The Worst Idea Of All Time - And Just Like That... Part 7 (w/Chris Parker)

Episode Date: January 19, 2022

Tim and Guy are joined by the great Chris Parker - a man who has been sincerely watching and loving the series! Luxuriating in Chris' enthusiasm, the lads talk about the joy of meeting the show on its own level. This time, widow Carrie is vomiting (perhaps...? Definitely getting vomited ON) on a first date. Charlotte and Runkle argue over a game of tennis which leads Chris and Tim to argue over their argument. We need #JusticeForSteve who has now been reduced to Mr Magoo status. Guy find Che confronting and infuriating. Most importantly, the trio speculate as to what storylines will be resolved and which will be left alone between now and the season end.Chris' InstagramChris' upcoming shows in NZ/AusKillionaire Entry formTWIOAT's Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oh my god, they're only doing sex in the city again. This truly is the worst idea of all time. Hello and welcome to episode 7 of our watch-along series of the Sex and the City reboot. the Sex and the City reboot, and just like that, episode 7 is called Sex and the Widow, a delightful play on words on the original title of the show. I am Guy Montgomery, I am sat next to Tim Batt. Hi everybody. And we are joined by special guest... Self-proclaimed Miranda. Self-proclaimed Miranda, news to me.

Do you know, I've always thought of myself as a bit of a Miranda. Really? Since we watched the movies. Chris Parker. Hi, everyone. I've actually considered myself more of a Carrie. Oh, recently. In the sense that I identify with having a lead character complex in my own life.

Well, it's not a complex. In your own life, Chris, you are the lead character. And a Carrie would say that. Yes. Carrie would identify it out loud to everybody without acknowledging that other people

were the star of your own lives. And the masses would read it and they'd think, she's right, Carrie is the main character. It's an honour to be here. Can I just say that first and foremost?

I watched the episode. Watching this series has been the highlight of the end of my last year and the beginning of this year every day every week when it drops on a thursday i get a flutter in my heart truly truly i can say without a slither of like irony i'm truly loving the series and was that the case from the start like from episode one yeah Yeah. I mean, sorry, big caxon on a Peloton and you're like, I'm in.

I was weeping by episode two. And so many people hate it. So many people hate it. And I just love what it is. It's like a big bag of sour cream and chives chips or something. You know, you just like, it's too much. Yeah.

But it's just so revoltingly good. And I love it. And, you know, by the end of the hour, your tongue's burnt off. All the artificial flavor's taken over. But I'm loving it. You are who the show is for. You're engaging with it exactly how they'd hope. Yeah, because I'm sick of critiquing things on a level that they don't deserve to be critiqued on.

That they're not asking to be criticized on. Exactly. They know exactly what they're giving us, is a pile of shit and they're giving and it's so i okay chris i don't think that they think they're giving us a pile of shit no like there's levels there's levels to it and i think on one level you're absolutely right i think mattress parklet king and hbo are fully aware of what they're doing here. And it's like, how do you measure success for a project like this? Is it purely money?

Probably, right? I think if we're talking about it, they're happy. Yeah. 100%. People are watching this. I haven't seen stats. This is just a vibration I'm picking up in the world. People are watching the show. People are consuming it.

And they're still on board. And I'm on board. Can I say that about this episode that's new i'm now very on i feel like you've been dragging your heels through this entire season i know i know it's a pleasure to be able to do this podcast as well in terms of the fact that we won didn't have to watch straight porn together and to just the kind of buoyancy that you both have knowing that you're watching a fresh app you know like oh i love it good yeah yeah the the feeling i've had this season is one of release it's one of joy and jubilation and um i've been like traveling down there and just like that rabbit hole with more caution i would say than you who's throwing themselves into it with pure pleasure with reckless abandon yeah but i have um come to enjoy the show i think and almost i feel like the original series almost i i don't believe that's canon i almost um interestingly i feel like i was treating it with a real gravitas

in more recent episodes like the last two i've really been like you know been engaging with it in a way that you've been criticising, which is on a level which is higher than the show's asking for. And in this episode, I thought, this is really silly. This is a really fucking silly show. And it was a joy to watch it with that top of mind. Yeah. I like to go, I like to sort of, this is how I watch it. I like to pop my laptop up

Lie on my bed I'm sort of like In fetal position You know there's a bag of chips Or something to drink At the same time And I sort of go on my phone At the same time

I pay little to no attention And then I sort of The story washes over me And every now and then I'll pause When certain characters Are speaking Because it gets too much for me

And then I'll play again After a few moments Of just like Letting it sink in And then I'll pause when certain characters are speaking because it gets too much for me and then i'll play again after a few moments i'm just like letting it sink in and then um i'll go like oh nice clothes oh what a weird shirt oh odd bag yeah i like that lamp and that's kind of it that's my experience can i just ask as well when you say a character gets too much for you and that's when you have to pause is it like um smugness of dialogue is it too melodramatic a moment it is uh or are you like so on board that things are because this this has some real melodramatic elements and sad stuff happens and big things happens and are you so taken in with the emotion that you need to just rest with it for a bit no there's one character in particular which we all know who the character is and i am worried about publicly declaring my hatred of shea diaz only for this reason i feel like shea diaz has

been put in this show purposefully as a way as a tool a weapon by the creators of the show to be like oh i get it sorry sex in the City was cancelled because it was problematic. We will give you the most woke, like, sort of morally right character we can, and we are going to make you hate them as a way for us to be, like, challenged by our own values, to be like, get rid of all this kind of, like, virtue signaling. We just want trash characters. And they're like, see? We knew it. You know you know like it's like they're playing us at our own game

