Not a Peloton Giving Us Severe Emotional Damage

Major spoilers for And Just Like That below.

If you thought the Sex and the City revival, And Just Like That, was going to be an easy ride, strap in and turn your resistance up to 100 because this is going to be one hell of an emotional workout.

The first two episodes, now streaming on HBO Max, take us along the ups and downs of Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte’s lives in their 50s—going gray, raising hormonal teens, fumbling through politically incorrect comments, adapting to a new culture of sexual freedom, and even getting ghosted by Samantha—but they also introduce a shocking tragedy. At the end of episode 1, Carrie’s husband John James Preston, aka Mr. Big (Chris Noth), dies of a heart attack.

There are a lot of factors about this loss that are hard to swallow. Part of it is waiting through years of Carrie and Big’s cat-and-mouse chase and not getting the satisfaction of watching them grow old together, happily ever after. Another part of it is the frustration of watching Carrie come home to her dying spouse and not call 911. And a third part, perhaps the most obscene, is that Big’s heart failure was triggered by… a Peloton.

Carrie and Big in And Just Like That

HBO

In the year 2021, the man who was once New York’s most eligible bachelor is a proud owner of a stationary bike; he has a favorite instructor (her name is Allegra) and a shameless excitement to reach his 1,000th ride. When Carrie gets invited to attend Lily’s (Charlotte’s daughter, played by Cathy Ang) piano recital, thus delaying her Hamptons plans with Big, Big stays at home for a Peloton class. But after his workout, he has a heart attack and collapses. (In episode 2, Miranda and Steve discuss that Big already had heart problems, but his cardiologist had cleared him for Peloton use.) Carrie comes home to find Big struggling on the ground, and he dies in her arms. “And just like that, Big died,” Carrie confirms in a voiceover at the end of the episode.

The whole sequence, intertwined with Lily’s prodigious piano playing, is so jarring it’s almost comical (are we to accept that the demise of Carrie’s soulmate is from a piece of viral exercise equipment?) but its heartbreaking impact weighs heavily on the following episode. Carrie is distraught, unsure what to do next; Miranda steps in to keep her company so she’s not alone; Charlotte regrets making Carrie come to the recital; Stanford and Anthony, moved by the news, decide to put their petty arguments aside. Those of us watching online were just as emotional, if not more.

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Some also noticed that Carrie was wearing her wedding shoes—those cobalt blue Manolos—as she found Big in his final moments.

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And some are still trying to grasp that a Peloton was involved at all. The company even addressed the shocking scene in a statement to The Los Angeles Times. “I’m sure SATC fans, like me, are saddened by the news that Mr. Big dies of a heart attack,” Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, a cardiologist on Peloton’s health and wellness advisory board and self-proclaimed SATC fan, said in a statement. “Mr. Big lived what many would call an extravagant lifestyle—including cocktails, cigars, and big steaks—and was at serious risk as he had a previous cardiac event in Season 6. These lifestyle choices and perhaps even his family history, which often is a significant factor, were the likely cause of his death. Riding his Peloton Bike may have even helped delay his cardiac event.”

The statement continued, “More than 80 percent of all cardiac-related deaths are preventable through lifestyle, diet, and exercise modifications. And while 25 percent of heart attacks each year are in patients who already had one (like Mr. Big), even then they are very, very treatable. The lesson here is, KNOW YOUR NUMBERS! It’s always important to talk to your doctor, get tested, and have a healthy prevention strategy. The good news is Peloton helps you track heart rate while you ride, so you can do it safely.”

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Noth was hesitant to join And Just Like That, but he eventually gave in after speaking with showrunner and director Michael Patrick King. “It was a long conversation, it continued through the pandemic and he took in a lot of my ideas and we came up with a way for me to work into it,” the actor told The Guardian in a recent profile.

As Noth takes his bow as Mr. Big, he’s well aware of how the character has stuck with SATC fans. “If I can be a small part of what people think of as New York City, that’s a really lovely thing,” he said.

Erica Gonzales
Erica Gonzales is the Senior Culture Editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage on TV, movies, music, books, and more.

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