266: On Sex and the City: Three’s a Crowd

Summary

Every Outfit Podcast: Episode 266

Title: Three’s a Crowd
Hosts: Chelsea Fairless & Lauren Garrone
Date: March 27, 2026
Main Theme:
A sharp, playful rewatch and deep-dive into the Season 1 Sex and the City episode “Three’s a Crowd”—the so-called “threesome episode”. Chelsea and Lauren blend their signature “bitchy” fashion/pop-culture commentary with a broader cultural analysis, including a spirited discussion of recent high-profile polyamory discourse. They also dish about beauty conventions, mother-daughter dynamics, and, as always, fashion and friendship.

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1. Episode Overview

Theme:
The nature of threesomes—on Sex and the City, in late 90s New York society, and in today’s era of polyamory. The episode explores the social, gender, and psychological politics around threesomes, critiques how they’re depicted (especially through a male-centered lens), and connects the show’s dated view to current headlines, especially involving writer Lindy West’s real-life throuple and public response to “poly under duress.”

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2. Key Discussion Points & Insights

Opening Banter & Personal Updates

• Hosts catch up with each other:
  • Lauren shares motherhood struggles (“my life has been reduced to a teething infant.” — [02:09])
  • Chelsea details her spring cleaning, driven by attending Sephora’s beauty convention (“it was basically adult trick-or-treating for Fenty body butter” — [04:20]).
• Both jokingly reflect on how their sweet, gentle mothers produced two “bitches,” and dream of doing a future episode with them [02:49].

Why Rewatch “Three’s A Crowd”?

• Chosen because it’s a standout Season 1 episode and written/directed by “OG Sex and the City queens” Jenny Bix and Nicole Holofcener [01:47].

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Sex and the City: “Three’s a Crowd” Breakdown

Charlotte’s Threesome Plot

• Charlotte dates Jack, a philanthropist architect, after several charity encounters (“a night of a thousand Tourette’s”—[11:01]).
• He asks Charlotte her fantasies—she naively replies, “running a gallery, maybe a cottage in Maine.” Jack wants a threesome, specifically with another woman [11:51, 12:07].
• The hosts dissect the gender politics: Is it always the man who wants the threesome? Why is “the devil’s three-way” (two men, one woman) never considered? (Chelsea: “In this episode...the devil's threesome doesn’t exist. A threesome is two women and one man.” — [13:01])
• Charlotte confesses her fantasy is “sex in her parents' bed,” which is met with skeptical amusement [13:12].
• The hosts note the early-series “down-market diner” scene where the friends debate the wisdom and mechanics of threesomes (lighting, bad ketchup bottle, etc.) [13:38–14:16].
• Samantha’s advice: Only be the “guest star” in someone else’s threesome—don’t get involved with your own couple [14:56].
• Discussion of jealousy, relationship fragility, risks, and the infamous “no friends, just a random” rule [15:09–15:50].

Miranda’s Therapy & Outcast Arc

• Miranda, feeling rejected that no one wants to include her in a hypothetical threesome (“It’s like picking teams for dodgeball all over again. No one wants to have a threesome with Miranda, even hypothetically...” — [16:25]), processes feelings in therapy.
• The therapist never questions Miranda’s sexuality despite her “full-blown dyke” Season 1 wardrobe (K.D. Lang jokes abound) [37:00–37:50].
• Miranda later answers a personal ad for a threesome to boost self-esteem, but ghosts the couple after being found attractive [55:44–56:19].

Samantha’s Married Man

• Samantha sleeps with a married man, delighting in the no-strings-attached dynamic. “Thank god. Who needs the trouble? No muss, no fuss.” — [44:51]
• The man’s wife later proposes including Samantha in a threesome to save the marriage: “I’m willing to join you in the bedroom.” (Samantha: “Samantha was a guest star. Series regular was not in her contract.” — [51:29])
• The hosts compare this to modern polyamory drama and poke fun at the deeply transactional, awkward nature of this 90s “solution” [51:16–51:29].

Carrie’s Jealousy and Big’s Revelation

• Carrie’s voiceovers and analogies (“Fat, low fat, non fat... Mo, Larry, Curly. Maybe we were never meant to do it with only one other person.” — [18:10]) are criticized for their forced metaphors.
• Carrie discovers Big was married—thanks to a confession about a past threesome with his ex-wife [42:58].
• Stalker subplot: Carrie engineers a fake publishing pitch meeting to meet Big’s ex-wife. She forms an odd, faux-friendship under false pretenses [48:38–53:19].
• This behavior is called out as “fully psychotic... diabolical...” [53:19].
• Carrie and Big ultimately confront the truth directly (“This is truly an outlier for Sex and the City dialogue. Because Carrie and Big have never been this honest with each other.” —[57:41]).

Man on the Street Sequence – Personal Ads

• Highly memorable “Village Voice” personal ads montage, with the hosts reading out the best ones:
  • “Wall street honcho seeks two horny gal pals for East Hampton fuckfest at my summer home. No fatties, please.” — [40:23]
  • “X Files fanatic twosome seeks Scully lookalike for abduction fantasy. Me gorgeous with big boobs. You a couple with class. Let’s experience everything the city has to offer. I’m into museums, blowjobs, theater and golden showers.” — [40:43]
• Chelsea: “This is truly the best of all the man-on-the-street sequences, hands down.” — [41:23]

Commentary on Threesomes, Polyamory, and Gender

• The hosts draw strong parallels between the episode’s male-centric take on threesomes and the real-world story of writer Lindy West and the “poly under duress” (PUD) phenomenon [22:51–24:20].
• They discuss West’s recent memoir revealing her throuple, the backlash, Dan Savage’s commentary, criticism mainly targeting West’s husband, and speculation regarding financial imbalance and emotional labor [21:06–29:51].
• Lauren: “It is a very male-centric idea of what a threesome is... brought up by the man, the woman feels pressured, under duress...” — [24:21]
• Dismantle the idea that polyamory always fails while pointing out the dysfunction in many monogamous relationships [31:34].

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3. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• On Male Fantasy:
  Chelsea: “If any man asks you [about your fantasies], just be like, spit it out already. What do you want from me? What sick, nasty shit do you want me to do?” — [12:31]
• On Samantha’s Threesome Advice:
  Samantha (via Lauren): “The only role to play in a threesome is being the guest star.” — [14:56]
• Miranda’s Therapy Self-Deprecation:
  Lauren: “She says...I guess a dream of her own...in a sandbox with Charlotte, Sam and Carrie and they won’t play with me.” — [37:11]
• Best “Man on the Street” Ad:
  “You a couple with class. Let’s experience everything the city has to offer. I’m into museums, blowjobs, theater and golden showers.” — [40:43]
• On Polyamory & Lindy West:
  Lauren: “People are calling her a PUD, which is Dan Savage’s very clever term—an acronym for Poly Under Duress.” — [23:00]
  Chelsea: “People always get mad at poly people...but a lot of people are in deeply dysfunctional monogamous relationships.” — [31:34]
• Carrie’s Behavioral Red Flag:
  Chelsea: “This behavior from Carrie is fully psychotic. One of the craziest things she ever does...” — [53:19]
• On the Absence of Actual Threesomes:
  Chelsea: “Someone should have had a threesome in this episode.” — [64:24]
• On 90s Fashion Relics:
  Chelsea: “That is the fashion highlight for sure. But it’s better as a group look than as individual outfits.” — [62:16]
• On Liza Minnelli’s SATC2 Cameo:
  “She opens Sex and the City 2 and then the movie only gets crazier from there.” – Lauren [06:28]
• Dirty Diner Details:
  Chelsea: “The ketchup bottle on the table has seen better days.” — [14:06]

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4. Timestamps for Important Segments

