‘And Just Like That’ Awkwardly Honors Willie Garson By Revealing Stanford is a Shinto Monk

Death hung over much of the first season of And Just Like That... The Sex and the City sequel series opened with the sudden death of Carrie’s (Sarah Jessica Parker) beloved husband Big (Chris Noth), but the real tragedy was the off-screen passing of Willie Garson. The actor not only played Carrie’s BFF Stanford on both series, but was one of Sarah Jessica Parker’s closest friends in real life. Fans were taken aback when And Just Like That… decided to write Stanford off in an abrupt way: Stanford left long-time partner Anthony (Mario Cantone) off-screen to work in Japan. Now the Max show has doubled down on the decision by revealing in And Just Like That… Season 2 Episode 10 “The Last Supper Part One: Appetizer” that Stanford is now a Shinto monk.

**Spoilers for And Just Like That… Season 2 Episode 10 “The Last Supper Part One: Appetizer,” now streaming on Max**

Yes, Stanford Blatch — the sweet gay man who was always down for cocktails and gossip — has become a monk in Japan. He has left Anthony all of his worldly possessions for he has given up all that does not serve him in this new spiritual chapter of his life. And Just Like That… even goes to the trouble of producing a photoshopped photograph of Willie Garson in monks robes at a Japanese temple. It’s a wild development that is obviously meant to honor Garson’s memory by giving his character a happily ever after offscreen, but it feels like an incredibly odd decision to, uh, make a Sex and the City character a Shinto monk???

Stanford Blatch first appeared on HBO’s Sex and the City all the way back in the series premiere. He’s introduced as one of Carrie’s closest friends, a talent agent with only one underwear model left on his roster. Over the course of six seasons of Sex and the City, two middling spin-off movies, and three episodes of And Just Like That…, we watched Stanford’s fortunes rise and fall. He fell in love with a handsome Broadway dancer Marcus before embarking on an unlikely romance with Anthony in the SATC movies.

Charlotte (Kristin Davis) originally tried to set Anthony and Stanford up in Sex and the City Season 4 Episode 2 “The Real Me” to no avail. The men’s relationship remained frosty until they were forced to kiss each other during a New Year’s Eve party and they eventually married in Sex and the City 2. While they seem happy together early on in And Just Like That…, Garson’s sudden death led the writers to split the couple apart. The explanation that Stanford had suddenly moved to Japan to manage a TikTok account didn’t sit well with some fans.

The way they wrote off Stanford Blatch's character in And Just Like That was very tacky and classless pic.twitter.com/y87tTrbhuW

— 🌻 Kate 🌻 (@tinaturnacorner) December 24, 2021

How hard is it for SATC / And Just Like That writers to give Willie Garson AKA Stanford Blatch a graceful and classy tribute and exit off the show? First, the way y'all put Samantha in a bad light, now Stanny??? This show is worse than the movies!

— Future Atty Momma (@hvymetalkittie) December 24, 2021

Watched And Just Like That and while I appreciate how difficult it was to deal with the death of Willie Garson (on the heels of a major fictional character’s death), the way they dispatched Stanford Blatch was pretty shabby.

— Brandon David Wilson (@Geniusbastard) December 23, 2021

So on the one hand, it makes perfect sense that And Just Like That… would want to circle back and give Stanford a more palatable ending. There’s also a sense that this ending, wherein Stanford has found spiritual fulfillment and perpetual happiness is a bit like sending him to heaven. I could see how this development could be comforting for Willie Garson’s long-time friends and collaborators. In fact, in the official And Just Like That… writers’ podcast, showrunner Michael Patrick King confirmed as much. Apparently he wanted Willie Garson to remain alive as Stanford Blatch in someplace golden and full of light. The idea for Stanford’s Shinto monk chapter sprung from King’s own experiences visiting temples in Kyoto with Sarah Jessica Parker after Sex and the City 2 was bashed by critics.

However turning him into a Shinto monk still seems…wild. First of all, we awkwardly learn this news when Anthony visits Carrie in her old apartment. She has cocktails at the ready to deliver this potentially devastating news. Instead of reaching out to Anthony directly, Stanford has written a letter to Carrie that she reads aloud. There is also an actual PHOTOGRAPH — like printed out! — of a smiling Stanford doing his monk stuff at a temple. It all feels so radically unrealistic in a way that not even And Just Like That… can manage.

It doesn’t help that this development seems perfectly timed to provide Anthony the closure he needs to pursue a new romance with Giuseppe (Sebastiano Pigazzi). Heck, Anthony even seemingly compares his reluctance to bottom for Giuseppe to Stanford’s spiritual growth (??). (I mean, I hope that Anthony does continue to get close to Giuseppe. I’m all for Giuseppe!)

I may be in the minority, but I think this new — and final? — development in Stanford’s saga was another misstep. It’s as hard to believe that his character would give up everything for a foreign religion as it is to take that photoshopped pic seriously.