and i feel like the only way that we can truly get rid of shady as is by liking them this is some five-dimensional chess being played by the producers of and just like that don't you think i do and you have articulated it far better something that i tried to voice in an earlier episode which is like you know what is the um what's on the the dartboard of like things that we need to keep twitter happy with and we'll put it all into one character quite haphazardly um and and they'll just sort of like permeate the show but i have actually you know i've i've grown to really like shay um same i can't stand shay i love shay and i love their comedy you feel attacked by their comedy yeah i i think i'm warning a guy yeah they uh the reason that i take huge issue with shay is that shay is billed as this incredible world changing comedian and I can't

you know what it is it's this, it's that the things that, sorry, the opposite to love is not hate, it is indifference and the reason why you hate this character is because they are so close to the thing that you love and you do

and your heroes are in this art form doing it in a such similar way but it is just different enough for you the the portrayal of stand-up comedy in the show through the vehicle of shay that it has fallen into an uncanny valley for you and you are revolted by how close but not quite right it is i think there's there's there's truth in there i just i i cannot stand the reverence with which everyone treats what is objectively a bad a bad comic shay's pod shay's pretty good on the podcast i'll give i'll give them that x y and me is not a podcast i would listen to but as a host

that's well produced what yeah it's well produced what they What they... The dynamic with... Yeah, the dynamic with Bobby Lee. What they try to get out of Carrie. I'm all for that. But also, they are morally questionable. Their treatment of Miranda, even though Miranda's asking for way more from Shay than is reasonable or what Shay will give. Yes.

Miranda is not treated with any tenderness or care, I would say, by Shane. No. And on a journey, that's quite fraught for her at the moment. But, you know, this is every relationship in the world. What business of it is Shane's? Shane is just trying to suck and fuck whoever they like. And I guess that's kind of what I like about the character is, and they say explicitly in this episode, like, say what you want that's a turn on and i kind

of like i like that attitude of just hey you can't be worried about everyone all the time everyone's got to kind of like stand on their feet a little bit you go ahead chris and then i have a very important point to make about also i think why i don't like no go go go you go another reason i don't like shay is because they are trampling on the people's prince that is steve they have like reduced one of the great characters in my experience of sex in the city to as you aptly put while we watch this episode tim mr magoo they have removed all of his agency and just made him this aged stupid fuck fuck. Who, like, was... I feel like I've watched Steve have sex.

And the man knows how... Steve is so hot. And he's kept so well. Yeah. Damn, he's so hot in this series. And he is like a buffoon. He's like 90 years old. Completely deaf.

Can't work his way around a market that he's been to every week. Or his whole life living in New York. He's lost all of his self-confidence. He's asking for permission to put lids on food containers in his own kitchen to put in the fridge. This guy ran a bar. He's a small business owner. He's been in the rough and tumble of the New York City economy. He was the mayor of New York City.

What happened to him? What happened to that marriage? It's so sad because I feel like the takeaway of Sex and the City And just like that, sorry It's like you're never going to end up happy It's kind of where we're at Charlotte is the happily ever after Which I think is kind of apt because That's always what she was gunning for, right?

She's the most delusional And she's the most who's gunning for right she's the most delusional and she's the most who's out of control and she's the one whose life i would be the most scared to live well there's a there's it's interesting because there's a direct like i agree that charlotte is the most delusional character which marries perfectly to the fact that charlotte is the most controlling in terms of trying to you know control how she's perceived and how other people around to represent her. And if that's how you're going to live your life, is exclusively through the lens of how other people are looking at you,

of course you're going to be fucking delusional because you're not doing anything on your own terms. Every decision she makes is based on what people think of her. I can't believe she ran an art gallery. Like, I can't believe it is the same woman who's, like, playing tennis with her husband and kind of getting in a strop is this and like kind of delivering this very sort of first way like sort of mansplaining instagram infographic lesson to her husband i it's the same woman that ran an

art gallery that was like all about empowering female sexuality. Before we pile on her too hard, she did have the best line and line read of the entire episode, where she said, I will not apologize for playing good tennis. You are driving me fucking crazy. Yeah. It was awesome.

That was sick. It was so good. This is where I'm like, if I was looking at this show beyond it being a pile of steaming shit, the part of me that's like, this could be amazing is this show that looks at life with your friends in your fifties. Like that's heaven to me. I'm desperate to see that. I'm desperate to watch a show about like when you get to a certain point and your friend dies of just old age and what that means to you. But it's like none of them have let the death of Big affect them.

They're all just, what kind of- Big, Carrie- You're right. Apart from Carrie, like, it's not acknowledged by anyone else that it's happened. And we only know it because she's always like, my husband died. She's always using it to one-up someone. It's never like, I'm having a low day today or anything like that. It's always someone will say something going wrong in their life and she's like well i'm a widow so i

win yeah like she literally says i still win to charlotte at one point at every turn it's and the weird thing is miranda and her having a discussion this conversation this episode about miranda's sex life yeah and about how it's sort of dead and it needs to be resuscitated and there's a slight part of me That's wondering Would you feel uncomfortable Having this conversation With your friend

Whose husband has just Well not just died But died that year To be using terminology To be like He's non My sex life is non responsive It's like

It feels Yeah That's all Beautifully constructed For Carrie to say Well my sex life Actually is dead As in My actually is dead.

