Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty/HBO
I have a strange relationship with Sex and the City. It is one of my favorite shows in TV history, and I also think that one of the most important story arcs of Sex and the City is horrendous. Yet I still love the show. I don’t understand how both things are true, other than that I guess everything else besides this one piece of the show that I hate is so good that it makes up for its terribleness: Big (Chris Noth) and Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) should never have ended up together.
I don’t care to admit how many times I’ve rewatched Sex and the City, which I do often because there’s something about the show that feels healing to me—that is, until I again get to the final episode and again want to throw something at my TV screen when Big rescues Carrie from Paris. While, sure, I understand that Sex and the City is a romantic fantasy in which the single gal gets her happy ending in the form of the man she chased for years finally committing to her—but I also hate that the man is Big! If you watched Sex and the City, you know: Big sucks.
This aggravation is top of mind this week because, in the latest episode of Max’s And Just Like That, there’s revisionist history happening which some fans I’ve spoken to are annoyed by, but which I think is perfect.