‘Sex and the City’: Carrie Bradshaw Has a Long History of Relationship Backsliding
Carrie Bradshaw’s renewed relationship with Aidan Shaw in recent episodes of And Just Like That… has been met with mixed reviews. Sex and the City fans have been sounding off since Carrie jumped right back into a serious romance with the former furniture designer. Some viewers are suggesting Carrie is acting out of character. If you think about it, though, Carrie is behaving as she always has. Carrie Bradshaw is a major relationship backslider. She dated Aidan twice before, and there were several other men she decided to try again with over the years. .
She made a mistake named Kurt Harrington three times before the series began
While some Sex and the City fans might believe Mr. Big turned Carrie Bradshaw into a relationship backslider, that does not appear to be the case. In season 1, Carrie revealed that long before there was Mr. Big, she made a mistake by the name of Kurt Harrington multiple times.
In the pilot episode, Carrie sips drinks with Stanford Blatch when she locks eyes with Kurt Harrington, a former flame. Stanford begs her not to go over there, and she promises she won’t. Then, in true, classic Sex and the City fashion, she tells the audience, “It was Kurt Harrington. A mistake I made when I was 26, 29, and 31.” Of course, in true Carrie fashion, she went over. While Kurt’s role was insignificant in the grand scheme of Sex and the City, he was the first man who established Carrie as a relationship backslider.
Carrie Bradshaw dated John James Preston three times before marrying him
Carrie and Mr. Big were married until he died in the series opener of And Just Like That…, but their relationship was anything but smooth. The couple got together in season 1 and promptly broke up when Mr. Big wasn’t ready to commit. They reconnected in season 2 for another chance at love but ended things when Mr. Big, once again, would not commit.
They hooked up in season 3 and again in season 5 but didn’t enter into a serious relationship either time. Eventually, as the series ended, they decided to give love another chance. After a false start, their romance stuck, and the couple married. The marriage would have never happened if Carrie wasn’t such a relationship backslider.
Carrie would have dated Jeremy, her high school love, again if he weren’t in a psychiatric facility
After Kurt, Mr. Big, and Aidan, Carrie considered giving her first love another chance. While Jeremy wasn’t the high school sweetheart who took Carrie’s virginity, he was her long-term beau, and they were seemingly very happy together as teens.
Despite that, Carrie seemingly hadn’t given Jeremy a second thought until he popped up in Manhattan looking to reconnect. The duo met up, and sparks flew. Carrie would have likely backslid right to her high school boyfriend if there hadn’t been an extenuating circumstance. Jeremy was back on the East Coast because he was a patient at a mental health facility. Since Jeremy was planning to stay in the Connecticut facility for at least a year, romance wasn’t in the cards, but it would have been if it weren’t for the whole inpatient situation.
