It’s happened many times before, most recently with Timothée Chalamet playing the spawn of Edward Scisscorhands, Edgar Scissorhands, for the sake of promoting a self-driving car (goddamn, these “kids with scissors for hands” today just don’t know how easy they have it). Because, yes, we’re meant to believe a Scissorhands would succumb to driving a Cadillac and risk losing all of his edge. Just as we’re meant to believe that a certain “Mr. Big” a.k.a. John Preston (Chris Noth) didn’t really die after taking that last good ride with Allegra (played by real-life instructor Jess King) on his Peloton bike–a practice he took up, as any rich person would, during the pandemic.
In fact, it’s pretty obvious that Big and Carrie’s pandemic and “post”-pandemic life has been as rosy as their pre-pandemic one, only now, they’re listening to a lot more records and drinking a lot more wine. Maybe some of that wine contributed to the reasons why Big had another heart attack. That’s certainly what Peloton was getting at after they saw what And Just Like That… hath wrought with this major curveball of a plot point, quickly insisting that his “extravagant lifestyle” is ultimately what did him in. And although they had agreed to the product placement, there was no forewarning of how the brand would be portrayed in such a stock price-damaging light.
Enter Ryan Reynolds and Chris Noth himself to remedy this PR disaster. The latter serving as a collective representative for the entire And Just Like That… cast and crew when he agreed to help with some damage control. After all, the last thing Sarah Jessica Parker needs is to be vilified by anyone else besides Kim Cattrall, who was likely chuckling to herself as she watched how horrendous the show turned out to be and that her vehement “never again” declaration was the best decision she ever made.
As for Big, he has a new life now. At least per this Peloton commercial that essentially posits he faked his own death to get out of a sexless marriage with Carrie and finally be with Allegra, the woman whose body he fell in love with onscreen. Hence, a close-up on a fireplace as Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 2 plays in the background–a riff on how Lily was playing No. 14 of the “Moonlight Sonata” at the very piano recital Carrie didn’t want to attend. No, instead she was supposed to be on her way to the Hamptons (again, rich people shit) that night with Big. We then see Big gazing into Allegra’s eyes as he says, “To new beginnings.” She confirms, “To new beginnings,” adding, “You look great.” “I feel great,” he says serenely, as though his entire life with Carrie is nothing but a nightmare to forget now. “Shall we take another ride?” he asks in that innuendo-laden tone of his. She arches her brow. “Life’s too short not to,” he insists. And he should know, having risen from the dead and all. They laugh together, as the camera pans out to reveal their his and hers Pelotons facing one another behind the couch.
Reynolds then chimes in to say, “And just like that, the world was reminded that regular cycling stimulates and improves your heart, lungs and circulation, reducing your risk of cardiovascular diseases. Cycling strengthens your heart muscles, lowers resting pulse and reduces blood fat levels.” By now, his “fine print” voice has really sped up so that he can conclude with, “He’s alive.” Alive, I tell you! one imagines Dr. Frankenstein adding. And true, maybe he really would be if Carrie had, say, called an ambulance. But none of us should have been all that surprised by such sociopathic behavior on her part. Even if presented under the guise of Carrie simply “knowing” it was Big’s time and that it was their “Bonnie and Clyde moment”–but you still pick up the fucking phone and dial 911 for the sake of trying. Goddamn.
In any case, in addition to Walter White being a pharmacist on the side in an esurance commercial, Morpheus working as a Kia-pushing valet, and Cameron Frye surrendering to his own middle-class life in the Chicago suburbs as he watches another Ferris type (Joe Keery) run by his car for the sake of getting to the Domino’s delivery guy in time, Big faking his own death to run away from Carrie is among the more emboldened plotlines in an advertising campaign that wields fan fiction.
