And Just Like That: How showmakers address Willie Garson’s absence from the series

Willie Garson’s absence from Sex and the City’s revival series And Just Like That... has been explained with a new plot twist in the show.

The 57-year-old actor, who played Stanford Blatch, Carrie Bradshaw’s close friend, in the original series, died of pancreatic cancer in September this year.

Garson was present to shoot the first three episodes of the new series, after which the showrunners revealed a new storyline to address the actor’s absence from the show.

***Spoilers below***

In episode four, which dropped on HBO Max on Thursday (3 December), Carrie was in her old apartment after selling the house she shared with her late husband Mr. Big (played by Chris Noth).

While she was there, she spotted an envelope by Stanford on her bed. It was later revealed to be a goodbye letter from him.

“Dearest Carrie, by the time you read this I’ll be in Tokyo,” the letter read. “I couldn’t tell you — not without crying. And you have had enough crying.”

In the next scene, Carrie was seen smoking when Stanford’s husband Anthony Marentino (played by Mario Cantone) ran into the room.

“You’re smoking?” Anthony said, dramatically.

“Stanford’s in Japan?” Carrie responded.

“That’s Ashley,” Anthony explained. “The 17-year-old Long Island TikTok star he manages. She’s huge in Asia. She asked him to go on tour with her. I do not get her, but then I’m old, gay, and not Japanese.”

“Well fine, good, sayonara,” Carrie sad “But why the dramatic note? ‘By the time you read this, I’ll be in Tokyo.’ Who is he, the lost Bronte sister?”

Earlier this month, the series showrunner Michael Patrick King confirmed to The New York Times that Garson’s death will not be written into the show.

King, who was an executive producer on Sex And The City, said: “Because it wasn’t charming. And I knew that the audience would know.”