Seema is the Best Character on ‘And Just Like That…’ So Why Is The Show Failing Her?

In the most recent episode of And Just Like That…, the internet’s favourite hate-watch, a lot happens. Carrie and Aidan finally broke up, thus ending our long national nightmare. Miranda revealed to Joy that she had issues with alcohol. Charlotte and Harry were on joint bedrest, with Harry talking a lot about the increased size of his testicles. Lisa told her husband to go on Ozempic since he’s so concerned about his weight. And Seema? Oh, poor Seema. She’s currently having fun with Adam, the sexy gardener played by Logan Marshall-Green, but the most exciting subplot the writers can come up with for her is a conflict over natural deodorant. Adam prefers rock crystals to keep his pits smell-free and convinces Seema to try it, but she finds it ineffective during a business meeting.

It’s the kind of moment that could have been interesting, showing a divide in generation and presentation that would have been fodder for an early season of Sex and the City. But the whole thing was just another reminder that this show has no idea what it’s doing with any of its characters but much less the ones introduced in this sequel. Lisa and the Wexley family occasionally get glimmers of intrigue through her work and the conflicts of being a politician’s wife, but often they seem reduced to being ‘the Black characters’ upon whom all of the racial issues of the early seasons are shoved upon as a hasty corrective. But Seema? She’s stuck between two worlds: the radical raunch of the original series and the parodic mess of this one, and the lost potential is staggering.

As played by Sarita Choudhury, Seema is frequently the scene-stealer of even the worst episodes. A luxury real estate broker, we’re first introduced to her when Carrie uses her to sell her beloved apartment that she shared with Big. For plot reasons, Seema invites Carrie into her world and she becomes the newest addition to the friends’ circle. Almost immediately, fans called out how much Seema seemed like a replacement for Samantha Jones, glaringly absent from this trainwreck thanks to Kim Cattrall’s common sense and continued distaste for Sarah Jessica Parker. Seema is charismatic, makes no apologies for her desires, is passionate about her career, and has a romantic streak amid her search for the pleasure she deserves.

In one of her best scenes, she hooks up with a guy with erectile dysfunction, encourages him to use a penis pump, then, when he’s still not getting the job done, finishes it herself with a vibrator. It’s bold, fizzy, and nervy in a way that AJLT hasn’t been since the beginning. As Saloni Gajjar noted in her piece for The AV Club, Her subplots are usually reminiscent not just of Samantha’s no-f**ks-given attitude, but of the original series itself. Somehow, Seema is the only character still carrying the ethos of SATC.’ All that and she’s also the best dressed by a country mile.

So, why does the show seem so hesitant to give her more to do? Season three has seen her in this weird subplot related to her changing career, one where her financial situation changes to suit the wavering whims of the writers (in this recent episode, she’s sunk her entire savings into her new office, a ludicrously capacious space for herself and her one employee, despite being refused a business loan from the bank only a couple of episodes prior.) But mostly, she’s been there to hold Carrie’s hand during her tedious relationship troubles with Aidan (who was always wrong for her and the entire point of that relationship was to show how the ‘nice guy’ who seemed so right for you could sour so quickly due to mutual distrust, but I digress!) The nonsensical plots make her seem incapable and clueless in a way that betrays why she felt so fresh to begin with. Why would a proud career woman be so useless in starting her own firm?!

A lot of the issues with And Just Like That… are rooted in its curious disconnect from the original series, which had already evolved massively from season one to six. Carrie got more prudish and the modernity of its narrative made way for a blushing fairy-tale in couture. You see those issues at play in AJLT, where the heftier issues of 50-something women in 2020s America are tossed aside in favour of soapiness that turned all of these characters into dummies. Charlotte is a dog poop away from being a John Waters character (which I’d honestly support at this moment in time.) Miranda has become so naïve that I’m stunned she is still able to work as a lawyer (and I’m STILL mad about Steve.) Carrie is walking around New York dressed like a patchwork doll and saddled herself to her crappy ex because nostalgia dictated it.

It all means that Seema feels like a relic, but one we’re craving more of. This is what we wanted from And Just Like That… and we’re denied more of it in every dang episode. She’s here to have fun but this show is no fun. Everyone else seems miserable or highly strung to the point of hysteria, and Seema just wants to f*ck. This is why she’s so frequently compared to Samantha, who was both a grounding force for the quartet and the one who reminded us most that life is not meant to be taken that seriously. Seema entered the show as a woman so firmly sure of herself. Now? She’s being dragged down with the rest of this mess. Someone save her before Carrie has her wearing overlarge hats and afraid to say the word ‘vagina.’