*This article contains And Just Like That season two spoilers*
As new pictures emerge from the season 3 set of And Just Like That, the speculation starting gun has been fired. Aidan Shaw is back! But what's the context? It's certanly a twist after that season 2 ending.
When fans first heard that Aidan was returning last series, they were in a state of shock. Not least because the costume department dressed him in a cinched-in safari jacket for his first scene, but because fans were sure that the newly-widowed Carrie Bradshaw had long left her carpenter ex-fiancé Aidan in the past.
However, in season two of the HBO Max show, Carrie (played by Sarah Jessica Parker) began to find her feet in the world of dating again. And just like that... Aidan stepped back into her life and swept her off her feet. Their reunion (whichever number reunion it is) was such a whirlwind that Carrie started cancelling plans with friends and making plans to meet and spend time with Aidan's sons. She even purchased an eye-watering, lavish four-bedroom family home in New York so that she could live with Aidan (played by John Corbett) and have space for his three kids when they wanted to visit.
It was therefore the ultimate cliffhanger when season two ended with Carrie and Aidan calling time on their relationship, with Aidan saying he needed to prioritise parenting for a while after his son was involved in an accident.
When Carrie asks 'how much time,' he said he needs five years and that it will go by 'like that'. The couple then said a tearful goodbye on the steps of her old apartment, telling each other it's 'not the end'.
And yet now here we are, new AJLT filming pictures of Carrie and Aidan have emerged on social media (at this rate we'll know the entire plot before it airs next year), and fans can't help but wonder what is happening between them.
Now that the highly-anticipated third season has started filming, Aidan fans can breathe a sigh of relief to find out that Aidan is, at least, still on the call sheet. From the looks of the BTS images and videos that are circulating online, Carrie and Aidan are still very much in touch.
In one video, Aidan appears to be throwing stones at Carrie's window (an old favourite) and shouting her name, which could either be a romantic gesture or a plea to be let inside. With these two, who can be sure? Other images show the two actors laughing on set, as Carrie holds a copy of 'The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War'. That book would certainly be an interesting olive branch on Aidan's part.
And in another picture, Aidan is seen carrying a weekend bag and smoking – something he famously berated Carrie for doing when they were first together. So what do these new pictures mean? Is this the beginning of the end for the happy couple? Or the beginning of yet another beginning?
While we don't know exactly how their relationship will pan out, whether Carrie will follow him to Norfolk in Virginia, whether they'll do long distance, or, indeed, whether either of them have started seeing someone new since their break, we can bet that we'll be fed clues over the next few months of filming as more BTS footage leaks.
In this day and age, it's not too hard to work out an entire stroyline if you're internet sleuthing game is strong enough. For the rest, we'll have to wait until the series airs in 2025...