This episode is a nice antidote to the last episode. I was actually cruising on facebook the other day, and saw that about a year ago I did the episode about bisexuality, which I forgot I had mentioned was my very least favorite episode. So it's a toss up.
The good news is, from here on out, I don't actually have any more least favorite episodes. I find them all charming. I'm sure I'll find something to talk about though. :D
This episode is interesting because it explores a facet of one of the women that we don't really ever get to see-- Miranda's relationship with her mother and her family.
There's a reason why we never see these women with their families, and it gets to the heart of the show. The foursome have, for whatever reason it's not important right now, left their nuclear families. Even when Charlotte got married, you could only see the back of her dad's head. For all intents and purposes, the foursome *is* a family.
But this episode reminds the viewer that they actually do have family and maybe it's healthier if they don't communicate with them often. I like that; it's refreshing. Just because someone is your bio-family doesn't mean that maintaining a relationship with them is the healthiest thing to do for you. You do you, the show constantly tells the audience (yes, sometimes it is lip-service).
Course, the show doesn't actually *say* all that, but by omitting Carrie's parents-- whom I assume exist somewhere in the Sex and the City universe-- you get a snapshot of an single, independent woman who isn't tethered by biological responsibility. And that on it's own is kind of groundbreaking.
I'm assuming. I haven't watched all the old shows, so I don't actually know for sure. I know the Mary Tyler Moore show was an important precursor to this show, and I don't know if she was family-less. No idea.
---
Let's get down to business!
The foursome meet from the four corners of the city in Central Park for lunch. Eastside, Westside, Park Avenue and Samantha. Sam has just bought a '1001 sexual positions' flyer from a guy on the street, and she can't wait to share it with them.
God, I love her.
They are having a catch up, so everyone brought something to share:
Miranda: "work, work, au bon pain, work."
Carrie: "Aiden, Aiden this pimple, Aiden"
She *really* needs a hobby.
Charlotte brought sandwiches for everyone to remind everyone that she's a housewife now. Sam wants her to be her wife. I could go for that.
Charlotte also brought the crushing guilt back from the last episode and a remedy! Apparently redecorating the house is taking a lot of time and energy, there are about a billion types of dimmer switches that exist and she wants to know all about them.
I like to imagine she's the grown-up version of Annie Edison. oh hey! Edison, light switches. heh.
Carrie wanted to tell everyone that she and Aiden have exchanged keys. Big news apparently. He always stays at her house though, something about two-in-one conditioner. Here's some advice, Carrie, bring your own conditioner, geez.
That evening, Aiden surprises her at her home and he's cooking fajitas! NOM!
Carrie goes to write in her little laptop about opening your life to someone else and getting all the benefits (like fajitas!) when suddenly her laptop crashes.
Aiden is right there over her shoulder trying to help, does the control-alt-delete trick which causes it to catch on fire. OK, not really, but it doesn't do anything since the computer is a mac and Carrie is pissed that he's trying to help.
And we get another look into Carrie here. She doesn't have the manual since she threw it away in a "feng shui attack" and she doesn't have any of her work backed up. She'd never heard of 'backing up.'
She also acts like a total asshole to Aiden who is only trying to help and be supportive.
At the computer support store, while they're waiting, Aiden is persistently trying to be supportive. He's rubbing her shoulders and she's pushing him off of her, being cold and short tempered.
No immediate news about the computer, but they'll take it in and take a look at it.
Carrie calls Miranda from a pay phone for the 'good kind' of support. Miranda listens, but the first thing out of her mouth is, "when was the last time you backed up?" and Carrie loses it.
"You know, no one talks about backing up. You've never used that expression before, ever."
I'm trying to think if I've ever experienced that before-- where everyone on the planet seems to think that I live under a rock because I've never heard of X. Probably. Maybe I should have a little more sympathy for her.
Speaking of sympathy, Miranda is currently in the hospital. Her mother had a heart attack. Carrie feels bad for going on and on, and Miranda is understandable. It's not like it's a big deal, her mom is stable. It's the computer that's the tangible problem here. Besides that, Miranda's mother had woken up just long enough to veto her lipstick, so that's the kind of relationship they have.
Miranda's sister also walks by and berates her for using her cell phone in the hospital.
"She called me!"
So, yeah, it's no wonder we've never seen Miranda's family.
---
Samantha is fucking a wrestling instructor. It is the *worst* sex scene in the whole show. He hasn't taken anything off, and she's moaning like he's fucking her.
On the other hand, "wrestling" is super good fun times and can be very sexy. So go her.
---
Next morning, Miranda calls Carrie to let her know that her mom died last night.
It's sudden and sad and Miranda is upset and it's sad.
Although, Miranda isn't really showing any emotion about it. She's more annoyed that she didn't plan to go to a funeral when she came down to Pennsylvania. So now she has to buy a shitty black dress she'll never wear and a shitty black bra to go with it.
Carrie promises that she'll be there for her.
On the other side of the bed, Aiden asks if Carrie wants him there too, and she vetoes his support.
In fact, she leaves the room to listen to water running while she contemplates the loss that Miranda's going through.
At brunch later that morning, Carrie breaks the news and breaks into tears.
Charlotte decides to tackle the grief situation by becoming the Martha Stewart of death. If death is going to happen, she's going to deal with it just so.
"The first thing we should do is send flowers. Or a fruit basket, or muffins. What do you think?"
Sam is showing significantly less emotion than Charlotte, although she does look completely in shock.
"Hey, are you OK?" Carrie asks her
"I'm fine, flowers are fine, just tell me who to send the check to." The two look at her like she sprouted another head.
"I'm just hungry." She says.
