Lethallyfab

Nice seeing everyone again, currently checking everyone like Laurence Fishburne, et. al’s IMDB page to find out if they were “too busy” for a cameo, I have a lot of conflicting emotions about this finale but my main one is that if the main emotional beat of the finale is Zoey’s Romantic Arc, then they should’ve ended the series earlier to keep the focus on Zoey. I am admittedly a Junior hater but his character got SCREWED in the series finale of the show that was now ostensibly supposed to be about him! Genuinely laughed at Luka Sabbat’s FaceTime cameo like it was Julianna Marguiles and Archie Punjabi all over again.

Twitter captured

I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a bigger disconnect between the alleged sexiness and charisma of a character and what actually comes off on-screen! Repeat after me: Junior! Is! Not! Sexy! I DO not need to see him wearing a sheer nipples-bearing shirt from Prince’s cast-offs in the morning after a threesome. Like, I don’t know, *maybe* the writing team thinks that Junior going from the biggest fucking dweeb on ‘Blackish’ to this total fucking sex-god in ‘Grownish’ is “character growth,” but the writers aren’t good enough to make it work. I hate everything about this.

I need someone to explain to me how and why for an ostensible writing challenge, we never ever heard any excerpts from the *actual writing* just heard talk *about* said stories without ever *actually hearing* portions of the stories themselves? Like, that is a very interesting editorial choice. As Tatianna would say, “choices.” (Was the writing just bad across the board? Why hide it!?) I don’t know how Q has such strong looks on the runway and showed up in that outfit for the book cover. I could see it on a throwback queen like, say, Plasma, but even she would have been clocked for not dragging it up a little. It was a deserved elimination for that heinous look alone, IMO. I may stand alone in this but I am not a fan of the lip-sync La-La-Pa-Ru-Sa format. There was plenty of drama this season so they could have enough material to do an actual reunion. And if, as pointed out, runner-ups get nothing, it would be irksome to me if an eliminated queen got a cash prize and I didn’t. I don’t think she has a genuine shot at a win, but Plane Jane is going to be a meme queen for a while and I’m okay with that - I am *dying* at all the corporate drag jokes at her expense on Twitter.

Plasma’s Patti LuPone was extremely subdued, something which Patti is decidedly NOT — she’s known for her shit-talking about folks (Madonna, Andrew Lloyd Webber) and her fiery temper (yelling at audience members for being on their cell phones.). For a so-called expert on “grande dames,” she completely missed the mark. I’m in no way a theatre queen and even *I* know Patti’s personality.

Fun fact (or, really, apocryphal “fact” since I have no actual sources) — apparently the switch to HD threw TV makeup artists for a complete loop and they had to totally change the way they do make-up - being painted on versus being airbrushed on. I will say that AJLT looks, both lighting-wise and cinematography-wise, very much like a “digital” “flat-lighting” HD show - which, it’s fine, a lot of digital shows do but I also often say that “HD is no actress’s friend.” Not to get too Christopher Nolan but I’m watching the OG series and there is a visible difference between the warmth and grain of film and the digital look. DoP John Thomas has the most credits for cinematography for the OG series and also helmed both movies, so, weird not to hire him again unless they wanted to drastically change the look of the show.

I’ve been rewatching the first two seasons and just finds it funny how now we’re supposed to praise Charlotte for being such a good dog mom to Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton when she GAVE UP Henry, the first dog she had in the show, to Susan Sharon, because it was being too yippy/annoying? Also, I know that a lot of us complained about them at the time but it is *remarkable* how essential Carrie’s voice-overs are to provide an overarching plot/theme/structure to the episodes. AJLT always seems to being going in a dozen different directions, with a dozen different characters, and I feel like SATC handled the very structure of each episode better. If SATC were a drama, it would get praised for how well it balanced on-going plotlines with episodes-of-the-week plotlines. Now it feels like everyone is spinning multiple plates in the air, some of them crashing to the floor (cough, cough, Che and Miranda, cough) and then pretending like the plates have never been broken and picking them up again to spin them again. Also: sorry, but SJP and Noth have the best chemistry of any of her love interests. He may be a jerk but their lovey banter (and even their fights!) seems completely off-the-cuff and natural, which is what you want in a rom-com, right? I suppose one could make a *technical* argument against any of the guys the ladies ended up with in the series finale but I think all of the pairings (Sam/Smith, Carrie/Big, Char/Harry, Miranda/Steve) made sense because the pairings had such chemistry between the actors.

My favorite part of that MPK interview besides saying that people who hated Che just don’t like stand-ups (no, we just don’t like unfunny ones) is that the moment people “turned on” Che is when finger-banged Miranda in Carrie’s apartment. Because they…should? You expect people to be okay with Miranda acting totally out-of-character and prioritizing getting finger-banged over caring for her close friend? I don’t get how you would write that scene and think it skews in Che’s favor. Oh, wait, they’re so “edgy” and “real” and “honest” that it’s okay to get your groove on no less than 100 feet from where your girlfriend’s friend is recuperating from a major surgery.

