Does Big Die in ‘And Just Like That’?

HBO Max‘s And Just Like That… premiered this morning, giving Sex and the City fans their first look at the lives of Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Charlotte (Kristin Davis), and Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) since the second SATC movie. For months leading up to the premiere of And Just Like That…, folks speculated that the Sex and the City reboot might kill a beloved character off. Would the absent Samantha (Kim Cattrall) be dead? Would Big (Chris Noth) have died of COVID? Was Carrie dead and was the whole show a fever dream of her afterlife?!?! The speculation ran so rampant that series creator and showrunner Michael Patrick King felt the need to tell the The New York Times that “nobody’s dead.”

**SPOILERS FOR HBO MAX’S AND JUST LIKE THAT… AHEAD!**

Well, we know now that King fibbed a little bit. It’s true that nobody major is dead when And Just Like That… starts, but one of the show’s most iconic characters passes away at the end of the Series Premiere. Who dies in the Sex and the City spin off…

DOES BIG DIE IN AND JUST LIKE THAT…?

Yes, he does! Carrie’s one true love Mr. Big dies in her arms at the end of And Just Like That… Episode 1 “Hello It’s Me.” Yup, the Sex and the City reboot killed off Big! Not only that, with a Peloton-induced heart attack! Let’s back up and talk about how Carrie lost Big (and how the show did kill a classic character offscreen with COVID).

And Just Like That… takes place in modern day New York City. We learn that Miranda is going back to school — Columbia, specifically — to get a Masters in Human Rights. Charlotte is still fretting about appearances, this time focused on elder daughter Lily’s (Cathy Ang) spectacular piano skills and younger kid Rose’s (Alexa Swinton) rebellious tomboy ways. Carrie is now co-hosting a podcast with Sara Ramírez’s Che and happily coupled up with hubby John Preston, aka Big. In fact, Big and Carrie seem happier than ever, sharing romantic rituals like dancing to records and sipping wine together. It’s a habit they picked up during COVID’s early days and it seems Big has become a sucker for Peloton, to boot.

Charlotte begs Carrie to put off an upcoming trip to the Hamptons with Big by a day so she can attend Lily’s recital. Reluctantly, Carrie does so and Big shrugs the scheduling shift off, saying he can enjoy his 1000th ride with his fave Spanish Peloton instructor. Before Carrie leaves for the concert, she points out that she’s wearing her wedding shoes to Big and he stares at her in such a lovesick way that you know — YOU JUST KNOW — he’s going to die on that Peloton tonight. It’s Chekov’s cardiovascular workout.

And what do you know? Carrie goes to the recital and as Lily plays an intense classical piece, the show cuts back and forth to Big sweating on the Peloton. The show goes back and forth, lingering on the teen’s talent as much as Charlotte’s joy and Big’s huffing and puffing. Luckily Big does not die on the Peloton. He clips out. He texts Carrie that he wants to leave for the Hamptons that night and then has a heart attack in the shower. His phone is just out of reach, so he can’t dial 911. Carrie comes home to find Big on the ground, dying. He dies in her arms and in voice over we hear, “And just like that…Big was dead.”

A few things to note. Episode 2 deals with Big’s funeral arrangements and there are multiple conversations that emphasize no one could have known he would die like this and that it’s not the Peloton’s fault. Okay, there’s only one conversation about it not being the Peloton’s fault, but Steve (David Eigenberg) isn’t convinced! Peloton and Steve: the nemeses of our time!

However, Big is not the only Sex and the City character to be killed off in the first two episodes of And Just Like That… Don’t worry! Samantha is not dead. She is a sexy sixty-something living in the UK. She’s on the outs with Carrie and the gang in Episode 1, but extends a very classy peace offering in Episode 2. No, And Just Like That… reveals that Nathan Lane’s character Bobby — aka he who married Bitsy Von Muffling (Julie Halston) — died of COVID-19 early in the pandemic. (I guess Lane had to pick between Only Murders in the Building or the Sex and the City reboot and chose the Selena Gomez joint?)

Of course, the cast and crew of And Just Like That… were hit with a real life loss recently when star Willie Garson passed away from pancreatic cancer in September. Garson played Carrie’s BFF Stanford Blatch and was Sarah Jessica Parker’s real life bestie. If you want to feel all the feels, be sure to watch And Just Like That… Episode 2 where Stanford and hubby Anthony (Mario Cantone) reel from Big’s death by affirming how lucky they are to still have each other.

Where to stream And Just Like That...