And Just Like That.. - Season 3, Episode 10

"Meet my mom, crawling ivy."

"Better Than Sex"
Original airdate: 7/31/2025

Episode summary: Brady tells his parents he impregnated some rando he hooked up with a couple of times. Adam introduces Seema to his houseplanted mother. Carrie and Duncan share a night of passion before he leaves New York for good.

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Recap: Carrie is sitting in front of her window, writing about "the woman", who's now living alone, as in without the family she once thought would inhabit the townhouse mansion with her [and I really can't help but wonder if it's the most sensible strategy for a writer to structure a historical fiction novel in a way that mirrors her own life in real time]. Carrie then heads downstairs, where Duncan is reading more of her chapters and looooooving the life journey of "the woman". He nauseatingly coos, "Oh my.." before gushing to Carrie about what a smart and clever writer she was to have repeated the phrase "she had done all she could" three times, and that it's definitely a manuscript he'd consider Scotch-worthy. As he pours them drinks, the two compare their various successes as published authors...and Carrie chucklingly points out to Duncan that, as a writer of biographies, "the plots are already written for you" - but then concedes that she would not be this far along in her latest novel without his help. Duncan's like, "On that note.." and heads back down to his hovel so he can continue working on the Thatcher bio.

Over at Casa Miranda, Brady is cooking a fancy dinner for Miranda and Steve when he makes two life announcements:

• He has enrolled himself in the Institute for Culinary Cooking to become a chef
• He impregnated some rando named Mia while he was wasted one night, and is taking her word for it that the spawn is his

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Steve becomes instantly enraged and chides his idiot son for his lack of birth control use while hooking up with a near stranger, then threatens physical violence if he uselessly shrugs at him one more time. Brady gets up and heads for the door, 'cause he doesn't like being subjected to his father's threats...and after he leaves Steve moans, "Fuuuuuuuuck.." while a despondent Miranda stares concernedly into space. 

"I knocked up a stranger named Mia...something or other."

"Nice use of birth control, son."

Miranda sets up a three-way call so that she can lament to Charlotte and Carrie about how Brady's bun is in some strange woman's oven. Charlotte reacts by gasping and moaning, "Nooooo..", then unhelpfully remarks that that kind of unexpected pregnancy in the family would be her worst nightmare. Miranda muses about the prospect of being a grandmother - but Carrie points out that if Mia doesn't want a relationship with Brady, she likely won't want one with the larger Hobbes/Brady clan. 

Anthony and Guiseppe are going at it in bed when a fireman knocks on the door and tells them they need to evacuate the building pronto due to a punctured gas line. Guiseppe suggests they head over to his apartment (which he shares with a weird roommate), and Anthony grumblingly complains about how inconvenient it is to have to vacate his home on such short notice.

Lisa, for whatever reason, is spending quality time with Gabi's (caged) pet hamster in her closet office, then tells Herbert she's off to Washington D.C. to conduct an interview for her sheroes documentary. Herbert reminds her that he has one last campaign event on Friday night, and Lisa says she'll be there...but whines about how overbooked she's been lately. 

Anthony and Guiseppe are lying in bed when Guiseppe's roommate barges in without knocking to show off his new marionette: a Guiseppe lookalike with a gargantuan penis. When he hastily exits the room once he sees that Guiseppe isn't alone, Guiseppe explains to a bewildered Anthony that his roommate (Andrew) likes to carve dolls out of wood and then perform entertainment with them in Strawberry Fields (which, incidentally, is where the two first met). Guiseppe then explains that he's not worried about Andrew being attracted to him - even after carving a large penised marionette that looks exactly like him - 'cause apparently the weirdo self identifies as an asexual being. 

Charlotte has hired workmen to replace the hideous wallpaper in her family's penthouse - but is now having trouble finding a non-noisy place to conduct her Zoom call with a therapist named Rhonda Portante, who refuses to turn on her camera and is trying in vain to lead her through a guided meditation as part of an overall psychic energy cleanse. Added to the workmen's noise is the ruckus outside her door when Rock and Henry decide to use the un-tarped floor space to practice their tap dancing for an upcoming school play. An exasperated Charlotte tells Rhonda Portante she's going to need to reschedule whatever time remains on their Zoom appointment.

Adam is giving Seema a tour of his apartment, which he tells her is a rent controlled unit that costs just $900 a month. An envious Seema blurts out, "You motherfucker!" as she admires all of the artwork and pottery on display...all made by his mom before she tragically died of breast cancer. Adam then ushers Seema over to the kitchen and motions at a lush plant that's tentacled around the window and introduces it as his mother. When Seema stares back at him confusedly, he explains (?) that when he was seven years old, he gave his mom this sad little plant for Mother's Day, which has since grown and thrived. He proudly says, "This is my mom, in a nutshell. All love, care, and determination." Um, ok..?

