'And Just Like That' Finale Recap: Samantha Returns as Carrie Lets Go of Expectations — and Her Apartment

In the season 2 finale, Aidan (John Corbett) makes a difficult decision about his future with Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) faces her exes and Lisa (Nicole Ari Parker) mourns her recent loss

Warning: This post contains spoilers from the season 2 finale of Max’s And Just Like That...

After a second season chockablock with watershed moments — Aidan's return in Carrie's life, the demise of Miranda's relationship with Che, Seema's unexpected romance with Ravi — it was probably fitting the cast faced many of their issues during Carrie's "Last Supper."

As the penultimate episode came to a close, Aidan (John Corbett) had just rushed home to Virginia after his 14-year-old son Wyatt had mixed drugs and alcohol and then crashed his truck. He was going to miss Carrie's (Sarah Jessica Parker) final dinner party in her apartment — but he probably wasn't going to attend anyway because he refused to enter the home which was filled with memories of their past relationship.

The finale picked up a few minutes later, as Carrie was returning to her iconic apartment and received a call from Samantha (Kim Cattrall), who was shown for the first time in the series dressed fabulously in a red dress and silver trench coat. "My flight's three hours delayed, Carrie! I won't be able to make it there in time," she said from a car in London.

She quickly explained that Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) told her about Carrie's "Last Supper," and she was planning to surprise her for the event. "Well, it is your apartment and I have to pay my respects," she insisted. On speakerphone, Samantha then did just that: "Thank you for everything you f------ fabulous, fabulous flat," she said.

Related: Kim Cattrall's 'And Just Like That...' Finale Cameo: All About Samantha and Carrie's Long-Awaited Call

In an effort to avoid continuing to be a person who cuts out their exes, Miranda visited Steve (David Eigenberg) at his new Coney Island food stand, where she explained she didn't merely want to be someone in his past but someone in his present and future. Waxing nostalgic, she also conceded it was the right move to buy their home in Brooklyn and that Steve was right about them being good parents to Brady (Niall Cunningham).

"The only part you weren't right about was us," Miranda said.

"No. I was right about us for a long time," Steve replied.

Over on Park Avenue, Harry (Evan Handler) roused a hungover Charlotte, still recovering from a boozy night out with her gallery coworkers. She gave Harry a hard time for complaining about doing the "bare minimum" in house chores before learning Anthony (Mario Cantone) had arrived. The Hot Fellas owner was in dire need of advice from his best friend. "He wants to talk about losing his a-- virginity," Harry explained. "It's a 'will he-won't he' scenario."

The evening of "Last Supper" arrived, and guests slowly streamed in one-by-one and two-by-two. Anthony and Giuseppe (Sebastiano Pigazzi) gently bickered over Anthony's refusal to swap sexual positions in bed. Seema (Sarita Choudhury) arrived with Ravi (Armin Amiri), and when the film director was out of earshot, Seema told Carrie she felt that expressing her love for him was a huge mistake.

"Maybe you're scared," Carrie explained. "This might be what you've been waiting for, and you might be scared to death."

Meanwhile, Harry showed up a few minutes late after having waited in line at the Apple Store: He'd purchased Charlotte a new phone to replace the one she'd lost in a blender full of margaritas. Moments later, Lisa (Nicole Ari Parker) quietly confessed to Charlotte she had miscarried, but showed she was determined to have a good evening.

Nya, who reached an exciting work milestone at the beginning of the episode, realized the Michelin-starred chef was actually Toussaint (Gary Dourdan), the suave man who had hit on her earlier in the season at a bar while Nya was still married. Their chemistry was as strong as ever.

Miranda met up with Che (Sara Ramírez) in the kitchen, where the stand-up comedian promised to never to reuse the "disparaging" stand-up jokes about Miranda and their 8-month relationship ever again. But Che could help but describe their coupling as a "trainwreck."

"Like a good trainwreck, right?" Miranda asked. "You know, where nobody dies and you get off the train in a new place, a place where you needed to go to, but only that train could get you there? That's what I want to believe."