• Sex and the City Ep Recap Begins: — [10:09]
• Charlotte’s Plotline/Threesome Discussion: — [11:00–16:01]
• Miranda’s Therapy Sessions: — [37:00, 37:57]
• Carrie’s Fake Publisher Meeting / Barbara subplot: — [48:38–53:19]
• Man on the Street Personal Ads: — [40:01–41:41]
• Lindy West/Polyamory Discussion: — [21:06–31:13]
• Samantha’s Married Man Threesome Call/TikTok sound: — [50:02–51:16]
• Episode Reviews: Manolos & MVPs: — [60:52–63:16]

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5. Fashion, Sex, and Character Polls

• Fashion:
  “Not a lot of fashion happening in this episode...but the Charlotte and Carrie walk and talk is the highlight. It did remind me of us on tour trying to coordinate our outfits.” — Lauren [61:21, 61:41]
• MVP:
  Lauren: “Barbara. Comes off the best in this episode.” — [62:24] Chelsea: “Maybe the girl from New Jersey [from the personal ads montage]. I love her.” — [62:16]
• Best Line:
  Lauren: “That was Charlotte. Just when you think she’s a Park Avenue Pollyanna, she’d say something so right on you’d think she was the Dalai Lama.” — [63:13]
• Biggest Trigger:
  Chelsea: “The nasty ketchup bottle at the diner.” — [64:11] Lauren: “The guy that’s trying to get Charlotte to have a threesome. I don’t think he’s hot enough...” — [63:50]

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6. Closing Reflections & Tone

• Language & Tone:
  Sarcastic, affectionate, confessional, and loaded with contemporary culture references. The hosts are quick-witted and intersperse inside jokes, self-deprecating humor, and genuine cultural critique.
• Final Evaluation:
  “No one even has a threesome in this ‘threesome episode’.”
  “I wonder how chill her husband would be if she was like, ‘Great, I have a boyfriend. Let’s have a threesome with my boyfriend.’” — [29:51]
  “It would have been kind of transgressive if Carrie engineered a threesome with Big and his ex-wife.” — [64:43] Manolo tally: Lauren gives it 8, Chelsea 7, citing confusing dream logic and weak fashion [60:54–61:15].

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7. Summary

A vintage “Sex and the City” rewatch becomes a springboard for the hosts’ classic banter, exploring the shifting boundaries of love, friendship, and sexual experimentation—on-screen and off. The hosts criticize the male-centric lens of 90s “threesome” fantasy, contextualize modern conversations about polyamory, and (of course) reference fashion and friendship along the way. All delivered in the sharp, funny, sometimes bitchy, always honest voice that “Every Outfit” fans love.

Perfect For: Longtime SATC fans, pop-culture obsessives, and anyone fascinated by the messy, hilarious intersections of sex, power, and female friendship.

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Listen for:

• The “Mo, Larry, and Curly” rant [18:10]
• Chelsea’s take on Carrie’s “psychotic” stunt [53:19]
• “Village Voice” personals montage [40:01–41:41]
• Polyamory, “PUD,” and Lindy West deep-dive [21:06–31:13]
• That ketchup bottle! [14:06, 64:11]

Transcript

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[Carrie Bradshaw (voiceover or character)]

I spent $40,000 on shoes.

[Lauren Garrone]

What's the matter, Morty? Great gowns. Beautiful gowns.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Fashion has changed. No, Kim hasn't.

[Lauren Garrone]

Hi, I'm Lauren Garrone.

[Chelsea Fairless]

And I'm Chelsea Fairless.

[Lauren Garrone]

And welcome back to the Every Outfit podcast. This is our monthly rewatch of a Sex and the City episode. We have chosen Three's a Crowd for no other reason than I looked at the episodes we've done the last few months, and we haven't done a season one episode in a while.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, we need to pay our respects to season one.

[Lauren Garrone]

And this is a banger of an episode because you've got Jenny Bix, who's one of our favorite OG Sex and the City writers, and Nicole Hollaseffer directing

[Chelsea Fairless]

this episode, truly are queens.

[Lauren Garrone]

And this is, as the title suggests, the infamous threesome episode.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Is it that infamous? Because no one actually has a threesome in this episode. I just want to point out I

[Lauren Garrone]

did realize that during the rewatch, which might be my hottest take, but we'll save that for the end of the episode. Before we get into things, do you have anything going on, Chelsea? Because my life has been reduced to a teething infant.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Oh, so the baby is, like, acting poorly.

[Lauren Garrone]

I mean, no more than usual if you really think about it. No, he's getting his first two teeth, so he's cranky. I get it.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Can you imagine what little bitches we probably were when we were teething?

[Lauren Garrone]

My mother seemingly doesn't remember any of that. I was an angel, evidently, which is hard for me to believe.

[Chelsea Fairless]

And then life slowly and incrementally crushed you, and you became the person that you are today.

[Lauren Garrone]

You Know when every outfit TV is finally up and running. I do want to do an episode with our mothers because it's hard to imagine that we came from these two women because they are the sweetest women and they somehow made two bitches.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I know, it is shocking. I've had a pretty laid back week. I've been spring cleaning, which always feels good. Like, I feel like generally my house is like, it looks organized and it looks minimal. But God forbid you open a drawer

[Lauren Garrone]

that is comforting for me because I have been to your house and I'm like, ooh. I just have piles everywhere. It's not like Chell and Tat's place.

[Chelsea Fairless]

So you keep the piles out in the open. I just shove a pile in a drawer and don't think about it for six months. It's actually really dark. But I've been forced to do some spring cleaning because I need to make room for all of my new beauty products.

[Lauren Garrone]

Oh, that's right. Didn't you go to some weird beauty convention? Did you go to beautycon?

[Chelsea Fairless]

No, I did not go to beautycon. I've been to that before. I went to Sephora, which is the more upscale version of that, which is Sephora's beauty convention.

[Lauren Garrone]

And that is not something that's also promoting Euphoria season three.

[Chelsea Fairless]

No, no cross promotion. Unlike the Balenciaga show, it's basically like you go in and all of the Sephora brands have little booths and you basically do like adult trick or treaty where you just like walk around to all of them and they give you, like, products and stuff.

[Lauren Garrone]

But unlike Halloween, they don't rag on you if you don't have a full beat on, right?

[Chelsea Fairless]

No, I wore, like, no makeup and there was zero judgment. But you bas play like adult carnival games. Like, I was playing like, ring toss and like whack a mole. And at some point, like, I was, you know, at carnivals, they have those fishing games. Like, I was fishing for, like, fenty, like body butter at a certain point.

[Lauren Garrone]

Oh, my God.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I just went with Marissa, with friend of the pod, Marissa Meltzer, because she's like a beauty expert. And I don't know much, but it was a fascinating experience. It reminded me of being at the ERAS tour kind of in terms of the vibe. Like, less children, less supportive fathers present, but like, similar energy.

[Lauren Garrone]

Just as much glitter.

[Chelsea Fairless]

So much glitter.

[Lauren Garrone]

So you really only did spring cleaning so you could make way for all the free swag you got at Sephoricon. Sephora.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Sephora. Because they give you, like, this insane gift bag when you leave.

[Lauren Garrone]

But they made you fish and play carnival games for even more stuff.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Okay, here's the thing. You play games for, like, the little things, and then when you leave, they give you, like a huge bag full of full size products. Like, it was actually, like, really crazy.

[Lauren Garrone]

I know that there's a certain amount of our listeners that only listen to our once a month Sex and the City rewatch episodes. And I'm just imagining them on their treadmills or picking up dry cleaning, being like, see, this is why I don't listen the other three weeks out of the month.

[Chelsea Fairless]

They don't want to hear about my tatcha cleanser. You're right. Let's get into the episode.

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, not to keep delaying getting into the episode, Are we doing a slight correction for a VIP episode that we recently did about Liza Minnelli where we did not discuss the fact that she's in Sex of the City 2 at all?

[Chelsea Fairless]

We're so bad at this, it's crazy.

[Lauren Garrone]

Anyway, if you want to hear us talk about Liza Minnelli but not talk about her time on Sex and the City too, which.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Which she did write about.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Right, but only for a paragraph, I would say.

[Chelsea Fairless]

She devoted one page to it.

