S01.E04: Some of My Best Friends

[Snazzy Daisy]

4 hours ago, chediavolo said:

Carrie looks like a crazy old woman in some of the ugly nut so outfits  that she is wearing. 

SATC nostalgia…

Edited December 24, 2021 by SnazzyDaisy

[Conotocarious]

44 minutes ago, John M said:

That is not how large law firms work, "partner" is not just a fancy title for someone that works in a law firm, it means they have ownership of the law firm. Based on what was shown of Maranda's career, it's highly likely that she didn't just "quit" her job, she walked away with millions of dollars and the understanding that she could return to a high-earning law career at any time. It why you see so many high earning attorneys leave practice for political jobs and becoming judges at, on paper, significant pay cuts. They aren't worried about the money. 

There are levels of partner. Was Miranda an equity partner? All partners are definitely not equal.

[Baltimore Betty]

47 minutes ago, John M said:

That is not how large law firms work, "partner" is not just a fancy title for someone that works in a law firm, it means they have ownership of the law firm. Based on what was shown of Maranda's career, it's highly likely that she didn't just "quit" her job, she walked away with millions of dollars and the understanding that she could return to a high-earning law career at any time. It why you see so many high earning attorneys leave practice for political jobs and becoming judges at, on paper, significant pay cuts. They aren't worried about the money. 

My now ex husband had his own law firm, sold his interest to his partner and became a judge and with that he got normal hours and nice income and far less stress...sadly he did not walk away millions.  Miranda probably did walk away with a nice chunk of change and her sanity. 

[txhorns79]

3 hours ago, chocolatine said:

Especially the white tulle skirt that she couldn't even walk in without holding it up with one hand. So stupid.

I was just like: "So Carrie is going to do a quasi-Miss Havisham look now?"  Sometimes I can say that Carrie's looks are not for me, but they could work as being very fashion forward.  Here, she just looked like someone who pulled her clothes out of a dumpster.  On the plus side, I thought Seema's outfits were beautiful. 

[John M]

38 minutes ago, Conotocarious said:

There are levels of partner. Was Miranda an equity partner? All partners are definitely not equal.

 

30 minutes ago, Baltimore Betty said:

My now ex husband had his own law firm, sold his interest to his partner and became a judge and with that he got normal hours and nice income and far less stress...sadly he did not walk away millions.  Miranda probably did walk away with a nice chunk of change and her sanity. 

I mean, yes, we are talking about a fictional universe, I'm just stating that it is completely within the believable realm as much as AJLT is tethered to it, that Miranda walked away with millions of dollars and Harry is pulling in 7 figures a year.

There is really no context to any of this, when we talk about Carrie "just being a sex columnist" with some other work, Dan Savage has made a very financially lucrative career out of being a sex columnist, Daniel Lavery signed a 2 year $430,000 minimum contact to write a newsletter in large part to his advice column and podcast.

My point is, we aren't being asked to suspend that much disbelief her, for all we know Harry and Miranda are working in the S&C universe versions of Skadden Arps and Kirkland Ellis.

[ExMathMajor]

I spent most of this episode thinking: "And THIS is why I hate sequels." And I didn't laugh...not even once.

The problem is I don't CARE about these women (Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda). More specifically: I don't care about these versions of these women. Yeah, Carrie's a widow, Miranda's unhappy with her home life, Charlotte is...I still don't know what they're trying to do with Charlotte. Maybe I'm just jaded and cynical but if this had been any other show I probably wouldn't have made it to the end. I'm saying this as a 50-something woman: Why should I CARE about these 50-something women? This writing team is going to have to give me more than what they're giving right now.

Seeing Carrie in that tulle skirt and those boots (both of them nods to the original series) made me roll my eyes. Jesus Christ, STOP already with the nods. A little bit is cute; too much is lazy styling. And I still think the hair's not working for her.

I never bought Anthony and Stanford as a couple so I'm okay with them breaking up. Again, though, this is something that a better writing team could have done more elegantly. Carrie's note was unnecessary; Anthony's would have been more than enough.

It's bad enough Brady's girlfriend is basically squatting, but for her to address his mom as "Miranda" and to do it so casually like she's an actual member of the family...I'm not a parent but this was where I said to the TV: "Oh HELL no..."

As a black woman who's spent a significant chunk of her life in predominantly white settings, I could say quite a lot about Charlotte's attempts to create a diverse dinner party and then her arriving at LTW's house where she and Harry were the only white people there. Instead, I'll just say that I appreciated her using her knowledge of art to defend LTW against her MIL. (Also, Nicole Ari Parker is always going to be Terri from Soul Food for me.)

I liked Seema. I didn't like the woman in the wheelchair...was she their boss, or what?

[txhorns79]

11 minutes ago, John M said:

when we talk about Carrie "just being a sex columnist" with some other work,

I had presumed Carrie was syndicated, and was something of a big name.  I mean, her newspaper used her column to advertise itself to readers on a bus, and chose her to be the face of the paper when it went public.  That would suggest to me she's prominent, and probably well paid.

Quote

It's bad enough Brady's girlfriend is basically squatting, but for her to address his mom as "Miranda" and to do it so casually like she's an actual member of the family...I'm not a parent but this was where I said to the TV: "Oh HELL no..."

I was mentally holding this girl down while Miranda beat the crap out of her.  Maybe if she and Miranda were super close, I could see her acting the way she did, but they clearly are not and I do not understand how Miranda tolerates any of it.

[John M]

28 minutes ago, ExMathMajor said:

It's bad enough Brady's girlfriend is basically squatting, but for her to address his mom as "Miranda" and to do it so casually like she's an actual member of the family...I'm not a parent but this was where I said to the TV: "Oh HELL no..."

