‘And Just Like That’s’ Ending Was the Perfect Send-off for Carrie Bradshaw and Co.

While And Just Like That was a guilty pleasure for loyal Sex and the City fans, few of us actually expected it to end after only three seasons. However, that's exactly what happened, as the show's co-creator, Michael Patrick King, and Sarah Jessica Parker, who has played the show's central character, Carrie Bradshaw, on and off since 1998, shocked us all when they announced it was time to officiallly close her and her posse's chapter. At least, for now.

The And Just Like That series finale aired on HBO Max on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025. Although we were sad to see it go, it was the perfect ending for Carrie and proved that life goes on, even if you navigate through it alone.

Here's what to know about the And Just Like That's ending.

Michael Patrick King previously admitted that he purposely ended SATC with Carrie getting her longtime love, John "Mr. Big" Preston (Chris Noth) due to how big their tumultuous relationship became in the pop culture zeitgeist. However, while writing the AJLT series finale, he went with a more realistic approach.

In the finale, Carrie was seemingly at peace with the idea that she may never have someone to spend the rest of her life with.

After ending her complicated, long-distance relationship with Aidan (John Corbett) and rebounding with her hot tenant, Duncan (Jonathan Cake), she spent the finale finding the ending to the historical romance she had been working on all season. Much like her real life, Carrie's protagonist doesn't have a suitor, which her publisher felt was tragic. The ending mirrored her situation, as she admitted to Charlotte (Kristin Davis) that she wasn't sure if someone would join her in her huge Gramercy Street home. Charlotte reassured her she was "fabulous," which Carrie already knew.

The finale also ended with new changes for Carrie's friends, Charlotte, Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), Lisa Todd Wexley (Nicole Ari Parker), and Seema (Sarita Choudry). Miranda hosted Thanksgiving at her home after finding out in the penultimate episode that her son, Brady (Niall Cunningham), was having a baby with a girl he met named Mia (Ella Stiller).

Much to Brady's chagrin, Miranda invited Mia over for dinner after discovering her mother blocked her on Facebook.

The invite led to a poop-filled nightmare in Miranda's apartment. Luckily, her girlfriend, Joy (Dolly Wells) was there to help her pick up the pieces (literally).

Charlotte also had a happy ending during the AJLT. After her husband, Harry (Evan Handler) dealt with erectile dysfunction following his prostate cancer diagnosis, the couple feared their sex life was over. Fortunately, they were wrong, as Harry received a Thanksgiving miracle, which they happily celebrated.

Lisa and Seema were two other characters who seemingly received everything they wanted. Lisa, who spent Season 3 wrestling with her flirtatious relationship with her documentary's editor Marion (Mechad Brooks), chose to name their flirtation in front of him. She decided to end the flirting and recommit to her marriage to Herbert (Christopher Jackson), who was still sulking over his race for New York City comptroller.

As for Seema, she leaned into her love affair with her younger beau, Carrie's gardener, Adam (Logan Marshall-Green). Although Adam admitted he wasn't interested in marriage, they both decided it wasn't necessary for them to commit their love for one another. Love was also in the air for Charlotte's BFF Anthony Marentino (Mario Cantone), who, despite his reservations, embraced his engagement to his endowed partner, Giuseppe (Sebastiano Pigazzi).

Ironically, everyone in Carrie's life ended And Just Like That in a relationship, except for her. She ultimately chose herself for the first time since we saw her galavanting through New York City in her Manolo Blahniks on Sex and the City. Carrie proved she was perfectly fine with her and her novel's character being alone, as she ended her book with the poignant line, "The Woman realized she wasn’t alone. She was on her own," followed by her dancing around her gorgeous house to Barry White's "You're the first, my last, my everything."

Carrie's ending being about her loving on herself was something Michael Patrick King said he wanted for her, stating it showed the journey and growth her character made since the SATC series ended in 2004.

"I wanted to say as an echo and a callback and a response to the finale of Sex and the City, when Carrie was walking down the street and said, 'The most significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself. And if you find someone to love the love you love, well that’s fabulous,'" King told The Hollywood Reporter of Carrie's final AJLT line. "And that’s great. But Mr. Big, who had just turned into John, was calling her on the phone, saying he was coming. And so this whole journey [with AJLT] was about: “What if no one’s coming? How can you really feel that?”

He continued: "We wanted to show it’s a possibility that Carrie could get to that place, and the entire season was about getting her to that feeling. In particular, this last episode was about creating so much chaos and so much love and so much family around her that you would feel that she was not alone. But when she walks into that beautiful house — quiet — and eats pumpkin pie with a spoon, you realize, “Oh, that’s pretty good life, too. That’s a pretty good life.”