While out for a drink, Seema tells Carrie that Adam has some serious mommy issues, not least 'cause he regards her as a saint and lives in an apartment that is an obvious shrine to the deceased woman. Carrie's like, "Yeah whatever" and says she needs to head out now 'cause she doesn't want to be late for her writing session with Duncan She then pontificates about about how much she loooooves the fact that he sees her as a smart person first - unlike most men whose first impression of her is that she's cute, and later learn what a gifted writer she is - and loooooves that Duncan respects her literary genius and what makes her her. [I found every part of that bloviation retch-worthy...but will put in a pin in it and continue on.]

​Miranda drags Charlotte along to the hair salon where Mia works, and is surprised to learn that Brady's alleged baby mama is a shampoo girl, not a full-on hair stylist. 

In the next scene, Mia is shampooing Miranda's hair as she farts uncontrollably. She apologizes for her bodily stank and explains that her extreme gassiness is a direct result of her pregnancy...and that she had planned on having an abortion - until she realized that the spawn would be a double Libra. When Miranda asks her if the dad is into astrology, Mia's all, "Dunno" and says he's more of a fuck buddy than anything resembling a boyfriend. Miranda can't resist going a step too far when she suggests that Mia get a paternity test to determine if this fuck buddy is, in fact, the bio dad...then sheepishly introduces herself as Fuck Buddy's mom. Mia reacts by spraying water in her face, then throwing a towel at her. Miranda apologizes for the deception and says she's still processing the seismic news, and was hoping to make a connection so that her family can get to know this little boy or girl after the birth. Mia stares back at her with an amused expression and sneers "You're sooooo binary" before huffing off in mid-fart.

"We'd love to one day be part of the life of this little boy or girl."

"Pffft. Non-genderqueer much?"

Carrie is having problems with her home printer, so Duncan tries his hand at troubleshooting it by unplugging it and then plugging it back in...which totally resolves the issue [and like Duncan, that's generally my go-to solution as well]. Duncan looks around the guest room and remarks on what a lovely space it is, then gets a tour of her closet, which is filled with her stupid-expensive stiletto collection. He looks positively charmed by all the sparkly shoes (which he actually talks directly to), and coos, "You are just a fairytale, aren't you?", then tells Carrie he's expected to attend a party on Tuesday night that his publisher is throwing and would looooove for her to be his plus one. Carrie hems and haws for a couple of seconds, but accepts his invitation. 

Gabi is looking for her hamster in Lisa's closet office, and explains to her mother that she removed her tiny pet from its cage so she could take her for a walk. Lisa loses her shit and rails about how they're never going to be able to find the tiny rodent in their ginormous penthouse. She asks her daughter how she could do something so utterly stoooopid - just as her mother-in-law enters the room and chides her for talking to her child in such a horrendous manner. Herbert then enters the room and coos at Lisa that she's only human and can't expect to be Mother of the Year every minute of the day - just as Lisa spots the hamster and yells at Herbert to go catch it.

Seema is smoking a cigarette in Adam's kitchen and opens the window to direct the smoke outdoors...and in the process somehow manages to accidentally shove his houseplanted mother [I don't know what else to call this lunacy] out the window, where it crashes to the ground below. She quickly heads over to the bedroom and sheepishly tells Adam that she just killed his mother, and he's all, "Fuuuuck.."

Charlotte is over at Carrie's townhouse mansion so she can conduct her Zoom energy cleanse in a quiet place. On her way to the bedroom she spots a (fugly) Vivienne Westwood outfit on a hanger, and Carrie explains that she's putting together an outfit for a publishing party Duncan invited her to...and had hesitated accepting his invitation 'cause Miranda had recently insinuated that there was something going on between her and Duncan. She admits to getting obnoxiously defensive about it in the They Wanna Have Fun episode...and when Charlotte asks if there is, in fact, anything going on between her and Duncan, Carrie once again gets defensive - but then catches herself. She frets that if she indulges in any kind of romance with Duncan she'd never hear the end of it from Miranda, and Charlotte retorts, "Fuck Miranda", which amuses Carrie, who then leaves the room to give her some privacy for her online energy cleanse session. Charlotte tells Rhonda Portante about how devastating it's been dealing with Harry's cancer diagnosis, and Rhonda finally turns on her camera - hey, it's Susie from Curb Your Enthusiasm! - and says she'd be more than happy to lead her through a guided meditation session...and is A-OK if it goes over the twelve minutes she has left of the prepaid session.