See, this is one of the weird cultural things that really surprised me as I got older, the best explanation I can come up with is a lot of wealthy people show their status by being referred to frequently by people they view as lower class by honorifics and asking children to do so is suggesting they are of lower social status?

I grew up calling pretty much all of my friend's parents by their first names, and while it wasn't a particularly frequent thing, my parents by their first name in certain social settings. I mean, call my father "Dad" at a country club social function? Probably not? Actually, I remember parents requesting their children's friends refer to them as Mr/Mrs being viewed as snottiness that they were absolutely not allowed to pull with their children. One of my best friends in high school was from an extremely well known family, I can say with almost certainty that you know their family name because it is the exact family that you are referring to, not some coincidence, I always knew their mother as basically the equivalent of "Kim".

Honest, I'm still kind of shocked by spouses calling their in-laws my Mr & Mrs or Mom & Dad, I was honestly completely surprised by that actually being a thing, which apparently it is. I have never referred to my in-laws as anything but the informal name they go by.

Edited December 24, 2021 by John M

[Ms Blue Jay]

I like the actor who plays Seema - in other projects - but I realllllllly didn't like the last interaction between Seema and Carrie.  I'm part of the faction that always makes fun of Carrie, but Seema broke an artifact of Carrie's and then really gave no shits about it, then proceeded to guilt her about something completely unrelated.  Asshole move.  Neither of them should like the other person, let alone befriend them.  I found the only thing nasty.

9 hours ago, slowpoked said:

I thought the "beige" thing was a nice callback to Natasha and Big's marriage, where Big drunkenly complained to Carrie that everything in his apartment is now beige, when they first all met at Aidan's furniture showcase.

Yes, agreed.  He also painted an entire wall of his apartment fire engine red after Natasha moved out.

Edited December 24, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[Ms Blue Jay]

45 minutes ago, ExMathMajor said:

It's bad enough Brady's girlfriend is basically squatting, but for her to address his mom as "Miranda" and to do it so casually like she's an actual member of the family...I'm not a parent but this was where I said to the TV: "Oh HELL no..."

I am just continuously shocked over and over again by this storyline.  I'm so glad my mother isn't watching this.

The whole Charlotte trying to find Black people to befriend thing has been done on so many sitcoms back in the 90s or 2000s.  The most famous example I can think of is George doing this on "Seinfeld" so that his boss doesn't think he's racist, but I've also seen this happening on "King of Queens", too.  My point is that it's such an old idea that has been famously done several times and I find it awkward that this is what the AJLT "writers" can come up with in 2021.

 

Edited December 24, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[ByaNose]

I just hope that Cynthia Nixon is least saying HELL to the NO of this stupid & rude girlfriend character & storyline. She’s listed as an executive producer which doesn’t seem to be serving her well at all. Brady is 17 (per Miranda) so maybe they can ship him and the girlfriend off to college. I keep watching the show for something to happen but if they knew they were going to kill Big (Did the  show dodge a bullet or what?!) they should have had something planned to lighten the show up afterwards. I still think SJP looks a haggard bag lady with her hair & wardrobe. I know it’s Carrie thing but it’s 2021, too! I will say the episode was moving so fast and it was over in 30 minutes. I also don’t care about the girls all having a new friends. I just like the 3 of them but I’ll continue watching. I think there might only be 3 episodes or so left. Then HBOMax and SJP will have to decide if they want to continue with another season. I would like to see one more season so they could fix some of the kinks and maybe a little lighter in tone with more humor. 

[qtpye]

55 minutes ago, ByaNose said:

I just hope that Cynthia Nixon is least saying HELL to the NO of this stupid & rude girlfriend character & storyline. She’s listed as an executive producer which doesn’t seem to be serving her well at all. Brady is 17 (per Miranda) so maybe they can ship him and the girlfriend off to college. I keep watching the show for something to happen but if they knew they were going to kill Big (Did the  show dodge a bullet or what?!) they should have had something planned to lighten the show up afterwards. I still think SJP looks a haggard bag lady with her hair & wardrobe. I know it’s Carrie thing but it’s 2021, too! I will say the episode was moving so fast and it was over in 30 minutes. I also don’t care about the girls all having a new friends. I just like the 3 of them but I’ll continue watching. I think there might only be 3 episodes or so left. Then HBOMax and SJP will have to decide if they want to continue with another season. I would like to see one more season so they could fix some of the kinks and maybe a little lighter in tone with more humor. 

It's funny how they always paint Carrie as the most desirable woman in any room.

The series starts off with Big rejecting Samantha and going for Carrie.

Here, at an open house (Carrie did have on a nice dress) a skeezy guy will of course hit on Carrie and invite her into the bedroom.

I am also sure the handsome guy with the podcast will also fall for Carrie.

I think the only time she got outright rejected is when she was caught in the rain under a tarp with a cute guy and started talking about how it was a meet-cute from a French movie, and the guy just runs away.

And good Lord, they dodged a giant bullet with killing off big and the timing of the allegations against Chris Noth.

[ByaNose]

11 minutes ago, qtpye said:

It's funny how they always paint Carrie as the most desirable woman in any room.

The series starts off with Big rejecting Samantha and going for Carrie.

Here, at an open house (Carrie did have on a nice dress) a skeezy guy will of course hit on Carrie and invite her into the bedroom.

I am also sure the handsome guy with the podcast will also fall for Carrie.

I think the only time she got outright rejected is when she was caught in the rain under a tarp with a cute guy and started talking about how it was a meet-cute from a French movie, and the guy just runs away.

And good Lord, they dodged a giant bullet with killing off big and the timing of the allegations against Chris Noth.

Yeah, had the allegations hit the day of the first episode dropping I think SJP would have filed charges. LOL!!! 

