Besides Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte, it is Stanford Blatch (Willie Garson) who set the bar fairly high for friendship in the world of Sex and the City. He is a close friend of Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) who we saw occasionally popping up on screen throughout the series’ run mostly to either give advice to Carrie or listen to her rant about her failed relationships.
After Willie Garson died in September 2021 from pancreatic cancer, the writers came up with their own theories to write the character off the series for good. And while season one of the show’s reboot, And Just Like That, managed to carve him out from the plot, the second season finally concocted an explanation regarding the character’s final departure.
Who is Stanford Blatch and what happened to him?
Albeit making infrequent appearances, Blatch’s character had an active presence in the show. He was Carrie’s gay best friend as well as the love interest of Anthony Marantino (Mario Cantone) with whom he tied the knot in Sex and the City 2.
Prior to his death, he appeared in only the first three episodes of And Just Like That season one following which the writers crafted a new storyline for the character where he plans to divorce Anthony and leave for Tokyo with his TikTok client. In episode four, we see him leaving letters for Carrie detailing his decision to leave New York and his husband.
However, it’s Thursday’s episode that finally gave a reason for Stanford to never return to New York. In the episode, “The Last Supper Part 2: Entrée,” Carrie receives a letter from Stanford where he states his decision to remain in Japan and become a Shinto monk.
Why was Stanford’s character kept alive in the show?
As shocking as it was for the fans (not to mention disappointing for some) for the late actor’s character to be represented as an infidel as a way of writing him off from the show, showrunner Michael Patrick King justified it as a way to keep him alive in the series. Speaking on the subject to the And Just Like That.. The Writers Room podcast on Thursday’s episode, he stated,
“Ever since Willie died and what we had to do last year was explain the loss of our really wonderful friend and actor, Willie Garson playing Stanford Blatch. The thing we came up with is that he went to Japan on a TikTok tour.
It was a fast fix. It was a little bit, it was like thin ice. We skated over it ‘cause we had to, ‘cause he wasn’t in the show suddenly and we didn’t want Stanford to die. We wanted Willie to be alive as Stanford somewhere in the world. And here we are, and she says she got a letter from Stanford and he’s in Japan and he’s staying and he’s a Shinto monk.”
Explaining his decision to not kill the character on the show, King told The New York Times that it was to keep his presence alive to the audience and that “it wasn’t charming” to treat the character or the late actor who made a wonderful contribution to the series.
The decision was welcomed by Garson’s on-screen husband, Mario Cantone, who played Anthony in the series. Talking to Entertainment Weekly, he supported King’s approach to the subject saying that “he knows what he’s doing.”
Despite keeping his presence intact, it’s hard for the audience to bid adieu to the character.