Che smiled, gamely. "Okay, we were a good trainwreck," they quipped.

Related: 'And Just Like That...' Recap: Che Humiliates Miranda and Aidan Breaks Down During a Family Crisis

Later, as Anthony confessed his love for Giuseppe in Carrie's walk-in closet and convinced him not to return to Rome, Herbert (Chris Jackson) found Lisa in the bathroom, triggered by Carrie introducing her new "baby," her kitten Shoe, and thinking about the baby that could have been. "Did I wish the baby away?" Lisa wondered sadly.

"You have nothing to feel guilty about," Herbert said. "It wasn't meant to be. … God has other plans for us."

Finally, dinner was ready. Seated around the table, Toussaint began serving courses that earned raves from many around the table. Ravi, however, wasn't one of those guests. The director was far too absorbed (yet again) in another phone call about the production of his movie, which required a last-minute change in film locations and demanded he leave New York immediately.

Seema gave him a hard time, but Ravi knew the real reason she was hassling him. "Your questioning and your doubt and your insecurities is not only an insult to my feelings but to what we have and what we could be," he shot back. "I don't know whose crazy movie you're starring in, but it's certainly not mine."

Upstairs, Carrie stood up and offered a toast. "In honor of letting this place go, I'd like us all to go around the table and say something we all want to let go of," she explained. "One word."

While a few made jokes, others chose words like "fear," "guilt" and "regret." When it was Carrie's turn, she offered: "Expectations, and to be clear, I'm not talking about having dreams and wanting to have something to happen, but assuming things will go the way we think things should for whatever reason, because we never know what tomorrow will bring. It may be greater than anything you ever expected."

When the dinner wound down, the friends slowly scattered. Miranda rushed off to sub for her boss and appear on the BBC, which she knocked out of the park and followed up with a drink with producer Joy, whom she'd met in the penultimate episode.

Touissant gave Nya a ride home, even though it was out of his way. Anthony relinquished control and gave Sebastian what he wanted. Charlotte and Harry struggled to set up Charlotte's new phone but refused to ask their kids for help. Lisa and Herbert cuddled and shared their heartbreak together. Seema and Ravi patched things up, even though it meant him heading to Egypt to film his movie for five months while Seema remained in New York.

As for Carrie? Our satisfied protagonist mused to herself that the "Last Supper" was the "best party" she'd ever thrown — at least until Aidan interrupted her thoughts by tossing pebbles at her window. Finally stepping foot in her old place after all these years, he slowly explained he needed to go back to Norfolk, Virginia for Wyatt's sake, for good. Wyatt's recent booze- and shroom-fueled car accident was a cry for help, or rather, a cry for his father.

"The farm is his home," Aidan explained, adding, "I've always been there. I need to be there."

Then Aidan made an almost implausible request: Would Carrie be willing to wait five years for him until Wyatt was out of his teens? Presumably by then, the troubled adolescent would have outgrown his issues. The two shared a kiss, slept together, and when the morning came, before Aidan left for his flight for the last time, Carrie gazed into his eyes.

Related: Why 'AJLT' Won't Show Carrie with Aidan in Virginia — Plus Details on That Cameo with a 'Sex and the City' Link

"Hey, no matter what happens, this [gesturing to her new place] and this [motioning to the two of them] was not a mistake," she said.

Once he left, Carrie received a call from Seema. "Look, we're not just going to sit here in this hot city," she said. "I got us a place on the beach."

The beach, as it turned out, wasn't a spot along the waters of the Hamptons but a picturesque stretch of warm sand along the Greek coast.

"What if they never come back?" Seema wondered, referring to Ravi and Aidan.

"Oh, there will be more," Carrie replied.

"Men?" Seema asked.

"Cocktails," Carrie said.

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"And just like that… I ordered two more cosmopolitans," Carrie mused before the camera pulled back to reveal the clear blue waters of Greece lapping on rocks and sand.

And Just Like That... seasons 1 and 2 are streaming on Max.

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