Sex And The City without Samantha Jones was like toast without butter. So it’s no wonder her much-anticipated performance last night in the finale of And Just Like That – the SATC sequel – drew so much attention.
After a bitter six-year feud with Sarah Jessica Parker (SJP), who plays Carrie Bradshaw, Kim Cattrall had vowed never to play the man-eating PR executive Samantha again. But earlier this year, she was persuaded to reconsider after fans said the story of life and love in Manhattan just wouldn’t be the same without her.
Here original SATC superfan CLAUDIA CONNELL gives her wild take on Kim’s big comeback at the end of season two and the other surprise twists in the final episode (spoiler alert!)
A VERY FREE CAMEO
Kim Cattrall was on screen for a full 60 seconds last night. The actress is rumored to have been paid $1million (£790,000) to film this scene – and she only speaks 20 lines, which works out to an impressive airtime of £13,166 per second.
According to Cattrall, the HBO executive called her and asked what it would take to get her back. One of her requests was to be styled by Patricia Field, the acclaimed costume designer who worked on the original series but not the reboot.
Kim Cattrall was on screen for a full 60 seconds. The actress was rumored to have been paid $1 million (£790,000) to film this scene
Sex and the City reboot And Just Like That concluded its second season this week. HBO has renewed the series for a third season
Officially, Field was unavailable for the reboot due to work on Emily in Paris, but some suspected Field wasn’t actually asked to do And Just Like That because SJP angered her close friendship with Cattrall and punished her.
The insistence on Field dressing Cattrall in a red dress and gold coat and having her clutch a huge, oversized green bag is perhaps Cattrall’s countermove.
Cattrall also insisted that her makeup be done by celebrity cosmetic artist Kyra Panchenko and her hair done by Ryan Trygstad – who gave her new wispy bangs.
The scene was shot in New York in March and lasted four hours. Afterward, Kim said she “went home and had a big martini” since she didn’t run into any of her three former co-stars.
THE LAST SUPPER
Although Carrie Bradshaw is the main character of SATC, Samantha Jones has become a fan favorite.
Over the course of six seasons of SATC, Carrie morphed from a spunky, independent sex columnist into a shoe fetish whineer who couldn’t seem to function without a man.
But bedridden, toy boy loving, and willingly childless Samantha has always stayed true to herself.
And it took Kim Cattrall just 60 seconds to give “And Just Like That” the shine, warmth and star qualities it had lacked in almost two years.
She smiles as Samantha’s name flashes on her phone’s display. “Hello London, what’s up lady?” Carrie asks as she answers the call.
Samantha had planned to be a surprise guest at the Last Supper party that Carrie is throwing to say goodbye to her bachelor pad. When she calls from her car, she tells her friend that she won’t be able to make it because of… the flight delay. When she asks to turn on the speakerphone so she can say goodbye to Carrie’s famous home, she puts on a fake English accent and trills, “Thanks for everything you say friggin’ fab, fab apartment.”
And there she was, and we’re assuming she probably slept with the chauffeur before heading off to dinner with her new British friends.
THE NEW MR RIGHT?
In season two of And Just Like That, Carrie rekindles her romance with Aidan Shaw, the furniture maker she first began dating in season three of SATC.
She broke his heart by cheating on him with Big and later called off their engagement. Carrie tells Miranda that this time, having sex with divorced father-of-three Aidan is the best she’s ever had, and she begins to think “Big” was a big mistake.
But just as she’s about to move into the new four-bedroom duplex she plans to share with Aidan, he arrives in New York to tell her they’re going to put their relationship on hold for five years. His troubled youngest son needs him.
He returns to Norfolk, Virginia and breaks Carrie’s heart just as she did to him two decades earlier.
CRAZY CAT LADY
Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) becomes a loving “mother” to a tabby kitten she names Shoe
Carrie becomes a loving “mother” to a tabby kitten she names Shoe. Yes, really!
Shoe sleeps in a shoebox by Manolo Blahnik. The kitten was part of a litter that was abandoned and taken to the veterinary practice where Che, Miranda’s (non-binary) ex, works. Will she become a crazy cat lady?
SPANX silliness
As the series begins, pesky Charlotte York (Kristin Davis) makes the decision to return to work full-time. Charlotte buys a chic black lace Prada dress to wear on her first day at her new job at an art gallery, but it’s too tight on her stomach.
She tries a bone broth crash diet but can’t shed the pounds. Instead, 22 years after she made her big panties famous, Bridget Jones squeezes into form-fitting underwear so constricting she can barely walk.
When she arrives at the gallery, she is greeted by an oversized assistant in her 20s wearing a crop top.
In a highly staged scene, a freed Charlotte runs to the bathroom to rip off her spanx to let her tiny belly take center stage.
Charlotte buys a chic black lace Prada dress to wear on her first day at her new job at an art gallery, but it’s too tight on her stomach
Worst party ever
As luck would have it, Carrie wins a raffle prize for a chef who cooks dinner for her and her friends. She decides to have a “last supper” at her apartment before she moves.
The table is decorated with roses and linen napkins with Carrie’s initials. While she uses her kitchen as extra storage space for clothes, the chef cooks at a neighbor’s house.
She sits at the table and asks her guests to say a word that represents something they want to let go of.
“Blame,” says Miranda. “Limits,” says Charlotte. “Shoes,” says Carrie. Not really, especially given the name of her new pet. It relies on “expectations”.
The screwed up MIRANDA
Miranda’s estranged husband Steve spoke for us all in the final episode when he said, “You’re not going to turn around and be straight again, are you?” after meeting his ex, who introduced him to him on season one of And Just Like That. let down because of Che.
Once the wildest and most successful character, Miranda has transformed into an insecure, awkward Mr. Bean.
She describes herself as a “sexually confused alcoholic” and has been single since the second half of this series after breaking up with Che.
The former top lawyer works as an intern at a human rights organization and seems lost… until she meets chubby BBC producer Joy (Dolly Wells), who seems to be her great love in the next series.
Miranda describes herself as a “sexually confused alcoholic” and is single in the second half of this series after breaking up with Che
SEEMA: THE NEW SAM?
Outspoken, successful, and with an insatiable sex drive, real estate agent Seema Patel (Sarita Choudhury) has helped fill the void left by Samantha.
After selling the apartment she shared with Big, she became friends with Carrie. In this series, she hooks up with movie director Ravi and – in true Samantha fashion – has sex with him in the master bedroom of the multi-million dollar apartment she shows him.
She even gets the honor of sharing the last scene of the finale with Carrie. The two women relax on sun loungers on a Greek island and sip Cosmopolitans – the cocktail that made SATC famous.