My husband is dead. He's buried in a coffin under the ground. What I clicked on to in this episode, which I don't know, maybe I like, maybe I said this when we were doing the movies or something, but every character is written with the same voice. And then just one cartoonish element changed like they went back to the thing of making rankle just like have not a whole lot of lines in this episode but half of them reference the fact that he's jewish yeah his first line is hi i'm jewish yeah it's like he's making some toast and charlotte's like did you get hungry he's like yeah i found like some nosh just like okay just okay it's cool cool cool, cool. They are all, yeah. I mean, this episode felt more fun and frivolous because the pacing was totally different. The first half of it, they crammed so many different story dynamics.

And this is something Olivia observed in our last episode, which is that there is inconsistency in how stories are treated. And the timeline is very confusing. When you were talking about when Big died, relative to this episode, when do you think Big did die? Okay, so I need to sort of think about this a little bit because she had a sore hip. Then she healed from the hip and we saw her in her heels.

And it took a while. That took three months. It did take three months. And then this episode began with what felt like 10 years passing in a window. We saw every season. I think we just. Critically, we saw autumn, winter. Yeah, we saw.

Beginning of spring. That's right. And the song said, spring has come. Exactly. Because if you can't pick up on the cues. They'll tell you. I'm going to say six months since Big died. Roughly.

Which is honestly not a long time. Since the love of your life died on a bike. Yeah, you'd be a mess. You'd still be a mess after six months. Your friends would at least acknowledge it out loud to you that it's happened. It's got to be longer than six months. I've just got to put a stake in the ground for something you said earlier chris i was i was it's sort of one of those things where it's like i know what you guys are doing but you still got me anyway i was fully with charlotte of that

spiel that she gave harry about the fact that he like it's such it was such a funny it was like a seinfeld turn in the episode where it's like we're just going to dig our heels into a tiny point and explore it from multiple angles of whether Charlotte being aggressive on the tennis court presumably you know sort of the insistence or suggestion of Harry saying you've got to go for the ball because they both missed a shot

and then she went and took Harry out when she was going for a shot and won the match, I don't know tennis yeah she did, she won the match. I don't know, tennis. Yeah, she did. She won the match. But Harry got very hurt because he got bowled over by it and she didn't say sorry. And you know what? I'm with

Charlotte on this one. Women are always having to apologize. It's a cool zone. I'm on Charlotte's side. I just think the way it was phrased, like the articulation of that speech. The mansplained speech. Was like, she did that speech 10 years ago. I'm so surprised that she's delivering it now.

And the way she's blindly navigating her child's gender exploration is so clumsy and uncomfortable in a way that I'm like you're you live i mean this is the big thing these characters are not written like they've lived in new york their whole lives absolutely this is what i keep coming back to with miranda putting her foot in her mouth with her black law professor it's like you you fucking live in new york first of all you live in New York City. First of all, you live in the year 2020-ish, one, two. Secondly, you're in New York City.

What is going on here? Did you hit your head? Something happened in the movies where they became so rich. The women became so rich. You know, they're not that rich. I mean, they're quite rich in the original series. Is Carrie broke in the series because she's a writer like did they sort of play with that at all or is she okay no she's just like

lives this very chic bohemian life it's not i mean she's got a small charming apartment and you know she's not moving because she doesn't want to like lose her rent and she's spending money on designer shoes and she should really rein that back that's kind of her energy the whole time loves it loves a cocktail okay very social but she's like got expendable income she's a writer she's got some you think you think between the series which it's i just cannot emphasize enough it's not canon and and just like that there was the the assumed wealth or understood wealth of the characters became so great that it means that the show and movies exist in a vacuum of non-reality, just where they actually don't brush up against

ordinary civilization or what the world is doing. The movies changed it for all time. The money, I guess, was thrown at the series. The timing for me is so hilarious because it was the first movie that came out in 2008. So literally the global financial crisis happened, the markets melted down, and America gained a class consciousness that it hasn't seen for decades of finally recognizing that all of their wealth was going to the very top and everyone was getting fucking boned and mattress pike like king was like i've got an answer for this we'll make them hyper wealthy and send them around the world to shit on other cultures while wearing really beautiful dresses and it's like there is something so full circle awful about that that it's enjoyable

it is days of our lives you know it's like it is a fool's errand to critically assess a daytime soap opera and while this isn't that it's not a million miles away from the energy but it's it it's more self-serious they are successfully or unsuccessfully trying to elevate their standing amongst the world like it's it's still reaching to be some version of prestige television they're still okay what is what is this series trying to be like what's the series that's actually doing it what is the series aspiring to be uh i think i i i don't watch enough tv to know what this series is aspiring to be but what if this if this show wanted to achieve what it's trying to do

it would have to exist with brand new intellectual property and characters who haven't lived like through the Brady spin-off yeah I mean to see yeah see that's what I was thinking is in the last episode when Charlotte was talking to

Rock and Lily in their room and then they went off to school, I thought it would be great to go to school. It would be great to go to school with these characters and actually kick around with the group of teenagers who are living beneath this series of completely fucking insane parents which i guess is what euphoria or something grounded almost gossip girl yeah but gossip girl fell into the

same trap that this did which is like these shows were delightful because they were they existed separate from reality and they didn't bother to try and address any of the gritty, challenging details of a normal life. And Gossip Girl rebooted and tried to become progressive, and they tried to actually incorporate a lot of stuff that would have been understandable criticism of the original Gossip Girl. But the fact that the original Gossip Girl was pure trash is what made it so good.

