The highly anticipated reboot of Sex and the City had a lot of good moments, but also a lot of questionable plot lines that weren’t necessary…here’s what I thought.
And just like that…the creators of Sex and the City (SATC) are able to adapt a beloved romantic-comedy show on television to fit today’s standards. The women, well only 3 of the 4, who helped shape feminism and fashion in the early 2000s are back navigating a post-covid new york city life. Was this show what we wanted as SATC fans or was it a try-hard flop? Here are my thoughts (and careful…spoilers ahead.)
1. The show really captured what I believe a lot of Gen Xers are going through as younger generations reshape gender and sexuality
As someone who has watched both movies, the unaffiliated prequel “The Carrie Diaries” and is finishing up the original series, I was quite frankly shocked at just how much the writers adapted to today’s society. If you are familiar with the show, it has a lot of problematic lines. So much so that I have a list on my phone that I add to quite frequently. Contrary to popular belief I think the show correctly tackled what parents face in this day and age. Charlotte, who always dreamed of this perfect Park Avenue life with her husband and two girly-girls is faced with having to accept her child, Rose, changing their name to Rock and coming out as non-binary. She wants to be the perfect mom but of course, has a hard time accepting the change. Her eldest daughter Lily is also exploring what it means to be “sexy” and what it’s like to be a woman, again Charlotte wants to be perfect but has a hard time accepting that her daughter has grown up.
2. Carrie’s love life: the center of the entire franchise
The first episode shows Carrie and Mr.Big finally together, looking happy. But, by the end Big is dead. Not at all expected, but if he hadn’t what would’ve been the plot? Cheating? I think that would’ve just made both their behaviors way too predictable, so this was a good way to add some spice (plus I never really liked Big). Killing him off also worked in the show’s favor as Chris Noth had sexual allegations come out against him. Although I am still finishing the original show, I can say that I preferred Carrie’s relationship with Aiden and now I understand his appearance in the second movie. She and Big had this toxic cat and mouse chase in which Carrie dragged Aiden into. With Big out of the picture, I would love to see a rekindled relationship between Carrie and Aiden.
3. Samantha: the elephant in the room
When it was revealed that actress Kim Cattrall would not be returning to her beloved role of Samantha, fans were shocked. Who would deliver witty comments about sex and men? Not to mention, Samantha was one of the more progressive characters in the show, experimenting with women and really owning her sexuality. Her presence in the conversations was definitely missed although the writers found clever ways to include her, my favorite being the flowers she sent for Big’s funeral. But I couldn’t help feeling that in a way, the writers were trying to replace her with two different people. One of them being Anthony who began joining the three women for meals and expressing his want to be included and the other being Carrie’s realtor Seema, who quickly became one of Carrie’s bffs. And while I do sympathize with these two characters, their vibes don’t quite fit the group’s dynamic. After Big’s death, we needed to see how exactly Samantha would be there for Carrie and how she would view Miranda’s new flame.
4. Miranda, Che and poor Steve
What I found most shocking this season was Miranda’s relationship with Che, Carrie’s non-binary boss. Miranda has always been perpetually unhappy with her life since the start of the show. Although she seemed to love her job there was always a problem, when she had Brady she was never at peace and not to mention her relationship was Steve was never a walk in the park. Miranda seemed to finally be excited about life in her relationship with Che but oh poor Steve, he can never catch a break. Even after admitting to cheating on Miranda, he always seemed to care. Even when they weren’t in a relationship but quite honestly she never really seemed to care for him. He was like a sad, homeless puppy who attached himself to Miranda. He was expected to just accept Miranda’s new relationship, rather than be upset and talk to someone. Quite honestly, the situation would’ve been different if Miranda’s new relationship were with a man…Steve would’ve had a much bigger role.
Was the Sex and the City reboot enjoyable? Yes. I definitely looked forward to a new episode but it felt like they were trying too hard to address every single issue that’s plaguing our society and lost the light hearted rom-com energy it once had. Although it’s extremely important to address societal issues, there was just so much going on and so many new characters who had central issues that it was hard to keep up.