Sex and the City, 2004

HBO

The final episode turned into an overly sweet happy ending for each and every one of our plucky professional women.

Just as I hoped, Miranda did indeed get back together with Steve. She bought them a house in Brooklyn and blithely moved of her beloved Manhattan. Steve's ditzy Mom developed a full-blown case of Alzheimer's disease and couldn't be left alone any more. Miranda bravely volunteered to take her in to live with them. So the Earth Mother in her is coming into bloom. Tearjerker #1.

Charlotte and her hubby decide to adopt a baby and find out that they are getting a baby from China. This girl is so ready to be a mother that it no longer matters to her whether it's her own biological child--she is overjoyed that at last her dream of motherhood is coming true. Tearjerker #2.

Samantha, always the gung-ho Star Woman and free spirit, comes to realize that she really does not want her hunky actor-model boyfriend Smith ti be boffing other broads. She wants to be...oh, how unhip! ...monogamous! God, next thing you know she'll be getting...gulp!...married! Can the over-sexed playgirl of the city be...arghhh!...growing up? Thank goodness this little vignette was a bit of comic relief among the tears.

But what about our girl, Carrie? She's off in Paris trying to find something to do with herself all day and most of the night as her sexy, self-centered Russian artist (Baryishnikov playing himself) spends day after day wrapped up in getting his gallery exhibition together.

Meanwhile, back in New York, Mr. Big (Christopher Noth) shows up looking for Carrie, crying on the other girls' shoulders about losing her, asking what he should do.

They all tell him to go for it so he hops a plane to Paris, finds Carrie, confesses that he loves her, he's always loved her and convinces her to come back to him. This one made my cry too but certainly not for the sheer sappy romance for it all.

I cried for poor Carrie. She is a Star Women. She couldn't stand playing nursemaid to the Russian's fits of inadequacy and depression. And she hated disappointing her fans that had set up a dinner for her. She missed it because she felt she had to stay with the pleading, pouting Russian.

Does she really think Mr. Big is a match? He is a definitely not a Comet Man. Will he be happy to play a supporting role, as she becomes a famous author? Hardly! He is just a spoiled boy in a rich man's garb who wants her attention only when it suits him. He is no more ready for marriage than McCauley Kulkin, and probably never will be. Danger, danger, Carrie darling! Don't do it!

Carrie needs a big dose of awareness about what and who she really is. She will never be able to pick the right kind of man for her if she doesn't understand what it means to be a Star Woman. She is what I'd call a reluctant Star Woman. She thinks she wants Prince Charming to sweep her off her feet into some romance novelists' idea of a life.

What she really needs is a knight who will worship her as his goddess and his queen and delight in serving her. She doesn't want to wear that crown. She keeps hoping she's a Charlotte, but she loves the limelight too much. She's a Star Woman. And she'll never be happy until she embraces who she is really is and finds a man who will love her for it.

So...there's gotta be a sequel, folks. Don't you want to know what happens with Carrie and John?