‘And Just Like That’ Showrunner Couldn’t ‘Keep Going’ With New Episodes

And Just Like That showrunner Michael Patrick King was ready to say goodbye after three seasons of the series.

“Anyone else could keep going. I can’t,” King, 70, told Variety in an interview published after the series finale hit HBO on Thursday, August 14. “The idea of leaving a party while it’s still happening is the most elegant thing you can say for a TV series.”

The Sex and the City revival premiered in 2021 and brought back Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) for their next chapter in New York City.

Two weeks before the finale, King and Parker, 60, confirmed that AJLT’s current season would be its last.

'Sex and the City' Spinoff 'And Just Like That’ Is Ending After Season 3

“The decision was not made at the beginning of the season. The third season was going gangbusters in the writing room,” King told Variety. “And as the stories go, and the stories go, and the stories go, there’s a reason I started saying, ‘Don’t repeat.’ You start to realize — and it’s part muse, part smarts — ‘This is where it’s going.’”

Eventually, King realized that Carrie was becoming content living on her own after her split from Aidan (John Corbett) and brief connection with Duncan (Jonathan Cake). In her final voiceover, Carrie read a line from the epilogue of her manuscript that echoed her mindset: “The woman realized she was not alone — she was on her own.”

According to King, Carrie’s realization was especially “profound” and marked a completely new chapter for the character.

Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon in ‘And Just Like That.’ Courtesy of Craig Blankenhorn/HBO Max

“The resonance of that felt so profound that I knew it was a very significant end to the season as we wrote it,” he explained to the outlet. “And then, ‘Wait, more is coming? Can we do more?’ I talked to Sarah Jessica and said, ‘I think this is it. This feels like where we should leave Carrie Bradshaw.’ She said, ‘Then we stop.’”

Sarah Jessica Parker Breaks Silence on 'And Just Like That’ Ending

King, who called Parker his creative “partner,” stressed that neither of them had been itching to walk away from AJLT ahead of time.

“It’s because we don’t just want to do it. We want to do it well, or do it when there’s something kind of dangerous and exciting to say,” he said. “We were just following the feelings of the writing and story and where we could bring Carrie that would be enough of a finish that people could continue with their fan fiction writing on their own.”

And Just Like That is now streaming on HBO Max.