Samantha will be back for the second season of And Just Like That... but Kim Cattrall won't

His personal take on what the ladies discussed? Well, King explained: “So, I think there was some champagne. I think there was a grownup back and forth, and a love affair that they realized that something’s more important than being afraid to heal. I’m sure they had a great night. To me, they had a great night and things became resolved. Once Carrie let go of an old, old love, one of her current loves came back in.”

Although Cattrall has been clear she has no interest in returning to the role of Samantha (or returning to a close relationship with her former cast members), her character brings a blunt heart to the show that King clearly knows he shouldn’t underestimate.

“Let’s face it; without Samantha, the show doesn’t really work,” Gwen Ihnat wrote in The A.V. Club’s review of the first season’s finale.

Back in February, King explained to Variety why he didn’t expect a return from Cattrall ever. “You have to look at the reality of something: You can literally not make an actress play a part,” he said.

Although Cattrall can’t be forced to return to Manhattan, Samantha and Carrie’s disembodied text relationship can bring a sliver of Cattrall’s character back to the show. Here’s to the post-2010 ubiquity of iPhones—although it’s hard not to chuckle imagining a Samantha character arc carried out solely via beeper…