And Just Like That: Kim Cattrall cameo explained

And Just Like That… Season 2 has ended, meaning we finally saw Kim Cattrall’s much-hyped Samantha cameo. Here’s how the Sex and the City character’s return played out.

And Just Like That… is a belated sequel to 1990s TV smash Sex and the City. The show follows the further adventures of Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte. But no Samantha.

Kim Cattrall’s character doesn’t appear in the sequel series, reportedly because of behind-the-scenes issues, although this hasn’t been confirmed.

But the Season 2 finale featured a brief cameo by the actress – listed as a “special appearance” in the credits, one that definitely doesn’t herald her return in Season 3 but should satisfy those who feel like there’s a Samantha-shaped hole in the series.

And Just Like That: Kim Cattrall cameo explained

The cameo comes at the start of Season 2 Episode 11, when Carrie receives a call, sees the name ‘Samantha’ on her phone, and answers with: “Hello London! What’s shaking lady?” Here’s how the scene plays out…

Sitting in the back of a car heading back from the airport, Samantha answers with: “My flight’s three hours delayed Carrie, I won’t be able to make it there in time.”

Carrie: “In time for what?”

Samantha: “The last supper. Miranda and Charlotte told me all about it. I was gonna surprise you!”

Carrie: “Oh my gosh – well you did! I’m very surprised.”

Samantha: “The fog finally lifted, but the crew maxed out. Oh I’m f**king furious.”

Carrie: “Well no, no, no, don’t worry. We’ll just get together tomorrow.”

Samantha: “Honey, I just left Heathrow. I was flying back on the first flight in the morning.”

Carrie: “Wait a minute – you were flying all the way to New York for an overnight?”

Samantha: “Well it is your apartment, and I have to pay my respects. So put me on speaker… go ahead, put me on speaker, and hold up that phone.”

Carrie: “Alright, you’re on speaker.”

Samantha: “Thank you for everything you f***king fabulous, fabulous flat.”

Samantha’s Sex and the City callback

The call ends with Carrie asking Samantha if she has a British accent now, to which Cattrall’s character responds: “Who’s Samantha? This is Annabel Bronstein. I’m from India. Ta and cheerio. And have a great night!”

That’s a callback to Season 6 of Sex and the City, when Samantha pretended to be ‘Amanda Bronstein’ to get into Soho House.

Before they hang-up, Samantha does something that showrunner Michael Patrick King says was improvised: “The phone call is over and something amazing happens when they say goodbye, which is Samantha kisses the phone. Which was not in the script,” King tells the And Just Like That… podcast. “It’s just totally a moment of an actor playing a moment, and it’s really nice.”

Of the cameo leaking before it aired, King says: “Of course, it was a huge [spoiler] that the Samantha call leaked because my goal for us was to have Carrie pick up her phone, look at it, see the word ‘Samantha’ and have the audience’s head blow off.

“It’s hard to not imagine that Samantha would have gotten a call from Charlotte and Miranda saying, ‘Hey, Carrie’s doing the last supper and this time, it’s real; she’s leaving this apartment.’ Always in my multiverse of And Just Like That, Sex and the City, they were always talking. Always. Texting and talking. And not just Carrie, but Samantha and Miranda and Charlotte. But we laid off the texting this season because I felt we were going to the well too much.”

Finally, of the moment itself, King says: “You realize, oh, it’s casual. It’s not some giant moment when they’re talking. It’s really the friendship.”

And Just Like That… will return for Season 3 in 2024. While for more TV & Movies coverage, head here.