[Lauren Garrone]

Look, we're here to tell you that there is no more time devoted in that book than her beef with Lady Gaga, which we were too excited to talk about. We forgot to talk about the fact that, yeah, she opens Sex and the City two and then the movie only gets crazier from there.

[Chelsea Fairless]

And I think a lot of people watched Sex and the City 2 and felt that that was a little bit beneath Liza or that it was a little bit cringe or something. Didn't add up with that scene, which I think is a fair criticism.

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, I also forgot that Isn't that pre wedding, like, she is the one that marries Anthony and Stanford?

[Chelsea Fairless]

No, it was post wedding.

[Lauren Garrone]

Okay, good.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Okay, it was post wedding. It was the reception. But anyway, Liza was very into her role in Sex and the City too. She loved the arrangement of single ladies that she did. I get the impression that she had fun rehearsing for it and fun filming it.

[Lauren Garrone]

And she loved the two dancers that are dressed exactly like her.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, she was into it, which makes me happy. And I wasn't really thinking about it at the time, but, like, that was one of the few film opportunities she had in that time period because she didn't have a lot of acting opportunities pre Arrested Development. And she didn't really get any more after Arrested Development. And she's always someone that really wanted to be doing movies, but no one would cast her.

[Lauren Garrone]

Although I think we can safely say that she doesn't speak about her feelings about Sex and the City too. So no word if she's actually seen the film other than the scene she was in.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I couldn't help but wonder.

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[Lauren Garrone]

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[Lauren Garrone]

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[Chelsea Fairless]

Shall we get into the episode?

[Lauren Garrone]

Absolutely.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Once upon a time in a magical land called Manhattan.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yes. This episode starts with the Carrie voiceover. I am terrible and did not go back to see. If this was a Candace Bushnell article. I'm gonna assume it is.

[Chelsea Fairless]

For sure, she would have written a column about threesomes.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Well, because they're the blowjobs of the 90s.

[Chelsea Fairless]

And also, we know that, at least with season one, a lot of the themes for the episode were drawn from stuff that she actually wrote about.

[Lauren Garrone]

So in this episode, we start with Charlotte's journey. She meets a guy named Jack at a black tie benefit for Epstein Bar. And there's a montage sequence of them running into each other. As Carrie puts it, she chased him through every disease in New York. I stopped to see what every benefit was. Would you like to know?

[Chelsea Fairless]

I'm glad one of us did.

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, there was circus for cystic fibrosis. I think you'll love this next one. A Night of a Thousand Tourette's. Oh, where was my invitation and hoedown for spina bifida?

[Chelsea Fairless]

See, the humor was so much darker in season one.

[Lauren Garrone]

Oh, you know, the writers had so much fun coming up with these. They didn't even know that people would be able to pause on these signs and these montages. Right. They had no idea that there would be fanatics like myself with opportunities with VHS DVDs and streaming to stop and see the work they put into A Night of a Thousand Tourette's. So anyway, Charlotte and Jack get together. He was perfect for her. An architect, a philanthropist. And the sex was amazing. So what could the catch possibly be? Chelsea.

[Chelsea Fairless]

He wants a threesome.

[Lauren Garrone]

I love that. He starts the conversation by asking Charlotte what her fantasies are. And she's like, oh, running a gallery. Maybe a cottage in Maine, which I'm like, a cottage in Maine, Charlotte. A house in the Hamptons.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah. I would think that her fantasies would be more Martha's Vineyard adjacent.

[Lauren Garrone]

Of course. I mean, this is high time for Carolyn Bessette and JFK Jr. I guess this must be a straight man thing because the politician does this as well, right? In season three, when he's trying to soft launch Carrie urinating on him, he too asks, what are your fantasies? Or is there anything I'm not doing for you ladies?

[Chelsea Fairless]

If any man asks you that, just be like, spit it out already. What do you want from me? What sick, nasty shit do you want me to do?

[Lauren Garrone]

Oh, God, Is it shit?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah. What does this sick motherfucker get off to.

[Lauren Garrone]

I listen to the Every Outfit podcast, so I know the dark recesses of the male mind from these two women. But no, this man is asking for a threesome, by the way, not even Charlotte getting by another dude. Of course it involves him, Charlotte and another woman.

[Chelsea Fairless]

No, in this episode of Sex and the City, the devil's threesome doesn't exist. No, a threesome is two women and

[Lauren Garrone]

one man, and it is brought up by the man.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Charlotte does disclose her fantasies, which kind of surprised me. It was having sex in her parents bed, which I can see that maybe if you're like a teenager who hates your parents or hates your boyfriend's parents or something, but like an adult woman,

[Lauren Garrone]

I mean, it's Charlotte. And he's really just launched this question at her. I don't know if I would have a better response.

[Chelsea Fairless]

So of course Charlotte has to discuss this with the girls at what looks like a pretty down market diner. This is a season one only kind of restaurant.

[Lauren Garrone]

This is unfortunately a real location. Take me to the fake diner on a soundstage.

[Chelsea Fairless]

It's like real bad diner lighting. The ketchup bottle on the table has seen better days. Did you notice this, Lauren?

[Lauren Garrone]

I did not know.

[Chelsea Fairless]

It's ran through.

[Lauren Garrone]

Is it Miranda or Samantha that is like, of course he wants to have a threesome. He just wants to see you play lesbian. Sounds like a Miranda line. I was just wondering your thoughts on men wanting their seemingly heteronormative girlfriends to have threesomes with other women.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Of course, I think it's a normal and common fantasy. And also of course, one that tends to emasculate men less.

[Lauren Garrone]

I like that Miranda thinks she's had a threesome in college because she woke up in someone else's bra. Which actually, now that I'm saying it out loud, does kind of have very dark SVU implications, potentially.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I want a flashback to that.

[Lauren Garrone]

So Samantha, of course, has, I would say, the most sound advice, which is the only role to play in a threesome is being the guest star.

[Chelsea Fairless]

You think that's sound advice?

[Lauren Garrone]

Yeah, to be the one that's coming in and out and not having to deal with the actual relationship.

[Chelsea Fairless]

But that's assuming that the relationship is fragile and involves a lot of jealousy.

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, I would like to get into this, which is in Carrie's voiceover. We understand that Charlotte and Jack are dating and they've made it official, but I don't know because we're just thrown into this question at the beginning of the episode. It Feels a little too early for him to be asking for a threesome.

[Chelsea Fairless]

No, I absolutely agree. I don't know. I feel like you can't make generalizations about threesomes because it depends on the specific dynamics of three separate individuals. And also, the guest star could be the crazy one. The guest star could be the one that can't emotionally detach, and then she

[Lauren Garrone]

becomes a crazy stalker.

[Chelsea Fairless]

You never know.

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, of course the ladies all have a different perspective on this. Just make sure that the other woman isn't a friend. Use somebody random. You know, somebody you meet in a bar or something. That's romantic.

[Carrie Bradshaw (voiceover or character)]

No, I think that I feel safer with a friend, with someone I could trust, like Carrie.

[Lauren Garrone]

Oh, GM4.

[Carrie Bradshaw (voiceover or character)]

But I'd go with someone who has a little more experience, like Sam.

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, thanks. But there is something sexy about a first timer like Charlotte.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Really?

[Lauren Garrone]

Oh, great. No, forget about me. Aw. Oh, come on. I would do it with you guys. It's like. It's like picking teams for dodgeball all over again. No one wants to have a threesome with Miranda, even hypothetically, despite the fact

[Chelsea Fairless]

that she presents as a lesbian and no one else does.

[Lauren Garrone]

Especially at this point in the series.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Miranda being upset about this doesn't necessarily mean that she's a lesbian. I understand how she would feel left out, but it is one of the many lavender flags in season one.

[Lauren Garrone]

Lavender flag. Okay. As we've done our rewatches, we have remarked on, usually it's hard to serve each of the characters, especially when you have a singular theme. But this is one of the rare episodes where each character the theme of threesomes. They are able to give a plotline to each of the characters. Granted, Miranda's is just her in therapy being like, why do my friends want to fuck me?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Okay. But if you had to have a threesome with one of the Sex and the City girls.

