Rebecca berkowit

The Che thing is different. Anthony was not upset just at being called the wrong gender, like Che was. He was upset specifically at being called a woman for being the receptive partner. That’s not about actually questioning a man’s gender identity, that’s about consigning a man to what you believe is a lesser role, or a less “manly” one. Being the receptive partner, as women are, is considered by some men to be lesser, and it’s considered that way BECAUSE it’s something women are. Calling someone a woman, or a pussy, throwing like a girl, crying like a little girl, etc., it’s always an insult. By contrast, “Be a man,” “man up,” etc, is a good thing. It’s unfair, and we don’t even realize how often we do it. Anthony here is just one example. You’re right, it’s misogyny. Taking the receptive role should not be considered lesser, and being called a woman, as an insult, for doing it should be obsolete and nonsensical.

Exactly! And what’s so wrong with being a woman anyway? ;). It’s not an insult, or it shouldn’t be. Still, if Anthony doesn’t want to do a specific sex act, that’s his right. I wasn’t sure where his refusal was coming from, but I was uncomfortable with the other guy’s insistence that he try it, or that he’d like it. It seems like something you either know you would like, or you wouldn’t. I’m saying this as a woman, of course. This kind of triggered me. Maybe it’s different with gay men, and maybe Anthony’s objection was purely based on outdated roles and not what he liked or didn’t like. That joke was so dumb! Why would she be waiting for it to get hard? Or trying to get it hard? That’s not necessary, it just does that on its own in the course of things. Or was Che implying that it doesn’t get hard because it’s not a dick? Newsflash, Che. Erectile tissue is erectile tissue.

That is a charitable explanation. I think this was just someone’s idea of what someone who was a married woman’s first non-straight partner would talk about. If it didn’t fit the actual relationship, who cares?

Here’s (one of) the problem with the writing on this show. They make arcs for the characters that are supposed to extend over the season, such as “Miranda falls for Che, goes so far as to move to California, and then eventually realizes she belongs at home,” or “Carrie gets back with Aidan, goes so far as to buy a new house, and then eventually realizes it’s not going to work.” In the first place we, the viewers, don’t need the “goes so far as,” or the “eventually.” We can see it’s not a good idea from the word go. The initial premise is flawed. Of course, that’s true in a lot of shows, that’s what drama is, without conflict it’s not interesting. But the rest of it is not executed properly. The middle is just so much filler. The “going so far” part is too far; it’s just not believable for the character or any actual human being. The end is no great payoff, either. The characters may “eventually” learn from their mistakes, but we learn nothing. They just come off as dumb people doing things nobody would ever do. These aren’t arcs so much as straight dead ends. Foregone conclusions. If we can see it, why can’t they? The old show used to at least string us along in a believable fashion with the progression of the relationships. Good stories do that. This one, you know where it’s going and you can’t believe they’re wasting so much of our time with the getting there.

I was amazed at how Steve had moved on, with his talk about “all that stuff that happened with Miranda,” like it was years ago. It seemed like it was only weeks ago (it was only like two episodes!).

You make a good point. Che is not written as a character who would be attracted to someone like Miranda. That’s probably because the writers did not intend for that to happen, and it only did because of Cynthia Nixon. Once Cynthia intervened, they went ahead with the romance but didn’t bother to change Che’s character into someone who would be a better fit. I really don’t see how they could have, and kept Che as Che. And yes, I do think they were trying to rehabilitate Che, and it almost was working. But that comedy set single-handedly destroyed any hope of that, at least for me. I never want to see Che on my Tv again. It was just a hateful, gratuitous screed against someone who had done nothing to deserve such treatment. Miranda may have not been a good fit for Che, and she may have been shitty to Steve, but she wasn’t ever mean to Che. (Also, did Che say something about “I’d rather slam my dick in a door?” Was that metaphorical?)

