June 6th, 2024 marks the 26th anniversary of the hit HBO series Sex and the City. The show was groundbreaking because it not only portrayed women having active sex lives but also enjoying them. Not only that, Sex and the City was a true love letter to the power of female friendship and staying true to yourself. There’s a reason it still holds up after all of this time.
Here are five of the show’s most iconic scenes.
1. Carrie Breaking Up With Big In The Season 1 Finale
In the first season’s finale, Carrie asks Big to tell her she’s the one. In other words, she needs reassurance of his commitment to her. Big says nothing in response and Carrie walks away saying she can no longer “do this.” It’s a big step for Carrie (pun intended) as she’s finally sticking up for herself, asking for what she wants, and choosing herself. Unfortunately, her self-empowerment doesn’t last terribly long. But hey, it was nice to witness!
2. Carrie and Miranda’s Epic Thrift Store Argument About Big
Of course, everyone knows Carrie’s farewell to Big doesn’t last long. The two end up engaging in an on-and-off, toxic love affair throughout the entire series. By the time the third season rolls around, Miranda finds herself at her wit’s end with Carrie’s unhealthy relationship with Big.
In the episode “Cock-a-Doodle-Do!” the friends get into a fight at a thrift store. While browning the racks, Carrie tells Miranda she can’t make it to an upcoming event with her because Big wants to get together and “talk.” Understandably, Miranda gets upset and finally tells Carrie the hard truth: Big isn’t good for her, and Miranda isn’t going to support Carrie’s toxicity with Big any longer. This is a powerful scene because confrontation is never easy, especially when you need to call out a close friend. But this just shows how much Miranda both loves and respects Carrie and that she truly only wants the best for her (even if Carrie doesn’t really want the best for herself).
3. Samantha Sticking Up For Charlotte At The Baby Shower
If there is a true girl’s girl, it has to be Samantha. When the friends leave the city for Connecticut to attend their old friend Laney’s baby shower, Charlotte is more than ready to celebrate the mom-to-be. However, tensions rise when Laney reveals one of her baby names is Shayla, the name Charlotte had planned for her future daughter since she was a little girl.
While Laney pretends she didn’t know it was Charlotte’s baby name, Charlotte calls her out and becomes deeply upset. Samantha walks over to investigate the squabble. When Charlotte tells Samantha that Laney stole her baby name, Samantha turns to Laney with a devastating, “You bitch,” and then takes Charlotte by the arm and marches them out of the baby shower.
While Samantha is not the most sensitive of the bunch, nor is she one to be sentimental about things like future baby names, she knows how much it matters to Charlotte, which is why this scene is a true show of friendship, loyalty, and love.
4. Carrie’s Magazine Cover Crisis
In the season two episode “They Shoot Single People, Don’t They?,” Carrie gets the opportunity to pose for the cover of New York Magazine. However, it turns into a total nightmare when she is photographed hungover, with a cigarette and dark circles underneath her eyes, not to mention the headline being “Single and fabulous?” versus what she expected would be a celebratory headline of “Single and fabulous!”
5. “Maybe we could be each other’s soulmates.”
Finally, one of the sweetest lines in the entire show, and one that truly exemplifies the entire premise of Sex and The City, is when Charlotte posits that maybe the women could embrace being the love of each other’s lives and that they don’t need to center men to be fulfilled.
While at their favorite local diner, Charlotte says, “Maybe we could be each other’s soulmates, and then we can let men just be these great, nice guys to have fun with.” It’s a lovely sentiment and an important one too. Because sometimes, the greatest love stories are actually the ones we share with our best friends.
