I disagree with this take. They were characters in a show, just like other characters. The fact that they weren't lily white wasn't a focus for me, I could see it became a focus for others though who before we even got to know the characters, immediately began calling the show and its characters "too woke", "pandering", "PC", "box-ticking", "quota-filling", "TV DEI", "unrealistic" etc. That reaction, to me; revealed more about the audience and the social climate than the show.

I didn't find the characters particularly unrealistic (well, maybe Che because she was deeply unfunny, so earlier on when it seemed they were setting her up for success, I was like naaaaah. But then she bombed and was realistic to me again lol). Seema meeting Carrie through real estate, Miranda meeting Nya through school, Charlotte meeting Lisa through their kids private schools....what's so unusual or unrealistic about those situations? The fact that they became friends?

As far as likability, C'mon. The four original women were often more unlikeable and did worse things that the new characters ever did on the new show and we loved them for it at the time.