SJP looks good and she looks bad in real life and the show. I just think the long hair which is either curly or made to look like it does makes Carrie look ragged. Although, I did like her in her hat. she did look nice at the open house and still had flair but toned down. Less is more as they always say. 

[JasonCC]

This episode felt like it had chunks filmed very far apart. Not just the Anthony and Carrie very self-contained scene comparing Stanford's notes, either (which would make sense given WG's death). KD/Charlotte's cosmetic surgery/fillers(?) seemed to stand out in some scenes (dinner table) and be more "settled in, looking good" in most others. 

 

ETA: With the bickering of Standford and Anthony earlier on (then dropped) I wonder if there was meant to be a longer, 3rd Tier plotline about their marital troubles through the whole series with them reconciling at the end (or not)? Not such a major plot it necessitated numerous re-shoots but just edits later.....we'll see less Anthony now.

Edited December 24, 2021 by JasonCC

[ninjago]

Of course this clumsy show has Che, a Magical Negro for 2021.  Che's here to Teach Lessons on How To Be Good to these white ladies going through some stuff.  Che's not just hilarious, they're wise and insightful and endlessly patient!  When they rushed over to Gloria with the handkerchief during the wake my eyes rolled out of my head.

[Lethallyfab]

9 hours ago, chocolatine said:

I agree! Did we even know that he was a manager for pseudo-celebrities? I thought he was an event planner.

Anthony was the event/wedding planner, Stanford’s always managed pseudo-celebrities (there’s a vapid underwear model that he’s obsessed with in an early episode that Carrie sleeps — as in actually sleeping — with.)

I’m sure writing around an illness and a death is difficult but they basically did “Poochie died on the way back to his home planet” a la ‘The Simpsons’ to Willie Garson.  I struggle to think of a moment where Stanford *wasn’t* unnecessarily bitchy in AJLT - behaving like that at the funeral?  Also, do NOT throw the world’s most elaborate gay wedding, complete with Liza Minnelli performing Beyonce, in the second movie just to reset Stanford and Anthony back to being bitchy to each other.  No one forced the writers to put them together in the first place, they could’ve remained not a couple and stayed bitchy.  (Or heck, could’ve had a brief fling and/or one night stand and decided they weren’t compatible but then been okay friendly with each other.)

So, I couldn’t help but wonder about a different version of this show: one in which you had two parallel groups of friends, the originals (Carrie/Miranda/Charlotte) and the newbies (Nia/Che/Seema/LTW) as their own group of friends, with them occasionally overlapping and interacting with each other.  Rather than this blatant attempt at woke-ism that is just another spin on the aforementioned magical POC stereotype.   As Brady’s girlfriend would probably say, this is serious cringe.

Charlotte would NEVER be so tacky as to uninvite someone to a party that they already invited them to.

 

Edited December 24, 2021 by Lethallyfab
Spelling

[Cozytea]

I'm watching the series but wasn't planning on watching. I'm watching because a friend kept asking , so I  gave in. 

I loved SaTC. I admit the last season I was pretty much done. Watched the first movie but couldn't really find the energy to even finish the second one. I was fine with it. Then this came along. My friend wanted to discuss it ect. After giving  my opinion she said i must have never a fan of SaTC lol. I was but this series is just so forced and trying so hard to correct the criticism it received for years. Not enough people of color and while they had Gay characters they were made to be accessories not real characters.  I completely understand wanting to try and fix that but wow. This is so over the top, trying to tick every woke box. Ill finish the series just so I can keep annoying my friend with my opinion of her worship of SJP.

Ok on to this episode, that stupid skirt Carrie was wearing lol. Can you imagine all the crap she dragged home in that ridiculous skirt. 

I actually liked Miranda's conversation with her professor. It was interesting and honest.  Even Charlotte and her  new friendship is interesting.  Carrie and her Samantha like friend isn't that interesting to me. While I love when Carrie is called out, would the realtor really take her to task over that comment, especially after breaking a picture of her clients very recently deceased husband? 

Brady and that Girlfriend can disappear at any point and I'd be good.  

I also don't care about the "podcast".  As i watched the Lady in the wheelchair and the guy argue, I thought  is this podcast supposed to be a sitcom? It is a very bad Idea for Carrie. Why is Carrie even there? Do we really think Carrie Bradshaw did Social media? Even before her husband died, i couldn't see it. Social Media would be Carrie's new Gym. Remember when would tag along to work out with the other women but really just stood around and told them about her problems lol. That's how I assumed Carrie would be about SM. She'd have accounts but never post anything. 

[PRgal]

53 minutes ago, Cozytea said:

I'm watching the series but wasn't planning on watching. I'm watching because a friend kept asking , so I  gave in. 

I loved SaTC. I admit the last season I was pretty much done. Watched the first movie but couldn't really find the energy to even finish the second one. I was fine with it. Then this came along. My friend wanted to discuss it ect. After giving  my opinion she said i must have never a fan of SaTC lol. I was but this series is just so forced and trying so hard to correct the criticism it received for years. Not enough people of color and while they had Gay characters they were made to be accessories not real characters.  I completely understand wanting to try and fix that but wow. This is so over the top, trying to tick every woke box. Ill finish the series just so I can keep annoying my friend with my opinion of her worship of SJP.

Ok on to this episode, that stupid skirt Carrie was wearing lol. Can you imagine all the crap she dragged home in that ridiculous skirt. 

I actually liked Miranda's conversation with her professor. It was interesting and honest.  Even Charlotte and her  new friendship is interesting.  Carrie and her Samantha like friend isn't that interesting to me. While I love when Carrie is called out, would the realtor really take her to task over that comment, especially after breaking a picture of her clients very recently deceased husband? 

Brady and that Girlfriend can disappear at any point and I'd be good.  