Only it isn't just hunger. Later on, with the wrestler, she can't come. She's tried everything, they've been at it for an hour and he has to pick up his stuff at the cleaners by 5.
No finale, no ending. Sam is pissed.
--
"I want you to make it very clear to the Philadelphia florist, Tasteful. All white. The Casablanca Lilies, the Calla Lilies, And the Phaelinopsis. I don't want any crap!" Charlotte is barking orders at a florist.
"You told her" Carrie says.
Charlotte thinks people care about the flowers, and think they represent them. Here's a question, why is Charlotte doing this? Miranda has a sister down in Philly, shouldn't they be doing this?
Whatever.
"Oh I don't know, I wasn't even listening," Sam responds to Charlotte's inanity. "I lost my orgasm."
"In the cab?" Carrie jokes.
Charlotte tells Sam that once there was a woman who had all the orgasms and one day they stopped and she couldn't have them anymore.
"That's the meanest thing you've ever said to me."
---
Miranda meanwhile is shopping for bras. She's looking for a 36 A. There's not a chance in hell she's a 36 anything. She's at most a 32, but the bra-lady manhandles her, measures her without asking and tells her to try a 34 B. At least they got the sister size right.
A cursory google shows her measurements are 32-23-36, so she's more likely a 26 or 28 band size, if the website is accurate, and it probably isn't.
Anyway, in the changing room, the woman just barges in. Miranda is pissed and yells at her.
And then she sobs because her mom just died and she'll never have another fight with her mom again.
I would be pissed if someone barged in while I was trying a bra. And I would yell. And my mom is alive.
Anyway, they have a moment in the changing room, share a hug, and Miranda says that the bra fits perfectly. Sure it does.
Speaking of support, Aiden has come around while Carrie was out with the girls. He's brought her a surprise gift! A brand new computer and a zip drive for a back-up system.
Carrie is defensive and angry. She digs her heels that her old back-up system works fine for her.
Aiden has finally had enough of her shit, "Oh really? you sure about that?"
"Yeah I am. I'm not ready for a new computer yet, I'm still waiting to hear back about my old one. My whole life was on that computer!"
"Oh I get it. It's all you. I'm not a part of any of this. You don't want the laptop. You don't want me to go to the funeral. I feel like a fucking--"
"I gave you my keys, what more do you want?"
"Oh great! So I can get into your front door. How do I get into there?" He points to her heart.
This is such a great plot here. Aiden is finally addressing everything wrong with their relationship even from last season-- he gives her all the emotional support in the world, but what good does it do when she is so vehemently Single and doesn't want it? And sure, she is not obligated to take the support, and in some ways the support is selfish because it is unwanted. It's complicated.
I'm glad he's standing up for himself though.
--
Sam spends the whole day masturbating, searching for the elusive orgasm.
No dice.
--
The computer tech guys have called Carrie in to talk about the computer. Her entire life has been reduced to a bunch of weird symbols and a few non-coherent sentences. The guy says it's the motherboard, and it's bad ram, and then he advises her to get a new back-up system. Then he says that he hopes she's saved the warranty.
oooop.
Carrie calls Aiden to apologize. She explains that she's been going through life alone for this long, sometimes it is difficult to ask for and accept help.
"If you start helping me and then I get used to having that help, well, no good can come of that. I mean, then what happens, when you know, you're not around one day?"
"Where am I going?"
"I don't know. You could be out of town or busy or things fall apart. We could fall apart."
"I know that."
I admire her candor, and to be honest, her reasoning. She *has* to be independent and she doesn't want to rely on someone else. Every relationship she's had has ended badly. She has no reason to think this one won't. Unfortunately, it has the unintended consequence of being a self-fulfilling prophecy. These issues are ones that stir resentment and cause break-ups.
--
In Philadelphia, the foursome are back together again.
Carrie says that she's sorry and gives her friend a big hug.
Charlotte says that she's sorry and gives her friend a big hug.
Sam says "you look great!" with a huge grin on her face.
"Well, she does!" Sam responds to the horrified looks on her friends' faces.
Miranda explains that she's fine, but everyone else is concerned that she's at the funeral without a significant other.
"I didn't realize I needed a date to my mother's funeral... That would be the real tragedy, right? Ignore the coffin, there's a single 35-year-old woman walking behind it."
Her sister calls to her and she's obligated to leave.
"You look great?!" Charlotte berates Sam, "That was not one of the things I told you to say."
Then she races after Miranda's sister to Martha Stewart it up. She asks about the flowers, and here they come now, and entire wall of flowers.
Charlotte gasps in horror.
"I said tasteful!"
"I think now we know what $500 worth of glitter looks like." Carrie makes the joke of the episode.
Inside, the funeral is underway. The preacher guy is completely dwarfed by the ginormous wall of flowers.
"Those flowers were supposed to say 'we're so sorry we love you,' not 'you're dead let's disco." Charlotte can't get over herself. lol.
The preacher guy meanwhile is mangling the family tree so Miranda turns around to look flabbergasted at her friends, and Sam finally mouths 'sorry' at her friend. Then she completely breaks down.
I guess it was supposed to be some kind of emotional release, so now she's all better now?
:shrugs:
On the way back down the aisle, Miranda can't keep it together, so Carrie stands up and walks with her the rest of the way. Near the exit, they spy Aiden and Steve in the last row.
D'awww. They showed up anyway.
Narrator Carrie finishes the episode by typing into her -new- computer about stuff. Things breaking down, people dying, relationships falling apart, and things that provide comfort like a zip-drive and a boyfriend-- "if you can learn to let him."
Thanks for reading! <3
