Che Diaz (portrayed by Sara Ramirez) is a character that was introduced in the first season of Sex and the City spinoff And Just Like That. Che is a sexually adventurous non-binary stand-up comedian that Carrie Bradshaw worked with on a sex questions podcast. Their role expanded when they began an affair with Miranda Hobbes. Season one of And Just Like That ended with Miranda leaving her husband (and New York City) to pursue a relationship with Che.
The second season of And Just Like That has focused heavily on Che and Miranda’s relationship. One reason for this is that we are down to three main characters and one of those characters (Carrie) isn’t going to have any crazy sex storylines because she is grieving the loss of her husband (and really, because actress Sarah Jessica Parker doesn’t want to). With Samantha Jones (Kim Catrall) gone, this leaves only Miranda, Charlotte and the new secondary characters to fill in all the sexual storylines Sex and the City fans expect to see. (And if you saw Charlotte’s recent c*msl*t episode, she is doing her part!!!)
The problem with this is that no one likes Che Diaz. If you Google the character’s name, the first prompt is “Why don’t people like Che on And Just Like That?” Profiles of Sara Ramirez refer to their role as the show’s “most hated character” and Rolling Stone called their character a “troll” on viewers. Che’s sins include their brash personality, their dismissal of Miranda’s (valid) feelings in season one before their relationship became serious and their bewilderment and opposition to Miranda running to New York to comfort her son during his first breakup in season two. It’s also important to mention that for a certain subset of people, heteronormative ideals and alt-right propaganda turn up the volume on their distaste of Che’s character, who is genuinely presented as a kind of woke boogeyman.
For me, alarm bells started going off in my head in season two episode four, “Alive!”, when Che and their ex-husband Lyle discuss their past relationship. Lyle mentions that Che once convinced him to be in a polyamorous relationship rather than describing his throuple experience as something he wanted or that he and Che decided on together. Later that night, the opportunity presents itself (or was planned and constructed by Che) for Che, Miranda and Lyle to have a threesome. When Miranda expresses that she’s not sure she’s into it, Che says that the discussion is “not hot”. Shutting down someone when they are expressing that they are uncomfortable during intimacy is something that only creeps and predators do. No one who is genuinely concerned with their partner’s welfare (the bare minimum required for consensual sex) wants them to be quiet about how they are feeling or silently participate in an act they are uncomfortable with.
Previously, I’d simply disliked how unsympathetic and self-centered Che was in their relationship to Miranda. Now, I hated their character.
Che’s relationship with Miranda has emphasized what a sad phase of life Cynthia Nixon’s character is in. Sure, Miranda left her corporate law job to go back to school and (after having an affair with Che) decides to divorce her husband — but these things aren’t inherently sad. Steve cheated on her! Corporate law sucks! Miranda’s willingness to let go of what is not working and opt to try something new in her 50s is admirable and adventurous. But the longer she’s with Che, the more her character comes off as a tragic pick me or someone falling for the love-bombing stage of a narcissist. And that’s not the Miranda Hobbes we know, love or want to see on our screens.
Some viewers have compared And Just Like That‘s Miranda to the Miranda of Sex and the City‘s final season when she berates Carrie for being so naive and desperate as to leave New York City for a new love interest — which is exactly what Miranda does for Che. I’ll buy that Miranda Hobbes is in her cautionary tale era, but if that’s not the direction the writers are going, I definitely don’t buy that Che is a legitimate healthy partner (see: Smith Jerrod) for Miranda. Whether or not the audience is supposed to like Che, the threesome storyline pushed the character past the point of redeemability. For the Miranda-Che arc to make any sense at all, there has to be a reckoning coming.