[Lauren Garrone]

Samantha.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, obviously. Same.

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, we haven't said. But even if you haven't done a rewatch of this episode recently, would you be shocked to hear that Carrie's never had a threesome? Which is because I haven't seen this

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

episode in a while is where you

[Lauren Garrone]

would think the episode is going. Especially because she's this sexual anthropologist. Certainly at this point in the series, you would think she would do a threesome just for the article.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, do it for the plot, Carrie.

[Lauren Garrone]

But this conversation does lead into this week's. I couldn't help but wonder, which comes up very quickly in the episode.

[Carrie Bradshaw (voiceover or character)]

Was Samantha right? Were threesomes the new sexual frontier? No question. Guys were infatuated with threesomes. And when I started looking, they were everywhere. After all, our lives are built on threesomes. Fat, low fat, non fat, first business, economy, Mo, Larry, Curly. Maybe we were never meant to do it with only one other person. Maybe threesomes were the relationship of the future.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Okay, why the fuck is she talking about Mo, Larry and curly?

[Lauren Garrone]

I was just gonna say if I'm Carrie's editor and I'm reading this and her evidence that threesomes are the new frontier is like fat, low fat, non fat, first business at economy and Mo, Larry, and Curly. I'm like, Carrie, you got to do another pass at this.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Okay, but also maybe threesomes, where the relationship of the futures. Does she mean throuples or does she mean having threesomes and being in an otherwise monogamous relationship?

[Lauren Garrone]

I'm going to assume it's the latter. I think only in deep in the Pacific Northwest is Dan Savage in the late 90s referring to things such as throuples.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Okay, speaking of which, I think this is the perfect time to talk about the Lindy west drama.

[Lauren Garrone]

Why? What happened?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Shut up.

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[Lauren Garrone]

So I think I'm like most people that I was unaware up until the press around Lindy West's new memoir, Adult Braces, that she has been in a throuple for the last seven years. Eight years.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I was unaware of this too. It hasn't been quite that long because the Style like you video that was her polyamory reveal came out in 2022 and I was shocked by that because no one sent that to me. I can't believe I didn't know about this.

[Lauren Garrone]

And then you last night sent me that Style like you video and I didn't know even in 2022 they were still making style like you videos.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I respect the hustle.

[Lauren Garrone]

It's a lot. And I think talking about Lindy west and the fallout of her reveal that she is in a polyamorous relationship, which we should say her husband, who always wanted a non monogamous relationship, which according to the articles I've read and I guess is in Adult braces, she just never thought he was actually going to cash in on. And he had several girlfriends and then he fell in love with one particular woman and Lindy west was confronted with do I get a divorce or do I accept this?

[Chelsea Fairless]

The worst part is she only found out about one of them because a fan saw her husband making out with some random woman. Nightmare scenario.

[Lauren Garrone]

That is the perils of the parasocial relationship.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah.

[Lauren Garrone]

And because she has such a fervent fan base that only wants the best for her. Since this Style like you reveal of this polyamorous relationship, the people have gotten the impression that it wasn't completely her choice.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Right. And people are calling her a pud, which is Dan Savage's very clever term, an acronym for Poly under Duress, which

[Lauren Garrone]

if you know the history of Lindy west and Dan Savage, he was her boss. He is fictionalized and satirized in the television show Shrill. They have publicly said that they have no beef with each other. But I did find it curious that in his March 10 edition of his column, he did choose to repost a question about the PUD lifestyle, which felt very pointed because he was like, I'm off this week, but here's an old article having to do with poly underdress, as Lindy west is doing press about her own potentially PUD relationship.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, if there's anyone that's going to benefit from a nationwide conversation about polyamory it's Dan Savage.

[Lauren Garrone]

I think, much to Lindy west chagrin, the person who's winning the most is Dan Savage still. Yeah. And I think the reason we are bringing up the Lindy west of it all in particular in this episode is

[Chelsea Fairless]

to alienate the people that only listen to our Sex and the City episodes further.

[Lauren Garrone]

Of course, guys, you're either going to stop listening to these episodes or start listening to all the episodes. No, because in this Three is a Crowd episode, it is a very male centric idea of what a threesome is.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Right.

[Lauren Garrone]

That it is the man bringing this up to his female partner who seemingly only wants a monogamous relationship, and they feel pressured or underdressed, that if they do not acquiesce to their boyfriend or husband's fantasies, they will be left alone.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah. And the criticisms that have come up online are about Lindy West's husband, not so much about her.

[Lauren Garrone]

No. People want the best for her and they do not feel that he is the best for her. I thought the craziest thing is the whole drama around the Slate profile of Lindy West. There was, as I said, a profile about Lindy west in Slate for her book Adult Braces that gets into this whole situation where after the article came out, and I have to say it was pretty banal about her partners, they each wrote the writer an email that was basically like, you should be ashamed

[Chelsea Fairless]

of yourself, which was so crazy. And the craziest email came, of course, from the husband who had the worst vibes. And I read that article and I thought it was pretty generous. Like, sure, maybe it was a little passive aggressive in a style section kind of way, but it wasn't like a searing indictment of their poly relationship.

[Lauren Garrone]

No, I was shocked that they came after the writer because in the Slate article, Samantha Irby. And just like that, writer and friend of Lindy west gives a quote that is like, all Lindy needs to do is say the word. Because I got a real, like, it's something like, I got a real hair trigger on her husband. She just needs to give me a call and I'll bury the body. It's like, holy shit, sir, you should be more upset at Samantha Irby than the Slate writer.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Okay, but that was a joke that she made. I can see myself saying something similar to a journalist. How is she supposed to know that?

[Lauren Garrone]

It would be on record?

[Alex Kanchwitz]

No.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, maybe she didn't realize, like, how shady the husband was going to come off in this book.

[Lauren Garrone]

I guess. I mean, Samantha Irby, you're right. Is saying it as a joke. And I imagine you would say something, but you would also, if Paul fucked me over, help me bury the body.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Absolutely. That's my entire point.

[Lauren Garrone]

So she's joking, but she's being truthful. Anyway, this is not the point. I had to look up what her husband Aman did for a living because one of the top style like you comments is Lindy is paying for their entire lifestyle. And I'm like, well, what does this guy do? And, and the Google result, the summarization of what he does is like he is a musician, composer, trumpeter, stand up comedian. It just gets worse and worse with everything that he does for a living.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Okay, but we don't know what his financial situation is or what hers is really. We know that she's a very successful writer that has quite a bit of notoriety. We're two bitches that were raised on Jezebel and the whole sort of confessional writing style that Lindy west was such a, such a big part of. But I don't know if that always necessarily translates into like, I'm rolling in cash.

[Lauren Garrone]

It doesn't. Because in the Slate article they talk about a sequence in the book where she quite like, Miranda July is doing a cross country trip, right? And she has to ask her sister, her sister in law, for money to pay for a hotel room.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Okay, All Fours is an interesting book to talk about in relation to adult braces because Miranda July bared it all in all fours. She did admit to some bad behavior like cheating on her husband and stuff, but everyone came away from it celebrating her. Whereas the opposite has happened to Lindy West.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Well, correct me if I'm wrong, he

[Lauren Garrone]

is fully in a relationship with this woman, Royal, and they all live together. But Lindy is not in a sexual relationship with this woman.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, they have threesomes. That's why we're talking about this. They have threesomes. Or they at least did at some point.

[Lauren Garrone]

Okay, they have threesomes, but she is emotionally in this relationship with this person because of her husband, right?

[Chelsea Fairless]

And now she sleeps in the guest room and they sleep together.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Well, it's even more pathetic.

[Lauren Garrone]

He goes from bedroom to bedroom because according to the Slate article, he can't sleep alone.

[Chelsea Fairless]

This guy sucks. Love to Lindy. I actually feel bad for her. Like, I can't imagine writing something that is so close to the bone and then having the public response be like this. And she is a talented writer and a talented critic. I think a lot of her writing about film is incredible and she's always Had a great sense of humor.

