An ‘And Just Like That…’ Actor Isn’t Bothered By The Backlash To Their Character: ‘Che Diaz Is Not Here To Be Liked’

(And Just Like That… spoilers will be found below.)

The Sex And The City revival And Just Like That… Peloton controversy was one thing. Actually, it was a Big thing since they killed off Chris Noth’s character with a ride, and then there was a Big dust-up from Peloton and an ad that got pulled, and that was all a huge mess. Then there’s a solely on-show controversy at work that’s really haunting people. I’m talking about Che Diaz, the character portrayed by Sara Ramirez, who rolls out like a real nightmare.

Che is introduced as Carrie’s podcasting boss, which doesn’t matter too much except that this is a way for Che (who is also a stand-up comic) to meet Miranda. And Che shows plenty of narcissistic tendencies while Miranda is dreadfully unhappy in her marriage to Steve. Where this is all going gets forecasted from the beginning, but eventually, Che and Miranda end up “groundbreaking” in the franchise with a queer sex scene, which is one of the worst sex scenes in the history of television. This goes down in Carrie’s kitchen while she’s recovering from surgery and Che just decides to come over. Carrie wakes up and sees the sex act happening in the mirror, tries to look away, and then spills a bottle of pee all over the place.

All of this illustrates how Miranda’s no longer the greatest friend ever, but it also makes the “Hey, it’s Che Diaz!” intercom declaration now play like a “jump scare” for the ages. It’s no wonder that The Daily Beast is calling Che “the worst character on TV.” (Wait, even worse than Anthony LaRusso on Cobra Kai? Yes, worse than that brat-bully.)

It’s an unpleasant encounter to watch for many reasons (no chemistry whatsoever, and Che is an unpleasant person) and very strange that AJLT made huge declarations about being more inclusive with this revival, but they’ve made the show’s nonbinary character so profoundly unlikeable. No really, this is straight-up horror villain territory.

Sara Ramirez appears to be perfectly away of how the Che character is going over and is fine with this. While recently speaking with Insider, Ramirez declared, “Che isn’t here to be liked, Che isn’t here for anyone’s approval. Che is not here to represent the entire LGBTQ+ community or a spectrum of Spanish-speaking people or Latin-identified people or Hispanic-identified people. They’re here to just be themselves.” Ramirez added, “No community is a monolith.”

Well, what Ramirez says does make sense. Che doesn’t have to be likable, nor do viewers have to restrain themselves from expressing horror when Che appears. And for sure, “Hey, it’s Che Diaz” is one of the most frightful things to hear coming through an intercom. The jokes will not stop, and they are all terrifically funny.

And I do want to see Miranda actually go full “Rambo” (and not how Che wants it) in the season finale. Make it happen.