This post contains spoilers from And Just Like That season 3 episode 5 from this point forward.
A few weeks ago, I knocked And Just Like That season 3 for not giving Charlotte meaningful stories. So far this season, Charlotte has feuded at the dog park, forced her daughter to work with a demeaning college counselor, and struggled to keep up with her younger coworkers. It's not exactly the same level of personal or professional storylines that Carrie, Miranda, or Seema have.
In And Just Like That season 3 episode 5, Carrie's the one having a sitcom-worthy dispute with her downstairs neighbor and her temporary roommate Miranda. Carrie's heels cause a disturbance in sleep for Duncan Reeves (Jonathan Cake), who's an author working on his next project, while she feels territorial with Miranda eating her yogurt and walking around her house naked at night. This week, Carrie even called on the sage wisdom of Samantha via text message.
While watching Carrie stress out over Miranda spilling Mexican Coke on the fancy table Aidan bought for her (the one she wanted weeks ago!), Charlotte was off an a glamping trip with Lisa's family, but she had too much on her mind to enjoy her trip. As if the show heard my complaints about Charlotte's storylines, And Just Like That went ahead and delivered a shocking development.
And Just Like That diagnoses Harry with prostate cancer
A few episodes ago, Harry peed his pants at a club and later struggled to perform in the bedroom. In episode 5, he tells Charlotte that after those incidents, he decided to see a doctor. Unfortunately, Harry was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Charlotte's immediately devastated and concerned, but Harry assures her that they caught it early and there's a 98% survival rate.
Still, Charlotte's consumed with her husband's health issue. She wants to quit her job to take care of him, but Harry won't allow her to do that. Harry also insists that Charlotte doesn't tell her friends or their children about his diagnosis for fear of becoming the "cancer guy." It's hard for Charlotte to keep this inside, resulting in a beautiful scene with Lisa in the pool. She wants to open up to her friend, and she seems to nearly consider breaking her promise, but she stays silent.
Throughout the episode, Charlotte attempts to instill Lily and Rock with the necessity to spend time as a family. She pushes them to have a good time on their glamping trip, even though Harry isn't even enjoying himself. Already, Charlotte's carrying a lot of emotional weight by keeping the knowledge of Harry's cancer to herself. Going forward, she will be the one to need support.
In an interview with Variety following episode 5's reveal, Kristin Davis previewed the trajectory of the story. She teased that Charlotte will lose herself in taking care of Harry and end up facing her own health problem: "It seems like a perfect storyline for Charlotte that she would, of course, forget to take care of herself, and then have her own health issue because she forgot to take care of herself."
And Just Like That creator Michael Patrick King also seemed to confirm that Harry's cancer won't be fatal. Speaking with The Wrap, King said, "Do you think I’m going to kill Harry?" Phew! Thankfully, we don't have to worry about another one of our Sex and the City girls mourning the death of their husband. But it's still curious what could be in store this season for Charlotte and Harry.
In spite of the heavier aspects of mortality that are surely on the docket for season 3, the show also continues to be light. Seema's trying to get her business off the ground and seemed to have sparks with Carrie's landscaper, Adam. Lisa deals with a crush on her male coworker, and Miranda pursues a relationship with Joy. All that's left is for Carrie to figure out what's going on with Aidan.
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