Carrie’s KFC On And Just Like That Nods To Her Best SATC Moment

From pizza and Chinese food to the McDonald’s French fries she brings Mr. Big, Carrie Bradshaw loves a takeout moment. That hasn’t changed on And Just Like That..., of which its June 12 episode sees Carrie and Seema tuck into some KFC while visiting Aidan in Virginia.

If there was something oddly familiar about the girls’ dinner of choice, you’re not alone. It hit me, too: Carrie dines on the exact meal in one of her most iconic Sex and the City episodes.

Revisiting A Classic Carrie Moment

In Season 3’s “Hot Child in the City,” Carrie heads to her go-to shoe repair shop — only to find it’s now a comic book store run by a superhero enthusiast named Wade Adams (aka Power Lad).

Carrie is surprised to find out that Wade lives with his parents, but ultimately leans into the perks of spending time in their fabulous abode — and being served dinner and homemade chocolate chip cookies by Wade’s mom.

She’s quickly reminded why being a teenager isn’t all that great, though, when Wade’s parents arrive home early as he and Carrie are smoking weed on his terrace, spraying each other with the garden hose, and polishing off two buckets of KFC.

“My parents said that if they caught me smoking pot in the house again, I’d have to sleep on a cot in the comic book store,” Wade whines.

But Carrie astutely points out, laughing: “If they see billions of chicken wings... they’re gonna know we were smoking the pot.”

When Mrs. Adams indeed finds their stash, Wade blames it on Carrie, who’s indignant (it’s literally Wade’s) but then steps into her power as an adult woman. “Yes, Mr. Adams. I brought the marijuana into the house... and I’m taking it with me when I go.”

Cue “Hot Child in the City” — the bop for which the episode is named — as Carrie grabs the weed and triumphantly walks out. Later, she enjoys the goods with her friends. “In the end, I decided I was definitely 34 going on 35,” she narrates. “But in a city like New York with its pace and its pressures, sometimes it’s important to have a 13-year-old moment to remember a simpler time when the best thing in life was just hanging out, listening to records, and having fun with your friends... in your very own apartment.”

It's a playful conclusion to one of Sex and the City’s all-time great episodes — a celebration of friendship and the frivolity of a hot summer’s day. (The fandom seems to agree: As of writing, it’s one of the top 10 user-rated episodes on IMDb.)

But What Does It Mean?

Part of the 2000 episode’s fun, free-spirited air is that it takes place shortly after Carrie’s first breakup with Aidan. She’s unattached and truly going where the wind (and weed and KFC) takes her. So might it be significant that she’s turning to the familiar cuisine again at a moment when her relationship with Aidan is uncertain?

If you’re one for reading into things (same!), perhaps it shows that Carrie is craving freedom — a return to fun and simplicity when it comes to a love life that has been a little bit fraught.

On that note... what is Power Lad up to these days?