The 10 Most Fabulous Samantha Episodes of Sex and the City

Time​ Magazine

3 days ago

While Sarah Jessica Parker's Carrie Bradshaw was ostensibly the main character of Sex and the City, there are many viewers who would argue that sex-positive PR maven Samantha Jones, played with unforgettable verve by Kim Cattrall, was the heart of the show.
So when it was revealed that Cattrall, who had an alleged fallout with Parker, would not be reprising her role in the SATC reboot series, And Just Like That..., Samantha fans were understandably disappointed. A brief Samantha cameo in the Season 2 finale gave some closure to her storyline, but it was also a reminder of what could have been if the two SATC stars had been able to resolve their reported real-life differences.
Season 3 of AJLT might be missing Samantha, but luckily, there's always the option of rewatching the original series. Here, the 10 best Samantha episodes of Sex and the City 's fabulous six seasons.
10. "An American Girl in Paris (Part Une)" (Season 6, Episode 19)
When Samantha is asked to speak at a breast cancer benefit, she originally plans to give a pretty canned speech about how any woman can be the "face of breast cancer." But after a chemo-induced hot flash leaves her sweating profusely and bombing on stage, Samantha rips off her wig and speaks from the heart about the real struggles of cancer. Her off-the-cuff and expletive-laden outburst inspires a standing ovation and dozens of women in the room to also remove their wigs.
9. "All or Nothing" (Season 3, Episode 10)
When Carrie reveals she's having an affair with a recently married Mr. Big, Samantha shows up for her as her authentically non-judgmental self, insisting shame simply isn't her style. Although she spends much of the rest of the episode lamenting her single status after coming down with the flu, by the end, she's over her fever-induced delirium and back on the horse of celebrating having it all—which in Samantha's book, doesn't include marriage.
8. "Easy Come, Easy Go" (Season 3, Episode 9)
While Carrie is busy falling back down the rabbit hole of Big, Samantha is dealing with her own dating pitfall: sleeping with a man who, as she loudly announces at brunch, has "the funkiest tasting spunk." After initially making an attempt to get him on a healthier diet, Samantha hits him with the stone cold truth about the situation at hand, eliciting some textbook misogyny in response. Her solution? If he tries some himself, she'll stop complaining. All's fair, as they say.
7. "Luck Be an Old Lady" (Season 5, Episode 3)
This is not Samantha's typical unabashedly confident fare. After reconciling with hotel magnate Richard Wright despite his previous infidelity, Samantha spends what's supposed to be a celebratory weekend in Atlantic City panicking over the idea of him jumping at any opportunity for a repeat cheating performance. But by the time she finds herself sprinting up 11 flights of stairs in a pearl thong to try to catch him in the act, it's become all too clear their relationship is severely dulling her shine. In response to Richard (who's innocent, at least this time around) trying to assuage her fears by proclaiming his love for her, Samantha shuts him down with a rebuttal that exemplifies her liberated mindset: "I love you too, Richard. But I love me more."
6. "The Baby Shower" (Season 1, Episode 10)
When the ladies are invited to "that hell on earth that only your closest friends can inflict on you"—a.k.a. a baby shower—Samantha comes to Charlotte's defense no questions asked with a definitive declaration of "You bitch!" upon learning that the mother-to-be stole Charlotte's planned baby name (of which she had long been well aware). Later, Samantha throws herself an "I don't have a baby" shower just to let everyone know how fabulous she is. It's an early and iconic indicator of Samantha's penchant for unapologetically living on her own terms.
5. "The Ick Factor" (Season 6, Episode 14)
Samantha has always loved her body. As she puts it, "My legs are fantastic, I have killer abs, my ass is perfection." But when she decides to get a boob job after seeing a series of photos of herself in a tabloid magazine, things don't go as planned. After the doctor finds a cancerous lump, Samantha takes a cab 100 blocks out of her way to pick Carrie up on the way to Miranda's wedding so she can deliver the news in a way that won't distract from Miranda's big day. Naturally, the truth does eventually come out at the reception, but Samantha still puts on a brave face for her friends. And the whole thing even makes her reconsider her decision to surgically alter her body. "I know I'm gonna be fine, I know that," she explains. "It's just, I don't want to lose my breasts. They're fabulous."
4. "Just Say Yes" (Season 4, Episode 12)
After Carrie discovers Aidan is planning to propose—and immediately throws up upon seeing the ring (a pear-shaped diamond with a gold band, god forbid)—Samantha asserts her unsentimental two cents of, "Wrong ring, wrong guy." But despite her less-than-enthused thoughts on the institution of marriage, Samantha proves her friendships are more important to her than any personal hangups when she reveals she helped Aidan pick out a new ring that would actually entice Carrie to say yes. As she puts it in her oh-so-Samantha way, "If you're going to ruin our lives, I'd at least like to look at a nice piece of jewelry."
3. "Critical Condition" (Season 5, Episode 6)
While she initially isn't very sympathetic to Miranda experiencing the challenges of new motherhood, once Carrie alerts her to the fact that she's been coming off a bit callous, Samantha shows up for Miranda in the best way she knows how—by spending the afternoon babysitting while Miranda takes over her highly coveted hair appointment with John Mandee at the John Mandee Salon. She also devises a very Samantha method for fixing baby Brady's oscillating chair, the only thing that keeps him from crying, when it suddenly stops working right after Miranda walks out the door. She may refer to Brady as an "asshole" a few times, but this is still some of Samantha's most thoughtful work.
2. "Anchors Away" (Season 5, Episode 1)
In the wake of reluctantly opening her heart to Richard only to find out he was sleeping around on her, Samantha proceeds to plaster his neighborhood with fliers of his face accompanied by the labels "CHEATER!" and "LIAR!!!" When confronted by a cop for defacing public property, Samantha lets her in on Richard's explicit transgression and instantly earns a metaphorical get-out-of-jail-free card from her new police officer ally. Although she ultimately does end up briefly getting back together with Richard, this all goes to show just how much Samantha isn't one to be trifled with—especially considering a confrontation with Richard earlier in the episode had already put him on the receiving end of not only a drink in the face but one of Sam's most memorable one-liners, "Dirty martini, dirty bastard."
1. "Cover Girl" (Season 5, Episode 4)
Season 5 of Sex and the City features a legendary run of episodes for Samantha. But, in our humble opinion, there's no denying "Cover Girl" takes the cake for her best of not only the season, but perhaps the entire series. After Samantha offers her pricey PR services to Carrie for the low cost of two martinis and a lunch, Carrie shows up at Samantha's office to find her providing a certain other service for the World Wide Express delivery guy. When Samantha tries to make light of Carrie catching her in the act, Carrie (who we might also remind you is a sex columnist) can't manage to contain her distaste for what she saw. Despite the fact that Carrie has always turned to Samantha in times of need for non-judgmental support, this escalates into a fight between the two in which Samantha valiantly defends her casual approach to sex with one of her most searing retorts: 'I will not be judged by you or society. I will wear whatever and blow whomever I want as long as I can breathe and kneel!"