: *** solid and enjoyable, though not groundbreaking.

∎ “And Just Like That…” season three airs on M-Net (DStv channel 101) on Thursdays at 9pm.