On January 10 of this year, four days after a riot at the Capitol, an HBO Max reboot of Sex and the City titled … And Just Like That was finally announced. Since then, we have endured a slow and steady trickle of small details emerging about this project. There are new cast members (including Sara Ramirez from Grey’s Anatomy), the return of old cast members (John Corbett is returning as Aidan), and, after years of murmurs about a behind-the-scenes rift, the show will go on without Kim Cattrall as Samantha. Miranda’s hair is no longer red, Charlotte seems to have an English bulldog, and Carrie has traded her column in for podcasts.
The ladies have been spotted filming in the Meatpacking District and the Upper East Side, just steps from where the 59th Street Gap store was located pre-COVID. As usual, they are in the hottest locations. Despite all of these clues, no details about the actual plot of the show have emerged.
That all changed on the morning of July 15, when a photo of one oddly long script page was posted in “Page Six.” The name Charles Hunt is watermarked on the page in question. His name will be remembered by the world for the great service provided: a glimpse into one minute of dialogue that possibly reveals a major plot point of this reboot. A dissection of this primary source brings us closer to understanding how a show that has now written out both the Twin Towers and Samantha Jones will proceed.
Below is a line-by-line analysis where we theorize what these new clues reveal about … And Just Like That.
Deleted scene:
NORMAN
(covers iPhone and talks)
In my experience, when people have unfinished business, they tend to throw money at it.
GLORIA
Norman, get off the damned phone.
Norman nods. Carrie sits there — stunned
In the photo, these lines of dialogue are crossed out. There are no photos of the actors playing Norman and Gloria on set and these character names haven’t come up in casting news. They seem like lawyers, though. The most important piece of information here is that Carrie is stunned. This is a woman who saw Lexi Featherston plummet to her death from a penthouse window, so we know whatever she has just been told is a huge piece of news.
INT. RESTAURANT - LATER - DAY
Carrie, Stanford, Miranda and Charlotte sit at a cramped table by the DOOR TO THE KITCHEN, which keeps BUMPING Stanford in the back as SERVERS come and go. Miranda is drinking a glass of Cabernet.
So much is revealed already: Samantha has been replaced with Stanford. They’re dining indoors and it’s busy, so it takes place sometime after May 19 since SJP has said that COVID-19 will “obviously be a part of the story line.” Miranda is drinking red wine during brunch, which seems weird. Why is she doing that? Also, they are some of the most powerful players in New York City, so why do they have such a bad table? The only explanation we can come up with is that Carrie has been lightly canceled after Big’s ex-wife and Carrie’s nemesis, Natasha, posted a Notes app callout post on Instagram while piggybacking on some larger cancellation movement and making it about herself. That must be the reason why they are seated by the kitchen.
CARRIE
I was doing well, wasn’t I doing well? Before this?
MIRANDA
Yes, you were.
CHARLOTTE
Remarkably well.
STANFORD
I’ve been very impressed.
CARRIE
I mean, I was doing the podcast, I was washing my hair. Yes, I wasn’t eating or sleeping, but at least I felt good about my marriage. Now I’m just one of the wives he was taking care of?
A major bombshell here. “One of the wives” suggests Big has other secret wives. As Carrie might not help but wonder, “Has Big always been short for bigamist?” The mind races; has he been traveling for work and keeping a Carrie in every major port? If so, what is Seattle Carrie like? Does Big have a Raya account with the term “ethical non-monogamy” in the bio? Is this some sort of Don Draper situation where he stole a man’s identity during a war and now he has to send checks every week to a widow upstate? Big always seemed like the kind of man who would find a way around a draft.
This reveal gives us more questions than answers, but as fans of TLC’s Sister Wives, we could not be more thrilled.
Stanford’s chair gets BUMPED HARD by the kitchen door.
STANFORD
Ow! Worst four-top ever.
It’s worth noting this is the first time in 25 years Stanford has been invited to the official core brunch, filling Samantha’s seat. We’ve seen him interrupt Carrie as she had brunch with a different gay friend (season four, episode 14: “All That Glitters”), and we’ve seen him at the pastry shop around brunch time with Carrie and Charlotte (season two, episode 11: “Evolution”), where his invite hinged on sussing out whether Charlotte’s new pastry-chef beau was gay or bi or just a pastry chef in Chelsea. Perhaps they’ve always told Stanford in the past, “We’d love to invite you to core brunch, but they only have four-tops,” and now that he’s here, he’s not going to let them forget it.
CARRIE
Let me switch seats with you, I’m used to getting slammed from behind.
As Bruno from the critically acclaimed film Bruno once said, “That is such a Samantha thing to say.” While Carrie saying a Samantha line doesn’t tell us where Samantha is, it does tell us Carrie absorbed her as a twin does in the womb. That, or the aforementioned cancellation proved too hot for Samantha in her new role as head of public relations for Harry and Meghan and due to a long list of ethics contracts she signed to secure the position, she now has to keep a low profile, away from controversial figures like Carrie. It will all be worth it when she becomes the “Cheney” to Meghan’s “Bush”. Perhaps she still texts Carrie fun one-liners to say should they miss her.
MIRANDA
— No one’s changing seats.
(then; to server)
Hi, yes, hi — could you be more careful, you keep hitting his seat and can I get another glass of Cabernet? Thanks.
Miranda remains the voice of reason, but again, it’s weird that she is having red wine at brunch.
… And just like that, the page ends, but despite the new questions we have, we are heartened to know the show at its core will be the same. Big is causing big heartache, Carrie remains the topic at brunch, and as always, Miranda knows how to handle situations. Unless this is like the time Kim Cattrall ran across the street in a wedding dress during filming to confuse us, in which case New York is finally back!