Sex and the City Finale Thoughts

Season Six of Sex and the City; Photo: HBO

It had to end this way. Carrie, back in NY, without the Russian, sort of with Big. While the first 15 minutes were slow and rather heavy, it was an overall satisfying episode. Most loose ends were tied up on positive, if not exactly happy, notes.

Highlights:
- The French bookstore employees saying they have "zee Sex!" There's something funny about the French taking pointers from Carrie Bradshaw.
- Even though Big has been looking literally big and bloated and acting like an idiot, his scramble up the stairs with Carrie and their subsequent fall reminded us that their relationship was fun and had more spark.
- Charlotte and Harry getting a Chinese baby (there's nothing more popular these days than a Chinese Jew - if this is how SATC is going to bring ethnicity to its cast, well, we'll take what we can get). And we did tear up a little.
- Miranda's not that surprising but still very touching willingness to care for Maaaa (TM - TWOP). We teared up when Magda called her on it, too.
- One last shot of Samantha's breasts.
- Carrie strutting down the street, wearing some combination of fur, lame, and heels that was a little George Clinton-esque, checking her sequin-covered cellphone to see that Big, apparently named "John," was calling.

Gothamist will miss these wacky New York ladies, but will take comfort in knowing our own batch.

The Daily News' David Bianculli gives the finale four stars. And the Times watches the finale with women who lured to NY by the show. You can buy seasons 1-5 from HBO.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in Arts and Events on February 23, 2004 1:04 AM

Comments [rss]

Meg

Does anyone know the song that plays during most of the retrospective clips prededing the finale episode? It's mostly just a woman singing, but not really singing words.

len

how many episodes that the final season have?

Jasmine burger

Does anyone know the name of the actress who played the bookstore fan? I liked her and would like to know about the necklace she was wearing.

Jasmine burger

Does anyone know the name of the actress who played the bookstore fan? I liked her and would like to know about the necklace she was wearing.

Jasmine burger

Does anyone know the name of the actress who played the bookstore fan? I liked her and would like to know about the necklace she was wearing.

Paige

I am happy to see that there are other people who agree with me, and see that the last episode was predictable and lame!!

Is anyone else as annoyed about the showing of Big's name as I am? While it can be said that this shows he's given Carrie something more than what they've had before, I just find the revelaing of "John" to be so tacky and unnecsessary. Like it was put in there to please the simpleton viewers who were never able to get past not knowing his real name...

Cynthia

Candleblue, didn't you watch the second last episode where Big meets with the girls over lunch and begs them for their advice? He says he will search Paris until he finds her and Miranda says "Go get our girl." THAT is how he ended up in Paris. It was no coincidence. True, there could have been more of a build up with that storyline. I know I gasped when Big's taxi was *this close* to Carrie on the street but neither of them noticed the other. I kept yelling "turn your head!" That part was brilliant. Samantha's cancer was a bit of a surprise which I thought turned her into a very boring charactor. He speech, which brought whoops and cheers when she ripped her wig off, was so flat I'm amazed anyone even noticed. Charolette's ending was perfection! Love it! Miranda's ending was indeed a little depressing but I still loved it. My only real complaint is that it's over and I am so very sad about this.

Luls

Wow---let it go ladies! You know what? Yes, it was a funny show, and there was always tons of shock value, and taboos broken etc. But like real life, we all change and grow. And as fun as it is to be single etc...it's not a permanent state for most of us (neither is marriage--btw), but again THAT'S LIFE. What I loved about this show was the tenderness and heart behind all the brashness of it all. Call me sappy, but no one wants to see a now 40 something Samantha still trying to shag strangers with her cancer. That is not funny anymore--like real life. My life has changed right along with these ladies and maybe that's why I'm biased but, I LOVED it! And it's disturbs me to hear all this S and the C bashing!! They've tirelessly entertained us for 6 years and now we must tip our hats, not trash them! :-)

Luls

Wow---let it go ladies! You know what? Yes, it was a funny show, and there was always tons of shock value, and taboos broken etc. But like real life, we all change and grow. And as fun as it is to be single etc...it's not a permanent state for most of us (neither is marriage--btw), but again THAT'S LIFE. What I loved about this show was the tenderness and heart behind all the brashness of it all. Call me sappy, but no one wants to see a now 40 something Samantha still trying to shag strangers with her cancer. That is not funny anymore--like real life. My life has changed right along with these ladies and maybe that's why I'm biased but, I LOVED it! And it's disturbs me to hear all this S and the C bashing!! They've tirelessly entertained us for 6 years and now we must tip our hats, not trash them! :-)

Sammy D

Oh, I forgot.

What an even bigger sell out!! Carrie ends up with the guy from the pilot! Were the last six series really that much of a waste? Is that how long the good times really last? The whole premise of the show as being for sexy thirty singletons was lost in the final episode.

Sammy D

What a sell out!

Since when would Carrie give up everything for someone who was clearly not right and she was absolutely not sure about. There is no way she would give up everything and go to Paris with the Russian. The only reason she went was to give the script writers a reason to get her back with Big.

Samantha. Can just about stomach her ending but do commend her cancer story line.