[Lauren Garrone]

And I know that she's received a lot of negative attention online. I mean, she left Twitter in 2017 because of trolls and I believe confronted her own troll on a this American Life episode. But from what I've seen her and her partner's reaction to the Slate profile about her, I think she is confusing what she is used to as online hate with people that genuinely want the best for her because. And to get back to the Sex and the City episode, I wonder how chill her husband would be if she was like, great, I have a boyfriend. Like, let's start having threesomes with my boyfriend.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah.

[Lauren Garrone]

Or I guess foursomes, quads.

[Chelsea Fairless]

There's also something to say for the fact that he started dating these two other women at the height of her success.

[Lauren Garrone]

Right. And again, we haven't read Adult Braces yet, but what is said in the Slate article gets into the fact that she herself in the book Adult Braces is like, he violated boundaries in our relationship multiple times and I had every right to leave him. And she chose not to. But I think because the choice for her to become polyamorous came from her husband. And in this Sex and the City episode, Charlotte is questioning whether she should have a threesome. Not because of her own curiosity, but because a man has brought this to her attention. It would be interesting. And it wasn't the time to bring up a devil's triangle, but it would be interesting.

[Chelsea Fairless]

What a devil's three way.

[Lauren Garrone]

A devil's three way.

[Chelsea Fairless]

A devil'S triangle.

[Lauren Garrone]

It would be interesting to see what Charlotte's boyfriend's reaction would be if she's like, yeah, I'd love to have a threesome. You, me and another guy.

[Chelsea Fairless]

We only got that when Samantha almost fucked those gay dudes.

[Lauren Garrone]

That does feel like a lost Samantha storyline is her trying to have sex with two hot guys.

[Chelsea Fairless]

We deserve a devil's three way on Sex and the City.

[Lauren Garrone]

So going back to Carrie's, I couldn't help but wonder, are threesomes the future?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Sort of, kind of, yeah. Obviously open marriages, Polyamory are more popular now. That makes sense. Feels like a natural progression.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yeah. I think people's issue to this day, going back to the Lindy west of it all, is when it comes from the male point of view.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Right. And people always get mad at poly people. And I get it. Like, some of them write really annoying essays. But also a lot of people are in deeply dysfunctional monogamous relationships. And like, if 50% of marriages end in divorce, it stands to Reason that there is a significant chunk of people that just stay and are chronically unhappy,

[Lauren Garrone]

which I think is people's fear about Lindy West. But you're right, monogamy doesn't work for a lot of people. And I do think people unfairly pick apart when polyamory doesn't work out.

[Chelsea Fairless]

For sure. As if monogamy has worked out for everyone.

[Lauren Garrone]

Look, it's not a one size fits all situation. Speaking of which, Samantha's storyline is that she's fucking a married guy, which really shows you it's a season one episode. Although she sleeps with several married men. But Samantha, I mean, has never been the most moral character. But just to actively have her fucking a married guy and be like, oh, I know he's married. That's actually kind of the basis of his appeal, is I know this won't end up in a relationship.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Right? Yeah. They wanted to portray Samantha in a more sympathetic light. Later in the show, they kind of stopped putting her in situations like this.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yeah. I think right around when she became a social outcast in season two for sleeping with a married man, they were like, we gotta stop. Stop doing this. At least let's have her sleep with a married guy that she didn't know was married.

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[Lauren Garrone]

I like the description of this married guy that Carrie gives us. Ken was 37, a wine importer, unhappily married To a woman who designed modular office furniture.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Okay, that's not vague enough to publish in a newspaper. Like, how many couples can there be in New York City that have these occupations? It's not like, oh, she was a lawyer and he was a finance guy or whatever the fuck.

[Lauren Garrone]

It's so funny. I didn't even think about that. I was just like, good on the writers for such specific jobs of these people. But you're absolutely right. Carrie ruined this couple's marriage. We're supposed to think that Samantha ruins this couple's marriage, but it's actually Carrie 1000%.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Okay, then we get a Charlotte dream sequence, right?

[Lauren Garrone]

Because Jack is buttering her up, as Miranda says, by being like, all these

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

women are hitting on you.

[Lauren Garrone]

What does he say?

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

You're giving off this sexual energy all the time.

[Lauren Garrone]

A vibe like you've got a fire inside you. That would have given me the ick right there, obviously. So then you're right. There's this cool moment where Charlotte does indeed have a threesome, but, oh, it was just a dream.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Also in this fantasy sequence, like, she has this sort of half up, half down hairstyle that involves twists. She's wearing a choker. She looks like Julia stiles, Sister In 10 Things I Hate about yout.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yes, yes. See, that's interesting. I thought the threesome itself was the dream. You're saying the whole thing, Them at the bar and them back at Charlotte's apartment, That's all a dream?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Wasn't that a dream? But it wasn't that clear in the episode that it was a dream.

[Lauren Garrone]

Maybe it happened.

[Chelsea Fairless]

It did not happen.

[Lauren Garrone]

This is the most the series is like the Red Shoe Diaries or something.

[Chelsea Fairless]

But I get it. It's vague because it just cuts to like, Charlotte woke up the next day more excited than when she first tried on her cheerleading uniform. I took that as she woke up feeling horny because she had this dream.

[Lauren Garrone]

Oh, yeah. I mean, haven't you ever had a sexual dream?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Of course, but rarely. I usually have stupid dreams where I'm like, oh, I'm in my parents house, but I'm actually in the mall.

[Lauren Garrone]

You know, I've only had a few sex dreams. And of course, because it's me, I assume they've turned into horror films where I was having this sex dream with someone and then their face was revealed and it was Quentin Tarantino. And then I woke up in a cold sweat.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I was like, ugh, it's fine. You can be horny for Quentin Tarantino.

[Lauren Garrone]

I'm okay.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Actually, maybe not in 20, 26.

[Lauren Garrone]

Look, if I had a therapist, then I would be like Miranda talking about this in therapy.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Okay, we need to get into that because there are two sequences in this show where Miranda is talking to her therapist about being sexually rejected by her friends.

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, she says the first session she is recounting, I guess, a dream of her own where she's in a sandbox with Charlot, Sam and Cari and they won't play with me. And the therapist is like, what do you think that means? And she's like, I get it. I know, it's juvenile.

[Chelsea Fairless]

She also looks like a full blown dyke in this scene.

[Lauren Garrone]

The therapist at no point is like, does this make you question your own sexuality?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah. Who's this therapist for? Not digging into this a little more. This woman shows up in a pinstripe blazer with a buttoned up men's shirt, short hair, short nails. Come on.

[Lauren Garrone]

Looking like K D. Lang showing up to some VH1 acoustic set.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Okay. Her second outfit when she goes back to the therapist was just like full blown Katie Lang. The pinstriped vest.

[Lauren Garrone]

Oh, that's the outfit I'm thinking of. Yes. Well, the fact that the therapist doesn't question her sexuality, especially when Miranda exclaims, well, I guess he does ask her. He's like, so you're saying you're attracted to your girlfriends? And she's emphatic and she's like, no, but if your friends won't go down on you.

[Chelsea Fairless]

It's a very funny line.

[Lauren Garrone]

It's a very funny line. I mean, I think more the test of the Sex and the City style friendship is who will fish out your diaphragm for you. And we'll learn in season two, the answer is Samantha.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I love how in her second therapy session, she asks her therapist, like, if he would fudge her.

[Lauren Garrone]

And not in a transference, I'm actually attracted to you kind of way. She just wants to know, because she feels utterly rejected that all of her friends, again, hypothetically, won't have sex with her.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Okay, but hypothetically, sure, but the reality is that none of these women actually want to have sex with each other. So she shouldn't be that insulted. Like, Charlotte doesn't actually want to fuck Carrie, Carrie doesn't actually want to fuck Samantha, and Samantha definitely doesn't want to fuck Charlotte.