I also don't care about the "podcast".  As i watched the Lady in the wheelchair and the guy argue, I thought  is this podcast supposed to be a sitcom? It is a very bad Idea for Carrie. Why is Carrie even there? Do we really think Carrie Bradshaw did Social media? Even before her husband died, i couldn't see it. Social Media would be Carrie's new Gym. Remember when would tag along to work out with the other women but really just stood around and told them about her problems lol. That's how I assumed Carrie would be about SM. She'd have accounts but never post anything. 

Do you think this is a big F-you from MPK?  It’s “well, you guys asked for it and here it is?  Satisfied?”  Or sarcasm.  Because it’s poking fun at how so manny people are trying to attempt “woke” and it’s to help people understand why it’s so annoying.  Because it is.  I was once corrected by a (white) woman about discrimination.  And this woman doesn’t have ancestry that would have faced ethno-cultural discrimination in the past 100-150 years or so (so not Eastern European, Italian, etc).  I tried to argue my point, but because my upbringing didn’t fit the so-called victim narrative of someone who isn’t white, she wouldn’t have it.  This gal wasn’t from my part of town or from a similar circle I grew up with, so she probably didn’t understand.  Actually, this has happened more than once.  

[Cozytea]

15 minutes ago, PRgal said:

Do you think this is a big F-you from MPK?  It’s “well, you guys asked for it and here it is?  Satisfied?”  Or sarcasm.  Because it’s poking fun at how so manny people are trying to attempt “woke” and it’s to help people understand why it’s so annoying.  Because it is.  I was once corrected by a (white) woman about discrimination.  And this woman doesn’t have ancestry that would have faced ethno-cultural discrimination in the past 100-150 years or so (so not Eastern European, Italian, etc).  I tried to argue my point, but because my upbringing didn’t fit the so-called victim narrative of someone who isn’t white, she wouldn’t have it.  This gal wasn’t from my part of town or from a similar circle I grew up with, so she probably didn’t understand.  Actually, this has happened more than once.  

Great question.  I think if it is a big F you to the viewers, that makes me dislike him more.  Having interesting  POC and LGBTQ  characters isn't that difficult.  Understanding the climate of change our society is trying to go through is fascinating and something a good writer should embrace and explore, or should at least want to.

I have to agree with another poster, wow, did they dodge a bullet by killing off Big in the first episode.  

[sadie]

I thought Bigs apartment was gorgeous, like Architectural Digest gorgeous, and the realtor painting everything that awful beige color was a travesty. That apartment had to be at least 10 mill and people with that kind of money would’ve appreciated the design. She acted like she was trying to rent a low end apartment. It made no sense to me other than one of the writers wanted to make a point of erasing Carries former life. Dumb. 

[T Summer]

I agree with everything that's been said about these super transparent attempts to  address every criticism that dealt with the shortsightedness of the original series related to   the  diversity that IS New York City... and their insistence on doing those corrections  at hyper-speed. I feel like they could tack a few clips of this mess together, show flashbacks of the old series with a voice over  pointing out nothing but rich white ladies and rich white lady problems  and it would've  made a funny SNL skit.

Samantha's absence is glaring to begin with.  Add in Miranda being  kind of out of it  struggling with a mid life crisis and sad sack Carrie once again being held up by her friends,  and there's not much fun, wit or glamour to this reboot whatchamacallit.

The new people are all lovely, they just seem like they belong on some other show. Or maybe we could go along for the ride as the girls meet them one by one  in a more organic fashion?

Carrie going out on the streets of New York holding up that full length white tulle skirt that is completely see through? How can a woman  with all that wealth and maturity and decades of interest in fashion so rarely  get a look right? I liked the black + white check high waisted  prairie skirt with  the  flowy sheer ivory topper  thing with black embellishments  from last week about the best so far. They're dressing her in an inordinate amount of shades of slates, teals and turquoises... I noticed.

 

Charlotte. WTH have they done to Charlotte? What happened to the sharp, sophisticated, stylish (in a classic way) grown woman  we saw living and  working in NYC  navigating her way through the  dating world?  They changed Charlotte's personality somewhat by seasons 5+6... but by the time  those shitty movies rolled around we get Charlotte talking baby talk and taking baby steps like her feet are tied together... thank you to the other poster who pointed  that out! It's like she's a completely different person, blubbering and crying when she ran into Big and totally decompensating over a skirt getting ruined? Fast forward to AJLT and now she's reduced to a  vapid baby talking idiot who plans a social get together like she's casting A United Colors of Benetton commercial / campaign!

 

All I can think of as I watch is these people must really need the money.

 

[bilgistic]

12 hours ago, luna1122 said:

I mostly liked the new women/characters this episode, and most of the clothes. I'm a sucker for tulle and didn't even mind Carries too long white skirt. At least we did see someone side eyeing her over it. 

That "skirt" looked like exactly like petticoat in construction and appearance. (Kids, ask your grandparents, or call my mother.)

[Baltimore Betty]

10 hours ago, John M said:

 

I mean, yes, we are talking about a fictional universe, I'm just stating that it is completely within the believable realm as much as AJLT is tethered to it, that Miranda walked away with millions of dollars and Harry is pulling in 7 figures a year.

There is really no context to any of this, when we talk about Carrie "just being a sex columnist" with some other work, Dan Savage has made a very financially lucrative career out of being a sex columnist, Daniel Lavery signed a 2 year $430,000 minimum contact to write a newsletter in large part to his advice column and podcast.

My point is, we aren't being asked to suspend that much disbelief her, for all we know Harry and Miranda are working in the S&C universe versions of Skadden Arps and Kirkland Ellis.

I understand what you are saying although I have no idea who the people you mention are or what an S&C universe is, I was not doubting Miranda got a fair amount of money in her departure from the law firm, I agreed with her favorable financial situation the original poster posted,I get you are cool and know lots of things, geeze let it go.

