WARNING: Major spoilers ahead for And Just Like That season 3, episode 9.
Things came to a head in a big way for Carrie and Aidan inAnd Just Like Thatseason 3, episode 9, “Present Tense.” All season long, the couple has been struggling to keep their relationship afloat after breaking their five-year pause, troubles with Aidan’s son, and the presence of Carrie’s dashing new neighbor and fellow writer, Duncan Reeves.
Despite Carrie’s express wishes that Aidan and Duncan not interact, her partner goes out of his way to chat Duncan up. This leads to a bitter argument between Carrie and Aidan, as it’s clear that he still has trust issues with Carrie and other men. At the end of the episode, the couple reconvenes, with Carrie telling Aidan that after doggedly working to prove her commitment and make their complicated relationship work, his distrust of her is the last straw, and they break up.
ScreenRant’s Liz Hersey interviewedAnd Just Like Thatwriters and executive producers Julie Rottenberg and Elisa Zuritsky, who penned season 3, episode 8, “Happily Ever After” and the pivotal episode 9. They discuss how the wounds of Carrie and Aidan’s past affected their present, along with her romantic future and whether or not Duncan will be a part of it.
Aidan’s Trust Issues With Carrie Are The “Smoking Gun” That Ends Their Relationship
“Their Systemic Problems Were Still Bubbling Between Them”
Throughout all ofAnd Just Like Thatseason 3, Carrie has been on the defensive against her friends questioning her and Aidan’s tenuous relationship, and so were the show’s writers. Zuritsky revealed, “I don’t think any of us imaginedthat they would ride off into the sunset together in season 3.”
“Season 2was the magical fairyland, fairytale country of reuniting with an old love, the joy of discovering that all of your chemistry is still there, and you still love each other and know each other so well,” Zuritsky continued. “What we really wanted to do in this season [3] is explode that, bring them to the real world. At some point, you have to join the real world.”
Rottenberg and Zuritsky have been writing for this franchise since the originalSex and the City, and thus, “We knew what the baggage was,” Zuritsky said. In addition to all the tumult surrounding Aidan’s family situation, Zuritsky explained that, “their systemic problems were still bubbling between them” — namely, Aidan’s lingering trust issues over Carrie and Big’s affair over 20 years ago.
However, at this point, Carrie’s relationship with Duncan, which worries Aidan, has been platonic and professional, and it was important to theAnd Just Like Thatwriters that the reason behind Carrie and Aidan’s breakup wasn’t a case of history repeating itself. Zuritsky was clear that “we didn’t want a villain and a victim.”
Butno matter Carrie’s innocence, Aidan’s trust issues were still there, and ultimately, Rottenberg said, they are “the smoking gun” that kills their relationship.
Words Are A Key Factor Of Carrie & Aidan’s Breakup In AJLT’s “Present Tense” Episode
Carrie Realizes Her Commitment To The Relationship Is Officially In The Past
Throughout “Present Tense”, Carrie pieces together that something is off with Aidan, as she learns he’s been questioning her friends about Duncan, waiting for him on the terrace, and horning in on her and Duncan’s writing session.
All throughout the episode, Carrie was"almost feeling gaslit to have her radar up about his mistrust, asking around about Duncan," Rottenberg said. “She knows him well enough to know something’s going around, and for him to pretend it’s not actually happening, I think it was really frustrating.”
Carrie learns her worst fears about Aidanhave been realized when she meets him for lunch following their argument. He is much calmer and ready to have a mature discussion, but when he says, “Ihavetrust issues,” Carrie calls him out on his use of the present tense.
Her bruise is feeling like he still doesn’t trust her.
This shows the huge divide between Carrie and Aidan in more ways than one, as he parries by chalking her concern up to being a writer, a bond she and Duncan share that he doesn’t. Rottenberg explained that for Aidan to “say ‘words, whatever,’ to try to dismiss that kind of gotcha moment, I think that was probably the safest place for him to be like, ‘I’m not a writer. I don’t think about every word coming out of my mouth.'”
But Carrie is close enough to Aidan to know he means what he said, whether he’s fully able to admit it or not. This leads to her emotional, gut-wrenching speech where she lets it slip that she “was 100% in.” This time, it’s Aidan’s turn to call out her use of the past tense.
“So then, later, for it to happen on the flip on her end, that felt like the key turning for us,” Rottenberg said, “becauseshe has to stand by her choice of words, ‘you were a hundred percent or you are.‘And that’s the most to me, then it’s like the jig is up.”
Carrie & Aidan’s Third Breakup Was “Built To Last”
But “Never Say Never”
When Carrie and Aidan realize there’s no going back after their confrontation, and that they are truly over, Aidan sadly says, “I really thought we were gonna make it this time.” There’s a definite resignation in his voice, but on the flip side, the former couple has been here before, so the question on our minds still lingers — could Carrie and Aidan get back together again?
Zuritsky had a pretty clear answer. “I wouldn’t hold your breath for this moment.I don’t think either of them are likely to revisit and pull this scab off…” However, she does offer one small caveat: “But who knows?We’ve learned never to say never on this show.But it was sort of built to last — the breakup.”
As Carrie and Aidan have been with Rottenberg and Zuritsky for over 20 years, there were big emotions in writing the end of their relationship.
“When we were breaking them up shooting that episode, I did have this horrible feeling of, oh God, are we really doing this? Is this a mistake?” Rottenberg confessed. “I felt like I was in the breakup, possibly about to make an irrevocable mistake.But of course, I knew it had to happen.”
And Just Like Thatviewers have been very vocal about their thoughts on season 3, and Carrie and Aidan’s breakup in episode 9 will likely cause a tidal wave of discourse on social media. Rottenberg continued, “We don’t know what the world will say. I will be very curious. Are people relieved, are they crushed? I’ll be curious.”
Carrie & Duncan Shippers May Be Disappointed With What’s Next — But There’s A Silver Lining
She Has A Creative Connection With Duncan That We’ve Never Seen Her Have Before
While Carrie and Aidan fans are undoubtedly saddened by episode 9’s turn of events, many viewers thinkDuncan is Carrie’s best potential romantic interestyet. Unfortunately for them, it doesn’t look like the two writerly neighbors will get together anytime soon — if ever — according to Rottenberg and Zuritsky (pictured above).
Of Carrie and Duncan’s connection and chemistry, Zuritsky said, “I think she had, and has, a certain chemistry with Duncan, but it’s not quite sexual. It’s intellectual. I think she firmly believes that this is a work friend, really, who happens to live downstairs, andif she has a little moment of… fizziness with him, that it’s within the boundaries of mostly a work connection.”
This may not be the steamiest option for Carrie’s storyline, but in a way, it’s the most fulfilling.And Just Like Thatseason 3 is showing a brave side to Carrie as she pushes her own creative boundaries and starts to write fiction for the first time, and Duncan is “the only person in her life who could understand her creative risk and vulnerabilityand might actually be able to help her with it.”
“I think she really likes that separation and really takes their work connection quite seriously, because it’s special to her,” Zuritsky revealed. Even if Carrie and Duncan don’t get romantic inAnd Just Like That, the fact that he means so much to her, especially post-Aidan breakup, well, that’s just fabulous.
And Just Like That…
Cast
And Just Like That is a continuation of the beloved franchise Sex and the City, chronicling the experiences of Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte as they transition from the complexities of life and friendships in their 30s to those in their 50s.
