‘And Just Like That’ Explains Samantha’s Absence & What Happened Between Her & Carrie

The next chapter of ‘Sex and the City’ is one without Samantha. The ‘And Just Like That…’ premiere revealed what happened to Samantha and why she had a falling out with Carrie.

Ahead of And Just Like That…’s premiere, fans have been wondering: what’s going to happen to Samantha? Kim Cattrall decided not to reprise her iconic role in the new series, despite having been a core part of Sex and the City. And Just Like That… doesn’t kill Samantha off and doesn’t ignore her character whatsoever.

Where Is Samantha?

The series begins with Carrie, Charlotte, and Miranda now in their 50s. While the trio is waiting for a table, they come across Bitsy von Muffling, who asks where Samantha is. “Oh, she’s no longer with us,” Charlotte replies, which makes Bitsy think Samantha is dead. Miranda quickly chimes in to note that Samantha is very much still alive. “She’s in London,” Carrie reveals. Samantha moved to the UK for work.

Later, Miranda and Carrie have a talk about Samantha. “You know, it Is kind of like she’s dead… Samantha,” Miranda says. “We never even talk about her.”

Carrie replies, “Well, what is there to say? I told her that because of, you know, what the book business is now, it just didn’t make sense for me to keep her on as a publicist. She said ‘fine’ and then fired me as a friend.”

Miranda doesn’t think Samantha “fired” Carrie as a friend. Carrie reveals that Samantha stopped returning her calls. “You know Samantha. Her pride got damaged,” Miranda tells Carrie. Carrie explains that she’s left voicemails asking Samantha to call her back so they can “fix” this. “Look, I understand that she was upset, but I thought I was more to her than an ATM,” Carrie adds.

Miranda says, “You are. She was embarrassed.” Carrie wonders if Miranda or Charlotte has spoken to Samantha at all. Miranda admits that they’ve texted and called but never heard back. Miranda thinks maybe if Carrie reached again that maybe they could all work things out. Carrie doesn’t have much hope for that since she’s texted Samantha multiple times and gotten no response. “I always thought the four of us would be friends forever,” Carrie admits.

Samantha Is There For Carrie After Big’s Death

The first episode ends with Big’s tragic death after a heart attack. The second episode features Carrie planning Big’s funeral. When she shows up before the service, Carrie finds beautiful white flowers draped over Big’s casket. However, she explicitly stated that she didn’t want any flowers. The funeral directors hand her a card that came with the flowers. “Love, Samantha,” the card read. Carrie decides to keep the flowers from Samantha.

Carrie tells Miranda and Charlotte that Samantha is the one who sent the flowers. There’s a look of hope on Miranda and Charlotte’s faces. Maybe they can all reconcile after all. Later, Carrie texts Samantha to thank her for sending the flowers. Samantha doesn’t immediately respond to Carrie. Carrie knows Samantha’s gesture is proof that Samantha still cares about her. All hope is not lost. New episodes of And Just Like That… will debut Thursdays on HBO Max.