Samantha’s return in Sex and the City sequel And Just Like That delivers sixty seconds of
Sex And The City without Samantha Jones has been like toast without butter. Little wonder then, that her hotly anticipated cameo in last night’s finale of And Just Like That — the sequel to SATC — has caused such a stir.
Following a bitter six-year feud with Sarah Jessica Parker (SJP), who plays Carrie Bradshaw, Kim Cattrall had sworn never to play 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 wasn’t the same without her.
Here, original SATC super fan CLAUDIA CONNELL gives her riotous take on Kim’s big comeback as the second series concluded and the other surprising twists in the final episode (spoiler alert!)
A VERY COSTLY CAMEO
Kim Cattrall was on screen for all of 60 seconds last night. It’s rumoured that the actress was paid $1 million (£790,000) to film the scene — and she speaks just 20 lines, working out at an impressive £13,166 per second of airtime.
According to Cattrall, the chief executive of TV network HBO called her and asked what it would take for her to return. Being styled by Patricia Field, the celebrated costume designer who worked on the original series, but not the reboot, was one of her asks.
Kim Cattrall was on screen for all of 60 seconds. It’s rumoured that the actress was paid $1 million (£790,000) to film the scene
Sex and the City reboot And Just Like That concluded its second series this week. It has been renewed for a third series by HBO
Officially, Field was unavailable for the reboot due to working on Emily In Paris, but some suggested Field was not actually asked to do And Just Like That because SJP resented her close friendship with Cattrall and was punishing her.
Insisting on Field, who dressed Cattrall in a red dress, a gold coat and had her clutching a giant, oversized green bag, is perhaps Cattrall’s swipe back.
Cattrall also insisted on her make-up being done by celebrity cosmetic artist Kyra Panchenko and her hair by Ryan Trygstad — who gave her a new wispy fringe.
The scene was filmed in March in New York, taking four hours, after which Kim says she ‘went home and had a large Martini’, having not encountered a single one of her three former co-stars.
THE LAST SUPPER
Carrie Bradshaw may be SATC’s main character, but it’s Samantha Jones who became the fan’s firm favourite.
Over the course of six seasons of SATC, Carrie went from being a gutsy, independent sex columnist to a whinger with a shoe fetish who couldn’t seem to function without a man.
But bed-hopping, toy boy loving, child-free by choice Samantha always stayed true to herself.
And 60 seconds was all it took for Kim Cattrall to bring the sparkle, warmth and a star quality to And Just Like That it has lacked for nearly two years.
Smiling as she sees Samantha’s name flash on her phone screen, ‘Hello London, what’s shakin’ lady?’ asks Carrie as she takes the call.
Having intended to be a surprise guest at the ‘last supper’ party Carrie is hosting to say goodbye to her bachelorette flat, Samantha — calling from her car — tells her friend that she won’t be able to make it after all, due to flight delays. Asking to go on loud speaker so she can say her own goodbye to Carrie’s famous home, she puts on a fake English accent and trills, ‘thanks for everything you f*****g fabulous, fabulous flat’.
And just like that she was off, leaving us to assume she probably slept with the chauffeur before heading out to dinner with her new British girlfriends.
THE NEW MR RIGHT?
In series two of And Just Like That, Carrie reignites her romance with Aidan Shaw, the furniture maker she first dated in SATC’s series three.
She broke his heart by cheating on him with Big and, later, breaking off their engagement. Carrie tells Miranda that this time around sex with divorced father-of-three Aidan is the best she’s ever had and she’s started to think that ‘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 have to put their relationship on hold for five years. His troubled youngest son needs him.
He returns to Norfolk, Virginia, breaking Carrie’s heart just as she did to him two decades earlier.
CRAZY CAT LADY
Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) becomes a doting ‘mum’ to a tabby kitten that she names Shoe
Carrie becomes a doting ‘mum’ to a tabby kitten that she names Shoe. Yes, really!
Shoe sleeps in a Manolo Blahnik shoe box. The kitten was part of a litter that had been abandoned and taken to the veterinary practice where Che, Miranda’s (non-binary) ex, works. Is she set to become a crazy cat lady?
SPANX SILLINESS
Earlier in the series, annoyingly ditsy Charlotte York (Kristin Davis) makes the decision to return to work full-time. Charlotte purchases a chic, black lace Prada dress to wear to her first day in her new job at an art gallery, but it’s tight on her stomach.
She tries a bone broth crash diet, but can’t shift the pounds. Instead, 22 years after Bridget Jones made big knickers famous, she squeezes herself into body-control underwear that’s so restricting she can barely walk.
Arriving at the gallery, she’s greeted by a 20-something, plus-size assistant, wearing a crop top.
In a highly contrived scene, a liberated Charlotte runs to the bathroom to rip off her Spanx to let her tiny tummy take centre stage.
Charlotte purchases a chic, black lace Prada dress to wear to her first day in her new job at an art gallery, but it’s tight on her stomach
WORST PARTY EVER
As good luck would have it, Carrie wins a raffle prize for a chef to cook dinner for her and her pals. She decides to hold a ‘last supper’ at her flat before she moves.
The table is decorated with roses and linen napkins bearing Carrie’s initials. As she uses her kitchen for extra clothes storage, the chef cooks at a neighbour’s place.
Seated around the table, she asks her guests say one word that represents something they want to let go of.
‘Guilt’ says Miranda. ‘Limits’ says Charlotte. ‘Shoes’ says Carrie. Not really, especially given her new pet’s name. She goes for ‘expectations’.
MESSED-UP MIRANDA
Miranda’s estranged husband Steve spoke for us all in the final episode when he says ‘you’re not going to flip and be straight again are you?’ after meeting up with his ex, who ditched him for Che in the first series of And Just Like That.
Once the fiercest, most successful of the characters, Miranda’s turned into an insecure, bumbling midlife Mr Bean.
Describing herself as a ‘sexually confused alcoholic,’ she’s single for the second half of this series after splitting with Che.
Working as an intern at a human rights charity, the former hotshot lawyer seems lost … until she meets plummy BBC producer Joy (Dolly Wells) who looks set to be her love interest in the next series.
Describing herself as a ‘sexually confused alcoholic,’ Miranda is single for the second half of this series after splitting with Che
SEEMA: THE NEW SAM?
Outspoken, successful and with an insatiable sex drive, real estate broker Seema Patel (Sarita Choudhury) has helped fill the void that Samantha left behind.
She became besties with Carrie after selling the apartment she shared with Big. In this series, she becomes involved with film director Ravi and — in true Samantha style — has sex with him in the master bedroom of the multi-million-dollar flat she’s showing him.
She even gets the honour of sharing the finale’s last scene with Carrie. Relaxing on sun loungers on a Greek island, the two women are seen sipping Cosmopolitans — the cocktail SATC made famous.