'And Just Like That' creator explains why beloved character was killed off

Don't read any further if you haven't watched the first two episodes of And Just Like That..., HBO Max's limited series revival of Sex and the City, which premiered on the streamer Thursday (Dec. 9).

Those of us who have watched are still reeling from the shocking death of Mr. Big (Chris Noth) from a heart attack after a celebratory (and weirdly controversial?) Peloton bike ride at the end of the premiere episode. 

In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, series creator Michael Patrick King explained why he had no choice but to have Mr. Big die, as the decision to write the character off was made before And Just Like That ... officially entered development:

"I mean, I wouldn't have come back if I didn't have a really strong impulse [to explore the idea of] 'is it better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all?' for the character who has done nothing but tried to find love from this one person. 
"I also felt comfortable because the DNA is the same. People forget, Carrie never had Big in the series. She had him briefly—a minute or two. And she doesn't have Big now. It's just a different circumstance. It's more final.
"People are like, 'How could you have done this?' The last voiceover in the series is why I did it. Everybody thinks when she's walking down the street and Big says 'I'm coming, baby' that that's the happy ending. And it is. But what Carrie's really saying in the voiceover is that the most significant, challenging, loving relationship you will ever have is the one you make with yourself. And if you find somebody else who sees you, that's fabulous. So this [show] is about the significant, challenging, loving relationship—we're trying to prove the thesis and the theory that you're enough."

Created by Darren Star, Sex and the City ran for six seasons on HBO from 1998 to 2004. King served as an executive producer and writer on the original series, as well as the spinoff feature-length films Sex and the City (2008) and Sex and the City 2 (2010). In the first movie, Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Mr. Big get married.

"I wouldn't have come back and risked everything that we risked by bringing these characters back if I didn't have a really bold, strong narrative as a writer," King added to EW, "and if I didn't have an actress like Sarah Jessica Parker, who I knew would be devastatingly good in it."

New episodes of And Just Like That... will hit HBO Max every Thursday until Feb. 3, 2022.