47 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

That "skirt" looked like exactly like petticoat in construction and appearance. (Kids, ask your grandparents, or call my mother.)

I think the woman in the corner store looked at Carrie and thought Carrie had walked out of her house in just her crinoline after forgetting her wedding dress.

[ifionlyknew]

3 hours ago, Cozytea said:

Not enough people of color and while they had Gay characters they were made to be accessories not real characters.  I completely understand wanting to try and fix that but wow. This is so over the top, trying to tick every woke box.

Yes, they have over corrected.  Instead of having characters who just so happen to be non-binary or a person of color they have written a non binary character and three people of color characters.  There is a difference.  One of my best friends, a gay man, said he would rather be known as a man who is gay rather than a gay man.  

3 hours ago, Cozytea said:

Ok on to this episode, that stupid skirt Carrie was wearing lol.

I'm surprised it wasn't the tutu.

3 hours ago, Cozytea said:

I actually liked Miranda's conversation with her professor. It was interesting and honest.  Even Charlotte and her  new friendship is interesting. 

I like both those characters but wish they would also become friends with the other women.  Our core group is spending less time with each other.

2 hours ago, PRgal said:

Do you think this is a big F-you from MPK?  It’s “well, you guys asked for it and here it is?  Satisfied?”  Or sarcasm.  Because it’s poking fun at how so manny people are trying to attempt “woke” and it’s to help people understand why it’s so annoying.

He isn't that clever.  My opinion is MPK has never cared what viewers thought.  One of my criticisms of the original show was the seasons were filmed quite awhile before they aired. And once they were airing they were already onto the next season.  So if something wasn't well received in the season that was currently airing they weren't going to fix it the next season because they had already started the next season.  I'm not saying you have to write to please your fanbase but is it so hard to listen to what they have to say and consider they might have some valid points?

 

[tennisgurl]

The real hero of this show is clearly the lady at the shop who gave Carries big silly skirt side eye. 

[bybrandy]

12 hours ago, ExMathMajor said:

It's bad enough Brady's girlfriend is basically squatting, but for her to address his mom as "Miranda" and to do it so casually like she's an actual member of the family...I'm not a parent but this was where I said to the TV: "Oh HELL no..."

Brady and his girlfriend are snots bud I really can't see Miranda and Steve not being first name people.   My parents were first name people and I'm in my 40s.  I met people in my childhood who weren't first name people I'd say the absolute lion shar of my friends parents were first name people.  And the older I get the more common I think that is.  I certainly don't hear and Mr an Mrs. among my siblings when their kids friends are involved.   

I could more see Harry and Charlotte being last name people but Miranda and especially Steve have always had a more casual vibe to me.  

[JasonCC]

 

Quote

 I was but this series is just so forced and trying so hard to correct the criticism it received for years. Not enough people of color and while they had Gay characters they were made to be accessories not real characters.  I completely understand wanting to try and fix that but wow. This is so over the top, trying to tick every woke box.

What a succinct, accurate way to put it. The original criticisms were all valid, but there was a general trend in the late 90s/early 00's to portray (Guliani's) NYC as something white and Hollywoodish and about the top 5%. Even a show about struggling 20somethings made NYC lily-white and ridiculous ("Friends" should have been set in late-90s Seattle--nothing about it read NYC).

I like Seema but I feel like that was the one not needed given all the heavy hammer hits already. Each character having a new POC friend is just too pat. I think Miranda and her professor felt organic and one thing I always liked about the original show is that Miranda was the first to have a baby. 

I feel Carrie's apartment had just the right amounts of slight updates to be believable if she was maybe renting it out on Airbnb now and then. Was her long walk-through closet always monochrome blue, and so organized? I remember it being messier, older looking, and less California Closets perfect. Speaking of insane closets, good catch above to whoever caught the random Barney's old empty shopping bag just being shoved in a corner at Big's. Seema would have thrown that shit away or shoved in a drawer!!!

Edited December 24, 2021 by JasonCC

[ifionlyknew]

11 minutes ago, JasonCC said:

. I think Miranda and her professor felt organic

That new friendship is totally believable to me.  

13 minutes ago, JasonCC said:

Speaking of insane closets, good catch above to whoever caught the random Barney's old empty shopping bag just being shoved in a corner at Big's

As soon as I saw that I thought I wonder how much Barney's is paying for that product placement.

18 minutes ago, bybrandy said:

I could more see Harry and Charlotte being last name people

Charlotte definitely.  But Harry I think would be "Just call me Harry".  

[Baltimore Betty]

3 minutes ago, JasonCC said:

good catch above to whoever caught the random Barney's old empty shopping bag just being shoved in a corner at Big's. Seema would have thrown that shit away or shoved in a drawer!!!

Not only the shopping bags left in the corner but Carrie seemed more concerned about her moving her shoes and not the movers but comes back for Big's ashes, she left that until last, in harms way, all during the repainting and staging, she left that box to be moved/handled probably several times by the workers? Makes no sense to me that she moved her shoes before taking his ashes to her old apartment.

Same goes for the photo that Seema broke the glass, if it was that important why wouldn't Carrie take it herself?  Seriously.

Wallpaper is hideously expensive these days and Carrie's and Big's apartment had tons of it, gorgeous paper, are you telling me that the realtor could not figure out a way to make some of that work?  

The closet would have driven me crazy, Big's side was dark wood and Carrie's side was white, If I were looking to buy that apartment I would have had more of an issue with that than the wallpaper.  I am not knocking the closet, it the stuff dreams are made of but I did not care for the different woods.

2 hours ago, T Summer said:

alking baby talk and taking baby steps like her feet are tied together... thank you to the other poster who pointed  that out!