[Lauren Garrone]

And I feel like if Samantha was to have a threesome with one of the girls, I think she would want Miranda to be in there.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Miranda looks like she would be the most experienced. Experienced. But as we know, that's actually Samantha.

[Lauren Garrone]

See, that was a lost opportunity. When Samantha was briefly a lesbian, was Maria trying to get a threesome with one of the girls?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Maria. Maria has a crush. I love it. So now we have a walk and talk with Carrie and Charlotte, where Charlotte is hemming and hawing about whether or not she should have a threesome.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yeah. And Carrie, surprisingly has great advice, which is, you don't need to sleep with someone else just to get closer to this person. It's okay to say no. Have a boundary.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah.

[Lauren Garrone]

To which Charlotte shoots back, well, how well do we know anyone that we sleep with? Which I guess is Carrie's big question of the week.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Right. And that leads into a really fascinating man on the street sequence.

[Lauren Garrone]

Right? Because Carrie picks up the Village Voice and she's commenting on all of the personal ads seeking out three subs. And she's like, who are these people? And guess what? We get to meet these people.

[Carrie Bradshaw (voiceover or character)]

The Village Voice had more ads looking for threesomes than it did for small rat infested studios running at a thousand a month. But who actually answered these ads?

[Lauren Garrone]

Wall street honcho seeks two horny gal pals for an East Hampton fuckfest at my summer home. No fatties, please.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Sweet suburban school teacher seeks two men to fulfill her wildest fantasies. UV Black or Hispanic. I'll be on time. I need your dick now.

[Lauren Garrone]

X Files fanatic twosome seeks Scully look alike for abduction fantasy. Me gorgeous with big boobs. You a couple with class. Let's experience everything the city has to offer. I'm into museums, blowjobs, theater and golden showers.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I need your dick now.

[Lauren Garrone]

You be on time. I'm gonna be honest. Village Voice personal ads. A little before my time, but if any Craigslist seeking arrangements. What? What was the anonymous sex called? I forget, but if any of those were written the way that these are in the episode, like, maybe I would have answered one or two.

[Chelsea Fairless]

This is truly the best of all of the man of the street sequences, hands down. Which is why for the first time ever, we have clipped it out on this podcast.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yeah, I think I forget what episode it is in season two that we did. At some point, we didn't realize that they hadn't phased that out yet. And it was very scary to see.

[Chelsea Fairless]

But we're presently in season one, and I think this was really, really funny. And it is exactly who I imagine would be placing personal ads looking for unicorns in the Village Voice or in the. What's Carrie's newspaper? The New York Star.

[Lauren Garrone]

New York Star. But she specifically Says Village Voice. Ah, you know, I hope those X File freaks found their third. Found their Scully.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I also love the Jersey Girl. Or was she Staten Island?

[Lauren Garrone]

I don't know. But she would be played by Julia Fox today. That's all I know. She's into theater, blowjobs and golden showers. So we get our first Carrie and Big scene as they are dating. And she says in her voiceover, I seem to be the only person who still believed in the one on one relationship. And Big wants her to play hooky so they can have lunch. And she says, I can't. This is also one of the few times we see Carrie verbalize that she meets with people for her articles, for research, because she's like, I can't have lunch. I'm interviewing someone about threesomes. And then she's like, ever done one? And of course Big goes, sure, who hasn't? And she goes, really? With who? And he goes, my ex wife. Which is where Carrie learns for the first time that Big was married.

[Chelsea Fairless]

That is a lot to take in.

[Lauren Garrone]

In true Big fashion, it is not delivered in the smoothest of ways. Big, very smooth in other categories.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, it's smooth. It's just not particularly sensitive.

[Lauren Garrone]

No, Quite like when he tells Carrie he might have to move to Paris for six months.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Not that I think that he shouldn't casually tell her that he had a threesome. Like that's not a big deal. But if that's how she's finding out that he's married, that's kind of bizarre.

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, was married.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Was married. Exactly.

[Lauren Garrone]

Thankfully he's not currently married. That would have been quite a shock.

[Chelsea Fairless]

But I kind of get it. I mean, like we said, Carrie should just have a threesome just to have something to write about. I feel like that would be better than being vaguely insecure about the fact that your spouse has had this sexual experience that you can't relate to.

[Lauren Garrone]

She also in the following scene when she's with Samantha and Miranda, she believes that Big's marriage fell apart because they stopped having wild sex like threesomes. And therefore if she doesn't start engaging in threesomes, she might lose Big. But does she have a threesome in this episode? No. Also, is this the most we've heard the phrase blowjob in Sex and the City history?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, they phased out that kind of language. Also a little later in the show.

[Lauren Garrone]

Cause Samantha says that threesomes are the blowjobs of the 90s in that scary diner scene. And then more graphically is like, what were the blowjobs of the 80s. And she says, anal sex.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, they moved on from that way too quickly, in my opinion.

[Lauren Garrone]

And then Samantha is talking about the married man she's having sex with, and she's like, yeah, his wife won't even give him blowjobs anymore.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, I feel like Samantha is always talking about blowjobs. But Carrie stopped talking about blowjobs a little deeper into the show.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yeah, I do love how Miranda's like, he'll never leave his wife for you. They never do. And Samantha goes, thank God. Who needs the trouble? No muss, no fuss. Again, not great that she's willingly sleeping with a married man, but it happens. And that is funny that her logic is like, this is how I don't get in a committed relationship. There's also this small moment where Miranda is sexily trying on red lipstick to try to seduce Samantha and Carrie. And Carrie rejects her by noting that the lipstick is too orange. And I gotta say it. I have to apologize to Ms. Carrie Bradshaw because I always thought she and her crazy ass stalked Big's ex wife. I was unaware. I forgot that this is Miranda's suggestion. Maybe not booking a fake meeting with her, but finding out about her.

[Chelsea Fairless]

It's really, really bad advice from her

[Lauren Garrone]

friends and very unmiranda like. Although, again, I don't think Miranda assumed that Carrie would book a fake publisher meeting after learning that Biggs X works in the publishing industry as an editor.

[Chelsea Fairless]

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[Lauren Garrone]

Yes.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

And Chelsea is constantly trying to convert

[Lauren Garrone]

people to her real, real lifestyle. Like, we were having dinner with a friend recently and they were looking to buy a men's suit. And you, I would say, forcefully suggested the RealReal.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Here's the thing. If you're looking for men's stuff, you can get really great suits from Armani, Brioni, Zegna. All of the Italians are on the RealReal. You can buy a few suits, you can return the ones that don'. Assuming they're returnable, you can find something really great for $200. I personally have been abstaining from shopping for myself lately, but have you been getting anything?

[Lauren Garrone]

I haven't because you have often made fun of me, of the designer shoes that I have Some of which I've never worn. And I have to tell you, I finally gave my Miu Miu ballerina pumps that I never Wore to the RealReal so that someone else can buy them, wear them, and then I can purchase something else that I might actually wear from the RealReal.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Okay, I'm actually really sad that you sold those, but you did never wear them, much to my chagrin.

[Lauren Garrone]

And how about this? When they finally sell, I will let you pick the piece that I will buy from the RealReal with the proceeds because I love selling with the RealReal. They do everything for you from photography and copywriting to shipping, pricing and customer service. You just sit back and get paid.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Plus, with over 40 million fashion lovers

[Lauren Garrone]

on the RealReal, your items will sell fast. How fast will these Miu Miu pumps sell? I'll keep you updated. The RealReal just makes it so easy. Resale is what they do, so you have the time to do you.

[Chelsea Fairless]

The RealReal is the most trusted name in authenticated luxury resale with over 10,000 new arrivals daily. No one does resale like the RealReal. And now get 25 off your first purchase when you go to therealreal.com outfit. That's therealreal.com outfit to get your 25 off. Start shopping [e-mail] outfit. So she sets up a meeting with this gorgeous woman, Barbara. A brunette like Natasha, incredibly charismatic. She is a children's book editor.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yeah. So Carrie stalks her enough to know that she's an editor at this publishing house and believes that she's an editor of romance novels because carrying her voiceover is like, my plan was to pitch a steamy bodice ripping paperback. She'd probably reject it, but I'd get five minutes face to face with her only to learn that she actually works in children's books.

