Miranda Hobbes. A voice of reason. The Sex and the City star perhaps more of us related to than we could a multiple designer-clad Carrie, sexually uninhibited Samantha, or conservative Charlotte. She ate cake out of the trash, farted her way through her pregnancy and had zero patience for Carrie’s self-indulgent tendencies (of which, let’s face it, there were a lot in seasons one through six). A nation rejoiced when Miranda snapped at Carrie in season four: ‘It's bad enough you send your boyfriend, but now the bullshit bagels!’
Somewhere along the line, through the first Sex and the City movie, then the (frankly unhinged) second, Miranda started losing her core Miranda-ness. It was slowly fading in front of our eyes. Then came And Just Like That. The Miranda we saw in season one of the HBO Sex and the City reboot, which first aired in 2021, was very different to the Miranda Hobbes we already knew and loved. Her trademark red hair was gone, she was unsure of herself and her values, desperately trying to assert her ‘wokeness’, and getting fingerbanged in Carrie’s kitchen by podcaster Che Diaz while her best friend wet the bed as she recovered from surgery (I guess that’s the payback for those shitty bagels).
Still, we persevered, but season two of And Just Like That took us even further from Miranda. Happily moving to LA, with her partner Che, the city she had once renounced as soulless after a visit in season three. Her alcoholism of season one barely delved into, other than to show us she was attending AA meetings. Giving up work and her college course, leaving her completely tetherless, with no ambition, simply to be Che’s cheerleader. Staggering around on the beach looking for her phone - not a witty putdown in sight. This wasn’t Miranda, I have no idea who this was. Other viewers agreed. One wrote on Twitter, ‘I refuse to accept this version of Miranda. It’s like the writers didn’t watch the original show and know nothing about her. Where is the independent bad*** we all came to realize later in life was the most relatable character on the show?!! We want this Miranda.’
Actress Cynthia Nixon, who has also directed episodes of the show, defended the decision to let Miranda ‘off the leash’. She told Vanity Fair, ‘She’s gone down the rabbit hole. It is something that happens to you when you’re in a new relationship and everything seems new—all the possibilities seem endless. The tough stuff hasn’t happened yet.'
Then, five episodes into the second series, glimmers of hope began to surface. Miranda, whose red hair had made a return with the new season, found her voice. During a scene where Miranda attempted to entertain the idea of a threesome with her partner Che Diaz and their ex-husband Lyle, she then got up and out of the bed, announcing, ‘This isn’t me’.
'She's gone down the rabbit hole.'
Cynthia Nixon on season two Miranda
She was right. Miranda once said, in a quote which has become SATC canon, she had discovered the secret to the 'successful' relationships she saw around her was that you ‘give away most of your power’. While this never happened with Steve, it certainly happened with Che. So when episode six arrived and Miranda finally stood up for herself, telling Che she ‘didn’t deserve’ to be spoken to so dismissively, I felt hopeful. Then she made a joke! An actual joke, telling the ladies that ‘going cold turkey’ is her ‘break up spirit animal’. She lost it in true Miranda style with Steve when she realised he’d been sleeping with someone whilst 'playing the victim' after their split. Then the relationship with Che finally ended, a cause for celebration for die-hard Miranda fans who had seen her unfairly manipulated and scolded.
Now, Miranda Hobbes is single ('Two back to back breakups,' she joked at the end of episode six). Her relationship with Che is over. Her and Steve are getting closure. She's had enough of everyone else's shit. We are surely on the verge of a full blown Miranda revival.
Good timing, too. Carrie is about to welcome Aidan back into her life. We can’t wait to see what the newly reborn Miranda Hobbes has to say about THAT…