***Warning: This blog post contains spoilers for episode eight of the HBOMax series, And Just Like That…***

I nearly titled this post “Poor Steve, continued…” because really, POOR STEVE! In my last post, I lamented the fact that Miranda seems ready to blow up her relationship, and from what the writers have presented us with so far, Steve himself hasn’t gotten much of a storyline. That changes a bit in episode 8 — and it breaks my heart.

As the episode begins, Che is speaking at a rally for equality. Miranda is cheering in the audience — until she spots her son, Brady, among the allies section. As Che gives a speech about not hiding who we are, Miranda is literally bent over slinking away into the background. Che confronts her and is upset to discover Miranda isn’t in an “open marriage” as Che thought but rather cheating on her husband.

Meanwhile, another situation is blowing up when Lily walks in on Charlotte about to blow Harry in their bathroom. Charlotte panics and tells Lily she’s just checking his junk for signs of cancer. Later, with Miranda and Carrie, she expresses regret about reacting with a sense of “shame” brought about from the way she was raised to think/talk about sex. Miranda announces to all that she’s planning to talk to Steve later and tell him she wants a divorce.

Carrie is dealing with a young, hot downstairs neighbor who has guests over at all hours, keeping Carrie up at night. Carrie wants to appear “hip” to this young woman, especially upon discovering she’s a well-known jewelry designer, but she’s also losing sleep.

After finally yelling at the “kids” to quiet down, Carrie’s neighbor apologizes the next day, and then Carrie tries to mend fences with a gift of brownies. The neighbor’s boyfriend answers the door wearing just a towel. He tells her, “We don’t eat sugar,” (kids today) and Carrie tries to exit gracefully, but she drops the brownies, the boyfriend drops the towel trying to get them, and bam! Full frontal! Carrie makes a quick exit.

Miranda catches Che on their way to the airport for a show in Cleveland, promising them she’s going to tell Steve about them. Che is hesitant, but she does tell Miranda she’s in love with her, although she cautions her she can’t give her a traditional relationship. Miranda says she’s over traditional…. we’ll see.

Charlotte takes Lily out to lunch to try to level with her about sex, but upon discovering Lily has posted a “sexy photo” (in athletic wear….) to an account Charlotte doesn’t know about, the conversation deteriorates and Lily leaves. She flees to Carrie’s house, where she’s been helping her organize her closet and helping herself to a few “vintage” (to her!) items. (Earlier in the episode, we get to see the million-layer tulle gown Carrie wore in Paris on SATC.*)

Later, Charlotte tries again and gets off the hook when Lily makes it clear she did buy the story about checking for “lumps,” and just wants to make sure her dad is OK. A relieved Charlotte assures her he is.

Miranda sits down with Steve for “the talk,” and I reach for my tissues. I’m dreading this. All in all, it’s a very calm conversation, which only makes it more heartbreaking in a lot of ways. Steve is just so tired of fighting for Miranda. He notes he’s been fighting for their relationship from go, and he’s basically done. When he talks about being happy in their chill, predictable life, it makes me so sad. I do get where Miranda is coming from — I wish Steve at least had said something about maybe wanting to have more sex — but really, what’s the point? I think her mind is pretty made up. She tells Steve she wants a divorce. Brady isn’t involved in this convo, which I get, but I really wonder how that is going to go.

Miranda calls Carrie from a cab on the way to the airport to tell her she talked to Steve and she’s going to surprise Che in Cleveland to tell them they can be together. Why do I have a feeling that is NOT going to go well?

As the episode ends, Carrie is all glamour, eating Jiffy Pop in the window in her apartment.

“And just like that… I learned that there are some things that should never be put into storage.”

Sometimes ya gotta dress up* to eat Jiffy Pop.

With only 2 episodes left, I have soooo many questions! Is Miranda’s life going to totally implode? Is Carrie going to hit it off with Peter? Are they still going to be angling to get Kim Cattrall back? Stay tuned!