[Chelsea Fairless]

So Carrie pitches her little Kathy and her magic cigarettes.

[Lauren Garrone]

Genius book would work now.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I think so, too. And the adult children's book, like humor book, is a genre of book that exists.

[Lauren Garrone]

Right? And Carrie is trying to pitch the craziest book she can think of, a book that she knows will get rejected, only for Barbara to be like, you know what? That's the type of edgy book I want to work on.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I don't think she was trying to pitch her a bad book. I think she was just improvising in the moment.

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, in rewatching the scene about Kathy and her magic cigarettes, I was reminded of the fact that when Paul and I first started talking to impress me because he's Watched all of Sex and the City. He made an illustration for Kathy and her magic cigarettes. And I hopefully can find it and we will post it.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, I love that. So the next scene is Samantha walking down the street. She runs into her married lover and his wife, the modular office furniture designer, Right?

[Lauren Garrone]

And because he has no chill and the wife isn't an idiot, she immediately figures out like, oh, my husband is clearly sleeping with this woman.

[Chelsea Fairless]

It's an awkward interaction made more awkward when this guy calls Samantha and is like, I did it. I broke up with my wife.

[Lauren Garrone]

Who is this? Which has subsequently become a TikTok sound most famously used by Selena Gomez. Hello, it's over. I told my wife, who is this? So that's been playing in the background of TikTok videos for me the last three years. But I completely forgot that they brilliantly use three way calling to have this guy's wife Ruth call Samantha.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I love this scene because she's like, I'm gonna fight for my marriage, and therefore I am willing to join you in the bedroom.

[Lauren Garrone]

I think what is so great about that scene is you have this expectation that this wife is going to chew Samantha out. And Samantha is answering as such of like, no, you're right. You should be with him. I'm so sorry. And she's like, nope, I'm willing to have you enter into our relationship.

[Chelsea Fairless]

The pot of adult braces.

[Lauren Garrone]

So Lindy west is Samantha Ruth, I guess, and also Carrie, because she is writing about her experience.

[Chelsea Fairless]

So Samantha is understandably horrified.

[Lauren Garrone]

This is the last thing she wants.

[Chelsea Fairless]

There's a really great line where Carrie's like, she was a day player, not a series regular or something to that effect.

[Lauren Garrone]

Samantha was a guest star. Series regular was not in her contract. That's why we love Jenny Bix. So this is where we also get a very experimental scene with Big and Carrie. Speaking of, is this a dream or not? Where she is fooling around with Big. Then she imagines Big's wife Barbara is there. And then she turns away from Big. And because we've seen Charlotte have a quasi threesome and wake up, you think Carrie's gonna wake up. And then you learn that Carrie has just imagined Barbara and has turned away from Big. And he's like, hey, what's going on?

[Chelsea Fairless]

And she's like, nothing much. Just thinking about my column. And he's like, I know you're spiraling because what I told you about my wife life.

[Lauren Garrone]

And then she asks what happened? And he says, alienation of affection, then divorce. So then we have Barbara and Carrie going to lunch. I love the detail that Carrie straightens her hair. I imagine to be more like Barbara,

[Chelsea Fairless]

who has straight hair and wears a blazer. Also, she single white females her.

[Lauren Garrone]

This is where Barbara breaks the news that while she loves the idea of Kathy and her magic cigarettes, the guys above her just don't get it. But she would like to work with

[Chelsea Fairless]

Carrie separately and also be best, best friends.

[Lauren Garrone]

And so they have a boozy lunch and Carrie very cleverly is like, oh, were you never married? And she goes, oh, yeah, a long time ago. And then Carrie gets it in. She goes, what happened? And I mean, I could have told you this. Carrie, he had a wandering eye is what Barbara says. And it wandered all the way over to my best friend's, which Carrie never really follows up on that. That's more concerning.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Also, I feel like we should acknowledge that this behavior from Carrie is fully psychotic. Like, this is one of the craziest things that she ever does. It's one thing to go to the first meeting, that's crazy enough, but to continue this relationship under this pretense is diabolical.

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, the fact that this is not the incident where Big breaks up with her once he learns what happens is astounding. As I figured out from these re watches, Big actually never breaks up with Carrie. It is Carrie who actually leaves Big both times. Yeah, despite her crazy ass behavior. I don't think we've done the season finale of the first season, but like, she stalks Big's mother at church and he rewards that behavior by taking her to the Bahamas or something.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I think it was St. Bart's but. But I could be wrong.

[Lauren Garrone]

Anyway, back to Charlotte. And I've forgotten the guy's name. I just have in my notes. Charlotte and the sex pest is what I'm calling him.

[Chelsea Fairless]

They're at the masked ball for add.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yes, the Attention Deficit ball. It is a mass ball. And so Charlotte feels free to hit on women.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I guess she winks at some woman who winks back. She goes upstairs with her gross boyfriend because she's also had the fantasy of having sex upstairs at a party.

[Lauren Garrone]

I think that's just a line. You know how I sometimes say things in the podcast just to get us to the next topic?

[Chelsea Fairless]

It's like that. And then the woman joins them. But of course, Charlotte is quickly iced out.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yeah, she basically. I'm trying to think, what also does this remind me of? Is this like Miranda and just like that when Che sleeps with their ex husband?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Oh, yeah, it's totally like that. Although this kind of isn't realistic because this guy would want to watch her les out with some other girl. Like, if he wanted to fuck some other chick, he could just fuck some other chick.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yeah, because we're led to believe that Charlotte was seconds away from kissing this woman. And then her boyfriend just, like, couldn't help himself and kiss the woman first. And then Charlotte crawls on her hands and knees out of the hotel room.

[Chelsea Fairless]

See, it's not fair that no one has a threesome in this episode.

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, you think it might happen with this next Miranda scene where she goes as far as to answer a personal ad.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Not for the X Files couple.

[Lauren Garrone]

No. But for a different, equally nervous couple. I guess they have been hoodwinked by other people. Or I guess the people that have answered the ads haven't been as attractive as they had hoped. Not as attractive as Miranda. And frankly, that's all she needs to hear.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Okay. But then she just, like, leaves the restaurant.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

They give her an out.

[Lauren Garrone]

They're like, oh, are you doing something afterwards? And she's like, no, I just need to make a call. And then, not even cleverly, like, the entrance is two feet away from where this couple is sitting.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I get that she just needed to do this for her own validation, but she also is wasting the time of this couple. And they deserve, at the very least, some bullshit. Excuse me. Rather than, like, the cruelest ghosting of all time.

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, do you think that's why Carrie says in her voiceover after this that Miranda shrink suggested that she comes three times a week? Now, I couldn't tell if that was an increase or a decrease.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Miranda's crazy for that. I think she needs more therapy.

[Lauren Garrone]

So we get one final scene with Carrie and Big. Carrie basically waits until Big calls her, and the whole eight days go by. And they finally go out to a restaurant and they both have a very distracted conversation. And finally Mr. Big is like, let's cut the bullshit. What is this? This is about what I told you. What do you want to know? And then he confesses, this is truly an outlier for Sex and the City dialogue. Because Carrie and Big have never been this honest with each other. And also, the way they're delivering the dialogue is very like Frank Capra, Hepburn and Tracy. Yes, because he goes, I cheated on her. Then Carrie goes, yeah, I know. She told me at lunch. I know you know she told me she told you. She told you. See, that's another thing you didn't tell me that you're still talking. And then he makes a joke. I Still talk to all my ex wives.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I just need more information. Like, what did she say? Your new girlfriend is actively stalking me?

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, Carrie should have been a little smarter to know, because Barbara says to her when they first meet, I'm a fan of your column.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, she should have put two and two together.

