Samantha Jones Makes a Perfectly Suggestive Cameo on And Just Like That… Season 3

And just like that, Samantha Jones is back — well, via text that is. 

On season 3 of the Sex and the City revival, Kim Cattrall’s beloved character makes a brief return as Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) continues to navigate life in New York City. 

In episode five (“Under the Table”), Carrie finds herself dealing with a difficult downstairs neighbor, Duncan Reeves (Jonathan Cake), who insists that she take off her high heels when walking around her Gramercy Park townhouse. 

While the two go back and forth over the noise issue for most of the episode — Carrie is adamant about not taking off her shoes while Duncan says he can only sleep during the day — Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) takes up Carrie on her offer to crash at her place after fleeing a frightening Airbnb situation involving a naked man with a machete. 

It’s only after Miranda moves in (temporarily) that Carrie learns Duncan is an acclaimed biographer who is busy working on his next book.

Then, about halfway through the episode, Carrie turns to the one person who knows anything and everything about people in the publishing business: Samantha. 

Although Samantha does not physically appear on screen, the camera cuts in close on Carrie’s iPhone to show that she’s texting her longtime friend, “What do you know about Duncan Reeves?” 

The music in the episode noticeably channels Sex and the City‘s original plucky score — striking pains of nostalgia for the good ole days — as Samantha writes back. 

“They say he’s a lot of fun. Why?” she responds before Carrie clarifies, “He’s living under me.” 

“I wish he was under me,” Samantha quips in familiar fashion, prompting Carrie to shout out to Miranda, “Hey, Samantha says that Duncan Reeves is known to be fun.” 

“Well, he’s like 6’5, so that’s her kind of fun,” Miranda responds, earning a chuckle out of Carrie.

Sadly, the interaction stops there as Carrie gets pulled in to help Miranda with a fashion emergency for a date she has with her law colleague, Joy (Dolly Wells, reprising her role from season 2). 

Samantha’s “cameo” in season 3 follows Cattrall’s highly anticipated on-screen return to the franchise at the end of season 2. 

During the finale, Carrie received a phone call from Samantha, who was seen in the backseat of a town car. “My flight’s three hours delayed, Carrie. I won’t be able to make it there in time,” she said, referring to her friend’s “Last Supper” at her old apartment. 

Apparently, Samantha was planning to catch a flight from London’s Heathrow Airport to N.Y.C. to surprise her friend just for one night. “Well, it is your apartment and I have to pay my respects,” she said.

After being put on speakerphone, Samantha paces her respects by saying, “Thank you for everything you f—— fabulous, fabulous flat.” 

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Samantha’s return then ended with a callback to Annabelle Bronstein, her British alter-ego seen in Sex and the City season 6.

Samantha’s absence from the series, meanwhile, was first explained in the season 1 premiere, when it was revealed that the two drifted apart after Carrie fired Samantha as her publicist and Samantha moved to London.

Since then, the former friends have slowly reconnected over a text conversation here and there, flowers sent to Big’s (Chris Noth) funeral, and off-screen drinks reunion following the season 1 finale.

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And Just Like That… season 3 airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on Max.