Samantha returns with offscreen 'cameo' in 'And Just Like That' Season 3

USA Today

27-06-2025

Spoiler alert! The following story contains details about Episode 5 of "And Just Like That..." Season 3 (now streaming on Max; new episodes Thursdays).
NEW YORK — Samantha Jones may be 3,400 miles away, but she hasn't lost her rapacious sexual appetite.
Kim Cattrall's proudly promiscuous Manhattanite was a fan favorite for six seasons of HBO's 'Sex and the City.' But after an apparent rift with costar Sarah Jessica Parker, Cattrall opted not to come back for sequel series 'And Just Like That…' Nevertheless, her character, who now lives in London, still pops in from time to time via text messages with her voguish author friend Carrie Bradshaw (Parker).
In Episode 5 of 'And Just Like That…' Season 3 (now streaming on Max), Carrie has just been introduced to her downstairs neighbor Duncan Reeves (Jonathan Cake), a crotchety silver fox who detests the sound of her clacking heels. Carrie texts Samantha asking whether she knows anything about the cagey British biographer, whom Carrie says has a reputation for being 'a lot of fun' back in the United Kingdom.
'He's living under me,' Carrie texts.
'I wish he was living under me,' Samatha replies, with her typical innuendo.
Their pal, Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon), is hardly surprised that Samantha is lusting after Duncan: 'He's like 6-foot-5, so that's her idea of fun.'
Although this is the first time we've seen Samantha message Carrie in Season 3, it's not meant to be a rare occurrence.
'In our minds, Samantha is always in the world,' creator Michael Patrick King says. 'Even if Kim Cattrall is not in the show, Samantha is texting those ladies back and forth. So when we knew we had a writer who was 6-foot-5 from London, (that's a) direct line to Samantha. She would know everything about some 6-foot-5 handsome man who writes. Both Carrie and Miranda react to that text like it's just another day. It's not like, 'Oh, my God, I got a text from Samantha!' It's like, 'Samantha said this.' Well, of course that's what she'd say.'
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Cattrall made a much-ballyhooed cameo in Season 2 when Samantha FaceTimed with Carrie from the back seat of an Uber. (The actress filmed the brief scene on a soundstage, separate from the rest of the cast.) But King urges fans not to expect any more appearances by Cattrall, nor text messages from Samantha this season.
'It was a drive-by; it was just a delight," King says. "Every little 'Sex and the City' Easter egg that we put in the show – whether it be Carrie's Paris purse or the clothes you see hanging up – it's just a little reference to the time gone by. But we're still living in the present.'
Meanwhile, there are obvious sparks between Duncan and Carrie, who is attempting to navigate a long-distance romance with her on-again-off-again beau Aidan (John Corbett). As the season goes on, Carrie and Duncan connect over their neighborly living arrangement in Gramercy Park, as well as their 'shared pain of writing.'
'Season 3 was born the first time I saw that house in Season 2,' King says of Carrie's new digs, replacing her longtime Upper East Side abode. 'I thought, 'Who lives under her?' The first thought that flew into my mind was a British writer who writes big, famous biographies. And then we got Jonathan Cake to play Duncan, which makes it both authentic and delicious. I like the fact that there's somebody under her who is bothered by her essence. The anxiety of writing can be a very good bond between two writers.'