And Just Like That angers fans with explanation for Samantha Jones

Warning: This post contains spoilers for episodes one and two of the first season of And Just Like That!

Samantha Jones would never ignore her friends. That is the consensus on social media after the reason for her departure was revealed on the series premiere of the Sex and the City reboot, And Just Like That. Fans weren’t buying it. Simply put, the Samantha Jones we knew and loved from SATC would be there for her friends which is why many, many viewers are calling the series’ explanation lazy and unrealistic.

Supposedly, Samantha is in Europe, living her best life while her friends remain in New York City, but, Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte have been friends for years. When Carrie decided she no longer needed a book publicist, Samantha, at least the one we know, would have understood. Yes, she might have been irritated and even been a little catty for a while, but she wouldn’t have moved out of the country and broken off all contact with her friends.

Samantha Jones didn’t return for a major event and upset fans.

We get it. Friends get angry with each other, but to end an entire friendship because Carrie no longer needed her services makes Samantha look like a drama queen who was only in the relationship for what she could get. And that wasn’t Samantha.

In the second episode, when the friends are dealing with Mr. Big’s funeral, Carrie gets flowers from Samantha along with a card that just says briefly, “Love, Samantha.” This wasn’t sweet like the producers might have thought. It was only a splash of ice water in the fans’ faces because, seriously, when someone you’ve loved for a long time loses a spouse, a relative, or someone they loved, you don’t just send a card. At the very least, Samantha should have called.

We know Kim Cattrall is not a part of this series, but her character always will be. And having a fake phone call would have been better even if we could only hear Carrie’s side of it. Samantha was friends with these women for a long, long time. Not being able to have Samantha at the funeral was bad enough, but to just relegate her to an impersonal card didn’t make any fans happy.

And Just Like That is off to a rocky start, and it’s going to get rockier if there isn’t some clarification with Samantha’s character. In this day and age, there are so many ways to incorporate her into the show without Kim Cattrall (as much as it pains me to write that). And the producers, including Sarah Jessica Parker, should take a long, hard look at what the absence of this character will do to the series and fans of the original, especially if there’s a possibility for a second season.