Whether you knew ahead of time that Chris Noth was cut from the And Just Like That finale or not, you might have sensed that something was Not Quite Right about Carrie's dream in "Seeing the Light." Big's absence is all too present when she dreams of Paris after asking her dearly-departed husband for a sign. I get that with the sexual assault allegations against Noth coming out after And Just Like That premiered, it wasn't possible to refilm the Parisian dream sequence that leads Carrie to spread Big's ashes into the Seine. But if they're going to cut Big, let's cut him out for real and not make it look like the time I taught myself iMovie during COVID-19 lockdown.
Carrie thinks her lamp malfunctioning in the And Just Like That finale is a sign from Big. And it turns out, her woo-woo inclination is not entirely wrong. After she gets it fixed, the light still flickers on, which launches Carrie into a dream where she's in Paris... presumably with Big. She sees le Café de l'Epoque, the Institut de France, and the Pont des Arts bridge in fragments. Noth's not completely absent since the last part of the dream is Carrie turning around to him speak-singing along to "Hello It's Me." After the line, "It's important to me," Big finishes it with, "That you know you are free." (They're really putting mileage on this Todd Rundgren track.)
Dreams are often scattered imagery, but there's clearly something missing from this scene. And that's not just because paparazzi photos from October 2021 showed Noth and Sarah Jessica Parker filming on the Pont des Artes bridge together. Those missing parts might explain why Carrie is hearing Big's voice at Jackie's wedding, or at minimum, just make the whole dream sequence less abrupt.
I don't actually want to see the footage of Noth that was left on the cutting room floor and I respect the production team's decision. But even though dreams are erratic, maybe the transitions could've been smoother? Or maybe Carrie could've just told her friends about the vision she had while sleeping? It would've been a bummer to lose some of the Paris footage, but it's not like dream sequences are a touchstone of Sex and the City.
Cynthia Nixon discussed removing Noth from the finale to ET. "We're very lucky those changes were able to be made and I think we are very proud of our show," Nixon said. "We just wanted people to not be distracted." Unfortunately, with the Noth elephant in the dream, there was a bit of a Big distraction. But hey, at least Carrie found some peace!
Images: HBO Max