As the release date for the Sex and the City reboot creeps closer, it only makes sense that speculation over whether Carrie and Big are still married, or which new characters will become fan favourites, continues to cross minds. And while the signature facets of the ’00s hit-show are surely set to return, there’s one vital member of the group who isn’t coming back to our screens—Samantha Jones.
The newest chapter of the series, titled And Just Like That…, will follow Carrie (reprised by Sarah Jessica Parker), alongside original cast members Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon—as Charlotte York and Miranda Hobbes respectively—as they continue to deal with love lives and friendships in their 50s. But fans have been up in arms about Kim Cattrall’s decision to not reprise her iconic role as the outspoken PR agent with a penchant for intimate activities.
Since the news of her removal from the series was announced, fans have taken to guessing how the show will explain the beloved character’s sudden disappearance.
While some guessed that perhaps Samantha moved out of NYC for work—which was a storyline in the first Sex And The City film, so not entirely a farfetched concept—others assumed that she would be killed off forever, since her character survived a breast cancer diagnosis in the sixth season of the show.
But the real reason? Well, insiders from the reboot have divulged exactly how they have written Samantha out of the show.
Sources close to the production revealed to Daily Mail that Samantha’s absence will be due to the character being based in London in the reboot.
According to the source, the producers said “we couldn’t have Samantha roaming around New York City and not have the other women (Charlotte and Miranda) not interacting with her. It just wouldn’t have made sense.”
“Sending her to Los Angeles wasn’t an option as we’d done that in the first movie, so having her character based in London really was the perfect way to keep her alive and explain her absence”, the insider revealed.
However, as fans have speculated, the reason behind her move is due to a disagreement with Carrie, taking inspiration from the real-life feud between Cattrall and SJP.
“Apparently, Samantha will be “thriving in England even though she has fallen out with Carrie”.
“We get into her absence very quickly,” the insider said, adding, “viewers will learn that Samantha and Carrie have fallen out over Carrie firing Samantha as her publicist and that they no longer talk. This effectively ends their personal relationship.”
They continued: “You’ll see as the series progresses over the 10 episodes that Carrie misses her friend and wants to repair the relationship […] In the words of Oscar Wilde, life imitates art.”
Additionally, said source claimed that the show plans to return for a second season, but they’re hoping that by leaving Samantha’s storyline open, Cattrall has room to change her mind about returning to the series and will easily be able to reprise her role.
“We all miss Kim and we hope she comes back for the second season–the door will never close on her, she is an important part of the franchise,” the source said.
“On set, Kim has been missed by everyone. The cast and crew love her and hope she returns,” the insider concluded.
Fans were quick to point out that said storyline isn’t believable, given that Carrie has previously invested in Samantha’s PR prowess in a season four episode, titled “Cover Girl”.
While organising a photoshoot for the cover of Carrie’s upcoming book, the pair get into an argument that sees their work relationship and personal friendship in hot water. However, Carrie and Samantha decide friendship is more important than business by the end of the episode, making the context of their new feud rather unrealistic.
Of course, Cattrall and Parker famously had a falling out years ago, after rumours emerged that Cattrall caused a stir for famously blocking the third SATC movie from going ahead, before going on to publicly call out Parker for her “cruel” behaviour and for trying to portray a “nice girl” image.
In an 2017 interview Cattrall completely ruled out returning to the franchise. The actor said “this isn’t about more money. It’s not about more scenes. It’s not about any of those things. This is about a clear decision, an empowered decision in my life to end one chapter and start another.”
Whether Cattrall will return for the reboot’s second season is still unknown—and seemingly unlikely—but in the meantime, fans aren’t particularly pleased with the plot line, given Carrie and Samantha’s tight bond. For now, however, we’ll just have to wait and see.
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