Kim Cattrall’s ‘And Just Like That’ Cameo Gave Us a Glimpse of the Revival We Deserved

*Spoilers for the finale of AJLT ahead…duh*

The second season of And Just Like That… ended just like it began: with a fucking montage (“fucking” to be read both literally and for emphasis). In the 11 episodes since the second season’s premiere, we got Carrie wearing a pirate hat, a disappointing handling of an abortion storyline, a cherished one-episode love interest, more of standup sensation Che Diaz, and yet, no actual jokes from Che Diaz. And, for a brief and fleeting moment, at the beginning of the finale episode, “The Last Supper Part Two: Entree,” we were gifted a glimmer of what could have been: the show with Samantha Jones.

Kim Cattrall’s quick cameo was not a surprise, but my god was it a respite. The phone call came very early in the show, undercutting any climactic appeal it held. But it was much sweeter than I anticipated and Samantha’s strong-willed agency, humor, and loyalty in the short two-minute scene made me ache for a revival of the show we haven’t been given.

The gist of the call is that Samantha had been hoping to surprise Carrie at her goodbye-to-her-apartment dinner, but bad weather in London foiled her plan. “Well it is your apartment and I have to pay my respects,” she explains when Carrie is shocked she’d fly across the Atlantic for just a dinner party. “Go ahead put me on speaker and hold up that phone…Thank you for everything you fucking fabulous, fabulous, flat,” Samantha says into the phone, curling her voice into a slight British accent. She credits it to her alter ego, Annabelle Bronstein, kisses the phone, and hangs up.

Without dwelling much (or at all) on the real-life drama between these two actors, Samantha’s loyalty to Carrie and this chapter of her life coming to a close is incredibly touching. As difficult a character as Samantha was, she was not one to let her friends doubt her love for them, and that fidelity has been sorely missed this season. In last week’s episode, when Carrie sat by idly as Che ripped into Miranda and their love affair during her return to standup, I couldn’t help but wonder…what the fuck is wrong with Carrie? Samantha would’ve thrown a drink in Che’s face and gotten the biggest vindictive laugh of the night.

Samantha name-dropping her alter-ego, Annabelle Bronstein, which she’d used to sneak her and the crew into the Soho rooftop pool one boiling hot summer in Season 6 of Sex and the City, made me ache for the playfulness that was once at the center of these friendships. The revival has felt so bogged down by death, grief, divorce, identity, and career, that the lighthearted mischievousness that these women possessed barely gets any screen time. And there’s plenty of opportunity for it!

Imagine a comical half-episode dedicated to Carrie trying to homestead on Aidan’s farm and calling in logically practical Miranda or actually practical Steve for help. Instead, we just got her worrying about the state of Virginia…eventually hearing that the visit went just fine! What if Miranda and Charlotte were delighted by their children’s teenage fling together rather than completely freaked out by it? What if—and this isn’t even about silliness but about loyalty and friendship and love —any of Lisa’s friends attended MoMA honoring her as an outstanding Black filmmaker?!

The Samantha cameo made me yearn for that sort of loving, generous, impractical, and goofy friendship—where someone flies across the world to help say goodbye to their friend’s apartment. While I’m not holding my breath for Samantha to fully return for the next season, I’d love for some of her ethos to.