Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
Thursday, March 28, 2024
The Observer

Season Six of 'Sex and the City' may disappoint fans

Ending a popular series is difficult, and ending it in a satisfying manner that does justice to the series itself is nearly impossible.Looking at the reception of the final episodes of massively popular shows like "Seinfeld" or "Friends" doesn't leave much hope for any other show to compare. Popular series usually end with a bang (something completely unexpected that doesn't usually make sense) or with a whimper (mushy sentimentality that plays exactly to what producers think viewers want.)"Sex and the City" Season 6 Part 2, most notably the last episode of the series, falls into the latter of these categories. While these episodes are still better than most of what is on television, they just don't seem to do justice to the series itself.In the last eight episodes, members of the perpetually single quartet of women - Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), Samantha (Kim Cattrall) and Charlotte (Kristen Davis) - are in somewhat stable relationships, meaning the action of the show must come from somewhere other than dating drama. In this case, it means a series of "bad" things befall the women - like infertility, breast cancer, moving (to Brooklyn or Paris).While humor does manage to peek out from these unfortunate circumstances, it's all just a little bit too dark for the normally lighthearted show. Fans of the show will debate the choices made in the final episode, but all the major story lines are wrapped up, for better or for worse. Included in the set is commentary by writer/producer/director Michael Patrick King on the episodes entitled, "Let There Be Light," "Splat!" and "An American Girl in Paris (Parts Une & Deux,) which can be found on Discs One and Two. The other extras can be found on Disc Three and include two HBO farewell tributes and the USCAF writer's panel discussion, in which Michael Patrick King interviews Sarah Jessica Parker as well as many of the writers for the series.There was a great deal of speculation about how the series would end, which explains why there are three alternative series finale endings included. One of them is really just a deleted scene, so only expect two genuinely different endings. Since no commentary is provided about why certain choices were made, the endings are interesting but not very informative. There are also 10 deleted scenes and promotions for each of the last episodes included in the extras.Some fans of "Sex and the City" will be satisfied by the series' conclusion, but most die-hard fans will have more questions than answers provided by the somewhat pat solutions provided to the complicated lives of their favorite quartet of New York women.While the end of the series isn't awful, it just doesn't live up to the high expectations that come with such a witty series, beloved by fans and critics alike.