Why Samantha Jones is Still the best character in “Sex and The City”
Despite her absence from the “And Just Like That…” reboot
I watched “Sex and the City” for the first time last winter. I was on a leave of absence from school, gainfully unemployed, and living alone in my 2-bedroom apartment in New York City — following my roommate’s unspoken decision to return home for the winter. I had nothing to occupy my time other than my toxic “relationship”, applying for jobs and occasionally visiting the apartment of my equally depressed best friend, seven blocks away.
Watching “Sex and The City” every night was my only solace. It became like my skincare routine. Playing the episodes while I cooked dinner, drank wine or cleaned my apartment, gave me stability.
Initially, I related to Carrie [Sarah Jessica Parker]. Perhaps because we’re both writers, with a knack for choosing the wrong men, and an impulse to turn every sexual experience into a story. However, what appealed to me most about the show, was the friendship Carrie, Samantha [Kim Cattrall], Miranda [Cynthia Nixon] and Charlotte [Kristin Davis] had: four women talking openly and outwardly about sex. As I watched, I wished I had three close girlfriends I could meet with and gossip about all things big (and small…) in our sex lives.
I always loved Samantha. Before I watched “SATC”, I knew who Samantha was. The media labeled her the “promiscuous” one who was the most bombastic in her sexual expression. And, since her and I share the same name, I recalled all the information about her character I came across.
By the end of six seasons, two movies and a partial re-watch of the show, Samantha had become my favorite character. For young women who struggle with confidence, Samantha is inspiring. She promotes self-love and acceptance of who she is and who her friends are — something Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte never do. She had no shame in who she was, and that alone is a rare trait I would like to see more female characters embody.
After watching the “And Just Like That…” reboot, sin Samantha, my feelings that Samantha is the best character — despite her absence — remain. The reboot proves that there is no sex in “Sex and the City” without Samantha, and the show seems to revolve around the never-ending judgement of Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte. The absence of Samantha exposes the toxic elements of friendship between the three.
Samantha was always one to go all the way for her girls — calling Laney a bitch at her baby shower after stealing Charlotte’s baby name; helping Carrie pull out her Diaphragm; traveling across the country by train because Carrie was too afraid to fly; and even attending Carries book launch party after a bad chemical peel because she agreed to be her plus one. She showed up in ways that none of the others could, or would, reciprocate.
Samantha’s loyalty is precisely what’s missing in “And Just Like That…”. From Carrie and Charlotte’s treatment of Miranda’s alcoholism and chasing love instead of reason; Miranda’s judgement of Carrie for believing that Big is trying to communicate with her from the afterlife; to, the general lack of understanding and empathy the three have for each other’s lives throughout the reboot proves that, even in her absence, Samantha is the best character in “SATC”.
Where Carrie and Charlotte judged Miranda’s life changing relationship choices, Samantha would have listened and understood (despite none of the girls doing that for her when she was in a non-hetero relationship). The dynamic of the three women in “And Just Like That…” is incomplete without Samantha’s balance.
Samantha received a lot of criticism from her girlfriends about her sex life, but her unapologetic nature about “using” men for sex like the way men use women, is empowering. She taught me there’s nothing wrong with just wanting to hit up a guy for good, hot, casual sex. She was always for women’s self-satisfaction, and, unlike her female co-stars, was never dependent, or put her worth, on any man. From Samantha, I learned how to take pride and power in my sex life. The reboot never stood a chance at representing the sexual world of the present without Samantha Jones. She was the only character who had been “woke” from the beginning, and after 10 episodes of “And Just Like That…”, I can confidently say, Samantha Jones was, and still is, the best character.