And the fact that Sex and the City just followed around these four women in their like self-interested pursuit of their own lives which is a totally reasonable way for them to live their life made it good and now when they're trying to like introduce intersectionality in other parts it's when it becomes a bit of a mess what i would love from this show actually is because they're so accountable to their past these these characters, in a way. They existed in a time before social media, but we have this record of them and their past behavior

that we can actually sort of hold them accountable to who they previously were in a way that's very common, I think going to be very common in our lives as well. And as they've gotten older and more successful and married and got kids, they've become really, really wealthy. They're essentially now,

they were these amazing like you know publicists and a gallerist and a cutting-edge writer and now they're the real housewives of new york yeah and what would be incredible is if there's a moment in the series this is what they should have done that they realize they've lost touch and they're all incredibly wealthy and then they just try and get back to who they originally were but not by you know woking themselves up yeah but just in a way where they're like oh we've absolutely lost touch with who we are do you feel like miranda is sort of doing that in the series i feel especially early on it was an action point it was motivation for her to do something like literally she was going back to school you know and all the sort of two layers of metaphor that that is i think there was a accountability that miranda was like i need

that would make that made sense for that character as a lawyer to be like i actually don't want to just be suing rich people i want to be like trying to make a difference i think the the character that is going on the best journey currently is carrie i i love that she's doing this massive journey back to original carrie in a way yeah like there's i got goosebumps yeah you did i'll bet you did when her it healed and she wore that amazing sparkly dress and her legs looked incredible and she was in her heels in her apartment and it was like she's like she you mean after she did the three-month voiceover she said and just like that it was three months later And she was in her heels in her apartment. And it was like, she's like, she was. Do you mean after she did the three month voiceover? And just like that, it was three months later and I was in heels again. You got goosebumps.

I got goosebumps. Because. Incredible. I wish. Because she was in that big white apartment that beat. And you were like, I was afraid that she was going to, I was genuinely afraid they were going to move her in there. And she made this choice to kind of go back to... But you respected that storytelling.

Yes. You respected dropping her in and taking her out. Guy, I'm enjoying the series. I said it right up top. I'm loving it. While we're speaking of enjoyment, I do want to say one thing before I forget, is that this is the first episode,

I didn't realize it until you mentioned the word publicist before, I didn't even think of Samantha. Well, it's because this is the first time they haven't mentioned it have the opposite feeling this is the first episode i missed samantha what what situation did you want to see her in okay critically they're at this sort of weird fundraising event for the school and carrie is reciting the events of her, which was like this incredible double spew moment that was just like heaven to me. Like such a great choice from the writers just to like, because Carrie-

Do you want to give us the full context of it? We haven't actually talked about what happens in the end. Okay. All right. Just put me to work. Okay. So Carrie, three months has passed. We saw the seasons change in the window.

She writes a full book which is truly inspiring stuff and the her book publisher is like the book is amazing it's really really sad it needs a glimmer of hope and the book publisher is this amazing woman that honestly the performance really rings true to me like i've met these women in my life um she loves caffeine she loves a cappuccino she's sort of spiraling in a way that feels almost too much and she's very personable in a way that i feel like you wouldn't want to be friends with her and then um so carrie's like oh my god i have to start dating again and then weirdly her new i don't know the case sema sema this is a weird bit where sema was like oh well actually i've already set you up an online dating platform, which I think really crossed a line in terms of a new friend.

If a new friend set me up a dating profile and was catfishing people without me knowing while I'm grieving my dead husband, I would be so mad. But Carrie's like, time to get back on the old horse. She has a moment of being weird about it. And then Seema says, you're doing quite well. And Carrie's like, oh, okay, cool. Great. Love it. Because she's a narcissist.

And I can relate to that. So then she starts dating. And she swipes three times on old man Tinder, I think, and finds the perfect man. Which is someone who has the word widow in their dating biography. It says whatever his name is. So Patrick. Patrick. Teacher. Widow his name is, say Patrick. Patrick, teacher,

widow. And she thinks, a widow? Do you reckon they're on Tinder or do you think they're on like some kind of Raya, Raya,

like high profile. Is that the elite one? Yeah. Sorry, I don't know how the fucking math teacher got on Raya. Continue. I don't know,

why is it a fundraiser later in a tuxedo? But you know, we don't need to explore all of it. They're all just there. It's New York. It's New York, know why he's at a fundraiser later in a tuxedo, but, you know, we don't need to explore all of it. They're all just there. It's New York. It's New York, baby. Everyone's at the same event. Which is the fifth character of the series,

and not written enough. Anyway, so. It's actually been the fourth since they got rid of Samantha. It goes Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte. New York City. New York, Shay. No, New York. The presence of Samantha Jones on a smartphone. City, Shay. No, New York. The presence

of Samantha Jones on a smartphone. Shay. And so Carrie goes on this date and they sit down in this restaurant and then she's like, I think we're going to need another drink. What they mean by that is quite a few drinks because her and this rich math teacher get really,

really drunk and they exit the bar in one of my favorite kind of acting styles, which is laughing upon leaving something. And you haven't made a choice as an actor as to what you're laughing about. But it is fucking hysterical. And whenever that happens, my mind just wanders as to what event played out. But I think some sort of guffaw with the waitstaff where he said something inappropriate.

And they're laughing and they're laughing, and then because they're old, he starts coughing. Can I say what I think they're laughing at? Yes, please. Which I think it's more like, because both of them acknowledge this is their first date since they've been widowed. Yes.

