<i>And Just Like That...</i> Season 3, Episode 7 Recap: Charlotte’s Birthday Party

Spoilers below.

In last week’s episode of And Just Like That..., Lisa learned that her father died. Although the episode featured a whole funeral and a narrative on her grief, it turns out she mentioned all the way back in season 1 that her dad had already passed. And then in season 2, he appeared on screen in the flesh portrayed by Billy Dee Williams. A source connected to the show then clarified that Lisa was actually referring to her stepfather in the first season. The fan reactions to the whole commotion are, like the show, all over the place. Some criticized the series for the mistake, but others say: What the heck, go all-in on the nonsensical camp. There are already so many silly little quirks in this show—why try to fix them? As Rebecca Alter wrote in Vulture this week, “You can view AJLT as an often accidental work of art that challenges the accepted timelines and borders of life and death. And isn’t that more fun?”

I agree. In fact, that is the beautifully strange allure to the show. It’s not just hate-watching; it’s abandoning all time, reason, and sense. It can be freeing, actually. So when Patti LuPone shows up as someone’s Italian-speaking mother from Buffalo, New York; or a virgin lesbian nun loses her virginity to Miranda; or yes, a character is revived only to be killed off again, that’s just because AJLT exists in an entirely different reality. We just get to visit once a week.

On our latest trip, the aforementioned LuPone makes her entrance speaking fluent Italian the moment she steps through the door. She’s playing Gia, the glamorous but judgy mother of Anthony’s boyfriend, Giuseppe. She’s here to visit Hot Fellas bakery, and her first impression of Anthony is less than ideal. He insults her while not realizing she’s right beside him, and she notices makeup on his neck covering a huge hickey.

Miranda also notices something: Charlotte is acting strange. On the walk home, Carrie mentions that they’ll have to go all-out for Charlotte’s upcoming birthday party, which further heightens Miranda’s suspicions. What’s going on? To keep Harry’s cancer diagnosis a secret, Carrie covers it up with something else: She says Richard Burton, Charlotte’s dog, is terminally ill with cancer. Miranda is horrified and agrees to go above and beyond with the birthday festivities.

Before they party, Carrie meets with Gia. (They surprisingly hit it off!) Over lunch, they discuss Carrie’s writing and their respective dating lives. Gia reveals that Giuseppe’s father, Alessandro, was the last man she fell in love with—albeit she was 21 and he was 50 when they started out. She recalls chafing with his teenage kids at the time, which resonates with Carrie. (She’s still figuring out how to warm up to Aidan’s son Wyatt.) When she asks for advice, Gia tells her, “Don’t waste years trying to be who you think they’ll accept.” Carrie also puts a good word in for Anthony during their heart-to-heart.

Meanwhile, Charlotte runs into Harry and another woman in Bergdorf’s. However, she’s not a mistress; she’s his personal shopper. But it turns out that she also knows about Harry’s prostate cancer diagnosis. Charlotte freaks out—weren’t they not supposed to tell anyone?! Harry apologizes, but it was agonizing to keep such big news a secret. Charlotte, of course, knows this feeling; she already confided in Carrie in last week’s episode, but her husband doesn’t know that yet.

Right now though, Carrie is amused by the unexpected sight in her kitchen: her gardener, Adam, plucking an eyelash from Seema’s cheek and blowing on it in an ever-so-flirtatious manner. Now that Seema is on a budget, she got her lashes done in a no-fuss salon with a lash tech whose nails were like talons. As a result, she was left with a deflated set of lashes and a scar. Adam considers this an excuse to swoop in.

Carrie gets flattered too. Her neighbor and writer friend Duncan stops by to say he’s read the pages of her novel that she shared with him for feedback. He says it’s “brilliant” and “propulsive.” He’s floored by the opening sentence: “The woman wondered what she had gotten herself into.” (Doesn’t seem groundbreaking to me, but okay???)

Soon, Carrie’s apartment turns into a party venue for Charlotte’s birthday. Miranda arrives equipped with a metallic jumpsuit, confetti-filled balloons, and a karaoke machine. Lisa’s son Henry (Alexander Bello—Theater Camp fans are familiar with this young king!) is delighted by the props. He calls out the “Geardon Pro With Touch Screen Karaoke” with glee, in a line of very thinly veiled product placement. (In case you were curious, the machine retails for $600 on Amazon, but it’s marked down to $479 thanks to Prime Day.) Henry hogs the mic with renditions of “I Dreamed a Dream,” “Hopelessly Devoted to You,” and “Copacabana.” Honestly he should’ve kept going, but Miranda would rather open gifts.

Gia tries to make conversation with Anthony, but it’s more of an accusation. She believes that he’s “selling sex” at his bakery, because the staff wear tiny jumpsuit uniforms that show off their bulges. (She’s not entirely wrong.) But Anthony thinks it’s just fun. Later, Gia gets to the core of her concern with Anthony. It’s “tragic when someone older lusts over someone younger,” she says, not noting her hypocrisy as someone who married a much older man.

While Carrie and Duncan are talking on the terrace—and Kimberly Akimbo star and Tony winner Bonnie Milligan is belting her heart out at karaoke—Miranda tries to comfort Harry. She tells him that when the time comes, Charlotte will be “devastated by the loss, but we’ll be there for her.” She’s, of course, referring to Richard Burton, but Harry thinks she’s referring to himself. Did Charlotte let the cat out of the bag? He talks to his wife, who talks to Carrie, who comes clean about the dog cover-up. “That’s almost worse!” Charlotte gasps. Harry decides to clear the air and tell Charlotte’s friends about his diagnosis, but he assures them not to worry as he is getting treatment at an early stage. It’s a twisted birthday gift for Charlotte: Now she won’t have to keep a secret from her best friends.

Seema, by the way, is elsewhere wearing a freaking Louis Vuitton leather eyepatch, which she crafted from an old fanny pack. But that does not deter Adam, whose flirtations have not ceased. In fact, he mentions that he is no longer with his yoga teacher girlfriend. “I ended things with her when I smelled your perfume for the first time,” he adds. (BOLD!) Seema is breathless. But he doesn’t stop there; he begins to serenade her with “Bette Davis Eye” (notably not eyes because, again, Seema is wearing an eyepatch) at karaoke. Though Adam makes inexplicable noises into the mic (I think he believes this is “singing”), Seema is a fan. They leave together and make out on the taxi ride home.

When the party’s over, Miranda and Carrie debrief in the kitchen. They both fawn over Miranda’s girlfriend, Joy; Carrie is so happy to see Miranda in a healthy and effortless relationship. Miranda playfully points out that Carrie had fun with Duncan too, but Carrie takes offense to that. “I’m in a relationship,” she snaps. Miranda is apologetic, but she notes that Carrie is in a weird place with Aidan; she puts so much work into their relationship, but she rarely gets to have fun. Carrie gets defensive here. She and Aidan have been together for 20-some years, while Miranda and Joy are only a month in—what does she know? Miranda confesses she got the idea from glancing at Carrie’s book draft, the part about the woman who didn’t know “what she got herself into.” Carrie insists it’s a fictional story set in 1846; it’s not about her. Miranda believes her and backs off.

Though they end things amicably, it’s clear that Miranda’s comments struck a chord with Carrie. We viewers know from her narrations that her writing is somewhat autobiographical. So when she tells Miranda that she’s not romantically confused, she’s not only lying to her friend, but also to herself. Or maybe in the And Just Like That... universe, the concept of truth is a little skewed too.