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Carrie Bradshaw and Aidan Shaw’s relationship is painful and complicated. Now we are stating to hate the character.
Carrie Bradshaw and Aidan Shaw’s relationship ended with a pause at the end of And Just Like That… season 2. His return to Carrie’s life went from light and organic to complicated and angsty in the blink of an eye. Season 3 is serving up more of the same, and as the season progresses, we like Aidan less and less, not only as a partner for Carrie but as a person. We’ve come up with three reasons we can’t stand Aidan anymore.
It feels like Aidan Shaw is trying to even the score in season 3 of ‘And Just Like That…’
Carrie Bradshaw wasn’t kind to Aidan Shaw when she dated him in Sex and the City. She was distant and difficult; she cheated on him and begged for him back. Then, she maintained a friendship with the man she cheated on him with. She wasn’t great to the guy. Still, it should all be water under the bridge now, especially since Aidan sought out the relationship again.
Somehow, though, it doesn’t feel like it is. There are moments, here and there, in season 3, where it feels like Aidan is trying to even the score. At the very least, he doesn’t seem to mind making Carrie feel as disposable and unimportant as he once felt. It’s not always the case, but it’s often enough to make us wonder if Aidan is a man making mistakes or if he’s a man using his troubled home life as a means to get back at the “one who got away.”
Aidan is weirdly stubborn about his youngest son
Aidan’s storyline in season three, thus far, has centered around his son Wyatt and his inability to figure out the troubled teen. In the most recent episode, Carrie and the viewers experienced Aidan’s parenting abilities firsthand, and it was painful to watch. For someone who spoke so much about his kids and his connection to them, he seems ill-equipped to parent a child who might be a bit more complicated than him.
While we can largely forgive Aidan for some of his other transgressions, we are having a hard time accepting the way he navigates his child’s needs, as well as his co-parenting relationship with his wife, Kathy, and her new partner, Bob. Aidan did not mature with fatherhood; he appears to have devolved.
He is asking for something that is completely unfair
Even if we assume that Aidan is just a frustrated father trying to make it all work, we can’t forgive him for putting Carrie in such a vulnerable and uncomfortable position. It feels especially cruel considering it has only been a few years since the traumatic death of Mr. Big. Aidan is asking Carrie to pause her life while he navigates his son’s mental health and medical needs. It’s just not a fair ask.
If Aidan had been entirely altruistic, he would have ended the relationship and maintained a friendship with Carrie while dealing with Wyatt. If he were being selfless, he would have let her go to find love; instead, he’s shackled her to him in an excruciating limbo. We sense more drama is to come, thanks to his selfishness.
