Suggestible - Suggestible and the City
Episode Date: December 9, 2021This is no ordinary episode of Suggestible. Welcome to Suggestible and the City the show where we deep dive into the new series And Just Like That from HBO Max. Hosts Claire Tonti and James Clement ar...e married and also love to talk about whether Carrie should really have ended up with Big or if her greatest love is actually Miranda. What did we think of the show? You'll just have to go and listen. We'll be recapping the show as it drops every week. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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For alcohol, you must be legal drinking age. Please enjoy responsibly. Product availability varies by region. See app for details. Hello and welcome to Suggestible in the City. My name is Claire Totti. Who are you over there?
My name is James Clement and we are, you're not going to believe it, we are the biggest Sex in
the City fans in the world. There's not a single person on earth who knows more or less than us about sex and the city.
We know the exact right amount of things about sex and the city.
Which is mainly just not that much.
However, we are married and we've been together for a very long time and have watched every
episode of this show plus both the movies.
Not to brag.
Not to brag or anything.
And that's about all the credentials we have.
Yeah, that's true.
Well, actually, we do have another podcast called Suggestible
and this is like a spin-off of that.
We thought we'd drop it into its own feed, make it its own podcast.
So this is where the episodes are going to go up.
Welcome if you're new.
If you're old, I'm sorry, we don't need you.
We only want new listeners.
We're looking for a new demographic.
And, of course, all people are welcome.
So we're going to be doing recaps of and just like that every single week
until every character turns to dust, which seems to be happening
before our eyes.
Just kidding.
They all look terrific.
We had a really fun time recording this.
Hit us up at where?
Oh, at Suggestible in the City, I guess, or Suggestible Pod.
Yeah, or at SuggestiblePod.gmail.com if you've got thoughts,
opinions, feelings about it. Correct, SuggestiblePod.gmail.com. That is where we would love to hear from you. This newmail.com if you've got thoughts, opinions, feelings.
Correct, suggestiblepot.gmail.com.
That is where we would love to hear from you. This new series, like if you've got speculation, if you've got fan theories,
if you've got little bits and pieces, any thoughts at all, please are.
We'd love to hear them.
We would, absolutely.
This is James' delicious bread and butter.
You better believe it.
And now tell us, you are Mr. Sunday Movies on YouTube.
I am.
I normally do comic book movie stuff, but forget all that.
That's all in the bin.
I'm purely Sex and the City based from now.
And you're Claire Tonti.
You've got a suggestible podcast with me, an amazing other interview show called
Something, Something, Something.
I'm interviewing people all the time.
It's called Tons.
And I interview people about feelings and emotions.
It's basically about feeling all of it and working our way through it.
In this episode, I am PMSing very hard and very emotional.
Oh, they'll figure that out pretty quickly.
Anyways, we...
Apologies.
No, don't apologize. Anyways, we hope you enjoy it. Thank you.
Anyway, welcome. Welcome to the show where we talk about, and just like that...
Yes.
The new Sex and the City TV series.
They released episodes one and two. We literally just finished them.
We totally did.
And it was a wild run, I tell you this much.
Claire, okay, why don't we talk about the opening because, my God,
like at the start I'm like, this is not good.
I thought it was an ad that we had to skip.
Do you know what I mean?
And why is that? Why did you think it was an ad that we had to skip. Do you know what I mean? And why is that?
Why did you think it was an ad?
It just looked very shiny and glossy and it looked like an ad
for a credit card or something.
It was too shiny and surreal.
That plays before a YouTube video.
Yeah, the first scene, that was like the colouring was wrong or something.
Yeah, and they just, it felt like as well,
even though the three of the four of them were together,
it felt like they hadn't seen each other in 40 years.
Like it was just they were so excited and like high energy
and they're like table for three and they're like, ah!
It's like don't you do this like every fucking day?
Karen did her signature squeal.
That's one of her signature squeals.
The thing I will say is Bitsy Von Muffling.
So this whole season has a lot of like they just bring back as many
of the old characters they possibly can.
And Bitsy Von Muffling is there to kind of be the person who's like,
where's Samantha and bring up the like giant elephant in the room.
We should talk about that.
It's weird because Charlotte's reaction, we're just going to assume,
by the way, that you know something about Sex and the City, I guess,
if you're listening to this.
Charlotte's the brunette.
Charlotte's reaction is to be like, oh, no, she's no longer with us.
And she's like, she died.
And she's like, oh, no, she's in England or whatever.
Why would you say she's no longer with us?
Like that only means that she's dead.
I know, which is almost leading you to think that maybe the writers wanted us to think she was dead for a minute because there'd be so much speculation, right?
Some of this stuff I think is like calling out to the audience being like, we know you were thinking about this storyline and we know you've heard this rumor, but this is how we're going to play it.
And I don't know.
I initially, I was like, well, that's just a terrible disappointment.
Like she's just gone to the England.
I was like, oh, this is awful.
They kind of work it
in though i think especially in the second episode full spoilers by the way yeah spoilers in an
interesting what are you doing here if you don't know sex in the city and you haven't watched
what are you doing just like that frankly why are you listening to a podcast called and just
like adjustable if you don't know this show the genius genius of that title. Okay, I have to say, full disclosure before we continue,
I am PMSing very hard.
That's very sex in the city though, isn't it?
It is, but I am terribly emotional.
I am so fragile.
And so I feel so on edge and upset and teary about this
because there's a massive spoiler and it was written
and projected a lot that Big was going to die, right?
But I still feel like I've lost someone.
Like I'm bereft.
Oh, my God.
It was so, I mean, look, to be fair, I think they handled his death
super well, but it was quite funny kind of leading up because.
Well, it was funny for you.
I was having a good time.
Okay, so before we get to that, we were talking about how they deal with Samantha.
Sorry.
Yeah.
We should jump around.
Okay.
So I actually initially thought this is a terrible thing.
Bitsy Von Muffling.
Oh, she's like one of the big larger than life characters.
So corny.
Yeah.
