It’s fall. Which means two things – 1, the fashion of this episode is officially the best of the season so far and 2, there is a Halloween party. The latter being the opener for the episode as Carrie and Miranda attend Charlotte’s fancy dress fundraiser. As mentioned in previous reviews, every single storyline involving Charlotte continues to be superficial and shallow while Carrie and Miranda are getting the more interesting plot points. Even Seema and Nya had something more interesting going on than Charlotte.
The episode, directed by Cynthia Nixon, turns Miranda and Che’s abruptly on its head, seemingly pointing them directly in the path of disaster. Che, who is still riding high off the filming of their pilot and landing an amazing apartment and partying with friends until the early hours has their dreams destroyed when a fellow non-binary Brooklyn resident pans their pilot during a test screening, saying that the problem with the pilot is Che and the inaccuracies representation of the non-binary experience. This causes Che to request some ‘time alone’ from Miranda who meanwhile is sick of Che’s late nights clashing with her early mornings and has decided to move in with Nya while Steve gets his shit together and moves out of their apartment, which was what was agreed in the family therapy. In all honesty, the Che/Miranda relationship feels like its about to run its course, Miranda is moving in with Nya (albeit temporarily) but as a fellow divorcee, she could provide some much needed grown up companionship that Miranda isn’t getting from the 46 year old teenager, Che.
Carrie has her own little adventure as she accidentally causes a cyclist to crash their bike, but luckily for Carrie, the man she hurt is attractive, age appropriate, single, not married, successful and rich. Jackpot! She presses him, George, to allow her to take him to the Urgent Care round the corner where it is confirmed his arm is broken. Feeling guilty, she takes him round some food and offers to help him out now that he is lacking the use of one arm. It doesn’t take long for things to get physical but the only problem being George’s business partner is about as needy as a romantic partner and she doesn’t fancy sticking around to share him for much longer. Carrie shows that she is not in the business of settling for someone who isn’t quite right, but that she is ready to get back on that horse. Good, because we all know Aidan’s return is right around the corner.
The episode brought some much needed grounding to a show that has been so drenched in glitz and glamour that it takes away so much relatability of the characters. Charlotte is living in some sort of fantasy world and don’t even get me started on the absolute phony that is Lisa. She is insufferable and smug and any time spent on her in an episode seems wholly pointless. However, as always, it’s Miranda that brings us back down to earth, catching the subway and shopping in second hand stores when her peers are dripping in designer and travelling around in taxis and private chauffeured cars. That has never been Miranda’s style.
Less Lisa, more Nya and we might be able to get this show back on track.
