And Just Like That..Season 1 is over. The much ballyhooed (and buzzed about) reimagining of Sex and the City brought Carrie Bradshaw, Miranda Hobbes and Charlotte York back to our living rooms. Having new characters like Sarita Choudhury’s Seema Patel and Nicole Ari Parker’s Lisa Todd Wexley interwoven into the storylines brought a freshness to the show, while the death of John James Preston (Mr. Big) at the conclusion of Episode 1 remains one of the most shocking on-screen deaths in recent memory. While the “fourth musketeer” was missing (and immediately addressed during the first season as being in London), the remaining ladies were exactly who we remembered, but going through a new set of very grown up issues: mid-life marriage strife, mourning a great love, and adjusting to having a child who was living outside of the gender spectrum. In my eyes, the show wasn’t suddenly “woke;” like the country and (hopefully) all of us, it simply evolved.
And Just Like That shattered HBO Max records, becoming HBO Max’s most streamed show ever, Season 2 is expected, and already being anticipated. Series Executive Producer Michael Patrick King told Deadline, “We’re having conversations right now between us about the storylines with the actors and with the network. I mean, it’s a very alive franchise—let’s just say that.” The finale saw Carrie bidding a final farewell to Mr. Big on a Paris bridge decked out in Valentino (sprinkling his ashes into the Seine River from her Timmy Woods Eiffel Tower handbag, that we incidentally saw during a 2008 Sex and the City film where she & Big went house hunting), and in the final scene-sharing a steamy kiss with her new podcast producer Franklyn. (As for a Season 2 reappearance by Franklyn, Michael Patrick King told EW that “the elevator door closes, but the story remains open”).
There were so many other questions fans were left with at the conclusion of Season 1, which King addressed to Deadline. John Corbett’s Aiden Shaw never appeared despite publicly saying he was asked (writer Julie Rottenberg says “John Corbett should be writing personal apology notes. We didn’t say anything”). The loss of Stanford Blatch was sudden, with the death of Willie Garson. As is turns out, the beloved character of Stanford was originally planned to be a much larger part of the next chapter of Sex and the City. King told Variety, “Stanford’s character always had a borderline career as a manager, and we were going to explore the fact that it wasn’t a real career.” “Stanford’s crisis probably would have included a split with husband Anthony (Mario Cantone), and a renewal of his connection with Carrie as they weathered major life changes”, King continued. “There was a series of really fun, flirty, hilarious confidante scenes with Carrie that I loved,” King recalled of plans for the series prior to Garson’s passing. “That old, old, very specific chemistry that Carrie and Stanford have, which is based totally on the uniqueness of Willie and Sarah Jessica’s history.”
Now while the finale saw Carrie and Samantha reuniting for cocktails off-screen (in Paris), don’t expect Kim Cattrall to reinhabit the character of Samantha Jones any time soon. King & Parker both spoke to Variety at length about a future reappearance of Samantha Jones and the door is seemingly shut. While King has definite adoration for Samantha, she will most likely never appear on screen again, nor was she asked to return. Simply put, as King says, “because she’s said what she had said.” “Magically thinking, it’s great to have Samantha,” King said. “I have no realistic expectation of Kim Cattrall ever appearing again.” As for Parker, would she be open to a reappearance by Samantha Jones and Kim Cattrall in the future? “I don’t think I would, because I think there’s just too much public history of feelings on her part that she’s shared,” Parker said. “I haven’t participated in or read articles, although people are inclined to let me know.”
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