10 Characters And Just Like That Wants You to Forget About

#10: Tony Danza

Remember when Tony Danza popped up in season two? No? Don’t worry, the writers barely seemed to either. He’s cast as Che’s dad on their sitcom, even though he’s not Mexican, because you know “AJLT” can’t resist shoehorning in a hot-button topic with zero nuance and usually even less style. Danza shows up in two episodes and… that's it. Sure, Che’s pilot tanks, but that doesn’t happen for a few more episodes. Plus, according to the focus group, they didn’t care for Che, but they loved him. So where’d he go? Maybe he realized guest-starring on “AJLT” was about as misguided as casting an Italian-American actor to play a Latino character.

#9: Lois Fingerhood

Okay, so Kristen Schaal was a one-time guest star, but her storyline was quite pivotal to the episode. In yet another scramble to stay “topical,” the show takes on how rich families find backdoor ways into Ivy League schools. Charlotte and Lisa hire Lois Fingerhood, who’s supposed to guide Lily and Herbert Jr. onto the right path. Instead, her advice just sends the kids and their moms spinning. Then Charlotte cusses her out, Lois leaves, and that’s it. She’s gone. So do Lily and Herbert Jr. follow her advice? Do Charlotte and Lisa fix things with her? The whole plot feels like it just gets dropped, leaving way more questions than answers.

#8: Zed

In the back half of season one, Seema meets nightclub owner Zed, and by the finale, things are getting pretty hot and heavy. But Seema starts rethinking the fling once she finds out about his questionable living situation. After chatting with her hairstylist and then breaking it down with Carrie, she wonders if maybe she was too quick to judge. Only, this time, it turns out her instincts were dead-on. At dinner, Zed pitches her a “business proposition,” so Seema promptly gets up, leaves him to his chocolate mousse, and never looks back. And neither does the show. Zed completely vanishes, making his storyline feel like just another loose end.

#7: Lisa’s Dad

By season three, the “AJLT” writers learned their audience isn’t very forgiving and had been following details like a hawk. So when Lisa’s dad dies in season three, it took no time for fans to point out that she’d already mentioned losing her father back in season one. Worse still, the man himself appears, played by Billy Dee Williams, between his two deaths, showing up at Lisa and Herbert’s 20th wedding anniversary party. The writers tried to defend this by saying she’d actually been talking about her stepdad in season one… Okay… yeah… sure. We gotta be honest, it sounds more like they forgot their own storylines and hoped we would too.

#6: Carrie’s Podcast Peers

In the pilot, Carrie joins a podcast that seems like a natural step from her columns, though a stretch for someone who once struggled to wrap her head around bisexuality. Over the series, we meet her podcast crew: the third co-host, Jackie, and producers Chloe and Franklyn. They’re an interesting mix, bringing together different creative perspectives. But it all starts to unravel once Che quits the podcast world. Carrie gets offered a solo show, and Jackie drifts out, followed by Chloe. In the end, only Franklyn sticks around as his and Carrie's relationship goes from professional to personal. When Carrie ends that, he disappears from the show completely.

#5: Nya

Out of all the new characters in this revival, Nya was the most interesting, with a ton of story potential. But ahead of season three, it was announced Karen Pittman wouldn’t be coming back, reportedly due to scheduling conflicts. Some fans probably noticed she’d been showing up less and less in season two, apparently because of her commitment to other projects. It seems she was supposed to return for season three, but the timings just didn’t work. Apparently, the writers even had some story arcs lined up for her, all of which got scrapped. Surely, they could’ve used at least one to explain her absence instead of acting like she never even existed.

#4: Che

Carrie’s podcast boss and Miranda’s partner in seasons one and two struggled to win fans over, so few mourned their exit. Still, the writers acting as if they were never there to begin with was baffling. The official line was that Che’s story had reached its natural end. Oh, come on! Che wasn’t some quiet background player. They’d stormed in like a hurricane and left a mark, whether you loved them or hated them. Even without Sara Ramírez, you’d expect the aftermath of their story to get at least a passing nod. Nope. They acted like Che never happened. We remember Che, we still talk about Che, so why bother pretending otherwise?

#3: Stanford

Sadly, Willie Garson passed away during production on the first season, so, of course, plans for Stanford couldn’t unfold as intended. Apparently, he was meant to have some midlife crisis, which, if you ask us, he kinda did anyway. The writers seemed unsure how to handle this loss, so they shipped him off to Japan, hoping audiences would just move on. As Carrie’s bestie and a longtime fan favorite, that was never going to happen. Showrunner Michael Patrick King even called it “a fast fix,” saying they “skated over it” to at least let Stanford live on in memory of Garson. Touching, yes, but the character and actor still deserved so much better.

#2: Big

When you really think about it, making us invest six seasons and two movies in this relationship only to kill Big off in the very first “AJLT” episode felt like a slap in the face. Still, Carrie needed to start a new era, and Big was just an obstacle in the way. Then, with the allegations against Chris Noth, the show clearly wanted as much distance from him and the character as possible. After giving Carrie a proper mourning period, they rushed her forward. By season three, she’s questioning everything about their relationship and even hiding her marriage. And just like that, Big became nothing but a ghost from Carrie’s past.

#1: Samantha

Kim Cattrall didn’t return for the revival, much to fans’ dismay. The reported reasons are well-known, but it felt like the writers chose to drag that feud into the spotlight. For a while, they tried to appease us with texts, keeping her involved. Then came the season two cameo, seemingly her final send-off. Another text appeared in season three, but it’s strange we didn’t see more of Samantha, given that she and Carrie had apparently made up enough for her to fly from London for one dinner. Maybe the writers were just trying to shift focus from how they’d written her out rather than erase Samantha entirely. Either way, Samantha stans weren’t forgiving or forgetting anything.

Which character are you still thinking about and wondering what happened? Let us know in the comments