And then as it unfolded, what hit me really hard was the actual truth of it,
which is that after they kind of leave the coffee shop scene
and as soon as they sit down at the coffee shop and Miranda's not there,
I actually think that they did a fairly good job of that chemistry
at the coffee table.
Yeah, I think, look, that opening is rough, but it's pretty good.
Yeah.
Okay, so initially my reaction was, well, this is James' greatest trial.
It's just going to be awful.
Yeah.
And he's going to enjoy it.
That was part of me.
I'm like, oh, here we go.
Oh, my God.
This is right in my wheelhouse.
Oh, my God.
Big's going to fall off his exercise bike and crack his head on the stove.
Oh, my God.
I'm going to love this.
Just rubbing my little hands together. Like the cat that on the stove. Oh, my God, I'm going to love this. Just rubbing my little hands together.
Like the cat that got the cream.
Whereas I am just trying to like initially I was taking notes
and I was just on the ride.
And that's the interesting thing because initially in the first five minutes
I was taking notes and being like terrible, oh, no.
And then the coffee shop scene started or it's not a coffee shop
but they're sitting at a table having lunch.
There's a noticeable like empty chair there as well like they they put that in shot
which is interesting it is really interesting and they can't they had another character they
introduced the first new character actually which is interesting in that scene and i thought that
was a bit clunky and i kind of wish they hadn't done it. I thought, I think initially most of the characters they introduce
or even the old ones they reintroduce, it feels very awkward.
But I think in the second episode a lot of that goes away.
You know?
I totally agree.
Like Carrie's got a podcast and it feels terrible.
Like that was hard to watch.
It felt very scripted and it'd be like, when are you masturbating?
And they're like, I don't know, should we talk about this?
Like it didn't feel like a podcast.
It felt like a radio play, you know, and not a good one.
But sorry, go on.
I was going to say though what I thought was an interesting choice.
So they do introduce Lisa Todd Wexley who is basically like a very kind
of Manhattanite with a hedge fund banker husband, Herbert, and three kids.
So she's very much in Charlotte's world.
Yeah.
And she kind of flits in, they see her, and then she goes off.
And I thought, oh, that's kind of, it was a bit clunky.
However, I thought they did a really good job of kind
of showing you in the, not in like the flashbacks
and like the snippets of their lives of what's happening
with like Miranda's life with her teenage son or like even Charlotte
with her two beautiful daughters and Harry in their apartment
and everything.
But what they did do was kind of position things around.
So Charlotte, you know, Kirsten Davis has had a lot of work done
and that's just a fact.
And however you feel about that, great, not great, whatever, she has.
And it's very noticeable.
And I was wondering whether they would address that.
And I actually really appreciated how in that scene she is saying,
I think you should dye your hair, Miranda, because Miranda's character,
obviously, Cynthia Nixon, has gone the opposite.
She's let her hair go grey.
She looks absolutely her age and still great.
Yeah, like a good 55.
Yeah, like a good 55 and looked after herself, but, you know, she looks absolutely her age and still great. But her age. Yeah, like a good 55. Yeah, like a good 55 and like looked after herself.
But, you know, she looks her age.
And so that was actually really interesting that they addressed that in the first conversation.
I did find that interesting as well to be like, well,
you're dyeing your hair like dark brown.
Like what are you doing pretending like time hasn't passed?
And I loved that.
And then Kerry's somewhere in the middle of that
because she looks incredible.
But she also obviously has not had as much Botox and other kind of work as Kirsten does.
Yeah, and as they mentioned, like her hair is clearly coloured and you can kind of see grey in it and it's like blonde streaks.
So it's intentionally like not like a block colour.
Exactly.
And what I thought was interesting about that choice was it made me think, have they done some of that on purpose? Like have they thought about Charlotte's character and thought,
what would she do?
Someone with that amount of wealth and money, someone whose kind of looks
and presentation that like hyper-feminine woman in her 50s,
she probably would have had a lot of work done.
That's interesting.
And it may not have been like subtle, you know?
Yeah.
Because of that character.
I don't think you'd like intentionally do that to yourself, right, though?
Like for a role.
Do you know what I mean?
Well, I mean, I don't know.
I mean, maybe not.
I mean, Botox also wears off.
And I also felt.
And fillers do too, right?
And the second episode I did feel maybe I was settling into her
newish face, but it did feel less kind of jarring second time around.
Yeah, yeah.
Well, I guess because you start to see her character emerge further.
But I just wonder about that choice and I really actually appreciated that
because they spoke about it directly, which is another elephant in the room
that I think if they hadn't would have, I don't know, it would have just been something I was thinking
about throughout the show.
So I really appreciated that and I liked some of the witticism
of Carrie in that moment too and I like how she is clearly the one.
She doesn't have kids so she's got this kind of life that's like
when she gets home to see Big, I thought I would hate that scene.
I loved it when she walks into the apartment.
They put music on together. I loved it when she walks into the apartment. They put music on together.
I loved it.
And they're listening to jazz and blues and he's helping her cook
and he's telling her how to make the fish and they've got
this gorgeous chemistry.
And I loved that.
I believed that.
Yeah.
And they aged and they both looked older and I thought, yeah,
I'm in this world.
I'm here for it.
I'm actually back in the world.
I think he's like 67. So, yeah. And,, I'm in this world. I'm here, Barrett. I'm actually back in the world. I think he's like 67.
So, yeah.
And, you know, again, like a good 67.
I also think, and I've always thought this about Big,
he just doesn't have a good personality.
Like he's doing stuff like he's doing like little bits and jokes
and like pop culture references and voices and it's like you're not funny.
Like you've probably been told you're funny like your entire life
but you're not very interesting or charismatic.
He's like, hey, kid, what's going on?
Blah, blah, blah.
And it's just like what is this?
He looks like a travelling salesman in the Old West,
like peddling snake poison or whatever.
It's funny because Chris Noss who plays him doesn't like him either.
Yeah.
As a character.
Look.
In the second episode at his funeral, someone's like,
this guy sucks.
Doesn't he?
Isn't he a bad guy?
Am I the only one that remembers how badly he treated her?
Which is like absolutely true.
And you do get the feeling, because it's only the first
episodes, that maybe that's going to unfold because there's another new character.
It's the first time you see a character from Big's professional life.
You actually meet her and she's his secretary.
Now, I wrote down what her name was as well.
Because I was like, is she from this show?
Has she been in this before?
No, no, she hasn't.
No, so she's new.
So her name is Gloria Marquette and she's described
as Big's longtime secretary.
She's played by Brenda Vaccaro and it just gives you the feeling
that is Kerry going to uncover some really bad stuff?
Like he's like sexually harassed people or he's been having affairs
or treating people at work badly or.
Who knows?
I don't know.
I just don't know.
I wonder.
Or if there's money issues, who knows?
Yeah, because she wanted to sit up front at the funeral,
which makes me think that she had a very close relationship with him,
whatever that looks like.
And she sobs within the funeral in this really heightened way.
She's probably too close in age for him to be his mother, I guess.
I was thinking that too.
Was she his mother?
Yeah.
That's what I wondered because she's sobbing noticeably and then, you know,
a character comes over to give, Shea Diaz comes to give her like a handkerchief
or whatever.
And they introduce, and I'm pretty sure he's never been in it before,
Big's brother.
So I wonder whether this whole thing is going to lead to a situation
where she has to go back to her old apartment.
Whether it be because she's too heartbroken and can't stay
in the place where she lived with Big.
But I think a lot of this is going to be like resetting expectations
for like a lot of these characters.
And, you know, she is more interesting when she's in like a shitty,
well, it's not even a shitty, it's a pretty good apartment,
but like comparatively.
Keeping her jumpers in the stone.
Yeah, totally.
I know it does give you the feeling because they did a very good job
as well I thought in that – actually, no, okay, before I say that,
what did you think of the moment that Big dies?
Like that whole scene with the piano, frantic piano.
Okay, so she goes to the recital.
It's Charlotte's kids' recital because she was going to go away
with Big to the Hamptons and Charlotte was like, please come to this.
It's really important.
And because she's a good friend, even though she hates children,
she decides to go anyway and Big dies while at the recital
while Charlotte's daughter is playing.
Lily is playing this.
Like an incredible piece of music.
It looked like she really did that for real.
It's not the same kid from the previous season.
Okay, yes.
I think that was her.
I think it must have been.
If they, I mean, why wouldn't you just cast somebody who could do that?
Otherwise you'd have to CGI a head on someone else.
It would be complicated.
And it's absolutely incredible.
But as that's happening, can I say it back a bit?
So before, like, she goes out for the night, Big's like,
I'm going to spend the night in, I'm going to ride on my Peloton.
This episode is sponsored by Peloton.
And then as the music's playing, he's doing his Peloton class
and it's supposed to be quite funny, but I'm like,
no, he's definitely going to have a fucking heart attack.
And you're just the whole time.
And then all I can think of, like, when they're doing
that gorgeous sweet scene where they're cooking together
and drinking wine in this beautiful apartment with no dogs and kids,
which it just looked so nice.
Can you imagine?
And just, like like it's gorgeous and
and the record collection is incredible and she's like choosing a record and they're being all cute
together i know you hate it but i was playing with lovey no it was nice it was nice every time
i looked over at you you were just like rubbing your hands together like some kind of even gremlin
that lived under a bridge just so yeah yeah he has his heart attack and he drops his phone and
i did like the moment because she makes it home and he's still alive
and it seems as if he was kind of waiting to see her.
Like he knew he was going to die but he was like waiting
to see her one more time and then she rushes in and you were like,
why don't you call the ambulance as he's dying?
But I guess it's in the moment and it's, you know,
it's a difficult situation.
Yeah, because he's kind of gone to get in the shower,
dropped his phone in the shower and then slumps.
And that moment for me, yeah, I agree, it was really hard
to watch in a lot of ways.
Yeah, it was handled really well, I thought, genuinely, yeah,
for a guy that I don't like.
It was pretty touching, like honestly, yeah.
Because it was just, it made me like gut-wrenchingly,
I mean I'm also like fairly fragile anyway.
But I just started bawling because it is, in that moment when someone dies,
it's that realisation that, oh, they're just gone.
Yeah.
Like that's it, they're gone.
And you see that and then the fact that he moves his arm slightly
and then he's really gone and she's hunched over him.
Yeah, I mean, like for instance when my dad passed away,
I snap into action.
Like when something bad happens, I become like a pillar of like.
You're kicking down doors.
Yeah, I am.
Left, right and centre are just like doing things.
So I just could not believe that she didn't have her fucking phone in her hand
to call the ambulance.
I guess she's not like a practical person.
No, she's not at all.
And she didn't trust CPR really. She's not like good in a crisis. No, she's not at all. And she didn't try CPR.
She's not like good in a crisis.
No, she picked it.
Like she didn't do the recovery.
I was thinking you didn't do the recovery position.
Yeah.
You didn't call the ambulance.
She tried to like weirdly do some CPR, which was kind of kissing him.
Yeah, I don't know what that was.
But she didn't like lie him on his side and like even start the compressions.
I was thinking you have not done the Dr. ABC. She doesn't even know how to salt a fish. She can't give a man CPR, or even start the compressions. I was thinking, you have not done the Doctor ABC.
She doesn't even know how to salt a fish.
She can't give a man CPR, I'll tell you that much.
But, you know, it was a good moment because they had that final moment,
like, before she left the apartment where they just kind of stop
and they look at each other, you know what I mean?
And that was the point where I was like, yeah, this is 100% happening.
But it was a good moment, you know, because there is, like,
nearly 30 years of history with these characters,
you know?
And I think like they were initially going to do this in the third movie.
That was a plan with Kim Cattrall.
I didn't want to come back for that either.
Actually, can I talk about that just for a little bit?
Because I found a very interesting quote.
It felt like when they were like, we tried to message her, we tried to call her. There's been a falling out between me and Kim Cattrall,
whatever, Samantha.
Which is Samantha.
Yeah.
And it felt like, oh, that's probably what actually happened,
like between them in real life.
I think there's a lot of things in this that have been worked in
from their personal lives, in particular with Miranda's character.
But so I found this quote where Kim Cattrall's brother passed away
and she wrote, Sarah Jessica Parker
wrote, dearest Kim, my love and condolences to you and yours and Godspeed to your beloved brother.
And she wrote back, my mom asked me today, when will that Sarah Jessica Parker, that hypocrite,
leave you alone? Your continuous reaching out is a painful reminder of how cruel you really were
then and now. Let me make this very clear, if I haven't already.
You are not my family.
You are not my friend.
So I'm writing to tell you one last time to stop exploiting our tragedy in order to restore your nice girl persona.
And Chris Knoth off the back of that recently was like,
no, Sarah Jessica Parker is actually really nice,
and I don't buy that for a second.
And also he had nice things to say about her as well.
So who knows what really happened, but they're not talking.
But there is a nice moment where they work her back in
where she didn't want any flowers on Big's coffin,
but Samantha sent some over.
I thought that was really good.
I thought that was a nice little moment.
What did you think?
Yeah, I thought it was beautiful.
I agree with you.
I feel like there was some real callbacks to what's actually happened
and I feel like that was a really respectful way to handle the fans
of the show actually because everyone knows the elephant in the room.
Everyone knows that very famous kind of Twitter feud thing
that was happening.
There's all this sort of speculation about Kim Cattrall
and a lot of it has to do with the fact that Sarah Jessica Parker
is paid more than the rest of the women.
Yeah.
And in some ways I remember talking about this with Matt Stewart
and he was like, oh, yeah, I kind of get that.
Like why didn't they just do it like Friends did
and everyone gets paid the same?
Yeah, it's interesting because like initially she's the lead
but as that show went on she's not really, is she?
So I can understand like why you would be upset about that
because they all carry this show. Yeah. No pun intended. But I do think this still works without
her. And I also wonder whether Samantha's character maybe narratively has kind of hit the end of the
road. You know what I mean? Yeah. She's kind of done everything. Maybe we've explored everything
about that character. You know, she's, of cold and she's like she's just having sex
with whoever and she's free and fun-loving and having a good time.
Then she finds like a more emotional kind of relationship
and she has cancer and then she kind of in the last movie she,
well, the last two movies they break up and then she's back
to how she was.
So like what do you do then even?
You know what I mean?
Yeah, I do know what you mean.
I do.
And maybe Kim Cattrall sensed that too.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Do you think though, and look, because I'm nothing if not massive speculation,
that's all I do at all the things that I do, including the Hawkeye recaps,
which we're currently working our way through.
Do you think though there's a chance that she's actually going
to physically show up in this?
In this TV show?
Yeah.
Ooh.
Okay, so the diehard fan in me would love that.
Yeah.
And I feel like they handled it beautifully in that funeral scene
when the flowers arrived and it doesn't say anything else
other than love Samantha.
And she even messages her after.
Yeah, and you see that there's a sequence of text messages
that Kerry's been sending
her and she hasn't got anything back.
And it does remind me, and this happens, it rings really true in female friendships and
friendships in general, but particularly female friendships with cis women, especially that
people fall out for whatever reason.
Absolutely.
But particularly when women are at different stages in their lives
and something happens and a friend kind of moves on.
And in a relationship, like a sexual partner, you have the discussion,
you've got the whole like we've broken up.
But with friendships, you don't have that.
You can't say like we're broken up.
It's more just that sometimes people.
Oh, yeah, we don't really see each other anymore.
Yeah, exactly.
And sometimes it can be as harsh as a breakup or there's so much water
that goes under the bridge or words have been said and then no one talks
to the other person and then there's a wall of silence which becomes distance,
time, friendship over.
Yeah.
But they're still like an ex kind of in the same sort of way.
Yeah, because you've got that history.
And you're so close with that person at one point.
So I actually feel like it's added a real dimension to the show
because I know this happens.
I know so many friends of mine have experienced this exact kind of thing.
You know, their friend who's a socialite in New York City
leaves to go to London because they no longer want to be there.
But we've had friends, like we've both had friends
who have like moved away who we don't really see that much anymore.
Yeah.
And it's not even like because there was a falling out.
That's just what happens.
Correct.
And, you know, you lose touch and you kind of, you don't,
you're not involved in each other's lives as much anymore.
It's just kind of what happens as you get older, you know.
Yeah, exactly.
And then there are those friend groups where people don't reply to you
or reach out and they, for whatever reason, have put a boundary in place.
They just can't see you anymore.
You're always like, you text me and you're like, James,
can you pick up dinner?
And I just blank you.
I'm like, I'm not going to respond to that.
Exactly.
It's awkward.
It's getting really awkward.
It is.
Yeah, so back to your question whether Kim Kowal will turn up.
I feel like not in this season one because I just don't think
they could keep that secret. Yeah. But I feel like she might watch season one because I just don't think they could keep that secret.
Yeah.
But I feel like she might watch this.
I don't know.
Do you say that?
I'm not saying she will definitely turn up because I think more like probably not.
But this is the same people who made Game of Thrones.
So they've got this kind of money behind it.
You know, the Marvel movies can roll in a cameo and do it.
There is they have the exact same, if not bigger budget than a lot of the big
Disney properties.
They could easily have shot a scene for the very end.
Maybe of her on her own like in London.
Yeah, or they have a quiet meet-up and a sit-down or whatever
and maybe because that thing that I talked about how they were enemies
or whatever, that was like four years ago now or something like that.
I think the way that they kind of keep bringing it up,
I mean it would be also weird if you didn't,
like does make it a possibility.
And I think we should revisit this every week.
All right.
Okay.
Speculation.
Hashtag speculation.
I also like how they were very clear.
That's it.
Yeah.
I also liked it how it was very clear
that even though the episodes were sponsored by Peloton,
there was a moment with Steve, who's Miranda's husband,
who's like, I think that bike killed him.
And they're like, Peloton's a very good bike.
And I'll have you know that exercise is actually
very good for your heart.
And the doctor said that he was allowed to ride that Peloton
and Peloton is the best bike in the world.
If anything, it was the heart attack that killed him.
It's his cigars and his loose living.
That's so true.
I thought, I knew it would occur to me.
I never noticed that kind of branding.
It just like whooshes past me.
But in the little part of my brain, it's like, Peloton sounds good.
Then I was like, what is this weird scene?
Why does Steve have a problem with the bike?
We should talk about Steve.
What is he like a million years old?
He's like, what?
Who?
Who said that?
I don't hear or understand anything.
You're deaf, Steve.
Sorry.
You're deaf, Steve.
Does your fucking brain not work?
What have they done to my boy Steve, Glenn?
What have they done to my boy Steve, Glenn?
What have they done to him?
I totally agree.
I'm like, he's become a caricature.
He's the one.
I was so not expecting it either because he's like the easiest character to get right.
He's just like a nice guy.
And instead they're like, I can't hear anything.
60% to one ear, 40% to the other.
And I talk like Steve, but like I'm like doing a character.
He doesn't even look that different.
You know what it is though?
I think, because this will lead into what I talk about with Miranda.
Oh, yes, I know.
I know where you're going with this.
Yeah, so Miranda is doing, she's doing a human rights course
because I think they're paralleling a lot of this
with Cynthia Nixon's real life where she moved into politics and she's very active and very left-leaning and is standing up for a lot of like
social justice kind of causes and Miranda's character is like oh look I spent 25 years
being a lawyer this is what I want to do now and so she's getting in these situations where she's
like oh no I'm too woke or I'm not woke enough or whatever. And it's like, okay, yeah, yeah, we get it. But there's a few things they're leaning into.
She's an alcoholic, it seems.
Yes, I noticed that.
And there's also a moment where she talks with Carrie's co-host,
who is...
Che Diaz.
Che Diaz, yeah, who is non-binary.
Correct.
Who's played by Sarah Ramirez, who you might remember
from Grey's Anatomy.
Exactly.
And it seems as if that there is a chemistry there because for those who also don't know,
Cynthia Nixon in real life is a lesbian.
And Steve is just like a guy who's like, I don't understand anything.
I'm a million years old.
So we won't feel bad when she inevitably leaves him or cheats on him with this other person.
Yes.
That's what I think's going on here.
I so agree with this because i thought the
same thing especially when she had the shot of whiskey or something and there was a scene of
scene with her having a drink at a bar before she goes to uni or something yeah it was like
quarter to 11 in the morning yeah that's a bit weird but initially i was like oh but you know
she's just having a drink she's out of the town but you're right and then she brought wine
to the concert yeah which initially was like well that's out of the town. But you're right. And then she brought wine to the concert.
Yeah.
Which initially was like, well, that's kind of fun.
Well, she didn't.
She was like, I'll actually save the wine.
I'll have a bourbon or whatever.
Yeah.
It's so true.
Yeah, I totally agree.
I think she's an alcoholic.
Yeah.
And I also think.
Or unhappy, I guess.
I don't know.
Yeah.
But I feel like they're setting it up for her to have a problem with drinking anyway.
Yes, and I totally noticed that chemistry too with Shea Diaz.
So I wonder.
Sparks are flying, mate.
I'll tell you that much.
They were.
And because she does that big kind of mama bear thing where she,
like Shea Diaz is giving her son Brady a joint.
Yeah.
And she goes like all health leather on her.
That's very 1970s.
I believe it was a vape pen, Claire, if I'm going to clarify.
You're right.
It was a vape pen.
Correct.
It was a vape pen.
Sorry, you're much woker than me.
Is that what a vape pen is?
Anyway, yeah, I actually quite enjoyed watching the outfits they chose
for Miranda in those scenes as well because it's clear that they're trying
to make a point that what she was wearing seemed to fit in in the old movies
and TV shows but suddenly looked really stark and strange.
Like she's wearing heels and like a jacket with shoulder pads
and skirts and her hair's sort of done in that bob
and it just looked really dated.
Yeah.
And obviously that's, you know, they've made a real point of it
because, you know, everyone's wearing very hip and aunties,
cool things.
Well, the first thing is like, Miranda, you look like shit.
That's like the first thing.
So do you think she's got to have like some kind of transformation,
like physical as well?
I hope they don't do, I hope they don't make her dye her hair or anything.
Because I love the fact that she looks her age.
Well, maybe she'll have like a crisis and do it as well. You know what I mean? Well, that's very true. So it could be that, yeah. Yeah, but I do think they't make her dye her hair or anything. Because I love the fact that she looks that age. Well, maybe she'll have like a crisis and do it as well.
You know what I mean?
Well, that's very true.
So it could be that.
Yeah.
Yeah, but I do think they're setting her up,
which is sad to me because Steve Brady's like the only redeeming character.
Ah, fuck Steve.
I know he said he was my boy.
But he cheated on her in the first Sex and the City movie.
He did, and that was a heartbreaking storyline.
You're right, he did, didn't he?
Also, they're going to have to put him in a nursing home soon.
I'm sorry, Steve.
Even the scene where Kerry calls to say Biggis died,
and he's like, what?
Who would be calling at this time of night?
It's like it's light outside, Steve.
What are you doing?
They're both awake.
It's not like it's 3 o'clock in the morning.
You know what?
The other thing about this, there's some pretty funny moments in it.
There's a moment at the recital where the first person who goes up,
who's Miranda's new friend or whatever, their kid goes up and they're like,
oh, he hasn't really been practicing or whatever,
and he gets up and he just fucking butchers it.
And everybody in the audience is sitting awkwardly and his dad,
I can't remember what his dad says.
His dad's Herbert, played by Christopher Jackson.
Yeah, he says, I think my soul just left my body.
And I thought that whole scene was really good.
And Anthony and Stanford, I love their chemistry and relationship.
I was not a fan of them getting together in the second movie because the point
of those characters was initially when Charlotte tried to set them up.
You remember what it was.
Yeah, I do.
Yes, yeah.
That he's like, we're gay.
It doesn't mean we're like all gay guys.
Correct.
Like love every other gay guy.
Exactly.
So they end up getting married.
I'm like, what is this?
This is ridiculous.
Correct.
Because Anthony Marantino was like dating all the kind of big buff kind of stud looking guys.
And like you got the feeling like he was thinking Stanford Blash was totally wrong.
Yeah.
Is one of them straight in real life?
I think one of them is.
Possibly. Yeah, I don't know. I think one of them is. Possibly.
Yeah, I can't remember.
I don't know.
I feel like Willie Garson plays this so well.
He's much bitchier, if I could say that word, in this.
Is he the one with hair?
Stanford.
Okay.
No, he's always been like that.
Yeah, but he's like even more soulless.
Like not soulless, but just like he's got some great lines.
No, he's always been mean, hasn't he?
Like that Baffert?
Yeah, definitely.
I feel like he wasn't that.
Maybe he was always that Baffert.
Yeah.
I don't know, but even at the funeral, like he seems very worried
about where he's going to sit.
Yeah, absolutely.
To sit with Kerry.
Also, Stanford is, I was thinking I had them mixed up.
This will be his last season as well because he passed away.
Yeah, I know.
Boo!
I know because he's so great in this.
And I was thinking as well like those two together,
I'm like these guys look amazing.
These guys have aged spectacularly.
They totally have.
And you know what I really enjoyed about it?
I think maybe why you liked it too is because they're just constantly
bickering, which is exactly what you imagine they would be like
if they actually did get together
because you sort of get the feeling like they're just constantly
teetering on the brink of divorce.
Absolutely.
And that I think rings much more true than that sort
of massive wedding that they did at the start of the second movie
that was just doves and white suits.
I remember, speaking of crying, after that movie you cried.
You were like, what happened?
I don't understand.
And we'd just come back from overseas and we were, like,
teaching in Africa and you're like, everything's terrible.
The world is falling apart and these women are drinking mimosas
and, like, burning the Quran or whatever.
That's not what they did.
No, but, like, the man's just standing in a mosque throwing condoms
everywhere and saying, like, and then having sex with someone
on an American flag.
Like they won't take my freedom.
I was like, oh, God, this is so culturally inappropriate.
I know it's really interesting, isn't it,
that they've really changed up the cast as well.
Yeah.
And also the content, I think.
Okay, we have to talk about the big scene.
Is this the scene on the bed?
Masturbation scene.
That was awful. That was an awful thing to
subject your audience to. How dare they, quite frankly. I'm not one who's easily offended, Claire.
I'll have you know, but that was shocking. I was shocked. And not in a way where I was like,
you could never get away with that on television. That's rude. I'm like, no, fuck this. This is awful.
How dare you make me, how dare you subject me to this?
Do you want to explain what it was?
Okay.
So basically Shay Diaz says to Kerry that she, she has this kind of awkward podcast
episode.
Where they've got a, it's a woke alert button.
Oh God.
I didn't think it was so bad, but I thought Kerry was obviously really uncomfortable. All those people in that room are like, God. I think it was so bad, but I thought Kerry was obviously really uncomfortable.
All those people in that room are, like, interesting.
Like, one of those guys is Bobby Lee, who's, like, a comedian,
and he's got a podcast, and he's, like, an insane person who will say anything.
Yeah.
But it was just like, this is weird.
Anyway, sorry, go on.
Yeah, it was, but the whole theme was masturbation, right?
Yeah.
And so then she basically says to carrie you need to talk more and
like something about her pussy or something yeah i can't remember the exact a lot something like
that which also i don't know i don't know about that anyway so carrie decides she needs to get
her pussy up boy does she needs to and so when she gets home she sort of was writing at the computer
can't think of anything and then she ponders and goes, oh, I know what I'll do. And so she goes into the bedroom and she asks Big to masturbate.
Yeah.
Or do you masturbate?
She asked him, do you masturbate?
And they have this sort of discussion.
And I'm okay with that.
Like I'm okay with that discussion.
I think, cool, yes, stepping out of your comfort zone a bit there,
which is it or I guess it's because it's the theme they never dealt
with in the TV shows.
Do they?
I mean, I feel like they did like a lot.
No, they did heaps actually.
They had the rabbit.
No, they definitely.
No, no, I'll rephrase that.
I think it's a theme that Carrie didn't really talk about.
Okay, sure, yeah.
Because weirdly even though.
She is kind of a prude, you know.
Yeah, she is.
And even though she writes about sex and relationships.
Yeah, she is regarded.
And I don't think that's new.
I think she's always kind of been like that.
Private about her own sexual relationships.
In a way, yeah.
In a way, even though she'll talk about relationships,
but not in that explicit kind of detail or at least about her own relationships.
But she'll delve into other people's, I guess, and be curious about it.
So that's kind of an interesting, I feel like,
I feel like Sarah Jessica Parker really nailed the character of Carrie.
Like I feel like she was back there.
They're all in there.
They're all in there again, I feel.
Yeah.
I feel like you saw them.
I actually saw, it sounds so corny.
I see you.
I see you.
No, but I actually do feel like I watched those two episodes
and by the end of episode two, I was there. No, but I actually do feel like I've watched those two episodes and by the end of episode two I was there.
Yeah.
I was in the world and they were the characters that I remember,
completely different but aged but there as opposed to the second movie
which was just a train wreck.
Anyway, back to the big M, the big BM, Mr. Big Masturbation.
Yes.
Yeah, just in case you didn't know.
So then Kerry, so they have this discussion and obviously they say yes
and yes and she's like, okay, interesting.
And then she's like, okay, now I want you to do it
and I'm just going to watch you.
Yeah.
And he's like, do you want to join me?
And she's like, no, I'm just going to watch you.
And I was like, okay.
Look, part of me was like, okay, cool.
They're going there.
At least they're making things kind of sexually awkward
and a little bit interesting as opposed to like glossing
over all of that stuff.
But I was just hoping the scene would just end there.
Oh, my God, it kept going.
What was the emotion it was trying to elicit?
Was it supposed to be awful?
Because it felt awful.
Was it supposed to be funny? because I didn't get that either.
I don't know.
Yeah.
Anyway, thank God he's dead.
Okay.
So I feel like it was supposed to be Kerry,
like showing a side of their relationship that you hadn't seen before.
Okay.
That's what I think.
And I think they did.
They managed to do that.
And also Kerry being brave and being like, I'm going to, you know,
push my boundaries here and see what happens.
What bothered me other than I'm going to get some lube because I'm not a
spring chicken anymore.
Because I'm not 30.
Though I kind of appreciate that in a way.
I'm like, great.
Yes.
He's like, they're just talking about aging and all that stuff in a way.
And I'm here for that.
What I'm not here for is the look on Big's face.
There's just a look on his face when she's looking at him
and she's kind of amazing Sarah Jessica Parker being like,
I'm brave and staring at you and this is amazing.
And he just has this like.
It was really not a great choice of face for Kristoff.
This is what I'm talking about.
He looked kind of like a frog.
He sucks.
He's not a good character.
I'm glad he's dead.
So, yeah, I just feel like there was a few seconds there
they could just kind of take it out.
Yeah, but then he, like, grabs her and they're like,
ah, we had a good fun time.
Yeah.
And I'm like, oh, thank God.
He's cut to another scene of literally anything.
I know.
However, I also kind of love that they went there though.
I don't know why.
No, I didn't like it.
It was awful.
And he was looking at her and it was just like, oh, this is no good.
Yeah.
I didn't need to.
I appreciate the sentiment.
I probably didn't need to see that extra bit of Kristoff.
Sure.
You know what I mean?
I don't.
I completely agree.
Because I think it was Kerry asserting her kind of sexual power.
Yeah, pushing some boundaries.
Pushing some boundaries.
And I liked that.
I just didn't need to see silk robe lube Krasnoff.
It was weird.
Tortoise shell glasses, whatever he was wearing.
So you mentioned there's a bunch of callbacks because, you know,
I love an Easter egg.
I love a reference.
You love this.
There was a particular woman who turned up at her funeral
from like season two.
Susan Sharon.
Susan Sharon, who I'd forgotten.
But what was her deal again?
Played by Molly Price.
Yeah, very good.
I really enjoyed that.
So what was that initial story?
Oh, my God.
She's one of my favorite cameo kind of characters.
She's only in, I think she's only maybe in one or two episodes.
I think you should, Kerry, if you see her again, like later in the show.
Anyway, Susan Sharon is this kind of like really fast-talking friend
of Kerry's that's just like really direct and like all over the place
and just talks all the time about everything.
And my husband's a nightmare and I hate him and I don't know
what I'm doing, Kerry.
And then in that scene in the, you know, the TV show,
she asks Carrie for advice and Carrie kind of says, oh, maybe, you know,
if you're not happy then.
And she goes, all right, excellent, okay.
And so she ends up like divorcing her awful husband.
Yeah.
Who's awful because he comes in like while they're in their apartment
and Carrie and Sharon are talking, he comes in like yells at her
about all of this stuff.
Oh, okay, yeah.
He's a stockbroker or something.
Anyway, so she ends up having to get a divorce and ends up miserable
and she blames it all on Kerry.
Yeah, yeah.
That she had divorced her husband and now she has no one.
Anyway, she's miserable.
She turns up at Big's funeral and she's like,
let's water under the bridge.
The thing happened between us and I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.
Look, and I've definitely moved on from there, but God damn it, I hate you.
Like it's just – she was really good.
She was so good.
She was really funny.
I hope she comes back again.
I do too.
I really appreciated as well that her hair was sort of graying too.
Like she looked different.
I thought she looked great, yeah.
She did.
She looked great.
That's what I mean.
Like women who've aged and aged in a way that's recognisable and grounding.
I'm here for it.
I also just really love Miranda's reaction.
It's a very Miranda thing to do.
Wow, this was that, yeah.
Miranda's my favourite character, like by far, yeah.
I'm a big fan.
Why?
I don't know.
She's mean and she's very direct and she's broken.
Maybe it's you, Claire.
Maybe that's not.
No, I just think she's really cool and interesting.
I don't know.
I've always liked her.
And, you know, she's just kind of, I don't know,
there's something about her I've always like really liked.
And she's just, there's no kind of, she's got like rough edges,
do you know what I mean?
It's, yeah, I like her, you know.
And she's really loyal.
Yeah, and yeah, she's really fierce well, as we see in this episode,
well, multiple times.
So Susan Sharon appeared in two episodes, The Awful Truth in 1999
and then Change of Address in 2002.
So, yeah, two episodes prior to this.
Who else are we going to see?
Here's another thing that I like to do, Claire.
I love speculation.
Ooh, excellent.
I love idealing fan theories and potential storylines.
And here's my question for you
because I love
throwing questions your way
I guess we're wrapping this up
I guess
I think we are
it's been 40 minutes
will Aiden
return
if not Aiden
is this going to be
a trip down memory lane
like are we going to see
Burger
are we going to see
that weird jazz guy
are we going to see
the dude
who loves the jazz
yeah
the dude from the Navy because she left because he said something bad about New York City or whatever are we going to see the dude? Harry loves a jazz. Yeah. The dude from the Navy because she left because he said something bad
about New York City or whatever.
Are we going to see the mayor who wanted her to piss on him?
What are we going to see?
I'm hoping for all of them.
I absolutely think we're seeing Aiden.
I saw a lot of stuff about that.
We're totally going to see him.
I don't know how they're going to work in the storyline
from the second movie.
I was hoping they just wouldn't keep that
in canon, like they'd just get rid of it.
Well, you kind of can. It doesn't
really... What happens in that
movie? I think, well, she nearly
has an affair with Aiden, but then she doesn't.
Yeah, they kiss.
And ruin...
She ruins his relationship and then
as with all things in her life, she skips
away scot-free. Correct, yeah.
No consequences.
Exactly.
So no, I definitely think we've got some consequences now though,
don't we?
I know.
Carrie.
Oh, mate.
Oh, it's so brutal.
Oh, it's so brutal.
The funeral I thought like the whole way she's organising it
and she's just this like stoic rock.
She's doing the classic Carrie when she's broken and she just shuts down.
Yeah, absolutely.
And becomes cold.
Yeah.
And she did the same thing in that first movie when Big stands her up at the altar.
And in other parts like when her and Aiden are breaking up,
like she has this really.
Her face is amazing.
Isn't it?
Yeah.
She does this really kind of internal I've turned myself off, I'm angry,
I don't have any time for your bullshit sort of.
She has a real arsehole cold side to her.
Yeah.
And you see that with the way that Charlotte is constantly breaking down
and Kerry's this kind of stoic sort of cold person.
Like that scene in the funeral parlour or the funeral home
where Charlotte is blaming herself for it all and crying and the way Kerry stands up and just says,
can we just go?
Can you pull yourself together?
Can you just get out of here, Charlotte?
Pull yourself together.
I'll put you in a cab.
Like it was so great.
Sarah Deskmark did such a good job of that.
Who are we going to see?
I'm hoping for Berger.
Yeah, I think it'll be interesting for Berger to come back
and be like, hey, I had some big issues.
And I think like Ron Livingston is still like doing stuff
and he's a great actor.
And like why don't we see some other characters
that have maybe grown and developed?
I don't think necessarily it means that she has to like end up
with somebody who's already been in the show.
But I think we are, yeah, I think we're going to get a bit of a,
bit of a like a.
A walk down.
A where are they now kind of a this is your life, yeah, I think we're going to get a bit of a, a bit of a like a. A walk down. A where are they now kind of a, this is your life, Carrie,
or whatever.
But honestly, like, and this is what I said to you when you were like,
this trailer sucks.
Or maybe I said to you, I can't remember whether we said this recorded,
but like a lot of that trailer seemed to be that first episode.
And now it's gone into like a completely, like,
it was kind of like, here's, this is where they are.
This is what they're kind of up to.
And then they, they pull the handbrake turn
with Big's death and a couple of other things,
and now it's going in like a different direction.
And I think that's exactly what this needs because you just don't need this
like treading water, we're all just doing the things
that we've been doing since the first movie.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
They need to do something with it and it seems, look,
I don't know whether they're going to land it,
but it seems as if they're actually going for it properly,
which I really appreciate.
I really agree.
I was so relieved from that first scene where I thought, oh, God,
this is going to be a train wreck and it's going into the land
of let's just look at more incredible shoes and look
at all our fancy apartments and stuff and have more kind of that,
you know, the soundtrack even of the first movie is so big city,
New York lights kind of vibe whereas this is much, yeah,
it's just taken a turn into a really unexpected place
and I don't really know exactly where it's going to go.
Yeah.
And it's great and I'm enjoying it.
Agreed.
I'm actually enjoying it.
Let's keep doing this then.
I'm so emotional.
You're totes emotional if you don't mind me saying so.
Totes emotional.
Well, because, okay, this sounds so now.
It feels like seeing some friends that have like.
Well, I know there's been some times in like, you know,
well, both of our lives but I think you in particular where like we've been
away from people and like your friends aren't there and this is, and I remember I got you that bootleg. Yeah, but I think you in particular where, like, we've been away from people and, like, your friends aren't there
and this is – and I remember I got you that bootleg box
out of Sex and the City.
Yeah, when we were living in Africa and they didn't even have
free-to-air TV.
Yeah.
And so it was just like –
You're watching Sex and the City on a laptop.
Yeah, on a laptop.
And I watched that and Friends on repeat because I couldn't see
any of my friends and we weren't living with people that I –
they were lovely but, you know, they weren't my close friends
and I just missed having that around me.
And so, yeah, I felt the same when we lived up north
and through hard times.
I guess it's like any kind of TV show that you really love, right?
Yeah.
It's so familiar so I put it on when I'm feeling miserable
and the relationship between those women is so great
and seeing them in a completely different life stage.
The other thing that made me really emotional,
I know we're going to finish, did it make you just think
about like all our impending death?
Oh, yeah, totally.
And the passage of time and the ravages of time?
Yeah, it's interesting because like, and again,
we should wrap this up, but like it's been 12 years
since the last movie.
I think it was 2009.
I'm pretty confident it was. And it seems as if they didn't really age that much like up to that point but
you go ahead like 12 years and it just it seems like 20 do you know what i mean and i don't know
what that is maybe that's transitioning from your 40s into your 50s or 60s that like kind of makes
that difference but it's very noticeable, you know what I mean?
Hugely.
Which is good, I think.
Especially if you're Steve Brady.
I'm Steve Brady.
I'm Steve.
I'm Steve.
I'm one step away from a walking frame and an earthy home.
Steve, what are you doing?
I don't even know anymore.
I'm watching television.
Oh, Steve, that's a fish tank.
Steve, that's an empty fish tank.
What are you doing?
Miranda, are you a lesbian? Yes, probably. Yes, Steve. Oh, that's a fish tank. Steve, that's an empty fish tank. What are you doing? Miranda, are you a lesbian?
Yes, probably.
Yes, Steve.
Oh, that's fine.
That's how you feel like it's going to end, right?
He's like, oh, well.
Just roll me into this coffin.
Good on you, Steve.
All right, thanks, everybody.
I'm at MrSundayMovies on Twitter.
I'm at Claire20, mainly on Instagram.
That's my social media of choice.
And this has been Suggestible in the City.
That's right.
Wonderful recap show.
Thank you so much for joining us.
We bloody loved it.
We did love it.
I had an absolute ball recording this.
Hit us up on all the socials and whatever.
It's all links below.
Right on in.
Tell us all your feels.
Please do.
If you disagree with us.
We'd love to hear it.
Who do you want to see coming up?
Who do you want to see die?
What a good fun time.
We'll see you next week.
Thanks.
Bye.
Bye.
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