It was me, seriously, was Charlotte that much of a twit in the series and we failed to see it?

[PRgal]

14 minutes ago, bybrandy said:

Brady and his girlfriend are snots bud I really can't see Miranda and Steve not being first name people.   My parents were first name people and I'm in my 40s.  I met people in my childhood who weren't first name people I'd say the absolute lion shar of my friends parents were first name people.  And the older I get the more common I think that is.  I certainly don't hear and Mr an Mrs. among my siblings when their kids friends are involved.   

I could more see Harry and Charlotte being last name people but Miranda and especially Steve have always had a more casual vibe to me.  

The whole first name for parents coming from kids bugs me.  Auntie and Uncle Firstname, sure...I mean, I can totally see Lily, Rose and Brady calling, say, Carrie, "Auntie Carrie," but I'm very uncomfortable with first name and first name only.  I'm 42.  But maybe it's because I grew up with Uncle/Auntie for my parents' friends.  I kind of like Mr. and Ms. Firstname though.  That I can live with.

13 minutes ago, JasonCC said:

 

What a succinct, accurate way to put it. The original criticisms were all valid, but there was a general trend in the late 90s/early 00's to portray (Guliani's) NYC as something white and Hollywoodish and about the top 5%. Even a show about struggling 20somethings made NYC lily-white and ridiculous ("Friends" should have been set in late-90s Seattle--nothing about it read NYC).

I like Seema but I feel like that was the one not needed given all the heavy hammer hits already. Each character having a new POC friend is just too pat. I think Miranda and her professor felt organic and one thing I always liked about the original show is that Miranda was the first to have a baby. 

I feel Carrie's apartment had just the right amounts of slight updates to be believable if she was maybe renting it out on Airbnb now and then. Was her long walk-through closet always monochrome blue, and so organized? I remember it being messier, older looking, and less California Closets perfect. Speaking of insane closets, good catch above to whoever caught the random Barney's old empty shopping bag just being shoved in a corner at Big's. Seema would have thrown that shit away or shoved in a drawer!!!

I think Seema was only added because they wanted to emphasize that "POC" doesn't ONLY mean black (I find US writers seem to "solve" the issue by adding a black character to fulfill the whole "diversity" thing.  Wouldn't it be more realistic for a character like LTK or whatever her initials are to be Asian?  But maybe I'm just looking at it from a Toronto lens. 

[ifionlyknew]

1 minute ago, Baltimore Betty said:

but Carrie seemed more concerned about her moving her shoes and not the movers but comes back for Big's ashes, she left that until last, in harms way, all during the repainting and staging, she left that box to be moved/handled probably several times by the workers? Makes no sense to me that she moved her shoes before taking his ashes to her old apartment.

Well Carrie was the woman who said she would buy Vogue instead of food so that tells you her priorities.  I don't know how NYC funeral homes do things but when my husband died the funeral home called me and told me his ashes were ready to be picked up.   He was in a cardboard box but some good friends had asked if they could buy me a container for him.  Which they did.  It is an enamel box with the logo of  his favorite football team on it. I know Carrie will probably spread his ashes but why not put him in an urn or something till then?  

 

[Keywestclubkid]

Dearest Carrie, By the time you read this I’ll be in Tokyo. I couldn’t tell you ― not without crying. And you have had enough crying,”.... Really? REALLY? do the writers of this show not know any other way for people to leave the show other then dying or Ghosting? WTF?

[CeeBeeGee]

57 minutes ago, ifionlyknew said:

As soon as I saw that I thought I wonder how much Barney's is paying for that product placement.

Probably not much, since they declared bankruptcy and closed most of their stores. I loved that lingering look at the name on the bag--it felt like an inside acknowledgement to New Yorkers who love fashion.

[Scarlett45]

13 hours ago, ExMathMajor said:

Also, Nicole Ari Parker is always going to be Terri from Soul Food for me.)

Always. I love her though- can I be her when I grow up? It’s nice to see her in a role with a lot of visibility. 

[ifionlyknew]

13 hours ago, ExMathMajor said:

(Also, Nicole Ari Parker is always going to be Terri from Soul Food for me.)

And Giselle from Empire.

7 minutes ago, Scarlett45 said:

Always. I love her though- can I be her when I grow up? It’s nice to see her in a role with a lot of visibility. 

If you do grow up to up to be her you get that gorgeous husband of hers.

[ninjago]

I don't care about the kids and first names thing, but Brady called Miranda a bitch for making his girlfriend go home so he could do his homework?  Really?  Hell no.  From what we've seen of him, he seems messy, but like a decent kid.

[bybrandy]

1 hour ago, PRgal said:

The whole first name for parents coming from kids bugs me.  Auntie and Uncle Firstname, sure...I mean, I can totally see Lily, Rose and Brady calling, say, Carrie, "Auntie Carrie," but I'm very uncomfortable with first name and first name only.  I'm 42.  But maybe it's because I grew up with Uncle/Auntie for my parents' friends.  I kind of like Mr. and Ms. Firstname though.  That I can live with.

I think Seema was only added because they wanted to emphasize that "POC" doesn't ONLY mean black (I find US writers seem to "solve" the issue by adding a black character to fulfill the whole "diversity" thing.  Wouldn't it be more realistic for a character like LTK or whatever her initials are to be Asian?  But maybe I'm just looking at it from a Toronto lens. 

Yeah the Auntie thing is a cultural thing and I find it far less cringe than the ridiculous Miss first name but I don't even call my aunts and uncles aunt and uncle.   Lots of late life babies in my family so my mom's youngest sister is only 5 years older than my oldest sibling and I'm only 6 years older than my oldest nephew so that always felt weird.  

No knock at all on cultural differences there, it just isn't a culture that would be Miranda and Steves.  None of them are even southern.

