The second season of “And Just Like That” has wrapped with fans finally getting to see Kim Cattrall’s Samantha Jones making her much-anticipated return to the world of “Sex and the City”.
In the scene, in which Samantha (in London) chats via video call with Sarah Jessica Parker’s Carrie Bradshaw, the character makes a brief reference that may have gone over the heads of all but the most hardcore “SATC” fans.
At one point during the call, Carrie pokes fun at Samantha’s faux British accent since relocating to London, which prompts her to jokingly refer to herself as Annabelle Bronstein from India (pronounced ‘Indja’),” before ending the call with, “Ta and cheerio, and have a great night.”
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Annabelle Bronstein, in fact, was Samantha’s fake alter-ego, invented so she could use the rooftop pool at Soho House in a sixth-season episode of “Sex and the City”.
As People recalls, it all began when a Soho House staffer asked if anyone had accidentally left their membership card behind, with Samantha pretending the card — belonging to Annabelle Bronstein — was hers.
“Since they didn’t seem to know who she was at the Soho house, she figured she could be Annabelle Bronstein. The next day, Samantha tested the waters with her fake ID,” said Carrie in a voiceover.
The following day, however, Samantha’s plan is nearly derailed when another staffer said it would be “impossible” that she was Annabelle Bronstein — because she was in London that week, and was British. Samantha responded by putting on an over-the-top British accent insisting she “absolutely” was Annabelle Bronstein.
“I venture to guess you are not in fact from the U.K.,” the dubious staff member replied, with Samantha thinking quickly to respond. “Well, that’s true. I was raised in ‘Indja’.”
“On any given day, there are a lot of versions of crazy right here in New York. Today, Annabelle Bronstein had multiple personalities and at least two accents,” Carrie’s voiceover weighed in,”
According to “AJLT” showrunner Michael Patrick King, the shoutout to the episode — which aired 20 years ago — was deliberate.
“But I wanted to do a reference to ‘Sex and the City’ by having her reference Annabelle Bronstein again from the Soho House, because that was pure Samantha DNA: ‘I’m Annabelle Bronstein!’ It was a classic Samantha, bad girl, fabulous girl story. And it shows that Samantha’s still thinking about it,” King told Variety.
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“I’m happy that it’s really early in the episode, because I don’t want the drumbeat that this big dramatic thing is going to happen,” said King of Cattrall’s much-hyped cameo. “Because that was never the intention. The intention was: Look, there she is! They’re talking. It’s two steps past an emotional text. They’re talking.”