And they're both quite nervous, and they order some drinks and they start listening up. I think that there was probably some sort of gallows humour i think that they're probably joking about their part that you know like who's got this and then she was like big and then they were like oh yeah but even further i think they've crossed the rubicon and they're like they're really you know letting out the darkest thoughts that they've not been comfortable to share with anyone who cannot empathize with their situation i think there's a deep guttural like uh what's the word cathartic laughs that they're having and what an amazing choice from the writers to be like

we've got our lead character here whose husband has died and she's actually on her first date with a man whose wife has just died and we could write that scene but actually too hard um so let's just skip to them laughing well yeah it's a brave choice they need to include the half an hour argument between runkle and charlotte about whether or not she should apologize but that's just like it's amazing as a writer you can just make your job that much easier we're like isn't it a smarter choice not to write the scene you're like i think it's an easier choice and then they you know so they exit the but they exit the bar They're laughing It's New York It's night time

And then he starts coughing Because he's old And then he just like Or he could have COVID COVID exists COVID exists True But does it make you

Projectile vomit All over your shoes And then Carrie sort of Sees the vomit And Because I rewatched this Quite a few times

Because Carrie makes it Sound like she vomited first Thank you I didn't know what happened And we should have rewound it too. Because I said out loud, I said, are they both vomiting? He vomits first. And I think Carrie has a reflex where you see someone vomit and then you vomit. But the way they vomit, you'd think they've been poisoned.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like it's not like a, because when I've vomited from drinking too much, it's like a slow tap being turned on. Have you spewed from bad food before, though? Like a gastro thing? Because that is like your body going, this needs to exit me now. And that's the kind of vomit it was. This is sort of a shishy alcohol poisoning vomit.

It's not a slow, churning, guttural tap. It's more sort of like... It's a couple of cosmopolitans out they come easy in easy out it's an amazing moment so good you loved you loved it again today you said and that's when they won me over that's what you said and just like that i was hooked and i thought it was just such a funny choice and so degrading for this like for sarah jessica parker but i love that she was like i'm on board like i love the double spew like they were just into it anyway so cut to this

fundraiser where carrie's retelling this i mean we're all watching it being like as a writer myself i was like well there's the ending of your book like yeah 100 there's the ending of your book and then she's like with her friends being, well, the date was a flop. And the book's gone. And the book's gone. Don't have an ending to the book. And we're all like, you have the best ending to your book. What are you talking about?

The date clearly wasn't a flop either. They were getting on famously. They walked out of the bar just absolutely falling over each other. And Miranda and Charlotte are like, oh, well, maybe next time. And that's where i miss samantha i empathize with miranda and charlotte because they face the challenge of providing the right type of listening for carrie who is such a difficult person to have a conversation with without her being like well this that's where samantha was the perfect because she

cuts through because she would have gone so honey you spewed on her shoes buy him some new ones and then like we move on you know and and then Carrie would have got over it. Yeah, but instead the two friends that they have are cowed by the situation. She's doing, Samantha was doing so much work for us as an audience. Because instead of having that great, it's like a moment of conflict. Because the character of Carrie is quite tightly wound. She's taken this too seriously she's overthought it she's turned it into something it's not because there's no one

to check her on that we then have to go with her on this overthought and so now there's like this extended bit of the episode where she's trying to avoid the guy at all costs this is the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened i don't get get it. Me, Tim Bat, I don't understand. You had a great time. You went out for a date. You got so much in common. You spewed, you had a few drinks. Happens to the best of us.

Yeah. Get over it. You're under unique circumstance where I understand that if it was on a date with Big or if you were on much more familiar terrain, you might feel as self-conscious about it as you possibly can. But you're going on your first date with a fellow widower.

You overdid it. Big whoop. Yes, you both spew. I mean, it's the best ending. It's great. It's incredible. It's amazing. But instead we get...

What's their gay friend called? Anthony. Anthony. Being like, I shit my pants. That's right. I fill my pants with chukka chippy cookies like he's so

I have nightmares about having to have a like somehow getting caught at a dinner party next to Anthony and having I would love it

two hours of conversation oh my god I would love to hang out with him I feel tired as a gay man I cannot stand him I cannot stand him

and it's so like it's so gutting it's so gutting that his that oh my god the other gay man's stanford stanford like that poor actor who passed away and to be kind of just his character to be so dragged through the mud in this way that he's gone and chased a tiktok star and meanwhile Meanwhile, Big is like a heroicite. I'm just like, oh my God. I know. They couldn't have got it more wrong.

They couldn't have got it more wrong. Talk about opposites day. Justice for Willie Garson. No, I won't talk about opposites. You have to. No, I'm doing it. Oh, I see. We're having fun.

I also thought, you know, while we're sort of reflecting on the entirety of the episode the subplot carries obviously always driving the story but what they had around it was the the nexus of charlotte and runkel's argument was basically everyone argues yeah yeah you know that was the whole they introduced tennis they introduced this whole thing It didn't amount to much They got embarrassed because their Argument spilled onto the street very loudly And they were caught out by

Is that Naya? No, that is That's Lisa Todd Wexley And her husband Herbert Wexley Lisa and Herbert So this is the couple that Charlotte is trying to impress throughout this series. This is the new friend.

What does she do? Is she a lawyer as well? She's something very powerful. Yeah, she's a high-powered woman. She's a real housewife of New York. They're all real housewives of New York. Let's talk about her pursuing a political career later. She's a mover and a shaker.

She's a networker. She's very powerful. She's well-to-do. She's lovely by and large. For Charlotte to publicly explode at Harry and tell him that she's going fucking crazy accidentally in front of them is

devastating. Then the coda to that is at the fundraiser. They walk through a corridor looking for a toilet and then the coder to that is at the um fundraiser they walk through a corridor looking for a toilet and then the tables turn that's right the friend couple are arguing yeah herbert and lisa are hosting the auction lisa's got awful mic technique and it's driving each other crazy and shay opens their set they're doing a set at this fundraiser by saying uh i'll use this one. Seeing as she isn't, peels of laughter. It would kill after that auction tank. Justice for Shay.