 

1 hour ago, ifionlyknew said:

But Harry I think would be "Just call me Harry".  

Yeah, honestly, that was my initial thought too.  But then the idea of calling your friends parents Harry and Mrs. Goldenblatt seemed weird.   So I went with they'd both be last name people because people would default to whatever Charlotte introduced them as.   But I do genuinely agreed if it is Harry on his own meeting the kids friends it is "Just call me Harry."   

 

[Carolina Girl]

17 hours ago, Baltimore Betty said:

is Steve's bar killing it to the point where he can support the household and Miranda's tuition?

I should think with the lockdowns in NYC in 2020, Steve's bar would be tottering right near bankruptcy.  

[Carolina Girl]

15 hours ago, txhorns79 said:

was mentally holding this girl down while Miranda beat the crap out of her.  Maybe if she and Miranda were super close, I could see her acting the way she did, but they clearly are not and I do not understand how Miranda tolerates any of it.

My son brought home a chippy that thought she knew everything and addressed me by my first name right off the bat.  When I corrected her on a point she made,  she essentially implied that I didn't know what I was talking about.  I just smiled at her and said, "Oh REALLY?  Believe me, I've FORGOTTEN more about law than you're ever going to know.  And by the way, in POLITE society, you don't address anyone by their first name unless requested to do so."  (T/M to Michael Moriarty's Ben Stone in L&O for the last remark (I only steal from the best.)). Opened my son's eyes about her.  

[Hanahope]

I'm sure Miranda made a real good sum of money as a partner in a big NYC law firm, so her mortage was probably paid off years ago, allowing them to live off of Steve's bar.  she also could still be considered a partner in the firm earning a smaller amount from her equity share (unless she did indeed sell it back).

I too loved the wallpaper in the apartment.  my husband and i are having this disagreement right now, he wants beige in our remodeled house and i'm like 'oh hell no.'  we're compromising on solid colors that's are not too bright.  I've seen plenty of places with 'character' sell, so i don't know what that realtor was talking about, although repainting beige is at least easier than a buyer having to strip the wall paper themselves, if they didn't like it.  

I was not surprised too much that most of Charlotte's friends were white, though i would have thought, given how many years the girls were in school, she would have made at least some non-white friends that she could have invited to a dinner party.  the turn around where she and harry were the only white couple was expected, as well as Charlotte's confusing the identity of a guest.  at least she really redeemed herself with her art knowledge.  

 

[Ms Blue Jay]

7 hours ago, Cozytea said:

I actually liked Miranda's conversation with her professor. It was interesting and honest.  Even Charlotte and her  new friendship is interesting.  Carrie and her Samantha like friend isn't that interesting to me. While I love when Carrie is called out, would the realtor really take her to task over that comment, especially after breaking a picture of her clients very recently deceased husband? 

No!  She is there being paid to provide a service.  I would not be impressed with a realtor telling me how to feel about my own husband or his things etc. etc. Yes Carrie is self centred but your realtor should be the last person to tell you that.

6 hours ago, sadie said:

I thought Bigs apartment was gorgeous, like Architectural Digest gorgeous, and the realtor painting everything that awful beige color was a travesty. That apartment had to be at least 10 mill and people with that kind of money would’ve appreciated the design. She acted like she was trying to rent a low end apartment. It made no sense to me other than one of the writers wanted to make a point of erasing Carries former life. Dumb. 

The people who can afford that apartment would obviously have the money to be able to redecorate if needed and desired.  You're right.

[Carolina Girl]

2 hours ago, Baltimore Betty said:

Same goes for the photo that Seema broke the glass, if it was that important why wouldn't Carrie take it herself?  Seriously.

That was my first thought.  Why in the world wouldn't you have stuck that photo in your purse or bag when you first went back to your apartment?  To have with you?

[Ms Blue Jay]

3 hours ago, JasonCC said:

I feel Carrie's apartment had just the right amounts of slight updates to be believable if she was maybe renting it out on Airbnb now and then. Was her long walk-through closet always monochrome blue, and so organized? I remember it being messier, older looking, and less California Closets perfect. Speaking of insane closets, good catch above to whoever caught the random Barney's old empty shopping bag just being shoved in a corner at Big's. Seema would have thrown that shit away or shoved in a drawer!!!

That, and the entire apartment, was changed for the 2004 movie.

1 minute ago, Carolina Girl said:

That was my first thought.  Why in the world wouldn't you have stuck that photo in your purse or bag when you first went back to your apartment?  To have with you?

I agree, but at the same time Seema insisted her people were professionals who moved Picassos so Carrie's shit things would be fine (her implication not mine.)

[hatchetgirl]

20 hours ago, chocolatine said:

Especially the white tulle skirt that she couldn't even walk in without holding it up with one hand. So stupid

Paired with that top was such a disaster. Look, Carrie always treaded on the edge with her fashion sense, but she never looked THAT BAD!  When she came out in that outfit,I wanted to scream "do you not own a single pair of adorable skinny jeans?" And then that plaid outfit for the showing that she put a different, slightly similar plaid over was ... Pfft, gah, pfft, I cannot even speak. I'm not a fashion girl and tend towards black, gray and red because I've been known to pair stripes with dots (thankfully I have people around me who will speak up) but even I know that was a catastrophy.

[PRgal]

17 minutes ago, Hanahope said:

I'm sure Miranda made a real good sum of money as a partner in a big NYC law firm, so her mortage was probably paid off years ago, allowing them to live off of Steve's bar.  she also could still be considered a partner in the firm earning a smaller amount from her equity share (unless she did indeed sell it back).

