The Sex and the City revival, titled And Just Like That, is moving forward at HBO Max without Kim Cattrall’s Samantha Jones, whose absence leaves the character’s future rather uncertain. However, all signs seem to be pointing to the revival killing off Samantha.
On January 10, it was confirmed the Sex and the City revival would see the return of Sarah Jessica Parker’s Carrie Bradshaw, Cynthia Nixon’s Miranda Hobbs, and Kristin Davis’ Charlotte York. The ten-episode series would explore their lives as 50-something women living in New York City. While one would hope that the HBO Max series would fix the mistakes of the Sex and the City films, it’s hard to imagine what the show will look like without Samantha. She — and Cattrall’s charismatic performance — was a big part of why the series worked in the first place.
After the shock of a Samantha-less Sex and the City subsided, fans began speculating about how the show could explain her noticeable absence. After all, the series would probably have to address the elephant in the room at some point; ignoring Samantha’s disappearance from the narrative would be ill-advised. In the show, Samantha was a public relations executive who successfully managed her own firm. Her job was the reason she, Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte were able to visit Abu Dhabi in Sex and the City 2. In that vein, it’s possible that the revival could reveal that Samantha isn’t in the city because she’s on a business trip for her job. Working with a client in a different location wouldn’t be unusual for Samantha anyway and this explanation would keep her central to the show’s relationships without needing to necessarily check in with her onscreen.
![Sex And The City: Samantha’s Future Explained (Will She Be Killed Off?)](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/samantha-jones-by-kim-cattrall.jpg)
It’s also possible that she packed up and moved to Europe to expand her firm, which is definitely more permanent than a business trip. However, the revival could take a more somber turn and kill Samantha off offscreen. Sadly, there is already a precedent for this very plot to happen and to have it make sense. In Sex and the City’s sixth and final season, Samantha is diagnosed with breast cancer and begins undergoing chemotherapy, losing her hair in the process. Samantha struggled for a while, but ultimately faced her diagnosis and treatment with the same gusto she applied to other aspects of her life.
While it was later confirmed that Samantha was in remission, it’s possible that the revival series will revisit this storyline as a way to conclude Samantha’s storyline. Carrie might even give the audience a brief update about Samantha’s cancer returning during a voiceover, with the series potentially opening with her funeral. The idea of Samantha’s death is devastating and not exactly ideal. But, the show has to go on without her and Cattrall has made it clear that she will not return to Sex and the City. Over on Instagram, Parker responded to a fan regarding Samantha’s absence, writing, “Samantha isn’t a part of this story. But she will always be a part of us. No matter where we are or what we do.”