[Editor's note: This story contains spoilers from Episode 6 of "And Just Like That." Interviews with actors were conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike.]
It's the moment (some) fans of "And Just Like That" have been waiting for: Che and Miranda, TV's most polarizing couple, are officially dunzo.
Thursday's episode of the "Sex and the City" reboot, "Bomb Cyclone," is set against the backdrop of a massive snowstorm that blankets New York in a foot or so of snow and finally gives Carrie a reason to wear the huge and wildly impractical puffer gown that makes her look like a 19th-century noblewoman styled by L.L. Bean. (If only we'd gotten to see her try to hang that thing up once she got to WidowCon. But I digress.)
The treacherous meteorological conditions mirror the difficult emotions Che, Miranda and her estranged husband, Steve, are working through this week.
Che is in a major slump after returning from Los Angeles and learning that their pilot, "Che Pasa," won't be moving forward — a blow to the comedian's ego and people who love sitcoms with puns for titles. Humiliated and reluctant to perform at clubs — or even leave the apartment — Che is now sleeping in late, grumbling about Miranda's alarm clock and recording messages on Cameo late at night, in bed, while Miranda is trying to sleep, because it's now their only source of income. (Hey, we've all been there!)
Miranda is not amused by Che's self-pity. A fight ensues: Miranda, exhausted, complains about getting "sullen, sad sack Che." Che, meanwhile, feels like Miranda expects them to constantly perform and put on a smile.
After Miranda has another fight — with Steve, about his refusal to move out of their Brooklyn brownstone even though he's already sleeping with some woman he met at Whole Foods — she tells Che, "I don't know how Steve and I got from loving each other to this s— show. We should have split up earlier when we still had a chance to be friends."
Che awkwardly replies, "That's kind of what I've been thinking about you and me. From where we are now, this probably isn't going to get better."
"Yeah, it's not," says Miranda, gazing up from the clementine she is peeling.
And that's it — for now, at least. It's an abrupt end to a relationship that blew up Miranda's entire life and infuriated fans of "Sex and the City," who were troubled by the character's transformation from eminently capable career woman to voluntarily unemployed romantic who somehow loses her phone in a pile of seaweed and is reduced to couch surfing across several boroughs despite owning a multimillion-dollar home.
"I don't know why anyone would be surprised" by the breakup, said showrunner and executive producer Michael Patrick King. "Mr. Big died in the first episode of last season. I mean, if that relationship can be changed, then everything's up for change. Or not, depending on what we feel like."
The split seemed like a foregone conclusion ever since Miranda's phone went off during the taping of Che's pilot, and she fled to New York to help Brady in Episode 3. And fans on social media eagerly anticipated the breakup, and the moment Miranda would finally snap out of her midlife crisis, stop letting Che walk all over her and get back to being the only sane person on this entire show. (Summarizing a widely shared sentiment, one Twitter user shared a video of a boisterous, cheering crowd, with the caption: "Whenever Miranda and Che fight on 'And Just Like That' leading them closer to their inevitable breakup."
The relationship with Miranda offered Che "a lot of space to feel cared about as a person," said Sara Ramirez, the actor who plays Che. "There was the ego stroke that Miranda first came in with for Che and the work that they do. It's almost like Miranda provides Che a soft place to land."
Cynthia Nixon understands that viewers are invested in her character, perhaps more than any of the other core ensemble, because she always seemed like the one who was most down to earth. But she thinks Miranda, like everyone else, should be allowed to screw up.
"One of the great things about our show was that we always showed people's foibles, mistakes, bad choices and character flaws," said Nixon. "Certainly, I can think of a million instances of Carrie [doing something wrong]. It's a feminist show and feminism doesn't mean we're gonna show these women who are beautiful and kind and smart all the time. Like, that's not the point. We want to be Tony Soprano too."
Miranda's stint in L.A. was about "running away from responsibilities, running away from [the question of] what am I going to do with the rest of my life, running away from my sort-of ex-husband, who I'm still married to, and his incredible shock and anger," she added. L.A. represented a short-lived fantasy. "And she had to run home and deal with the mess."
The lesson of the episode — which also saw Carrie confronting an old writing partner she may or may not have screwed over (played by Rachel Dratch) — is learning from your past mistakes, King added, and Miranda's ugly showdown with Steve made her realize it's better to call it quits while there's still a friendship to be salvaged.
"There's an honesty to Che and Miranda. They look right at each other, and they call it: This isn't gonna get better, probably," he said. "They're grown-ups. They're acknowledging reality. And they basically broke the rule to start with. They're not a heteronormative couple."
King also argued that their split isn't a failure. "It's something we've been really debunking since 'Sex and the City,' which is, what is happily ever after? We're not afraid of saying that just because somebody doesn't live happily ever after doesn't mean it's not a success. It means that they're looking at where they are and not dragging themselves through a relationship that isn't working for both people."
"Also," he added, "you've only seen up to Episode 6."
