The “Apples to Apples” Episode of And Just Like That… Continues to Cement Carrie’s Disdain for the “Country”

Things never go well for Carrie Bradshaw when she attempts a foray into “country life” (which is what going to Virginia amounts to for New York City folk). Least of all for Aidan Shaw’s sake. This much was already revealed in the season four episode of Sex and the City, “Sex and the Country” (as well as its follow-up, “Belles of the Balls”). So why should it be any different just because a couple of decades have passed? Well, obviously (and apart from Michael Patrick King’s love of “callbacks”), because she thought time and “maturity” was all it might take to get her to “come around” to the country—and the things that go on in it (or rather, don’t go on in it). But no, it was simply time that made her forget how uncomfortable she always ends up feeling there, one way or another. 

And in “Apples to Apples,” the And Just Like That… edition of Carrie goin’ to the country (or “cunt-ry,” as Miranda would say) for Aidan’s sake, the uncomfortableness stems not just from the “fashions” sold at Daisy’s Dress Shop, but Aidan’s surly teenager, Wyatt (Logan Souza), a boy who has “incel” written all over him. As this episode further confirms as an addendum to the previously little screen time he’s been given by the writers. 

What’s more, “Apples to Apples” makes it clear from the outset that Wyatt has no plans to “warm” to Carrie—that, to him, she’s nothing more than a “foreign presence” trying to infiltrate the Shaw family. Commencing with the image of Carrie waking up in bed to the sound of the crow of a rooster (which feels like an homage to SATC’s season three episode, “Cock a Doodle Do!”), she also hears the voices of Aidan, his middle son, Homer (Corbin Drew Ross), and Wyatt, painting the exterior just outside her window (on a pertinent note: Carrie has been relegated to the guest house, per Aidan’s “request” a.k.a. insistence—only adding to the general awkwardness of her being there). 

Although Carrie might have willingly showed up to the “country” this time (essentially foisting a “breezy” lunch onto Aidan that he then felt obligated to turn into an overnight), nothing about her lack of affinity for such a milieu has changed since “Sex and the Country,” which begins with the voiceover, “For most New Yorkers, Manhattan is the center of the civilized world. But for a privileged few, Manhattan is merely a place to kill time between weekends at their fashionably rustic New York country homes.” She then adds snarkily, “I was willing to forgo the privilege.” And she should have been willing to do it in “Apples to Apples” too. Because even Aidan wouldn’t be able to tell her, “You kind of have to be there to appreciate it” with a straight face like he did in SATC season four (to which Carrie rightfully replied, “No, I can appreciate it from here”). 

Back in 2001, however, Aidan was all gung-ho about getting Carrie to come up to the country (it meant going “up” then, instead of “down”), declaring cringily, “Pack your bags little lady. (in a sing-songy hick voice) You’re comin’ to the country with me.” Carrie immediately tries to explain to him (and rightly so), “See, I’m what you call a bona fide city girl. I’m a girl about town.” But Aidan won’t hear of it—she’s going whether she wants to or not. Such is the nature of “compromise” in a relationship, which is the theme of her column for that week as she poses the question, “Relationships, no matter how good, are inevitably a series of compromises. But how much of ourselves should we be willing to sacrifice for the other person before we stop being ourselves? In a relationship, when does the art of compromise become compromising?”

In “Apples to Apples,” Carrie appears to have the wisdom (or “fuck this shit” mentality) to know that neither she nor Aidan are at a stage in life where either one is willing to compromise anymore. Certainly not to the extent that both tried to in the more youthful years of their relationship. It was back then that Carrie would resignedly say things like, “Enjoy me now ladies, because this weekend, I’m a hick town hostage” and “I love Aidan. And Aidan loves the country. So maybe I’ll love the country.” To the latter declaration, Miranda chimes in, “Wait a minute, just because Aidan loves the country you have to love it too?” “Yes, apparently that’s how it works.” “I see, you need to pretend to be someone else to be in a relationship.” Carrie insists, “No, I believe the word you’re looking for is ‘compromise.’” But she knows, even then, that this attempt at compromise is doomed for her. 

Which is why, when Samantha asks, “Which hick town is it exactly?” Carrie gloomily responds, “It’s too terrible and too ironic. It’s Suffern. Suffern, New York.” Get it? But at least back then, Aidan had a dog (dear Pete)—even if Carrie is also not a dog person (having revealed her preference for cats more overtly in And Just Like That… by taking possession of a kitten named Shoe). And it is with Aidan and Pete in the former’s truck that Carrie shows up to his country “house” (a.k.a. ramshackle) in the most “city” outfit possible, complete with stiletto heels.

Predictably, she’s immediately repulsed by this cabin in the woods. Just as there are signs of her “what the fuck am I doing here?” vibe the morning she wakes up in Aidan’s guest house in yet another “ultra city outfit,” tiptoes around some strewn-about dumbbells in yet another designer pairs of shoes and slowly makes her way down the stairs, careful to avoid one of the hens. Once again, she’s exactly where she shouldn’t be. 

In “Sex and the Country,” Aidan still bothered to ask, “So what do you think? As scary as you thought it would be?” Carrie assures, “No, no. God no, no.” Then, in voiceover, “It was scarier.” She could surely say the same here. Especially when she becomes a guest at Tate’s (Jason Schmidt) twenty-first birthday gathering (making him one of the few progeny on the show with an accurate, non-“retrofitted” age). SATC devotees will of course remember that Tate’s existence was first introduced in the premiere episode of Sex and the City’s sixth season, “To Market, To Market.” Saved for the very end of the story as the “big reveal,” with Aidan gradually turning to showcase Tate’s presence in a baby sling. Carrie’s face falls only for an instant when she sees this before she goes into “so happy for you” mode. But her initial reaction was right the first time. For everything about the family Aidan has spawned is a horror show. As Carrie learns the full extent of during an “innocent” game of Apples to Apples (hence, the episode’s title).

And yet, despite all the drama, things between Carrie and Aidan remain “good.” Or, in a somewhat similar manner to the “resolution” at the end of “Sex and the Country,” both parties essentially agree, to quote Dylan, “Most likely you go your way and I’ll go mine.” In the sense that she’s going to keep doing her separate thing in New York and he’s going to do his in the “country” (a.k.a. Virginia). When they come together again, it will be when it’s convenient (mostly for Aidan). Otherwise, Carrie isn’t going to fall for the country gambit anymore. Because every time she tries to compromise who she is to accommodate Aidan’s interests and personality, it never works out.

The same goes for Aidan, who took offense when Carrie wore his engagement ring as a necklace in the season four episode, “Change of A Dress,” and generally felt that Carrie wasn’t a “traditional” enough woman for him—though she’s willing to put on various frocks from Daisy’s Dress Shop in “Apples to Apples.” To that end, Carrie famously says in “Sex and the Country,” “A squirrel is just a rat with a cuter outfit” and then follows it up at the end of the episode with the additional revelation, “City girls are just country girls with cuter outfits.” But, in “Apples to Apples,” even when Carrie tries on the guise of a “country girl” more earnestly, she finds there’s still nothing “cute” about it…least of all her Daisy’s Dress Shop purchases (though, as Carrie alludes to, women with a “sister wife” fashion sensibility might like them).

All further proving the conclusion she came to about the country so long ago: “I don’t belong here.” And, once again, that also seems to tie into the fact that she doesn’t really “belong with” Aidan either. But of course And Just Like That… will keep trying to make “country” (de facto, Mr. Shaw) happen.