In Sex And The City’s 23 year history, countless tertiary characters have come and gone. So, you’d be forgiven for forgetting the less significant supporting roles as they make their return in And Just Like That.
As episode two of the reboot saw Carrie mourn Mr Big’s death after a fatal Peloton accident, one returning character Susan Sharon took the opportunity to ask an important question that fans have been harbouring for decades: ‘Am I the only one that remembers what a prick he was to her?’
We remember it all. Big leading Carrie on, telling her not to move to Paris for him, leaving her at the altar. But who the hell is Susan Sharon? And when did she become the voice of the people?
Carrie was similarly confused as Susan approached her during Big’s wake to air old grievances. She tells Carrie: ‘"I forgive you. It’s over and in the past. When I read the obit in the Times, I said to myself, 'Susan Sharon, life is too short to hold a grudge. Go to Carrie and make things right with her, whether she wants to or not,'"
Baffled by the interaction, Carrie tells Miranda she has ‘no idea’ what Susan was talking about and leaves us to wonder where Susan came from and what this long-forgotten drama is actually about.
As it happens, Susan made her first Sex And The City appearance in an episode called The Awful Truth in season two. She goes shopping for cashmere with Carrie and as the pair return to Susan’s apartment post-cocktails, her hostile husband kicks Carrie out when her laughter wakes him up.
Susan calls Carrie the next day and asks for relationship advice after the altercation left her mortified and enraged. But Carrie is reluctant to get involved in the couple’s argument and attempt to give a diplomatic noncommittal answer.
Yet, off the back of Carrie’s advice, Susan leaves Richard and tells viewers at home in an aside that she’s glad Carrie made her see ‘the awful truth’ about her former partner. Unaware of the positive feedback, Carrie is left concerned that she caused the end of a marriage.
Things get even more awkward when Susan tries to make a move on Big’s obnoxious friend Jack, who quickly rejects her. Knocked by the disastrous attempt at a rebound, she returns to her husband and they decide to adopt Charlotte’s boisterous puppy together.
Susan isn’t seen in the series again until season four when she bumps into Carrie while she’s dating Aiden – who she specifies at the time is her friend not her fiancé. As she and Susan catch up, there doesn’t appear to be any hostility, meaning the Just Like That reconciliation must reference Carrie’s advice from series two.
To make Susan’s character even more intriguing, she is rumoured to be based on the Real Housewives Of New York star Dorinda Medley. Theories emerged after the affluent New York socialite went to a dinner party with the Sex And The City author Candace Bushnell just after her husband - also called Richard - passed away.
In one scene, Dorinda is seen loudly telling Candace: ‘Oh! F*ck you. I’ll tell you how I’m doing… Not well, bitch!’ in a zealous but well-meaning tone unmistakably similar to Susan’s unfiltered funeral commentary.
Unsurprisingly, ‘Am I the only one that remembers what a prick he was to her?’ quickly became the breakout line of the second And Just Like That episode. While the cashmere-loving character may have slipped from many people’s minds, long-term fans rejoiced in their fave finally getting recognition, with one passionate Tweet reading: ‘Susan Sharon hive, we rise.’