Patti LuPone’s ‘And Just Like That’ Character Debuts With a Bubbling Feud and a Salacious History

Note: This story contains spoilers from “And Just Like That” Season 3, Episode 7.

Patti LuPone made her “And Just Like That” debut in Thursday’s new episode, and she’s already feuding with one of the “Sex and the City” spinoff’s fan-favorite characters.

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Episode 7, titled “They Wanna Have Fun,” introduced LuPone as Gia, the strong-willed mother of Giuseppe (Sebastiano Pigazzi). She got off to a great start with Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) and the rest of the ladies, but a bad first impression put her at odds with her son’s boyfriend Anthony (Mario Cantone) from the start.

We also got a glimpse of her interesting backstory, as well as a promise (or threat) that she’ll be a thorn on Anthony’s side for longer than expected.

Gia’s Past

Viewers first meet Gia when she arrives at Anthony’s bread shop to a warm welcome from Giuseppe and the ladies. She quickly befriends Carrie and the gang after they profess their shared love for the poet, whom Gia calls her masterpiece.

When Charlotte (Kristin Davis) compliments her English, Gia reveals she was born in Buffalo, N.Y., and moved to Italy to pursue her passion for painting when she was 19.

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“I was going to be the next Botticelli,” she tells the gang, before admitting those dreams went on the back burner after she met the love of her life, and then focused her time on her son and her work as a psychologist.

Later in the episode, Gia and Carrie have lunch together and Gia shares more about her love story. She was in her 20s when she met Gio’s dad, who was in his 50s, noting that the age difference is considered more scandalous in America than it is in Europe. But her stepchildren hated her so much that she dropped art to study psychology in an effort to understand them better, which launched her current career.

That animosity with the stepchildren helps her bond with Carrie, given her current predicament with Aidan and his kids. Gia tells her that the key is to stay true to herself in her interactions with them, because “inauthentic beings never win.”

Patti LuPone and Mario Cantone in “And Just Like That.” (Craig Blankenhorn/Max)

Feuding with Anthony

While she gets along great with the ladies, Gia is quick to look down on Giuseppe’s boyfriend Anthony from the moment they meet. So much so that while telling everyone to call her Gia, she tells Anthony to stick to her full name.

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After confusing one of the other hot men in the bread shop for him, Gia is not happy when introduced to Anthony with a snarky and explicit comment. At lunch with Carrie, she tries to appeal to Gia by telling her that Anthony is one of the sweetest people she has ever met. But she is not convinced, given his older age and prickly personality.

Later, at Charlotte’s birthday party at Carrie’s house, Anthony arrives with Giuseppe announcing that he had been forced to bring “Maleficent” with him, referring to Gia.

After Bitsy von Muffling (Julie Halston) invites Giuseppe for a cringey karaoke rendition of “Shallow,” Gia even hints at her displeasure with the romantic match for Anthony, noting how sad it looks for an older individual to lust after someone like her son.

Patti LuPone and Sebastiano Pigazzi in “And Just Like That.” (Craig Blankenhorn/Max)

Sticking Around

Episode 7 did little to hint at resolution for the feud between Gia and Anthony, and even hinted at more to come. Close to the end of the party, Giuseppe and his mother have a heart to heart and she breaks the news that she decided to extend her trip to help him out with some things.

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Could a plan to sabotage the relationship be afoot?

Theater Easter Egg

No one likes the karaoke at the party more than LTW’s son, who sings “I Dreamed a Dream” from “Les Misérables,” “I Dreamed a Dream,” which Patti once sang as part of the cast of a West End production. He also sings “Hopelessly Devoted” and “Copa Cabana.”

Near the end of the episode, as Giuseppe and Gia talk things through, he asks if she enjoyed the party. She cheekily references LuPone’s Broadway roots when she brushes the event off for having “too much singing for me.”

Will Gia succeed in breaking up Anthony and Giuseppe, or be won over before she heads back to Italy?

“And Just Like That” releases new episodes Thursdays on HBO Max.

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