<i>And Just Like That…</i> Season 2 Episode 4 Recap: Rated R For ‘Mature’

Spoilers below.

In what might be one of the funniest episodes of And Just Like That… to date, the show brings back some guest star ringers from the past and also gets back to its more sexually graphic roots. Warning for the pearl clutchers: some raunchy language ahead.

Out to breakfast with her former podcast co-host, Carrie is visited by two older people: a strange elderly fellow texting her for a date and Enid Frick (Candice Bergen), her long-ago editor at Vogue. Enid continues to be hilariously awkward, but things get even more awkward when Carrie asks her former colleague if she’d shout out her new book in Enid’s fabulously popular newsletter. This may be the most realistic portrayal of the publishing industry on any SATC property yet.

But, Enid says that if she shouts out Carrie’s book, she’ll have to shout out everyone’s books, so…it’s a no. But she does think Carrie would be perfect for the new website she’s launching, Vivant, for gals “like us.”

After Enid gives her an invitation to a Vivant launch party, Carrie spirals over the idea that she’s perceived as being in her 70s rather than her 50s and turns to Seema for advice. Always practical, Seema tells Carrie to turn the situation to her advantage: Say she’ll write for Vivant if she gets a newsletter mention. Being so transactional gives Carrie the ick, but she decides to give the party a whirl. As long as she doesn’t pose next to anyone with a walker, Seema warns, her sexy brand is safe.

Charlotte, Harry, Lisa, and Herbert are gathered to send their kids off to summer camp, guaranteeing a few weeks of unfettered fornication. First, Lisa and Herbert have a heart-to-heart about how hard they’ve both been working and Herbert decides not to run for city comptroller until the kids are older. He wants to help take some stuff off of Lisa’s plate and offers to organize the guest list for their upcoming anniversary party. Aw, so sweet. How could this go wrong?

Their counterpart couple, however, just get right to the sex. As a special treat, Charlotte encourages Harry to…finish on her tits (I know, I’m sorry—she said it!). He does so in a moment of ecstasy, but nothing comes out! I hope they’re paying Evan Handler a lot for this. Alarmed, Charlotte gets her husband to the doctor and they’re relieved to find out that some old-fashioned Kegels will get his jizz going the right direction again. Because right now, it’s apparently going into his bladder.

“Why would it do that?” Harry mournfully asks.

Back in Brooklyn, Miranda is consigned to the couch listening to Steve do something that sounds a whole lot like sex upstairs. Turns out, he’s just aggressively slamming a punching bag with no shirt on over and over. Obviously, the family is headed to therapy.

In session, Brady says that it has been three weeks since he and his girlfriend broke up and he’s processed it. But he doesn’t think his parents have dealt with their own split. He is also delaying his enrollment in college, which Steve encourages. Miranda finds that she uncharacteristically can’t bring herself to say anything in therapy about her son’s choices, because she knows it’s her fault her family is broken.

The catalyst for that break is back in NYC. Che has just road-tripped from California with their husband Lyle, who is staying for a few days after the long journey and helping Che move into a new apartment. This isn’t something Miranda is entirely comfortable with, but Che really gets her to push her boundaries. After Lyle passes out in Che’s bed, all three of them fall asleep there. But then Che gets frisky with Miranda and Lyle jumps in. Is Miranda okay with that?

As much as she tries to be, Miranda’s body keeps the score. A heinous Charlie horse sends her out of the bed and onto Che’s couch, though she encourages the former couple to finish. Instead, Che follows Miranda out to the couch and they spend the night in each other’s arms.

Meanwhile, at Lisa and Herbert’s anniversary dinner, Mother Wexley is having a terrible time, her favorite thing to do. The only other people who have arrived are Charlotte, Harry, and Lisa’s dad, Lawrence Todd (Billy Dee Williams), a poet and playwright who very vocally admonishes men who work in law and finance. This is clearly the wrong crowd for that. Also attending is gallerist Mark Kasabian (Victor Garber), who Lisa invited directly. No one else shows up—it turns out that Herbert just never hit send on the Evite. Oops.

As the group gorges on lobster for 31 people, Mark recognizes Charlotte from her days as a gallery gal and inevitably suggests she come work for him. Charlotte is flustered. It was many years ago that she quit her job to become a stay-at-home wife for her horrible first husband, Trey. Yet, a flame has been lit.

When there’s no cake, because Lisa forgot to order it (she’s very busy with her doc being in the Tribeca Film Festival), Mother Wexley sounds off about how working moms are ruining the world. Lisa’s dad speaks up to support her and ends up bashing Herbert instead for only focusing on projects that make profit. Instead of pointing out that her husband’s money paid for the grotesque amount of lobster on the table, Lisa spontaneously announces that Herbert is running for city comptroller, because he “wants to give back.” This couple really keeps the plot moving forward.

Carrie attends the Vivant opening party and finds herself charmed by the attendees, particularly Gloria Steinem, who calls aging the “new frontier.” And Just Like That… has pulled back this season on highlighting how much older the girls are than they were on SATC, so this feels like a moment of returning to the theme and allowing Carrie to accept it for a moment.

What she can’t accept is anymore texts from the mystery man, Marlon Schafer. While Carrie is aging gracefully, he is simply too old. At the Vivant party, she runs into Bitsy von Muffling, who admits she gave Marlon Carrie’s phone number after they talked about being widows together. Carrie tries to politely discourage her old friend, who can’t stop saying how important sex is. Her late husband, Bobby Fine, was amazing in bed. Yes, he was gay, but that made him try harder, she says.

Bitsy won’t drop it and sends Carrie a photo of Marlon’s dong as Steinem gives a dignified speech.

After talking to Steinem about “battling her deep-seated ageism,” Carrie generously offers to write for Vivant without asking for anything back. But Enid doesn’t want her writing. She wants about $100,000 for funding. In that case, Carrie decides she will donate in exchange for a newsletter mention of her book. Before she can seal the deal, Enid catches a glimpse of Marlon’s dick pic on Carrie’s camera roll. She recognizes it, because Marlon is her boyfriend.

Carrie PayPals her right away.