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'Sex and the City' creator Darren Star wasn't crazy about how the series ended. Star called the ending a betrayal. One of the show's alternate endings was probably preferable.
Published on May 16, 2022
2 min readSex and the City fans watched on as Mr. Big finally picked Carrie Bradshaw in the series finale way back in 2004. The overly romantic moment in Paris is what many fans wanted to see. The show’s creator, Darren Star, has been hypercritical of the ending, suggesting that the decision to pair Carrie and Mr. Big up ultimately betrayed what the show was about. There were, however, alternate endings, and one of those endings was much more in line with Star’s vision for the series.
‘Sex and the City’ had four possible endings
By now, every Sex and the City fan has watched the series finale at least a few times. For some, the final episode, in which Mr. Big follows Carrie to Paris to tell her he loves her, is the perfect end to an imperfect love story. That ending, however, wasn’t the only one writers considered. Three other endings were filmed ahead of the series finale.
In one alternate ending, Carrie returns to New York to tell Miranda, Charlotte, and Samantha that she is marrying Aleksandr Petrovsky after their whirlwind romance. In a more depressing alternate ending, Carrie returns to New York to explain that Mr. Big chickened out. The third alternate ending finds Carrie and Mr. Big together, but the story’s build-up is more drawn out.
As is true with most series finales, not all fans loved it. While many Sex and the City fans wanted to see Carrie and Mr. Big together, other fans found the premise boring. Fans aren’t the only ones who feel that way.
Darren Star probably would have preferred Carrie Bradshaw to end up alone
In a Kindle Singles interview, Darren Star said that the show’s finale betrayed the series. Having the four women walk off into the sunset all in a relationship went against the overarching theme that a woman didn’t need a man to be complete.
Given Star’s thoughts, he likely would have preferred the alternate ending that showed Carrie coming home alone to explain her commitment-phobic Mr. Big had left her for good after tracking her down in the city of love. How that ending would have influenced future projects, like the two movies and reboot, is unknown.
Carrie Bradshaw’s story continues
While Mr. Big and Carrie did end up married and happy together eventually, their story didn’t end on a high note. In the first episode of And Just Like That…, the HBO Max reboot of Sex and the City, Mr. Big dies, plunging Carrie into mourning.
Season 1 follows Carrie on her journey through grief. Season 2 looks like it might follow Carrie as she navigates life, love, and being single in the city. HBO Max has greenlit season 2 but has not provided a release date yet. Production has not yet begun.
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