You really don't like them, eh? Yeah. But to be fair, they did fuel the more interesting subplot of the episode, which is Miranda's journey, which Miranda's been given a very meaty season. Yeah. Huge. between the return to law school the alcoholism her son fucking her son being a fuck machine and the discovery of her sexuality her husband going deaf her husband going deaf her husband is treated die with benjamin

budden disease yeah her husband is being treated as like a comedy, sort of like a caricature. Her husband is a caricature of the Steve 39. No, he's got Jack disease. He's just aging. He's getting so old so fast. He's aging prematurely. Oh, the scene where she gets Steve to finger her. And that was the moment I really turned on Miranda.

I was like That is so Mean It was so mean to Steve It just felt so mean It was mean It was But she's She's kinda

It's wrapped in this layer Of she's trying to do Anything she can To sort of I know Reinvigorate her marriage I think and save it But she's also cheating on him

It was Do you know what though Undeniably true It was A good It was hard to watch Which means it was a good him. It was. Do you know what though? Undeniably true. It was hard to watch, which means it was a good scene. Yeah. It was a really, really. What was that movie?

Marriage Story? Yeah. Marriage Story. Marriage Story. It was like that level of awkwardness. Well, not quite that level of acting or writing, but it was like a well played out scene of you stay in the fucking pits of awkwardness with them. After the moment, the ass has fallen out of the moment.

So Steve tries to finger it. It's not going well. And then we stay in the kitchen with them putting away food. And it's like, oh, get me out of this house. My hope is that one day I come as hard as Miranda came when she fingered her. That's my hope. I wish you that for 2022. My hope is that Steve comes that hard.

I hope that by episode 10 they put Steve in a rest home and we get to watch him just... Someone fingers his prostate. He just goes from room to room just fucking the ever-loving daylights of whoever's on their daybed. What if Steve and Carrie Got together

He's dying of old age next week One last big come and then he goes That's how the season should finish With Steve having the biggest come of his life And dies first Steve came and died Came and went Yes

Good lord I wish I had the confidence of Shea Doing stand up, I think it was well not having done stand up Oh lord God I love I wish I had the confidence Of Shea doing stand up I think as well Not having done stand up In a while

Because of the Pandemic Whenever I see Shea Performing I get really insecure Because I'm like They have so much confidence Out there

With no material It's very Do you know what It's very It's very American Would you do It is very America is home to the best.

The best comedians in the world are nearly always American. You're both very confident performers, though. The drop off from that to the number of bad comedians who deliver with a level of confidence and salesmanship that can brainwash an audience of people into thinking they're watching comedy is staggering. And Shay represents that perfectly. We all have confidence out there,

but none of us have the confidence to walk out at a corporate gig and say, hey, I usually do about a 40-minute set, but they asked me to keep it clean, so I'm just going to do three. You know, I just would never do 40 minutes of comedy. I feel like I've seen those. I roll my eyes at those comedians in real life.

I'm going to have issues with Shay. I'll pay you $10 to say that at your next gig. This is like. I will. The next gig we do together. This is an internalized hatred of comedians. This is like a self-effacing phenomenon for you. Your hatred of Shay.

No, I hate Shay just as much. I'm telling you. The only way that you. Your hatred of Shay. No, I hate Shay just as much. I'm telling you. The only way that you... But yours isn't centered around the comedy aspect as much, I feel. No, it's all... No, it is.

The stand-up show was so bad. The special is the worst thing, but I wish I could see the whole thing. And then there are these fawning characters at the thing saying,

I've watched your special ten times. And my husband said, what's happening to you? Do you reckon Hannah Gadsby's watching it just being like, that better not be about me. It is. If that's about me, what's happening to you? Do you reckon Hannah Gadsby's watching it just being like, that better not be about me.

It is. If that's about me, I'm going to be so fucking pissed off. Mattress Pikelet King watched Nanette and was like, I know who needs to be in the show. Just texting Sarah Jessica Parker being like, hey, that's not about me, is it? So in this season, we've been doing favorite character, least favorite character for every episode.

Got him. Great. Then, Chris, please start us off. Favorite character, Carrie Bradshaw. Awesome. Always will be. I love her apartment. I love her lamps.

I love her style. I love her in her widow era. I think she has just aged so beautifully. I honestly think Sarah Jessica Parker is giving an incredible performance. Widow era I think she has just Aged so beautifully I think she's I honestly think Sarah Jessica Parker Is giving an Incredible performance

I think she lights up the screen That's why we watch the series She's so good Least favourite character There's an argument Between Miranda's professor And her partner

Yeah About the About how they can't have a baby And they almost Run a red light and they put their foot on the brakes and a gay couple with a toddler in a pram freak out. And that gay man is my least favorite character

of the entire Exeter City franchise. You couldn't have picked a better person because I think that scene happened before you arrived. So maybe I'll go next. Favourite character, same guy. No. Yes. That's homophobic.

