Any Sex and the City fan knows that Sarah Jessica Parker’s character, Carrie Bradshaw, has two main love interests; Big, played by Chris Noth, and John Corbett’s Aidan Shaw.
While Big was introduced in the show’s very first episode, Aidan did not make his debut until Season 3. His and Carrie’s romance was constantly tested by their polar opposite interests and her inability to move on from Big, who she famously cheated on Aidan with.
The two split for good in Season 4, which aired in 2002, and ultimately Carrie ended up marrying Big.
Meanwhile, Aidan made his final appearance in the ill-fated 2010 movie Sex and the City 2. Here, Carrie just so happened to run into her former lover in Abu Dhabi and they ended up sharing a kiss.
Big forgave Carrie for the indiscretion, and the two lived happily ever after until Sex and the City’s sequel series, And Just Like That, unceremoniously killed Big off in its very first episode back in 2021.
And when Season 1 aired its finale in February last year, confused fans questioned where Aidan was as they recalled his actor confirming that he’d be in it when production first started.
In April 2021, John told Page Six that he was “doing the show” and added that Aidan would be appearing in “quite a few episodes.”
Instead, there wasn’t so much as a mention of Aidan in any of the 10 episodes, and the show’s writers publicly dragged John for misleading fans.
Writer Julie Rottenberg and executive producer Michael Patrick King insisted that they “never intended” for Aidan to appear, and said that John should be apologizing for letting viewers down.
“John Corbett should be writing personal apology notes,” Julie said in an interview with Deadline. “We didn’t say anything.” But Michael did leave the door open for Aidan to feature in future seasons as he defended the claim that the character was “old news.”
“There’s nothing old news about Sarah Jessica Parker and John Corbett as actors and beings and interests,” he said. “The fact of the matter is, we never said anything about Aidan, just like we never said, Steve and Carrie are getting together.”
Discussing the potential of Aidan’s return, he added: “It’s a big storyline that everybody at home wrote that we had never intended,” while refusing to rule out the storyline in upcoming episodes.
And then in August, Deadline reported that John was actually reviving his role of Aidan for Season 2 of And Just Like That, and that he would have a “substantial, multi-episode arc.”
This was officially confirmed shortly afterwards, and photos of John filming with Sarah Jessica and the rest of the cast were posted to And Just Like That’s official social media channel.
But on Thursday, photos were shared that seriously divided fans.
On AJLT’s Instagram, there are two new pictures of Carrie and Aidan. In the first, the two are embracing and Carrie appears to be leaning in for a kiss.
In the second, Carrie has her arms around Aidan and is smiling as she looks up at the sky. The post was captioned: “And just like that Carrie is back on her tip toes.”
Sarah Jessica went one step further on her Instagram page, where she posted a picture of Carrie and Aidan kissing. She wrote: “This. Is. Not. A. Drill.”
But this Season 2 spoiler may not have got the fan reaction that showrunners expected, with followers being completely torn over Carrie getting back with her ex from more than 20 years ago — and into a relationship that has already failed several times — so soon after Big’s death.
“I do not have enough patience left for Aiden and Carrie! It’s like watching tennis ….. Back, forward, back, forward, back, forward!” one person commented.
Another added: “This is such a disservice to Carries character and SUCH sloppy and poor writing.”
Someone else referenced a character that Carrie was linked to in the Season 1 finale, asking: “Better be a dream. I don’t want her back with Aiden. What about the sexy podcast producer?”
And others highlighted how incompatible Carrie and Aidan are together, which is ultimately why they always struggled to make a relationship work.
“I’m sorry right now but are they serious!!! AFTER EVERYTHING !! EVERYTHING!! He never understood Carrie and took her for who she is, and he shouldn’t be going back to her just because the man she cheated with died!!!” one fan wrote.
“Why is this giving me ‘Aiden now feels secure in his relationship because big is literally out of the picture’ vibes 🥴” another agreed.
While one more asked if there really wasn’t “no other narrative to explore” as they questioned which of Carrie’s other failed Sex and the City romances would be brought back next.
“This is starting to feel a little cringy,” another fan concluded.
But some members of Team Aidan are fully on board with this development, with one comment reading: “The only good thing to happen on this show so far.”
“It’s like a dream come true,” another agreed. Someone else wrote: “This better be reality, Carrie 😩! Team Aidan for life. 👏🏾”
One more reasoned: ”Big was her love of her life but Aidan is her soulmate and they deserve to be together 🫶🏽✨”
And Just Like That Season 2 is expected to hit our screens in the summer, when we will finally find out what led Carrie and Aidan to this controversial moment.
