Friday, October 29, 2010

Oh Come All Ye Faithful: By Jennifer Marie Stranges

The season finale starts with Miranda having sex with her new boyfriend. The sex is great but he has a habit of showering immediately afterwards because he is convinced sex is a sin. In typical SATC fashion, Miranda tells Carrie all about "Catholic-guy" and his habits. They analyze the situation while enjoying some frozen-yogurt on a Manhattan street. When Miranda tries to change her boyfriend's ways, he blows up on her and asks her to leave. She ends up using her ex-boyfriend Skipper for sex simply because he doesn't shower after he has sex.


Carrie steaks out a church on a Sunday morning, researching the theme of "religion" for her next column, and sees none other than her boyfriend Mr. Big leaving the service with his mother. Carrie is smitten when Mr. Big tells her he takes his mother to church every Sunday while she is busy writing. With some thought, she becomes anxious upon realizing she doesn't know Mr. Big as well as she thinks we does. The girls shed light on Carrie's situation; pessimistic Miranda sees this as a bad thing, while hopefully optimistic Charlotte sees a relationship with a mother as a good thing in terms of "husband-material".


Samantha does the unthinkable when she confesses to the girls that she's in love with her boyfriend James, who she met at a jazz club. The relationship started in a fashion out of the norm for Samantha: non-sexual. The audience has been so used to attributing sexual qualities to Samantha and now is getting to see a more emotional, sensitive or "feminine" side of her. Samantha said that "all the bullshit" that Charlotte had said about not sleeping with a guy too soon is paying off. When Sam and James do finally have sex, Samantha is disappointed with his lack of "endowment". She begins to question whether or not she really loves him anymore.


Charlotte becomes jealous of Samantha's relationship after Sam mentions that she could see herself marrying James. She books an appointment with a psychic to put her at ease. Here we go again, another desperate woman who validates herself by the prospect of men. When the psychic does not see marriage in Charlotte's future, Charlotte becomes very upset.


Carrie continues to pry about Mr. Big's mother. She hints that she wants to meet his mother, and he doesn't seem keen on the idea. Instead, he invites her to the Caribbean on a vacation. Carrie and Miranda go to church to spy on Mr. Big and to catch a glimpse of his mother. Although this is the absolute most uncomfortable scene for the audience to watch, females can understand Carrie when she admits that watching Mr. Big made her "fall a little more in love with him". The scene gets worse when Carrie drops a choir book and Mr. Big sees her. Carrie finally gets her wish when Mr. Big introduces her to his mother...as his "friend", and she has clearly never heard of Carrie before. Mr. Big is rightfully angry with Carrie for intruding and then upsets Carrie when he tells her he needs to take the relationship on his own pace and to have a little faith.


 When Mr. Big picks up Carrie to catch their flight, Carrie asks Mr. Big to give her more than "faith" that their relationship is really something. The episode and seasons finishes with Mr. Big driving away alone, after Carrie says she can't go away with him or be with him if it's going to be a waste of her time and her heart. This is a strong feminist moment, when Carrie gives up Mr. Big even though she loves him, because she knows she deserves more than someone who is uncertain if they love her or not.

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