Cast Hamm and they could do a great callback to Slattery and mention that she had an ex who wanted a golden shower. Or to when Samantha was seeing “Mr Too Big.”

Waiting for MPK and SJP to give an interview to the press about how Carrie finally removed her bra after six seasons and two movies because she and Aidan are totally in WUV and he is completely breaking down her inhibitions. Except, no. You can try to sell me on this all you want, show, but they are not endgame. Certainly not a “wait five years” endgame. Which, I am *begging* this show not to do a flash-forward time-jump. It was cool when ‘Alias’ did it and then become subsequently less cool when every other show did it. (Like, why, ‘Desperate Housewives,’ why?) Twitter seems to think that Che is confirmed for season three, which, again, why? They’re no longer with Miranda, I guess Carrie seems to think they’re BFFs now, but, really? This show is like the old Twitter joke about ‘Game of Thrones’ - there’s 140 characters and I have no idea what’s going on. Keep: LTW, Seema, Lisette. Boot: Nya and Che. I still maintain that if the show really wanted to thrive they should’ve switched things up and had the new cast be the new cast with the SATC cast making cameos and guest appearances. I think focusing on so many characters has really hurt the writing. The original show did an excellent job of giving an over-arching theme and individual stories to each of the four gals each week, but I think it’s impossible to try to pull that same trick with double the amount of characters.

You are not a freaking war widow, Carrie, you do not have to wait five years for your man to return from the front. He’s not at war, he’s in Virginia, for Christ’s Sake. If any one of your friends proposed waiting *five years* for a man, they’d be deemed insane. as a gay man, I am pissed as to how they handled the Anthony/Giuseppe storyline. Letting down your emotional barriers because your ex is now a Shinto monk or whatever doesn’t mean you should let down your physical boundaries. Giuseppe is a terrible lay if he couldn’t pick up on Anthony’s physical discomfort which was exceedingly obvious to the audience. I did wonder if the placement of the Boy Butter lube was actually product placement. also, please warn me in advance if my RSVP to your dinner party includes “fun” emotional games. Because I don’t care if there’s a Michelin Starred chef, I am not coming. (Also, you are so hard up for friends that you invite annoying Jackie?). This is not ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,’ I did NOT consent to an evening of fun and games with George and Martha. All I thought with Che and Lisette’s interaction was Demi’s “get a job, stay away from her:”

I will say, seeing one of the movies (I can’t remember if it was the first or second) at a midnight show where everyone had obviously gotten tipsy beforehand made it one of the more enjoyable times I’ve had at at a movie theater. Miranda should’ve pulled a Kathy and told Che “you can’t write about this.” I get that every “artiste” draws on their personal life but this seems out of bounds. Nothing that Che said was untrue, mind you, we’ve been taking Miranda to task for it this entire time, but it was just unrelenting meanness substituted for actual jokes. Has Che ever made an actually funny joke on this show? Weird that the writers can come up with endless jokes for Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha and yet totally fail when tasked with jokes for the actual comedian. Speaking of Che, it is *obscene* that Carrie wants Miranda and Che to play nice for the dinner. Carrie, you were *there* for Miranda at her mothers funeral. You were *there* for her when she considered abortion. You were *there* for her at the actual birth of her child. But, you know, you made a cool work friend that you now think is actually cool, so let’s just toss this aside?!? Much like Carrie, I have never been to Coney Island before, but hot dogs and clams? And beer? That’s a fraternity hazing ritual, not a business venture, Steve. Like, all at the same time? I get hot dogs *or* clams, but both? Together?

Was she drinking? I missed that. Can you fill us in? I don't have the bandwidth to rewatch. I think I may have worded that confusingly — Carrie is the one day-drinking 3 times a week (beers with Steve, cosmos with Anthony, brunch), which, yeah, is apparently only an issue when Miranda does it, Carrie gets a free pass. I am so tired of women on TV having super-convenient miscarriages. The writers love to introduce a pregnancy for the MAXIMUM DRAMA of it all but when it comes to the repercussions of having an actual kid to influence the plot, it’s just magically hand-waved away.

If I were the acting coach who taught John Corbett to fake cry, I would simply ask for 100% of my money back. Does Carrie need to call Miranda’s sponsor? Day-drinking 3 days a week? Did Miranda learn nothing from her previous comedy experience where her date’s *wife* called his cell and the comic heckled her mercilessly for it? Bonus points for flashbacking to show that Che has always been and will always be a hack comic. At least Carrie now has a cute kitten to comfort her when the inevitable break-up with Aidan happens next episode. I also didn’t need Aidan telling Carrie that he was the problem all along. No, *she* accepted that proposal. *She* should’ve turned it down if she wasn’t ready for it. An engagement is not the same as a marriage, if you’re unprepared for the latter, you shouldn’t say yes to the former.

Enid paid Carrie $4 a WORD at Vogue (that’s is $6.72 in today’s money! Freelancers would kill for it!). Enid truly deserved that money.