‘And Just Like That…’: Fans Notice Episode 4 Was Shorter Than The Others
And Just Like That… appears to have an uphill battle. The Sex and the City reboot premiered on December 9 amidst substantial hype, but the death of Mr. Big in episode 1 left a lot of fans feeling hollow. The decision would turn out to be a fortuitous one. Shortly after HBO Max released the series, several women accused Chris Noth, the actor who portrayed Mr. Big, of sexual assault. Mr. Big’s big death didn’t effectively wipe the character from the series, though. So what is the streaming platform going to do about Noth? Fans think HBO may have re-edited episode 4 to remove footage of the troubled actor.
Several women have come forward to accuse Chris Noth of sexual assault
On December 16, just hours after HBO Max released episode 3 of And Just Like That…, The Hollywood Reporter published a story that outlined sexual assault allegations against Noth. Two different women came forward to tell strikingly similar tales about being attacked by Noth. The publication pointed out that the women did not know each other and that the alleged attacks happened more than a decade apart and on opposite coasts.
Since the initial report, several more women have stepped forward to share their troubling interactions with Noth. Zoe Lister-Jones accused Noth of being sexually inappropriate on set. Lisa Gentile, a singer, has also accused Noth of assaulting her insider her apartment in the early 2000s.
Noth issued a brief statement, denying the allegations. He has not issued a follow-up statement.
‘And Just Like That..’ episode 4 was shorter than previous episodes
While news of the accusations against Noth circulated the internet, fans were still excited to sit down for a new episode of And Just Like That… What they found on December 23 was an episode that appeared to be cut short. At the very least, it was shorter than the previous episodes.
Episode 4, titled “Some of My Best Friends,” found Carrie grappling with John James Preston’s sudden death and a decision about real estate. Fans also watched Miranda navigate life as the mother of a teenager, and saw Charlotte attempt to find common ground with another mother at her daughters’ school. Fans also looked on as Carrie and Anthony Marantino bid farewell to Stanford Blatch.
For an action-packed episode, it was a bit short, though. “Some of My Best Friends” has a runtime of just 38 minutes. The show’s previous episodes ran for between 45 and 41 minutes. So, why was episode 4 shorter? It seems possible that HBO Max removed flashback footage of Noth’s character. The production team has not made a public comment.
Will Chris Noth appear in future episodes of ‘And Just Like That…’?
Noth recently said that he initially “balked” at the notion of returning to the series just to have his character killed off. During an interview with Vogue, Noth was asked if fans had seen the last of the mysterious Mr. Big. He wouldn’t say much, but he didn’t mind teasing readers. The troubled actor said, “I think there may be something. I can’t tell you what, but…there may be a little…there may be a haunting that happens. I don’t know, I don’t want to get in trouble.”
Fans had long suspected that flashbacks and time hops would be integrated into the series, and Noth’s statements seemed to indicate that the assumption was correct. That, of course, was all before the allegations. Since the allegations came to light, Noth has been dropped by his talent agency and fired from his CBS show, The Equalizer. Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon, and Sarah Jessica Parker have made a public statement supporting the women who came forward.
It seems likely that Noth probably would have appeared in future episodes, but won’t any longer. The short runtime of episode 4 may be a direct result of quick editing to remove scenes in which Noth appeared. HBO Max has not announced how they’ll deal with footage of Noth going forward, nor has the team behind And Just Like That…
A new episode of the reboot is released on HBO Max every Thursday at 3 am EST/12 am PST. Season 1 is set to contain 10 episodes. There has been no official word on additional seasons.
