It’s the news Sex and the City fans never thought we’d never get: Samantha Jones is coming to And Just Like That. Well, sort of.
According to Variety, Kim Cattrall will reprise her role in the sequel series to Sex and the City for just one scene in the final episode – a phone conversation with Sarah Jessica Parker’s character, Carrie Bradshaw.
Even this bite-size return feels like a victory. Cattrall announced in 2016 that she was done playing Samantha, nixing plans for a third movie; since then, both Cattrall and Parker have spoken of tension between them. The reboot, And Just Like That, which revisits Carrie and co in their 50s, went on without her for its first season – and to its great detriment. (Cattrall reportedly filmed her comeback scene alone, without Parker or the showrunner, Michael Patrick King, around.)
And while we may be getting just one scene, the woman can do a lot with a phone call. To celebrate the cameo return of one TV’s greatest characters, here are 10 of the best moments from Sam Jones.
1. The great battle over the World Wide Express guy
Season five, episode four
Samantha Jones brought sex positivity to the small screen – a single woman who enjoyed having sex, as she described in the pilot episode, “like a man – without feelings”. Her groundbreaking empowerment sometimes forced her friends to examine their own prejudice, including the supposedly open-minded sex columnist Carrie.
In one scene, after Carrie walks in on Samantha giving oral sex to a post delivery worker, she lays down the law: “I will not be judged by you or society. I will wear whatever, and blow whomever I want, for as long as I can breathe and kneel.” A monologue for the ages.
2. Samantha Jones, best friend forever
Season three, episode 10
Yes, Samantha was very funny. But she was also an excellent, unwavering friend.
Exhibit A: When Carrie reveals that she’s been having an affair with her married ex, Mr Big, she asks if Samantha wants to judge her, even just a little bit.
“Not my style,” Sam responds, with a smile and a shrug. It was SATC at its best – a love letter to female friendship and what it means to be there for the people closest to us.
3. ‘You bitch!’
Season one, episode 10
Exhibit B: In one of the greatest SATC episodes, the girls endure the cosmic pain that is attending a baby shower. Despite having zero interest in the politics of babies and marriage, Samantha is there to back up Charlotte when she learns the mother-to-be has stolen the name she planned to use for her future daughter. “You bitch!” Samantha bites back with venom, before putting her arm around Charlotte and exiting the party.
Samantha then holds an I-don’t-have-a-baby shower, in further retribution: “I don’t have a baby,” she says, pouring glasses of champagne. “Everybody drink!”
4. Samantha, the babysitter
Season five, episode six
Exhibit C: After initially backing away when Miranda has her baby, Samantha eventually comes through for her friend, who is struggling with the pressure of being a new parent.
She gives Miranda her appointment at an exclusive hair salon, minding the baby while she’s out. When the vibrating chair – the only thing that can stop baby Brady from crying – breaks, Sam has the perfect solution: laying a vibrator down in its place. “That better be brand new,” Miranda says when she returns.
5. ‘I’m counting’
Season three, episode 12
Cattrall’s flawless comedic timing is on full display when Samantha Jones – sexually active resident of late 90s New York City – goes to get a HIV test (which comes back negative). After responding in rapid fire to a series of questions from the nurse about which types of sex she has and what protection she uses, Samantha is then asked how many sexual partners she’s had.
Jones pauses for the first time, staring off into the distance while the nurse looks up expectantly. “I’m counting,” she responds before another pause: “Um, this year?”
6. ‘Funkiest tasting spunk’
Season three, episode nine
Samantha always had the best one-liners. Not everyone was a fan. “I’m dating a guy with the funkiest tasting spunk,” she announced at brunch, causing Charlotte to up and storm out. Chef’s kiss.
7. Defacing public property for the right reasons
Season five, episode one
She may have sex without feelings most of the time, but even Samantha can fall in love. After she catches her boyfriend Richard in bed with another woman, she starts postering New York City with flyers of his face and the word “cheater” underneath. When she’s stopped by a cop, Samantha tells her: “This man said he loves me, and I caught him eating another woman’s pussy.”
“Go right ahead, ma’am,” the woman in uniform responds. Technically this is also a top-10 moment for the officer.
8. The chemical peel
Season five, episode five
In what has gone down in history as a vital cautionary tale about trying new beauty treatments in the lead-up to big events, Samantha gets a chemical peel right before Carrie’s book launch – making her look, as Carrie puts it, like beef carpaccio.
But because she is, yet again, an excellent friend, Samantha shows up anyway, in a veil – allowing her to peel it back, reveal the bloodied mess beneath and deliver the perfect line to a shocked onlooker: “Hi, I’ve had a chemical peel. I’m Carrie’s publicist.”
9. Breaking the bad news
Season six, episode 14
In one of the show’s more tender moments – a scene that will still choke you (me) up no matter how many rewatches you have under the belt (four) – Samantha picks Carrie up in a cab to go to Steve and Miranda’s wedding. She’s come 100 blocks out of her way to relay the life-changing news she got the day before: she has breast cancer.
Calmly and matter-of-factly, Samantha fills Carrie in: “I’m going to give you all the information and I don’t want you to worry. The only reason I’m telling you now and not later is I didn’t want to accidentally blurt out ‘I have cancer!’ in the middle of Miranda’s wedding.”
Then, turning to the cab driver without batting an eye: “Can you take fifth? Broadway’s a disaster.”
10. ‘I love you, but I love me more’
Sex and the City: The Movie
While the series ended with Samantha happily coupled off with her hunky younger boyfriend, Smith Jared, she eventually breaks that relationship off in the first SATC movie.
“I’m gonna say the one thing you aren’t supposed to say,” she tells him, in a rehash of a speech she once gave her cheating ex, Richard. “I love you, but I love me more.”
It’s debatable whether the first SATC movie is canon (I vote yes but the second never happened), but this is one moment that feels just right: true to Samantha, she won’t sacrifice her sanity for a man, or put his needs above her own.
All hail the patron saint of single women everywhere.
