True life worries overwhelm the ''City'' gals

When it comes to the delicious once a week ritual of turning down the phone ringer, jumping into bed, and turning on HBO for half an hour of small-screen perfection, there’s only one thing that can ruin it: Reality. Give us parties, ridiculous outfits, four inch stilettos, multiple orgasm discussions, sex on rooftop swimming pools, and dancing at gay bars. Don’t, under any circumstances, give us money troubles, flatulence, and depressing job searches.

This week’s episode started okay with Aiden and Carrie’s teary goodbye, but as soon as Carrie opened the ”papers” Aiden left for her (Hello? Could that be more out of character for him to ever evict her? Some character continuity, please.), this episode went dangerously close to really bad reality TV. And by the time those credits rolled, Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda seemed like the four most unlikable women ever to step their Manolo Blahnik-adorned feet on the island of Manhattan.

We’ll limit our complaints to one per person, but we must vent. As if Carrie has $700 in her checking account and $957 in her savings account! Yeah, right. Samantha would never wear a gold mudflap girl necklace. Could that be any more a season and a half ago? Charlotte ended up feeling bad because she wouldn’t loan Carrie $40,000? Hello, dysfunctional. Miranda should never be allowed to utter the word ”gassy” on screen. ”I pulled my own finger”? ”I’m a walking whoopi cushion”? Why must she channel her inner 4th grade boy?

Hate to say it, but the only redeeming moments of this episode came from the guys. It was a pleasure to see Mr. Big (in his offices no less!) and his smug yet generous exchange with Carrie left us wanting a bigger role for Big. Steve is the best thing to ever happen to Miranda and perhaps to the entire male gender. How cute was his foot massage for Miranda even as she was complaining about her gastric issues? Finally, Richard showed serious promise this week. He also kind of looked like he’d just had a face lift, but that’s beside the point. When he said, ”I love you Samantha. I do,” everything stood still for a few seconds. Of course, bizarro Samantha (who will hopefully return to normal next week) ignored the previous three episodes of emotional growth and went back to relying solely on sex.

Let’s hope next week is an improvement..