And Just Like That Series Finale: Did Kim Cattrall Return—And What That Ending Really Says About the SATC Universe

Sex and the City’s Kim Cattrall Return for And Just Like That’s

For weeks, fans of Sex and the City’s revival And Just Like That wondered whether Samantha Jones might materialize one last time. The two-part series finale arrived on August 14, 2025—and with it, a definitive answer. The short version: no surprise Samantha cameo, and not even a passing mention in the closing hour. Here’s what happened, why it matters, and how the show’s final choices reshape the legacy of Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte—and the ever-missed Samantha.

The Big Question: Did Kim Cattrall Come Back?

No. Despite rampant speculation and some carefully stoked hope on social media, Kim Cattrall did not appear in the series finale. Viewers who were braced for a doorbell ring, a sly over-the-shoulder reveal, or a post-credits stinger found none of the above. The finale doesn’t even mention Samantha by name, steering the farewell entirely around the characters we’ve been following through three seasons.

The Last Time We Saw Samantha—And Why It Stayed That Way

Samantha did surface once during the revival: a brief, buzzy phone-call cameo in the Season 2 finale, filmed separately from the rest of the cast. After that, Cattrall signaled that the cameo was her personal finish line—“as far as I’m gonna go”—framing it as a way to honor the character without diluting what made Samantha iconic in the first place. That stance never changed heading into the series finale, which explains the clean, cameo-free goodbye.

Why the Finale Skipped a Samantha Send-Off

Would a Samantha pop-in have broken the internet? Absolutely. But the creative trade-off is obvious: one 30-second entrance could have swallowed the entire finale and reframed the conversation away from Carrie’s arc and the ensemble’s end-state. And Just Like That ultimately took a different swing—closing the book on this chapter without trying to “top” a character whose absence has, paradoxically, made her presence feel larger than life. In a way, not using Samantha is a tacit acknowledgement that the show couldn’t—or shouldn’t—compress her legacy into a last-minute wink. (For what it’s worth, the series had already mapped its goodbye as a final season, with a two-part finale set to end the revival at Season 3.

What the Ending Chose to Emphasize Instead

By keeping the focus on Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and the AJLT-era circle (Seema, LTW, Anthony, et al.), the finale re-commits to the show’s broader thesis: friendship, agency, and reinvention in midlife. Carrie’s closing beat underscores a self-authored version of contentment; Miranda’s and Charlotte’s trajectories land on grown-woman boundaries and joy that doesn’t require a plot twist to feel earned. Whether every choice satisfied every viewer is another debate, but the intent is clear—this goodbye belongs to the characters who’ve been on screen consistently throughout the revival. (Critical reactions were mixed, but the finale’s Carrie-centric closure was a common thread in post-episode analysis.

The Samantha Paradox: Absent, Yet Everywhere

Samantha’s shadow has hovered over And Just Like That since day one. The writers acknowledged her off-screen in Season 1 and cashed in a single, strategic cameo in Season 2. After that, the show took the position that Samantha’s legend doesn’t require constant invocation. Fans can reasonably disagree, but the long-game effect is striking: Samantha remains untarnished by subplots that didn’t suit her, and her mythos is free to live where it started—in your SATC rewatches and in the cultural memory of a character who changed how TV wrote about female friendship, sex, and autonomy.

What It Means for the SATC Universe

If this is the last word from AJLT (the production framed it that way), the franchise still leaves behind multiple on-ramps for fans:

Classic SATC holds up. If you’re Samantha-centric, the original series keeps the character in full color—no revisionism needed.
AJLT as its own experiment. The revival asked different questions—about grief, aging, parenting, class, and identity—sometimes clumsily, sometimes poignantly, often in conversation with its audience.
Character legacies remain modular. You can love the SATC Samantha and still appreciate AJLT’s attempts to move the other women forward; you don’t need a unified field theory for the universe to feel complete.

The finale’s restraint acknowledges that not every circle needs to be closed on screen. Sometimes, the best way to honor a character is to let her live where she’s been most alive: in the episodes that made her iconic.

A Timeline for Newcomers (or Lapsed Fans)

Season 1 (2021–22): Samantha is off-screen, referenced through texts and an implied Paris reconnection; AJLT re-centers on Carrie’s widowhood and the group’s extended circle.
Season 2 (2023): Kim Cattrall’s cameo—a single phone scene—serves as a fond nod without re-entering the ensemble machinery.
Season 3 (2025): The story barrels toward a two-part series finale on August 14, closing arcs for the on-screen ensemble without a Samantha appearance.

Was a Cameo Ever on the Table?

Fan theories insisted a secret shoot might have happened. But Cattrall had publicly set expectations after the Season 2 cameo, describing that appearance as her endpoint with AJLT while expressing deep affection for Samantha herself. That line in the sand—protecting a character’s legacy even if it frustrates short-term hype—helps explain the finale’s silence.

Why the Decision Makes Sense Creatively

From a storytelling standpoint, a shock cameo is candy; it’s memorable in the moment but often hollows out the narrative around it. AJLT’s last hour already had a lot to juggle: putting a period on Carrie’s arc, giving Miranda and Charlotte durable end-states, and honoring the newer friendships that defined the revival’s tone. A Samantha drop-in would have tipped the finale into a stunt—and the creative team opted for closure over click-bait. You can debate the outcome, but the choice has a logic the episode sticks to.

The Legacy Question

Sex and the City’s signature achievement was giving depth and glamour to four different blueprints for adult womanhood—and letting those blueprints change. By ending without Samantha, AJLT keeps two truths in play:

Samantha’s completed arc lives intact in SATC (and that tiny AJLT reunion call).
Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte get a post-SATC epilogue that’s about who they are now, not just who they were then.

As for the franchise at large, the door is closed but not padlocked. The industry loves an anniversary, a special, or a one-off reunion. If anything ever happens down the line, it will succeed only if it remembers what this finale quietly did: protect the characters first.

How to Catch the Finale (If You Missed It Live)

The two-part closer premiered Thursday, Aug. 14 at 9 p.m. ET on Max (formerly HBO Max) and is now available to stream. If you’re planning a full catch-up, give yourself time to rewatch the Season 2 finale for that phone-call cameo before you queue the last two episodes.

Quick FAQ

Did Kim Cattrall return in the series finale?
No. No cameo, no mention—the finale closes without Samantha appearing.

When was the finale?
August 14, 2025, in a two-part event concluding Season 3.

When was Samantha’s last appearance in AJLT?
A brief phone-call cameo in the Season 2 finale—and that’s it.

Is the show officially over?
Yes. The revival ended with Season 3’s finale, framed as the end of this chapter of the SATC universe.

In the end, And Just Like That chose resonance over fireworks. By resisting the easy sugar-rush of a Samantha cameo, the finale lets the revival finish on its own terms—and allows Samantha Jones to stay legendary on hers. Whether you loved, loathed, or simply lived with AJLT, that’s a bittersweet, grown-up ending the SATC universe has always earned.