But as for Miranda. Wow, how depressing!! What kind of place has she been left in? Welcome to middle age? Hell, looking forward to that one! Since when has SATC been THAT real? I'm wishing her back to cynicism and coldness!

The only ending that was in keeping with the characters was Charlotte. Absolutely all the way through she has been the same. No short straws for her in the last series! Just pity the rest!!

Jeffrey

Hate to have to say it but I thought the finale of "Sex and the City" sucked. Yes, she ended up with Mr. Big, but the road taken to get there was 45 minutes of garbage. I think that because a film is in the works it took away from the excitement of the ending. It was an otherwise tedious episode. There was nary a laugh nor was there anything very sexy. I would have rather liked to see more urgency from Big, more romance and less Carrie wandering around Paris like a moron. Yes, she is lonely and sad - we get it! The storyline with the Russian took way too long to end and the final act with Big coming for her was so anti-climactic it was as if the writers finished the script in ten minutes.

Boring. Boring. Boring. And what is with the Alzheimer's deal? Can there be a more depressing way to show that bitchy Miranda actually has a heart? Why on the final episode do we need such heartache? I knew Carrie would end up with Big, but how they finally made it into each other's arms was truly uneventful and lacked any semblance of romance. I would have preferred to see her back in NYC sooner to be with friends and actually think about her next step, not just jump into a relationship with a guy who has screwed her over in the past.

Very disappointed. I wanted to see a fabulous and funny and sexy send-off, and instead I watched boredom come to life in the form of Sarah Jessica Parker.

candleblue

Yes, but doesn't that mean that Carrie has not developed? After so many seasons!

jen

candleblue - big discovers carrie kneeling on the floor picking things up because isn't that how they first met? so it's PERFECT symbolically, wrapping up as it began.

Jamie

Christ, both the episode and the season were horrible. As if women needed even more reinforcement in their stupid belief that they need a serious relationship with a man to be happy in life. Would it have killed the producers to let maybe 2 of them realize that you can be single and happy at the same time?? Good riddance to what used to seem like a somewhat progressive show.

candleblue

What I'm not too clear about -- did Big (or John, I guess =p) go to Paris to "hunt her down" as the Daily News puts it, or did he just accidently stumble upon her on a business trip. Cuz that makes a lot of difference, of course.

I also don't really like how he discovers her crouched on the floor -- it's a cute shot, but doesn't bode well symbolically. Though her tripping him with her stilettoed foot might make up for that.

I think giving Samantha cancer was not a good move at all, in the scheme of getting her to settle down with Smith (and I am aware there are other reasons as well). It's like Bronte taking an eye and a hand from Rochester so he has to become dependent on Jane Eyre. But Smith's a great guy and that last scene of Sam getting some was a good call.

Charlotte's conclusion was sweet and Harry is a saint.

I love Miranda's story best; it was not glamorous or joyful but it was very tender.

Overall, the ending was sappy, cheesy, and I absofuckinglutely enjoyed it.

Alison

Uh, is it just me or has Char's nose gone Gonzo-like in the bottom - all the ladies around the bed - photo? Or is this pic pre-PS work?

Patrick

I also thought the end was pretty lame--by the last episode the show had lost its queer edge. The girls became each happily coupled with (completed by) an unrealistically selfless and worshipful man.

What I had liked about the show was its depiction of urban singledom as a viable life--deep friendships can be like family, you can't always get what you want (no matter what ad agencies tell you), sex and relationships are messy and often unworkable, and life in the city is a privelege and a struggle. But in the end, the show wrapped up all that as 'part of the journey,' a ribald jaunt through queer urbanity that, if you're rich/pretty/fabulous enough, ends in romance-novel banality.

Even Samantha turned conventional.

Beyond that, I didn't like how Big, who had been totally emotionally unavailable, suddenly showed up as Carrie's white knight, as if all the prior bullshit never had happened. Sure, people change, but not like that.

And it was not funny. This season, the show stopped being funny.

Alex

I don't know, maybe I just have different standards or something, but I feel like the last episode was pretty disappointing. It didn't feel like a Sex and the City episode for most of it. It felt too much like a "hey, let's be serious" episode that belonged on another show instead. Even in previous "serious" episodes of the show, there's the right mix of humor and gravitas. This episode, there just wasn't enough funny and too much sentimentality. Biggest disappointments: Samantha transformed into a weak, needy shell of herself, and the treatment of Big and Carrie. I felt like Big needed to do something more for Carrie to prove himself other than accidentally run into her at her hotel. Overall, disappointing ending for a series that was otherwise groundbreaking and daring like no other comedy before it.

Dy

Let me rephrase that - I KNOW I saw him, just can't remember if it was Saturday or not :)

Dy

I saw him on ET Saturday, I think, along with other actors, giving his opinion on what would happen in the finale. Dunno why he wasn't on the "farewell" shows, though.

Ziegfeld

OK, Gothamist and loyal readers...does anyone know the answer? I've Googled every which way I can, and can't find news explaining why John Corbett (Aidan) wasn't featured in any of the promotion leading up to the last episode, or the hour-long retrospective beforehand.

Who knows the background?