Sarah Jessica Parker Defends Controversial And Just Like That Finale

After 27 years, Carrie Bradshaw’s story has come to an end. And of course, the ending has caused an uproar among longtime Sex and the City fans. Once the final chapter of And Just Like That aired on Aug. 14, social media exploded with vocal fans tearing apart the episode — the prominent response being superfans refusing to accept this new ending and instead insisting the show truly ended back in 2004. While Carrie’s last moment hasn’t sat well with everyone, Sarah Jessica Parker sees it as the perfect farewell.

Spoiler alert: This post will discuss the And Just Like That series finale.

Unlike the two-part Sex and the City finale two decades prior, And Just Like That’s last episode didn’t necessarily feel like a huge, momentous special. Instead, the focus was on Carrie uncomfortably helping to host Miranda’s awkward Thanksgiving dinner, which was filled with small side characters. Afterwards, Carrie returns home and finally finishes her novel, happily accepting that she will remain single.

Notably, the finale didn’t bring back any beloved characters (Samantha Jones remained M.I.A., as did the controversial Che Diaz), and it bizarrely kept the three main characters Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte mostly separated. Though many fans wanted to see the core friend group end the show together, Parker respects the choice to not force a final group brunch.

“Maybe the difference this time around is that there’s a confidence in not having to paint a portrait of a threesome, because the friendships are so rich,” Parker told Vanity Fair. “I don’t think we had to do that this time, because there’s decades of profound intimacy and friendship among these women.”

The new ending also offers a very different conclusion to Carrie’s love story than the original show’s finale. In SATC’s last episode, Big professes his love for Carrie in Paris, closing the show on a big romantic note. But there’s no man in Carrie’s life in the AJLT ending. Parker said she knew this ending might divide fans.

“It’s an impossible situation,” Parker told Vanity Fair. “There are those that wanted Carrie to be with Big; there are those that wanted her to feel confident without a partnership. I think Carrie has stood strong; I think she’s been weak. It is the natural wave human beings ride.”