How Carrie Bradshaw’s story ended on ‘And Just Like That’

That’s all Carrie Bradshaw wrote. 

The “Sex and the City” saga – which began in 1998 and concluded with the Season 3 finale of “And Just Like That” on Thursday night – ends in the toilet. 

Unfortunately, that’s not a metaphor.

For some ungodly reason, the final episode of television featuring the iconic NYC writer Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) had a plotline involving showing an image of literal crap in a toilet on-screen. Seriously. 

It’s a little too on the nose. 

Spoilers ahead for “Party Of One,” the series finale of “And Just Like That,” now streaming on HBO Max.

After Carrie Bradshaw has spent almost 30 years on the air, here’s how her story ends in the series finale for the “Sex and the City” spinoff, “And Just Like That.” 

At the beginning of the episode, Carrie eats a meal alone at a futuristic restaurant.

When the waitstaff puts a doll across from her, she later complains to her friends that she felt like she was being “shamed” for dining solo. 

Carrie tells Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Charlotte (Kristin Davis): “Apparently, not only is it tragic for a woman to be alone in the past, it’s also an issue in the future.” 

She was referring to the novel she’s writing, which is about a woman in the 1800s.

During last week’s episode, Carrie met with her editor, who took issue with the fact that the novel ends with the heroine being alone. 

Carrie’s editor called it a “tragedy” and said that she prefers “happy endings,” which was clearly the show thinking aloud about how Carrie’s own romantic saga should end. 

Carrie maintained that she liked the way her novel ended, but she caved to her editor’s wish in last week’s episode and wrote an epilogue, implying that her heroine is alone now, but she will soon meet her friend’s cousin, who is a  “handsome widower.”

Later in the series finale, Carrie tells Charlotte, “I may be alone for the rest of my life.” 

When Charlotte assures her that she’ll find a new man, Carrie refers to the series premiere of “And Just Like That,” which killed off her longtime “Sex and the City” love interest and husband, Big (Chris Noth).

“Even when Big died, after the shock and the total devastation, in the back of my mind, I thought, ‘Aiden, maybe Aiden,’” she says.

Carrie’s other famous ex, Aiden (John Corbett), had an arc on “And Just Like That” Season 3, where he and Carrie rekindled their romance before they called it quits. 

She then had a fling with her neighbor, Duncan (Jonathan Cake), but his work took him away from New York City. 

Carrie continues telling Charlotte, “And recently, though Duncan clearly told me ‘I’m not coming back,’ I thought, ‘Maybe?’ Hmm. But, I have to quit thinking ‘maybe a man’ and start accepting ‘maybe just me.’ And it’s not a tragedy, it’s a fact. And I just have to start accepting it, full stop.” 

Following that conversation, Carrie attends an awkward Thanksgiving dinner. 

Miranda ditches her because her girlfriend Joy’s (Dolly Wells) dog has an emergency. 

Charlotte also ditches her because her husband, Harry (Evan Handler), who had erectile dysfunction after his cancer, is suddenly able to perform. 

So, Carrie is left alone with Miranda’s son, Brady (Niall Cunningham), three of his annoying friends and Mark (Victor Garber), whom Charlotte invited to set up with Carrie, much to Carrie’s dismay, since she complains that he’s been married three times. 

That’s right — the bulk of Carrie’s story ends with her at an awkward dinner party with a bunch of irritating new characters, and a date she doesn’t want.

What a way to end the story of a beloved TV character. 

And that’s not all: one of Brady’s irritating friends clogs the toilet. When Mark uses the bathroom later, the toilet overflows, and the camera pans to show the audience that there’s s–t in the toilet — really! — which encapsulates the direction in which the show has gone. 

After the toilet incident, Carrie goes home alone and turns on the song “You’re The First, The Last, My Everything” by Barry White. 

Smiling to herself, Carrie sits at her computer. She deletes the epilogue for her novel that implied her heroine will end up with a man. 

Instead, Carrie writes: “The woman realized she was not alone – she was on her own.” 

After finishing her novel with that line, she keeps smiling and dancing around her apartment, singing along to the Barry White song. The implication is that Carrie has no romantic partner and is content.

The end credits then roll, playing the “Sex and the City” theme song in the background. 

And just like that, with that steaming pile of crap – literally! – Carrie Bradshaw is finally off the air. 

“Sex and the City” first premiered in 1998 and followed best friends Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha (Kim Cattrall, who only had a brief cameo in “And Just Like That”) through sex and dating adventures in the Big Apple. 

After the show ended in 2004, it had two movies in 2008 and 2010, before returning to follow Carrie, Charlotte and Miranda in their 50s when “And Just Like That” premiered in 2021. 

The spinoff show has been controversial from the start, as there was backlash around the choice to begin by killing off Big. 

The show was also blasted over characters such as Che Diaz (Sara Ramirez), who viewers slammed as a “woke” caricature. 

Despite all the controversies, “And Just Like That” was reportedly not canceled.

On Aug. 1, when Parker made the abrupt announcement that the show would end with Season 3, showrunner Michael Patrick King also posted his own announcement on social media.

“While I was writing the last episode of ‘And Just Like That…’ season 3, it became clear to me that this might be a wonderful place to stop,” he wrote. He claimed that they didn’t announce Season 3 would be the final season ahead of time because “we didn’t want the word ‘final’ to overshadow the fun of watching the season.” 

So, apparently, showing s–t in a toilet on-screen was “a wonderful place to stop.” 

For a show that began as a fun examination of female empowerment and friendship to end on such a depressing note feels like a slap in the face.

Carrie’s final line rings of false bravado, trying to put the best face on her loneliness. It started as a comedy. It ended as a tragedy.