[Lauren Garrone]

I mean, we. We always wonder what the parallel Page Six world of Sex and the City is like. And so we don't know if, at this point, it would be worthy in page Six that Big and Carrie are dating. Certainly by the first film when they get engaged, it would be something that would be in Page Six. Certainly in the friend groups that they're each in, seeing that Barbara's in publishing and Carrie is a writer for a newspaper, that it would get around that, like, oh, yeah, Barbara.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Oh, you had a meeting with Carrie Bradshaw.

[Lauren Garrone]

You know she's seeing your ex husband, Right?

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

And.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, because everyone knew who Mr. Big was in Candace's column, right? Like it wasn't, like, a secret.

[Lauren Garrone]

Oh, so you're even thinking that, like, Barbara took the meeting, Barbara knows so much that she's actively reading Carrie's column, knows she's dating her ex husband, sees this meeting on the books and is like, all right, I'm gonna placate her.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I'll give her a story. But also, what's her dynamic with Mr. Big now? I'm more fascinated by that.

[Lauren Garrone]

They seem to have a great dynamic. Or at least it's friendly. Much friendlier than I would expect, seeing that their marriage ended because he left her or slept with Barbara's best friend. Let's break that down for a second. Okay, so Barbara and Big had a threesome with Barbara's best friend.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Wait, the threesome was with her best friend?

[Lauren Garrone]

Or am I just assuming that?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, you're assuming.

[Lauren Garrone]

Because she says the reason their marriage ended was his wandering eye. And it wandered to my best friend.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, wandered to her best friend. It doesn't mean she fucked her best friend and her husband.

[Lauren Garrone]

Okay, so they had a threesome, which.

[Chelsea Fairless]

That's a bad idea. No one do that.

[Lauren Garrone]

Oh, okay. So they had a threesome, and then he fucked around on her with the best friend.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yes.

[Lauren Garrone]

See, if I'm Barbara, I would not be calling Big. Although maybe she was, like, happy to call Big and be like, hey, you're dating a real psycho. Just so you know.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I hope so.

[Lauren Garrone]

Does any of this happen in conversation between Big and Carrie? No, they gloss over this. I mean, something that is an extreme red flag in a relationship. Big has every right to break up With Carrie, of course. At the very least, at this point, he is beginning to realize, oh, I am in this woman's column weekly. This is maybe not a good look for me.

[Chelsea Fairless]

He loves her crazy vibes. And then Carrie says, and I realized the real appeal of a threesome. It was easy. It's intimacy. That's the bitch.

[Lauren Garrone]

I think it's controlling Big's wandering eye. That's probably the bitch.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Although, to be fair, Big never cheats on her.

[Lauren Garrone]

No.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Unless we're talking about that flirtation with Penelope Cruz that I always forget about in Sex and the City 2. Bet you guys forgot about that also.

[Lauren Garrone]

No, but in Sex and the City two, she kisses Aiden and Big rewards her crazy ass with a giant diamond. Black diamond.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah. Okay. How many Manolos?

[Lauren Garrone]

Eight.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I'm giving it seven.

[Lauren Garrone]

Okay.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I think it's a great episode. I'm only giving it 7 on the basis that, as we've discussed, there are confusing elements like Charlotte's threesome dream sequence that kind of doesn't fully read as a dream sequence.

[Lauren Garrone]

No disrespect, Nicole Hollaseffer. We love your work.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Also, there's not a lot of fashion happening in this episode. We haven't talked about one outfit.

[Lauren Garrone]

No. Which was a difficult thing to answer for our exit survey.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Okay, so who do you think is the best dress, then?

[Lauren Garrone]

I mean, I was partial to the outfits during the Charlotte and Carrie walk and talk.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, that is the fashion highlight for sure. But it's better as a group look than as individual outfits.

[Lauren Garrone]

It did remind me of us on tour trying to coordinate our outfits. I don't know if Charlotte and Carrie called each other before, but it's also so quintessentially 1998. Like, there. There's something about their outfits and Carrie wearing capris that. Not to say that the fashion of the show is timeless. You can definitely date it to different years. Certainly we can. But there's something about it. That particular walk and talk look that is just so 1998 to me.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, it's great. All right, I'm with you. I picked. I picked the joint outfit.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yeah. Let's kick it back. Who is the MVP of this episode?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Maybe the girl from New Jersey. I love her.

[Lauren Garrone]

I was gonna say Barbara. I think she comes off the best in this episode. I mean, the MVP is certainly not caring. No.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Who are you voting off the island of Manhattan?

[Lauren Garrone]

Kathy and her magic cigarettes. I don't think we should be encouraging children to smoke.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Think again. I'm voting off the no Fatties guy. From the on the street part.

[Lauren Garrone]

Oh, yeah, Fuck him. Do you have a best line? Because I do. We didn't discuss this, but I loved in the Charlotte and Carrie walk and talk when after Charlotte says, you know who? Do we even know who we're having sex with? Or whatever the line is. Carrie's voiceover is, that was Charlotte. It just when you think she's a Park Avenue Pollyanna, she'd say something so right on you'd think she was the Dalai Lama. This is the best line for me. Just because it's so insane thinking about

[Chelsea Fairless]

the qualities that Charlotte York shares with the Dalai Lama.

[Lauren Garrone]

I don't know. I think it was just a reference to make at the time. All right, who are you?

[Chelsea Fairless]

I guess Miranda because of her gay outfit.

[Lauren Garrone]

I was going to say I see a little bit of myself in each of the four women this week. Like an earlier version of myself, a not as enlightened version. Definitely would have spent several therapy sessions discussing how my friends don't want to have a hypothetical threesome with me.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

But I also get Samantha.

[Lauren Garrone]

Like, if I'm a married guy, like, leave me out of this. No musk, no fuss. Not that I would sleep with a married guy.

[Chelsea Fairless]

What is your biggest trigger?

[Lauren Garrone]

Honestly? The guy that is trying to get Charlotte to have a threesome.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, I don't like him.

[Lauren Garrone]

I don't think he's hot enough to be asking for this.

[Chelsea Fairless]

That's the case with, like, most of

[Lauren Garrone]

the guys that they fudged, especially season one. Aside from Timothy Oliphant and, of course, Mr. Big. It's. It's rough out there. For the casting of season one Boyfriends

[Chelsea Fairless]

of the Week, my biggest trigger is the nasty ketchup bottle at the diner.

[Lauren Garrone]

I gotta go back after we end this episode and then look at it.

[Chelsea Fairless]

They wouldn't have let that happen in season two.

[Lauren Garrone]

All right, what is your hottest take?

[Chelsea Fairless]

I've already said it, but someone should have had a threesome in this episode.

[Lauren Garrone]

That's my take as well, but more specific. Given how diverse we will come to learn Charlotte's sex life is, I don't believe that she would have crawled out of that threesome.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, I'm with you. She was pretty adventurous.

[Lauren Garrone]

Now, out of the four girls, I think it makes the most sense and would have been kind of transgressive if Carrie engineered a threesome with Big and his ex wife.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Now, that would be good, but that

[Lauren Garrone]

would only happen in our fantasies.

[Chelsea Fairless]

It's sad. It would have been great material for Sex and the City. The column. Alas, our girl's a prude.

[Lauren Garrone]

She just is. I wonder how Candace feels about that.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Not well.

[Lauren Garrone]

All right, guys, that does it for us this week. We've either traumatized the once a month listeners or we've endeared you to our podcast as a whole. And we look forward to seeing you next week.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I think we traumatized them. I don't think they got this far. I think that's wishful thinking, Lauren.

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, for those of you who stuck around and see you next week. Bye. Bye.

[Alex Kanchwitz]

Hi, this is Alex Kanchwitz. I'm the host of Big Technology Podcast, a longtime reporter and an on air contributor to cnn. And if you're like me, you're trying to figure out how artificial intelligence is changing the business world and our lives. So each week on Big Technology, I bring on key actors from companies building AI tech and outsiders trying to influence it, asking where this is all going. They come from places like Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon, and plenty more. So if you want to be smart with your wallet, your career choices, in meetings with your colleagues and at dinner parties, listen to Big Technology Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.