I too loved the wallpaper in the apartment.  my husband and i are having this disagreement right now, he wants beige in our remodeled house and i'm like 'oh hell no.'  we're compromising on solid colors that's are not too bright.  I've seen plenty of places with 'character' sell, so i don't know what that realtor was talking about, although repainting beige is at least easier than a buyer having to strip the wall paper themselves, if they didn't like it.  

I was not surprised too much that most of Charlotte's friends were white, though i would have thought, given how many years the girls were in school, she would have made at least some non-white friends that she could have invited to a dinner party.  the turn around where she and harry were the only white couple was expected, as well as Charlotte's confusing the identity of a guest.  at least she really redeemed herself with her art knowledge.  

 

I would have thought Charlotte (and Harry) would have more Asian/Chinese American friends who might be good mentors for Lily.  

[Aim123]

Not only did they shoe-horn in people of color (Indian, Latin, Asian) but they squeezed in someone in a wheelchair also, just to check every box? That felt so unnatural. All of it feels very unnatural. So forced, so insulting. They're definitely trying to overcorrect for their lack of diversity in the first place. I guess they can't win. I just can't help but wonder why they couldn't have made it a little less obvious.

Edited December 24, 2021 by Aim123
Thought of some more things

[PRgal]

30 minutes ago, Aim123 said:

Not only did they shoe-horn in people of color (Indian, Latin, Asian) but they squeezed in someone in a wheelchair also, just to check every box? That felt so unnatural. All of it feels very unnatural. So forced, so insulting. They're definitely trying to overcorrect for their lack of diversity in the first place. I guess they can't win. I just can't help but wonder why they couldn't have made it a little less obvious.

It's like someone sat through a DE&I seminar led by someone with very extreme views and thought "well, I need to fix it, so I'll do it like THAT!"  🙄🙄🙄🤬🤮

I have a friend who is part of a DE&I team and she's so far been neutral about the series (she was a HUGE fan back in the day).  Or maybe it's just to save face.  She probably can't be too critical without worrying that she'd be kicked out of the group.

[Not4Me]

29 minutes ago, Aim123 said:

Not only did they shoe-horn in people of color (Indian, Latin, Asian) but they squeezed in someone in a wheelchair also, just to check every box? That felt so unnatural. All of it feels very unnatural. So forced, so insulting. They're definitely trying to overcorrect for their lack of diversity in the first place. I guess they can't win. I just can't help but wonder why they couldn't have made it a little less obvious.

It literally reads as the scenes Curb Your Enthusiasm recently parodied with the Netflix and Hulu executive meetings with Larry and Jeff, where every diversity and inclusivity checkbox was ticked off…except Curb did it for laughs.

I enjoy seeing Sarita Chaudhury and Nicole Ari Parker in anything, and they are a delight in these roles. But I just wished they weren’t shoe-horned in like this.

[Baltimore Betty]

1 hour ago, Hanahope said:

strip the wall paper themselves, if they didn't like it.  

Years ago when I was with husband number 1, we bought a house that had cheap, poorly installed wallpaper in every room of the house, this was not a cheap house, it was a custom built 4500 square foot house and the original owners had terrible taste and did not prepare the walls properly before putting up the ugly wallpaper. Before we moved in I hired strippers (ha ha) and dry wall engineers to restore the walls and then hired painters, it was an expensive nightmare but worth it.  Carrie and Big obviously spent big(s) bucks on gorgeous decor, I would have kept the wallpaper but that is just me.  Don't even get me started on the houses we looked at that had things like pink walls with red carpet or mint green walls with royal blue carpet...not kidding, there was a naked home owner asleep in her bed at one home our realtor showed us but that story is for another time.

The point is, a little color or wall paper could give depth to a room, maybe she could have kept a little bit of some of the paper.

All these years later Carrie had bought more shoes, more clothing, can she fit it all in her closet at her old apartment?  I could never go back to a studio after enjoying all the space and luxury of their apartment, having a doorman would have been a great perk.  

Do we know what happened to all of Big's suits and such?

[T Summer]

17 hours ago, John M said:

See, this is one of the weird cultural things that really surprised me as I got older, the best explanation I can come up with is a lot of wealthy people show their status by being referred to frequently by people they view as lower class by honorifics and asking children to do so is suggesting they are of lower social status?

I grew up calling pretty much all of my friend's parents by their first names, and while it wasn't a particularly frequent thing, my parents by their first name in certain social settings. I mean, call my father "Dad" at a country club social function? Probably not? Actually, I remember parents requesting their children's friends refer to them as Mr/Mrs being viewed as snottiness that they were absolutely not allowed to pull with their children. One of my best friends in high school was from an extremely well known family, I can say with almost certainty that you know their family name because it is the exact family that you are referring to, not some coincidence, I always knew their mother as basically the equivalent of "Kim".

Honest, I'm still kind of shocked by spouses calling their in-laws my Mr & Mrs or Mom & Dad, I was honestly completely surprised by that actually being a thing, which apparently it is. I have never referred to my in-laws as anything but the informal name they go by.

This is fascinating.

I grew up having it drummed into my head that I should always address adults;  my parent's friends and my friend's parents etc. as Mr. Smith , or Mrs. Jones until told  you may call me Betty (or whatever).  That even included my father-in-law  who I didn't know for  that long before he passed, but we'd certainly been out to dinner and  a few  holidays went by. The way I handled this was after  the first few contacts  addressing him as Mr. whatever I just didn't refer to him by name. Needless to say aunts and uncles are always addressed as such. Getting back to friend's parents and parent's friends... Now decades have passed and we're all ridiculously old for this, and not one, NOT ONE  has said Oh please, call me Betty!

I once expressed curiosity while visiting my husband's brother and SIL that the little ones didn't address her as Auntie Loraine (or whatever), they called her by her first name  and she snapped back with "I know who I am, I don't need the title! " which I'm quite sure is not good manners anywhere.   😕