We had our suspicions when the first teaser trailer aired, and the second has still left us on our toes. After he was shafted in season one, dumped by his wife and made to look a fool, Steve Brady (David Eigenberg) will not be returning as a major character in season two of And Just Like That.
Sex and the City fans had mixed feelings about the spin-off series, but there was one opinion that seemed to unite them on all fronts – that Steve Brady had been tossed down the gutter. After Miranda had a mid-life crisis, became an unconvincing alcoholic, quit her job and fell in love with Carrie's non-binary colleague Che, it was clear that Steve was going to get dumped. It felt as though the writers thought we'd judge Miranda less if Steve looked like he'd let himself go over the years, but all it did was leave us confused. That man was not the Steve we knew and loved.
The original show, which ran for six seasons between 1998 to 2004, followed four best friends Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha through the trials and tribulations of their thirties – and in doing so introduced us to their various short and long-term partners. And after two spin-off films and a huge, public and pretty awkward falling out between Kim Cattrall (who plays Samantha Jones) and Sarah Jessica Parker (who plays Carrie), we thought the characters were gone for good and everyone's lives had been tied up in a bow.
Then came And Just Like That, which sees our favourite characters (well, most of them) navigating their fifties and sadly that meant Steve and Miranda's marriage was in trouble. And without Miranda, apparently there's no need for Steve.
However, Steve has appeared very briefly (for the first time) in the second trailer of the new season. We seem him for about two seconds taking his hat off in their family hallway. So he will be returning after all, but how significant his storyline will be remains unclear. The rumour that he wouldn't be returning to the show was started by the recent promo poster, which Sarah Jessica Parker shared on her Instagram, along with news that the show comes out on 22 June. The image emulates Leonardo da Vinci's 'The Last Supper' mural, which could mean anything from 'this is the last season of the show' to 'this is an efficient way of making sure the whole cast is in one photo' to 'nothing at all'.
It's safe to say the poster poses a lot of questions. Fans on Twitter have said 'Charlotte is giving AI realness', while another wrote, 'pull up a chair, it's going to be a feast.' At least we know the three girls are back, along with Charlotte's husband Harry and Miranda's new squeeze Che. It also potentially teases a fling between Charlotte's daughter Lily and Miranda's son Brady – another storyline that would make absolutely no sense other than to accommodate a tight casting budget. But hey, we're not complaining!