No, it isn't. It is. I literally watched that moment and was like, do they hate gay men? Do they know who watches this series? First of all, yes and it's so strange that Mattress Pikelet King does hate gay men

Is that the creator of the series? Mattress Pikelet King Sorry, that is how we refer to a man who is also known as Michael Patrick King who wrote most of the tv show um and the two movies and a lot but not all of the series but i think he's been like you know script supervising for everyone um i'm using that term wrong i know that's a specific thing and different to what you

think but whatever you know whatever get what i'm saying yeah um so that guy because i saw a man as a dad as a new dad with a with a baby and a pram i'm like if i almost got hit by someone i would want contrition from that driver he didn't hit he but it was i would be so like pumped up with with uh you know what's it called well protect it you'd want to protect your like chemicals what is it called adrenaline yeah adrenaline i'd be rapping on that window being like what the fuck man she he's on the road he didn't give her an opportunity to be contrite he sort of he sort of did and they they pushed back immediately they apologized and then he kept yelling harder again it wasn't a big apology. He's my favorite character. I love it.

You boys have been getting on so well this episode. You have to admit he overreacted slightly. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Of course. There is so little representation of gay men living in New York

and just like that and we have anthony who runs a naked catering hot fellas hot fellas anthony who's given like a subplot of he anthony in this episode is like i've got a new a rule no waiters or caters when he talks about there's no hotties for him to have sex with the thing and then like later on this whole gig he says must happen when i got a handjob from that cater waiter in the bathroom. Oh, what the fuck? I missed that.

You're right. We had Stanford, who ran off to manage a TikTok star. In Japan. And then the other gay man we had was that barber. It was like, I have a toddler. I have a toddler. Like, oh my, just, oh my God. No, a wasp.

Look, full disclosure, I absolutely can't remember. And I say this every episode. I can't remember who I've picked for my favorite character previously. But this time I'm going to go with Charlotte. Your least favorite. No, my favorite. Oh, no. Oh, no. I'm on to least favorite, aren charlotte uh your least favorite no my favorite oh no oh no i'm onto least favorite aren't i yeah i've done my favorite least favorite i'm gonna go with runkle because he um got in that awkward zone in the argument of like not putting his

boundaries down enough to be like no you know what you're actually in the wrong here so he was just like in an annoying space of sort of like half-heartedly demanding an apology for a long time making the decision to a not get over it which is very valid even if you think you're right you're in a marriage you've got a family sometimes you take the hit or stand your ground he kind of did the middle thing where it's like i'll just keep bringing it up it's like in a light-hearted way but i seriously want an apology. So annoying. So annoying. I detest that. It is one of my least favorite personality traits in people. I know that some people do it almost as part of their personality,

and it annoys the hell out of me. Pick a lane. So this time, Runkle. And you can't use anything that happens in social sport as, like, weapon for an argument. As Rochelle said, and she's dead right. She's absolutely right. Well, she's got a slightly more nuanced point in that the gender balance thing also plays

into it, which I'm also, in this case, on board with for her. Leave it on the court. For what it's worth, I disagree with how Harry persisted asking for the apology, but you apologize. You knock someone over, incidentally, anywhere in the world, you apologize. You know what's fucked up? I agree. It's a common courtesy.

incidentally, anywhere in the world, you apologize. You know what's fucked up? I agree. It's a common courtesy. But Harry was so annoying with his pursuit that he sailed over the fact that he technically has the high ground in this. In his initial response to it, I saw some of myself in Harry.

Who's your favorite and least favorite? My favorite was Peter. Carrie's widow date. Nice. The math teacher. Yeah, really nice guy. Good guy. Good vibes.

Like, I don't know what he said about the date afterwards but i bet he wasn't having a fucking anxiety attack i'm sorry i don't want to you go ahead it sounds like you're not going to get into this we haven't even mentioned this he rescues carrie from the most embarrassing possible outcome when you put yourself forward in an auction as an item which is well first no one bids on you then they lower the price then your friend freaks out and starts bidding against herself to show the room that you're worth something and then he real prince charming move steps in and chucks down yeah carrie bids a thousand dollars on herself which is the price of her dignity in this moment and then he says a

thousand fifty dollars and uh it's a lot of money lot of money. They have a cute sort of interaction afterwards where it's established they are going to go on the date. There are teacher's strikes happening in America right now. There's no way you can afford that. He sends her a great text where he's looking forward to the second date with the spew emoji.

And I was like, this guy seems funny. He's putting himself out there. He's in a similar situation. I've got time for him. I appreciated as well that no one really knew who carrie was at the auction they're like oh i think she wrote a column like in the 90s

you know like she is a little washed up which i appreciate i kept waiting for the applause when she like got mentioned or then stood up on stage and never came yeah the thing is that i totally agree she's washed and i feel like this book if it is as raw as her publisher says whose instincts i do not trust i've met so many of these people like it's incredible we love it and i'm like oh you do not like the cover oh my god just show you the worst like graphic design of the book i love number five fucking hell uh but if it's as raw as that woman says it is then i think this book could be a really like you know i think carrie's capable of writing one last great thing and if she's as honest and open about her grief even though she's instinctual like you know it was a part of her problem in the podcast

was she couldn't open up she was squeamish when she was asked if she masturbates then she was on painkillers and she was a phenomenal guest for one episode only anyway that's all by the by uh my least favorite is the um it's the guy who runs the squash and the tomato stall at the market it looked like oh anyone who confuses steve like that by relocating their stall week to week him and the pickle guy yeah whoever is in charge of allocating where the stores go at the market I love that it hasn't even

occurred to you that Steve's just gotten a bit they're fucking around with him it's like the fifth the fourth character

the fifth character is fucking around this is what the favorite character this is what the the Stassi agents did this is like you subtly change

piece of information break into someone's house move the books, take nothing. Exactly. Let them know you've been there. It's stuff that if you say it out loud to anyone else, you sound crazy. I think we're going to get such an amazing episode from Steve next week. If they fucking let him.