I don’t think there WAS a point to the LTW story. I honestly think they just didn’t know what to do with the character. She’s basically a Black Charlotte. They tried the mother in law angle. They couldn’t think of more. I suppose she could’ve had a medication abortion, but why would she keep that from her husband? He was willing to talk about it, she’s the one who shut it down And, yes, Carrie is an idiot. She keeps calling it “our place,” when Aidan made it clear she shouldn’t be buying it just for him. He looks uncomfortable. And how can it be “their place” when he’s only there sometimes, and she owns it? I mean, Carrie was always a bit like this with men, but this time it just doesn’t ring true that she would have learned nothing, that she would still be behaving like this in her 50’s. It’s pretty basic that you don’t move that fast with someone. Shes like willfully not seeing or hearing stuff, about him, about his kids, nada. She’s so obviously deluding herself, but it feels like the writers are deluding us into thinking it’s totally normal for her to behave like this, that we all delude ourselves when we are in love, and she will eventually realize. We do delude ourselves, but not like this, not over the age of about 25-30, not with her life experience.

I get why Aidan is beating himself up thinking he should’ve been there. I don’t think that’s true, I think Aidan is entitled to a life of his own, and Wyatt needs help to see that. I think even if Aidan had been there, the kid would still be messed up and getting into some pretty bad trouble. But it’s understandable Aidan feels that way. And, knowing Carrie, she won’t understand that.

Wow. For the FIRST TIME Carrie is worried about Aidan? (Or, rather, herself with Aidan). He has kids! One of whom is not doing well psychologically! Wyatt obviously needs help dealing with the divorce and dad’s new relationship. He also seems to have an alcohol and impulse-control problem. (Why did he go to the farm if he knew Aidan wasn’t there? I guess 14 year olds don’t think so clearly sometimes, that’s to be expected.) And all she can say is that the broken bones will heal, she can’t even see why Aidan’s upset about his kid’s issues. And to think, I was predicting he’d finally come to terms with the apartment thing, and his own role in the demise of the relationship with Carrie. I was thinking he’d show up at the Last Supper. (I hate the way he said he was never setting foot in the apartment when they weee line for Che’s concert. He had this flirty tone like he was whispering sweet nothings). I predict he DOES show up, and he tells her he accepts what happened, but that they can’t see each other again because of his kids. Then they can have “closure,” on both the relationship and on John Corbett’s commitment to the series. I guess she’ll stay in the Gramercy Park apartment, because she didn’t just sublet to Lisette like a normal person would, she sold it, at too low a price. Even this show wouldn’t make Lisette give it back. Lisa- I have no idea what on earth they were trying to do with this stupid pregnancy. They weren’t doing an abortion plot, obviously. (But they were sure to have her share her - and the show’s - liberal bona fides by saying the totally clunky dialogue about “of course, I am grateful to have that option.”) And then they go and take the time-immemorial TV way out of an unplanned pregnancy, a convenient miscarriage! So what was the point? For her to realize she has too much on her plate? For her husband to realize he should help out more? And why didn’t she, once she realized her hubby didn’t actually get the vasectomy eight years ago, get an IUD or something? Did he not tell her? Was this the first she’s hearing about it? That’s unconscionable, but if that’s the case, why did it take till now to get pregnant again? Nya/Seema: I appreciate that this episode managed to include all of the characters. But these two did very little. Nya…bought a stroller and listened to Miranda. Like that she got a little snippy with Miranda about her exes. Seema…said I love you and then was promptly shut down so Carrie could talk about HER problems. These characters, and actresses, deserve better. Perhaps their own spinoff. Miranda: she’s upset about SKIPPER? What about her husband of 20 years and the father of her child? On the other hand, I think Carrie was giving her too much grief about not seeing Steve now. She shouldn’t have to go see his new restaurant, they’re divorced. I do think she left him very abruptly and took off with Che, if that’s what is meant by “cutting him off,” and I do think she shouldn’t be afraid to show up to the Last Supper if he’s there. (Che is a different story, which I will get to.) Glad Miranda’s new job is going well. Still not believable that she is only an intern, they could’ve given her a legal clerkship. (They probably never thought of it). The woman took five weeks’ maternity leave? Crazy. (The old joke of referring to your baby as your “new boss” is just so cringe. You know who your new boss is? Your old boss. Who wouldn’t let you stay home more than five weeks with A NEWBORN BABY.) Charlotte- hilarious. I can always relate to her storylines. She did have a life before! Still, no way I’m leaving my job to run home and bring something to my kid when she should’ve packed it the night before. This is a lesson every kid needs to learn, hopefully it happens only once. You forget it, you get the F. And no way I’m asking my husband to do it, either, or giving him a guilt trip about it. How many nebbishy henpecked jokes can they make with this otherwise successful, smart and assertive cutthroat lawyer? So cute that she “tamed” him! (Barf). Anthony: Sure, nobody should say they are, or the other person is, “the woman” in a gay relationship, that’s outdated and offensive to gay men (and women in general). But, if Anthony doesn’t want to do a particular activity, he should not have to. I wouldn’t want to do anal, and if somebody insisted that I do so for some political reason I’d be out of there. (Of course, I’m not a man, it might feel different for them, but I imagine that not all gay men are into that.) I guess the other guy felt like Anthony was just objecting on philosophical grounds, because he is “a top.” The guy seemed to think Anthony would enjoy it if he could just get over his old-fashioned beliefs about what it meant. But maybe he just wasn’t comfortable being penetrated. That wasn’t made clear. His preferences should be respected. Physical tastes don’t change just because the politics have. Stanford! I thought it was disrespectful to Willie Garson for them to have Anthony make fun of him. Still, I thought the send off of making him transcend to a higher plane of existence was poignant. And now…Che! First of all, are we going to get a clunky reminder every episode that Che’s pronoun is “They,” and that so many people “just …don’t …get it…man?” Enough. We want to watch a show, not a polemic. Also, Che’s standup is not funny, nor was Cheryl’s. (Are we to take from this that part of the reason Che was unhappy as Cheryl and eventually came out as non-binary was because Cheryl had to diet to please men? There must be more to it than that.) Che’s set about Miranda was just awful. Talking about how inept Miranda was sexually? Even male comics don’t talk like that about women. (Women comics sometimes talk about how men are inept, but not quite like that). And it wasn’t “just comedy,” either, no matter what Che says. It came off as how Che really felt, and it was vile. Che broke the cardinal rule of comedy- you can be mean, as long as you are funny. It wasn’t funny. Miranda was totally right to be hurt and to tell Che off. Che is just awful, selfish, unfunny, and mean. Full stop. But of course, Toby thinks Che can do no wrong. I assume we are supposed to side with Toby? Sorry, no. I do like the co worker in the vet’s office.

