The first season of the 'Sex and the City' reboot came to a close, but left the door wide open for Samantha to return.
Spoilers ahead! If you have not finished this week's finale episode of And Just Like That, bookmark this for later or proceed with caution.
And Just Like That, the first season of the HBO Max Sex and the City reboot has come to a close. Thursday's episode saw Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) searching for some closure almost a year after the death of her husband, Mr. Big (Chris Noth).
Due to actor Chris Noth's sexual assault scandal, previously filmed fantasy scenes with Mr. Big were cut from this episode. Unfortunately, the character's absence was glaring and though there were still plenty of personal touches for fans to enjoy, we couldn't help but wonder whether the show might have been better served to reshoot a few scenes or tweak some of the focus away from Carrie's storyline being so entirely Big-centric.
After Carrie goes on a proper date with Peter (Jon Tenney) and the two share an awkward kiss, she is convinced that Big is reaching out to her from beyond as her bedside lamp turns on and off.
Couple that with Carrie's dream sequence that is noticeably missing her leading man, and she's ready to hop on a flight to Paris, to scatter Big's ashes on the bridge where they rekindled their love in the original show's finale.
It's also clear that another ghost from Carrie's past -- Samantha Jones -- is on her mind a lot this episode. Carrie texts her estranged pal and she replies, leading ultimately to a major off-screen moment, but more on that later.
After getting into a fight with her bestie, Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon), about her ability to join her in Paris for the big moment, Carrie decides to go it alone to dump Big's ashes out of an Eiffel Tower-shaped clutch purse while dressed in a giant over-the-top neon orange Valentino couture dress and hot pink gloves ...because of course she did.
She then texts Samantha, who is currently living in London, and asks if her friend wants to meet for a cocktail. Samantha proposes meeting the next night and they seemingly do so.
With actress Kim Cattrall making it clear that she does not intend to return to the series, it seems like an odd choice to have Carrie and Samantha back on good terms, but perhaps it was the show's final homage to Ms. Jones.
Though things fizzle with Peter, despite their mutual heartbreak over their late spouses, all romantic hope is not lost for Carrie. After sitting in a back burner role the entire first season, Carrie's podcast producer Franklyn (Ivan Hernandez) suddenly starts cropping up more and more this episode. He tells Carrie he wants to produce her solo in a podcast all her own. Sparks immediately fly between the two, and where Carrie was feeling guilt and heartbreak before, in one final scene she shows no hesitance in grabbing Franklyn for an elevator make-out session after a successful first taping of her new podcast, appropriately titled Sex and the City.
Meanwhile, Miranda has completely abandoned the pessimistic workaholic lawyer we've all come to know and love. When her partner, Che Diaz (Sara Ramirez), announces that they are heading to Hollywood to film a pilot -- with a cringe-worthy musical number that showed off Ramirez's impressive pipes -- Miranda decides to join them like an American Idol hopeful, leaving behind a challenging internship and any clear plans for her future.
"Why can't I choose love over an internship?" Miranda asks Carrie when her friend seems skeptical of the decision.
"You can, of course you can, but what are you going to do in L.A. all day? Sit in an audience and laugh?" Carrie asks her.
Miranda is frustrated when Carrie brings up their lengthy history together.
"Do I have to follow my own rigid rules until the day that I die?" she asks. "Then why do I feel like I can't go to L.A. without letting you down?
The moment mirrors Carrie's decision to travel to Paris with Alexander Petrovsky (Mikhail Baryshnikov) -- a decision her friends didn't support at the time either.
Thankfully, Rabbi Jen (Hari Nef) steps in to offer some sage wisdom, telling the two friends that their relationship is "precious and worth protecting."
They make up and Miranda finishes out the episode by dying her hair back to red -- so much for "gray pride" -- and heading to the airport to join Che in Los Angeles.
Charlotte York (Kristin Davis) is the only one of the core friends not having any major life-changing moments in the finale. The proud mom works overtime trying to give her child, Rock (Alexa Swinton), a "they-mitzvah," complete with a trans rabbi, an insanely delicious-looking candy bar, and lots of LGBTQ+ pride. But Rock isn't interested in the fanfare. They try to explain, "I don't want to be labeled as anything, not as a girl, or boy or non-binary, a Jew, Christian, Muslim, or even a New Yorker. I'm only 13. Can't I just be me?"
The declaration causes Charlotte to step up in Rock's place, for her own bat mitzvah, where she -- no surprise here -- nails it and is joined by her loving family.
And Just Like That's finale certainly sets up the ladies for a potential second season (though none has been announced just yet). Even the newcomers, though not quite the "main characters" they were previously advertised to be, have the opportunity to continue with their storylines into another year.
Seema (Sarita Choudhury) has a steamy new romance, Che has a new pilot, Nya (Karen Pittman) is on a relationship break amid her IVF journey, and LTW (Nicole Ari Parker) is continuing her reign over her kids' private school.
All episodes of And Just Like That are currently streaming on HBO Max. For more on the show, check out the video below.
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