Aidans Family Dilemma: Exploring the Charged Dinner Scene Between Sarah Jessica Parker and John Corbett in And Just Like That

In the latest episode of "And Just Like That," the series delves deeper into the complex family life of John Corbett's character, Aidan, providing a stark contrast to the romantic relationship between Aidan and Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker). The writers and creators knew that this new shot at romance would be far from simple, and they aimed to make Aidan's family life as realistic as possible. Series developer and EP Michael Patrick King explained that the decision to have Aidan return to Virginia to deal with his youngest son Wyatt (Logan Souza) was a realistic one. "Our goal was then to make a realistic family so that you could believe it," he told TheWrap. In Season 2, Aidan had to return home to Virginia to deal with Wyatt, who was acting out in the wake of Aidan's separation from his ex-wife. For most of Seasons 2 and 3, Aidan's home life was a murky concept that stood in the way of Carrie and Aidan being together. But with Carrie's visit to Virginia, the gravity of Aidan's family life comes into sharp focus. After a disastrous dinner that involves Wyatt screaming at his parents and storming out of the house, Carrie finally understands why Aidan asked her to wait five years before he can fully commit to her. King emphasized that the most fun part of this scene was that they admitted to the viewers that Carrie said, "I didn't believe you until now." This was the journey that Carrie had to go through to truly understand Aidan's situation. King also wanted to make sure that no one could say that Carrie was the bad one in this situation. "Carrie cares enough to go way outside her comfort level, even to the point of killing zombies in a virtual reality to make this work," he said. "It was exciting because it is a new level of grown-up Carrie, but it's also vulnerable and familiar." Sarah Jessica Parker, who plays Carrie, told TheWrap that this scene was different because she was an observer. "Aidan had tried to express that he felt his son was in danger in a way a parent would characterize it, which is just not doing well," she said. "When you feel you don’t understand, it feels really terrifying. I think her witnessing it is important, and it felt like that. It felt awful and really ugly and very sad." Originally, Parker thought the scene would be a difficult one to shoot, partially because of how demanding it was for Souza and partially because of the scheduling demands that pertain to underage actors. But after talking through the dinner with Corbett, Souza and the rest of the cast, Parker was surprised at how quickly it came together. "It feels appropriate," Parker said. "It’s just a sign of [Carrie] being a more informed person and being a better partner. I’m glad that is something we get to see." When asked if the Season 1 version of Carrie in "Sex and the City" wouldn't be able to handle the intensity of Aidan's family crisis, Parker lightly pushed back. "I don’t know if she would never," she said. "I think she would go through many more conversations before she’d arrive at that. I also don’t know that she would have been exposed to a family and sat at a table and watched the undoing of a son."