I believe Che was intended as perhaps a substitute for Stanford. A minor role, like with Anthony. A peripheral pal for Carrie who was not one of the girls and could give a different perspective about a different identity every now and then. Not one of the leads. Then CN intervened. Maybe if they’d gone with the original plan we could have seen more early interaction with Che and Carrie during the first season, with the podcast. Now the character, who had been elevated to a main with the Miranda romance, just seems like one of Miranda’s castoffs who is still hanging around for some reason, a superfluous main character, and so the writers have retconned this Carrie friendship for us. But they didn’t put in the work to make it credible.

Same, more with the first pregnancy than the second for some reason. But not so sleepy that I fell asleep while getting dressed. Menopause makes me exhausted but unable to sleep (hence the exhaustion ). YMMV

I have checks but I hardly ever use them, I do Venmo/Card for everything. If I were in Carrie’s situation, I would’ve asked Enid if there was a website where I could donate. I’m lazy like that. I did not pick up on the puzzle thing being related to autism at all. I just thought the kid was difficult. Every family has one, and they’ll tell you who it is. It’s usually a kind of a chicken-egg problem, which came first, the kid being difficult or them describing him that way. That’s what I’ve noticed. I didn’t think they intended to keep Aiden around long enough for his kid to get his own autism subplot. I thought the mere fact that he HAD kids and had to spend some time with them would be the dealbreaker for Carrie.

She said she doesn’t want to throw them away ANYMORE. Meaning, after Steve. :) I hope it’s to leave Aiden and not buy that ridiculous new apartment.

Look, I’m not a big Che fan. But Che works at a vet’s office, I believe that’s where the kittens were taken originally. Presumably they were examined/treated there. I don’t think Che found the kittens in the street. Maybe I’m remembering it wrong.

Trey was impotent = Charlotte PAID for the apartment. (I don’t think she meant it literally, but it’s a funny line, you have to admit.)