Samantha will be back for the second season of And Just Like That... but Kim Cattrall won't
Showrunner Michael Patrick King has found a way to continue her storyline
And Just Like That… fans know better by now than to expect a Kim Cattrall cameo on the show any time soon. But showrunner Michael Patrick King says viewers can expect a return to Samantha’s storyline in the HBO Max series’ second season… and a lot more texting between her and Carrie.
“Yes!” King told Variety when asked if Samantha and Carrie will still be exchanging texts in new episodes. During last season’s finale the two meeting up in Paris after Carrie scatters Mr. Big’s ashes in the Seine river—for obvious reasons, this all happens offscreen.
“It’s very funny, because every single one of the writers has a different version of what happened during that conversation,” King said of Carrie and Samantha’s mysterious meeting.
His personal take on what the ladies discussed? Well, King explained: “So, I think there was some champagne. I think there was a grownup back and forth, and a love affair that they realized that something’s more important than being afraid to heal. I’m sure they had a great night. To me, they had a great night and things became resolved. Once Carrie let go of an old, old love, one of her current loves came back in.”
Although Cattrall has been clear she has no interest in returning to the role of Samantha (or returning to a close relationship with her former cast members), her character brings a blunt heart to the show that King clearly knows he shouldn’t underestimate.
“Let’s face it; without Samantha, the show doesn’t really work,” Gwen Ihnat wrote in The A.V. Club’s review of the first season’s finale.
Back in February, King explained to Variety why he didn’t expect a return from Cattrall ever. “You have to look at the reality of something: You can literally not make an actress play a part,” he said.
Although Cattrall can’t be forced to return to Manhattan, Samantha and Carrie’s disembodied text relationship can bring a sliver of Cattrall’s character back to the show. Here’s to the post-2010 ubiquity of iPhones—although it’s hard not to chuckle imagining a Samantha character arc carried out solely via beeper…