<i>And Just Like That...</i> Season 3, Episode 9 Recap: One Hundred Percent

Spoilers below.

Seema might be worried about body odor, but what really stinks is something in Aidan and Carrie’s relationship. Although the father of three is staying at his and Carrie’s apartment for longer than usual, old memories and their past issues get in the way of them moving forward.

Take, for example, Aiden’s behavior toward Carrie’s neighbor, Duncan. Season 3, episode 9 starts off with Aidan sitting on the backyard terrace with the writer, mid-interrogation. He asks Duncan why he smokes a pipe, and he says his ex-wife is partly to blame. Aidan bristles at the smoking—just like he did with Carrie decades ago. Carrie believes that Aidan probably feels threatened, not but Duncan, but by her. She has broken his trust in the past, both with Big and with cigarettes, so it’s possible Duncan is a walking trigger for him. But surely, Aidan must be over that by now right?

The rest of the friend group has their own issues to deal with. Charlotte is still struggling with vertigo in her only solo scene in the episode. Lisa’s husband Herbert, who is running for public office, is having trouble sticking to a diet, to which Lisa responds, “Just go on Ozempic like everybody else.” Seema receives a crystal from Adam to use as deodorant, and she gives it a try for the heck of it. But later, while having lunch with Carrie at the chic new Patel Group offices, she gets called into a last-minute, high-profile meeting all the way uptown. After she rushes to the meeting in a sweat, her colleague can’t help but notice the stench of B.O. Bet that’s the last time Seema uses crystals on her underarms.

Meanwhile, Anthony is still on a mission to impress Giuseppe’s mother, Gia, and attempts to win her over with a home-cooked dinner, to little avail. Not only does she imply his risotto is unseasoned, she goes so far as trying to pay him off to get him to break up with Giuseppe. As someone who married a much older man, Gia doesn’t want her son to end up in the same position—a young widower left alone to fend for himself once Anthony passes on. The tense back and forth culminates with Gia throwing the food and plates off the table, and then immediately expressing shock and regret over her behavior. It’s an absolutely bizarre, weirdly written exchange that makes little sense. Gia ultimately storms out and gives up on trying to keep Giuseppe and Anthony apart, but the scene is reflective of a very strange and disjointed episode overall.

We do get a moment of sensitivity and honesty through Miranda, though, who comes clean to Joy about her alcoholism and shares why she threw away her bottle of gin. Joy tries to be understanding but she knows that drinking around Miranda will just make her feel bad about herself, which is actually why she drinks—to numb certain insecurities. Miranda assures her that she doesn’t have to worry, and they agree to accept each other’s emotional baggage.

Carrie and Aidan have plenty of that, too. When Carrie is in a writing workshop with Duncan, Aidan interrupts to invite them up to dinner—he’s grilling steaks—but Carrie says they’re busy at work and she probably won’t be back until late. Aidan is pushy, but he ultimately goes back upstairs defeated, leaving the raw T-bones on the kitchen counter. When Carrie finally returns, she snuggles up with Aidan in bed, but he pushes her away, telling her to shower because she reeks of smoke (from Duncan’s pipe). Carrie does so and ends up sleeping in another room.

Things are not patched up by morning. Still angry at Aidan, Carrie takes a walk to let off steam, which leads her to the shoe section of a department store. Here, the one and only ANDY COHEN makes a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo as a retail associate, a callback to his brief season 6 appearance. Before Carrie can try on some heels, Aidan invites her to lunch to discuss, well, everything.

There, at a sidewalk table, everything falls apart, thanks to a few grammatical errors. Aidan happens to mention that he has trust issues with Carrie and other men. She notices that he didn’t use the present tense—why does he still have trouble trusting her now? She’s done nothing wrong. Carrie finds it all to be a bit ridiculous. She has put in so much effort into her and Aidan’s odd “wait for me for five years” agreement—which he even broke when he slept with this ex, Kathy—and frankly, she is done trying. Plus, all of his family issues only further complicate things. Carrie says she was giving 100 percent into their relationship—and Aidan catches she’s using the past tense too. Carrie doesn’t deny it; she has nothing left to give. She and Aidan both need 100 percent from each other, and they sadly can’t negotiate or meet in the middle. “I really thought we were gonna make it this time,” Aidan says tearfully. They embrace goodbye and Taylor Swift’s “How Did It End?” starts playing.

Even as an Aidan fan (sorry Big, rest in peace), I’m glad his exhumed relationship with Carrie is being put to bed. And Just Like That… tried to recreate the spark between them but it just fell short, and the chemistry between them felt forced and unnatural rather than charming. (You could also say this about the reboot as a whole, TBH.) The pacing of their relationship arc this season was also weird; though there were hints in recent episodes that Carrie and Aidan wouldn’t work out, the hints crept in too slowly, only to have his past trauma about her smoking and cheating came rushing back in this episode.

In the final scenes, Carrie meets up with the girls, Charlotte, Miranda, and Seema (where’s Lisa?!) in what feels like both a homecoming and the beginning of a new chapter. With both of her great loves out of the picture, can Carrie finally start fresh now?