Michael Patrick King Explains Why And Just Like That Ended With Carrie Choosing Herself

Zoe Bennett reporting. Objective reporting, insightful analysis—let’s begin.

Michael Patrick King, creator of And Just Like That, has defended the controversial two-part series finale that formally closes Carrie Bradshaw’s televised arc, telling The Hollywood Reporter on August 14 that the decision was intentional, character-driven, and intended to leave the quartet of women with an “open-ended finish.” King framed the finale as a deliberate endpoint to the ongoing Sex and the City universe rather than an abrupt cancellation, emphasizing that his aim was to honor character growth and create a satisfying emotional resolution.

King’s comments followed an August 1 Instagram post in which he and Sarah Jessica Parker announced the series would end with season three. In that post King wrote that while scripting the final episode it “became clear” the story reached a natural stopping point. King later told THR his meaning of “finish” was specific: a conclusion that leaves room for characters’ lives to continue plausibly while giving viewers a sense of closure. Two reputable outlets—The Hollywood Reporter and E! News—reported King’s explanations and quoted his phrasing that the finale functions as an “echo and a callback” to the original Sex and the City ending.

What changed for Carrie? King argued that Carrie Bradshaw at the end of And Just Like That is a more self-reliant figure than the character who left the original series preparing to marry Mr. Big. In the finale Carrie chooses domestic stability in Gramercy Park and the rhetorical closure of romantic pursuit, captured in a quietly seismic line: “Maybe just me.” King pointed to Sarah Jessica Parker’s emotional Instagram tribute as evidence that the star shared the creative intent and felt content with the sendoff. E! News and THR both noted Parker’s public farewell and King’s description that the actress wanted to “leave a party while it’s still fun.”

King also highlighted structural choices: the finale was written as a two-part episode to give space to multiple character resolutions. Miranda Hobbes and Charlotte York, played by Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis respectively, are shown settling into family-oriented chapters of their lives, aligning with the revival’s broader theme of midlife recalibration. The inclusion of callbacks to the original series’ last lines was deliberate; King told THR he wanted the final word to resonate as both a continuation and a response to the 2004 Sex and the City finale. This connective tissue is framed by critics as both homage and reappraisal, acknowledging that long-running franchises often use mirrored beats to close narrative loops.

Public reaction has been mixed, and King seemed aware of that. He said SJP and he delayed announcing the “final” label so that viewers could experience season three without preconceived grief. That strategy, reported by multiple outlets, suggests a recognition of franchise fatigue and an attempt to manage audience expectations. Analysts will note that ending a revival after three seasons is consistent with a cautious approach to legacy properties: it limits diminishing returns while preserving the characters’ reputations.

From an industry perspective, the decision follows a pattern: networks and streamers increasingly conclude high-profile revivals within a short arc to avoid narratively stretching beloved characters. Variety and other trade publications have documented similar endings for other reboots in recent years. King framed his move as stewardship rather than retreat, asserting that writers must know when a story has reached an organic stop.

Whether fans accept that answer is another matter. The finale’s central choice—to present Carrie as content on her own—recasts a character defined for decades by romantic fixation into one whose narrative value now rests on autonomy. That pivot will spark essays, think pieces, and social reaction in forums and mainstream critics’ pages. For now, King stands by the finale as a conscious, evidence-based creative choice that closes one era while leaving room for future echoes.

That wraps up today’s analysis. Stay informed, stay critical, and follow the facts.

Sources: Celebrity Storm and The Hollywood Reporter, E! News
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed