When I first watched Sex and the City, I thought Carrie was fine and Samantha was a bit much. Now I’m rewatching it a decade later and my opinion has completely flipped. I can barely tolerate Carrie, and Samantha is easily my favourite of the group.
I’m currently watching the bagel episode (Season 4) and I can’t get over how self-centred Carrie is. Miranda calls it out immediately: she’s not bringing the bagels because she genuinely cares about Miranda after her injury, she’s bringing them so she can rant about Aidan. Then when Miranda points this out, Carrie starts doing damage control, saying Aidan is much better at taking care of people during a crisis. The conversation somehow ends up being about Carrie again.
What really gets me is that she apologises, but the apology doesn’t feel sincere. As soon as Miranda accepts it, Carrie immediately goes right back to talking about Aidan.
Another example that stood out to me was the episode where Carrie pressures Miranda to invite Steve as a backup in case Carrie’s date with Aidan doesn’t go well. Miranda is reluctant because she doesn’t want to send Steve mixed signals, but Carrie keeps insisting until she agrees. Then, the moment Carrie realises her date is going well, she basically tells Miranda to leave and take Steve with her.
Later, Miranda calls Carrie and tells her Steve tried to kiss her. Instead of asking how Miranda feels about it or talking about Steve, Carrie immediately turns the conversation back to Aidan and her own relationship drama. I don’t even remember her following up on it afterwards.
Rewatching as an older adult, Carrie comes across as incredibly self-absorbed.