"OMG, are you hooking up with Duncan?"

"I refuse to on the grounds that Miranda can smugly point out that she was right about us."

Adam stops by Seema's loft office to ask whassup with her not returning his many texts and phone calls. Seema tells him she felt bad for killing his houseplanted mother, and Adam points out that cancer killed his mother...and that - good news! - he was able to salvage some of the plant's clippings, which he planted in various pots and placed throughout her office [without bothering to ask permission]. As Seema heads across the loft and looks at the new greenery in wonderment, she warns Adam that she's not a plant person. Adam assures her that his replanted mother is determined - and that she also has him to help her keep the repotted plants from dying. 

Election night! Herbert, his cantankerous mom, and the rest of the Wexley family get dressed up to head over to his campaign headquarters to watch the election coverage. They all enter the elevator, optimistic that Herbert is going to be New York City's next comptroller - but a few hours later, the family exits the elevator looking despondent when it turns out that working class voters swayed the results not in Herbert's favor. His mother shoots him a bitchy stink-eye and haughtily asks how he could enter a race if there was a chance he could lose...and after she huffs off, Lisa tells Herbert not to let the miserable old crow to get to him and reminds him he's only human. [Dunno what the point of this entire 'Herbert runs for comptroller' subplot was, only to have him lose the election...but whatevs.]

Carrie puts on a smart business suit to wear to Duncan's party and heads downstairs - but then abruptly stops and rethinks her outfit. 

In the next scene, Carrie shows up at Duncan's party wearing sparkly stilettos and the Vivienne Westwood ensemble that Charlotte had remarked on earlier...and it looks like a really uncomfortable, unflatteringly boob-compressing get-up. 

​Inside the venue, Duncan is chatting with his publisher when Carrie flounces in. The publisher notices her entrance, remarks on her fabulous boob-compressing garb, and wonders aloud why this local celeb would be in attendance at her event. Duncan explains that Carrie is his upstairs neighbour and that he invited her, and the publisher looks visibly impressed by that connection and says she's been soooooo desperate to have Carrie Bradshow show up at one of her events. 

Duncan wanders over to Carrie and compliments her on how nicely she cleans up, then offers to get them drinks. 

Anthony tells Guiseppe he's very creeped out by his roommate Andrew, then suggests they move in together...and Guiseppe thanks him for the wonderful offer, but is concerned that they might be moving too fast. He then heads over to the bathroom...and on the way he peeks into the second bedroom, where Andrew is jerking off to the Guiseppe lookalike marionette. Guiseppe looks aghast by the icky spectacle, then rushes back to his bedroom to tell Anthony that, yep, he'll move in with him asap. 

Duncan, his publisher, and Carrie are chatting...and the publisher is so visibly impressed with Carrie that she gives her her business card and says to let her know if she ever needs a UK-based publisher. After she saunters off, Duncan invites Carrie to blow off the rest of the party in favor of getting something to eat.

Miranda peeks into Brady's bedroom and sees that he's fallen asleep while reading A Cook's Tour. She stares down at him lovingly and turns off the light.

Carrie and Duncan are chatting about their writing processes as they return home. Carrie solemnly wanks him about how both he and his book-in-progress are wonderful, and Duncan counter-wanks her about his delightful discovery that she's "a thing" in New York [despite: not]. He invites her to come downstairs [not to work on their chapters, to be clear], but she just shakes her head. Duncan's like, "Good night then" and heads off...and a few seconds later, Carrie gets all romcom as she suddenly turns around and races down the stairs, breathlessly moaning, "Duncan!" before pressing against him for an amorous smooch. 

"Wanna come downstairs and hit the sheets?"

"No - but maybe in thirty seconds from now."

Post-coitus, Duncan tells Carrie he won't be returning to New York 'cause of how much a distraction she is to his writing. He excitedly asks her what's going to happen to "the woman" in her historical novel, and Carrie jokes that she'll either die of loneliness or smallpox. Duncan suggests she allow "the woman" to live, then gushes about how she's the first living person he's gotten preoccupied with in a long while, and that she's given him a new lifeline. The two then compliment each other one last time about what amaaaaazing writers they are, and enjoy a final smoochfest. And just like that...that's that for Carrie and her sexy downstairs neighbor.

The next day, Carrie is sitting alone in her courtyard, voice-overing about the end of summer, and how "the woman" felt the lingering warmth on her face, then needlessly repeats "how wonderful" three times. It remains unclear how a literacy giant like Duncan Reeves could be so completely spellbound by a manuscript filled with this kind of boring-as-fuck filler prose.  

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