They will. They have to. They didn't even have him in the last episode. So I was like happy to see him. They literally have no respect left for Steve. They didn't even have him in the last episode So I was like happy to see him They literally have no respect left for Steve They don't Do you know who another piece of collateral damage In this like home life overhaul is going to be

Brady I feel like he's just got himself back on the rails Yeah He's going to like I don't know what it's going to be He's going to ruin his sex life Previously he's done it with rats Yeah I don't know

He's going to walk in on Miranda and Shay fucking. And that's why. You're right. Miranda's going to have to confess to Steve. That's where this is leading. You're absolutely right. And then that's going to ruin his sex life. Because Brady's fucking like a king.

And now all he's going to think about is fucking his mum. I think he's so evolved. Like, that's how they've set him up now. That he'll be untouched. He's a spunk lord. about his fucking his mom i think he's so evolved like that's how they've set him up now that that he'll he'll be he'll be untouched lord they're running out of road they've got a few things to address and there's only what three episodes left oh predictions i was just thinking then i gasped when you were talking because it suddenly occurred to me are we to get an oprah cameo but no no no she wouldn't lower herself she oprah wouldn't lower herself to running for president i don't think she's going to lower

herself i feel like they're squaring themselves up for a second season carrie uh dates peter realizes that it's you know she's ready to move on but not with him agreed uh so i think she ends the episode on a positive note her book's been published she's ready to put herself back out in the world charlotte accepts uh rock she she learns to accept uh you know change they go shopping they buy pants they buy cargo pants and one of those skater belts yeah fantastic uh miranda leaves steve yes uh but shea does like leave steve for shea but shea says you've misunderstood this that's not what i asked of you that's not what i want i think they will ultimately villainize shea for us yeah well that well even in that they've kind of broken up a marriage

You know Needlessly in some ways There's not a relationship coming out of that fire And then I guess Nia gets pregnant The law professor Sorry this is your thing Nia

I think she'll foster Well I mean anyway these are my specular I don't know but there's not a lot of time left and I feel like they've got enough stories on the go that they're like you're too bound to real world thinking where

gravity exists time flows linearly like this show really messes around with the concept of time anything is possible i'm so excited about even just the amount of passage of time that could happen in the next three episodes we could be looking at four year arcs in the last three episodes who knows anything could happen which is incredible anything could happen the writing they're taking such big we saw it cynthia nixon's bare breasts in this show

which we've seen and i think the sex and city show but like first of all and this this sounds a little like try it but i genuinely that is an amazingly brave thing to do in hollywood when you would pass 50 um secondly her skin is amazing sorry to be creepy What's her secret But anything is possible You have great skin too if you're fucking like a goddess I really wish Samantha was around The fact that we know Samantha's not coming back Really fills me with sadness

Because like imagine just Oh god it would be the greatest Bait and switch of all time if they'd engineered this social media beef this pr disaster the final frame after steve we see steve come and die come and go is uh it's a tech it's a screenshot text to carry on her phone and it's a lond New York flight. Oh my God. Yes. We just see her heels step off the plane. What would be honestly incredible is if there was a new season that was just Samantha in London. Please.

I think she would do it. I would love it. Because what I understand to be her reasons for doing this. Fucking a whole bunch of English men. She didn't want to be an accessory for Carrie's shit journey again for the umpteenth time give me that spin-off

oh so good right it'd be fantastic um okay yes that's us so a perfect another perfect episode to another perfect season yeah I think that's right both of the show

and the podcast the podcast Chris it's been a's right. Both of the show and the podcast. And the podcast. Chris, it's been a delight to have you on the show. Is there anything that you're doing in the real world

that exists outside of Sex and the City and outside of The Worst City of All Time that people might be interested in? I'm doing, yeah, I am. I'm doing

the Melbourne International Comedy Festival if you're in Melbourne. I'm going to go to Sydney and do the Sydney Comedy Festival if you're in Sydney and I'm touring the country at the moment. What country?

This country, Aotearoa, New Zealand, with a comedy show as well. I'm going around a whole bunch of places. It's very like one of my favourite stand-up comedians, Shay. I don't know if you've seen their work.

It's sort of very cutting-edge social commentary, more sort of empowerment festival. And you will all be standing For the duration of the concert Fantastic And if people wanted to seek that out, how would they do it? You can actually go to my personal website ChrisParkerComedy.com or just go to my Instagram

ChrisParker11 10 Chris Parkers to kill Before you can finally sleep easily The links are in the show notes for this episode And if this episode wasn't Testament enough to Chris's comedy talents, he's literally won the greatest comedy award that we give out in New Zealand. So if you're in New Zealand, you already know who he is.

But if you're in Australia and for some reason you don't know. Out of box award. You've got to go. It makes you think. He is a challenging comedian. I'm actually also Yeah And brave I'm also going to be in Melbourne Chris and I are going to live together

So We haven't found out where yet But When we find the Address We'll be dropping there Guy Montgomery Take him or leave him

You know Like if you've got a free night If something opens up Have you watched any Essex in the City The TV show Or have you refused Only

Only odds and ends As a boy Not a whole episode not a whole season as a man I'm going to turn you into a man Are we going to watch it?

God yeah I'm watching it at the moment I like just to have it on especially when I'm hungover Alright well please bring some microphones so we can get that online Thanks very much Chris

been a pleasure having you on The pleasure is all mine And honey I'll be pleasuring myself all night long.