We open with Carrie in a Paris restaurant telling us that she's been there for two weeks with her artist boyfriend, and is now going to meet his ex-wife for lunch. We are given a nod here to Carrie's trademark purse, when the ex-wife comments on it and Carrie says it's vintage and falling apart but still in love with it. ( A hint that she's not as progressive as she's been making herself to seem while in this latest relationship. ) She also learns that the reason the marriage did not work out was because of the work he does.
We then see Charlotte and her best friend shopping for an outfit, that Charlotte hopes will help to impress a young couple who have agreed to let them adopt their baby.
The next scene is Samantha and Smith at a hair salon, both having gotten the same shade of dye. And Smith brings up the topic of them not having had sex in a while, because of Samantha's lack of sex drive from the cancer treatments.
Carrie starts to smoke again after having been clean from it for the last few years, and brings it up to her boyfriend Aleksandr Petrovsky, hoping that he would show concern for her health. But when he brushes it off by saying that everyone smokes in Paris, and then makes a comment about how he leaves her alone so much. Once again, Carrie finds herself spending the day alone, and is in bed when Aleksandr comes home.
The next scene takes us back to New York, and Miranda's family are sitting around the dinner table. Her mother in law doesn't seem to know who everyone is and Steve takes her to the hospital only to find out she suffered from a small stroke. And they decide to have her move in with them.
Back at Samantha's, Smith is packing for a movie shoot and Samantha gives him permission to have sex while he's out of town. Making a comment about how if anyone knows how important sex is it's her...was her. Smith then replies that he's not wanting just meaningless sex.
Back in Paris, Carrie sees a copy of her book the French version, in a store and goes in to look at it. The shop keeper sees her and calls towards her co-worker who decide to throw her a book party. Only it ends up being on the same night as Aleksandr's art opening. He talks her into missing her party and going with him to his opening instead, only to be left once again by herself.
Back at Charlotte's, her and Harry meet the young couple about the adoption. The couple end up changing their minds and not letting them have the baby, which sets Harry into an emotional state. Which is one of the only times we see Harry loose his composure.
Samantha comes into work to find a potted plant from Smith and decides to call him and tell him that she changed her mind about him having an affair. It's the big turn in Samantha's free love theory, as she's always been throughout the series against the rules of relationships.
Back at Miranda's, her mother in law wanders off by herself and Miranda ends up searching the streets of Brooklyn for her.
After Carrie has been left alone yet again, opens up her purse to get her cigarettes only to be told by a security guard that she can't. Putting them back into her purse, she discovers a tear in the lining and her missing trademark Carrie necklace that she thought she had lost. At that moment, she makes up her mind to leave the gallery and try to make it to her own book party. While she's running around Paris trying to find the address, a cab pulls up in the distance behind her and we see Mr. Big in the backseat. Neither notice each other, and Carrie continues on to her party, only to find that everyone has left. Seeing the damaged book cover on a table, littered with spilled food, Carrie gives into the sadness that she's been feeling the whole time she's been in Paris. The disappointment, the loneliness. Knowing that she let down her fans adds another layer to her own feeling of being lost.
When she returns to the hotel, her and Aleksandr have an argument and he hits her. This ends up being the last straw for Carrie and she heads down to the lobby to leave. Here she bumps into Mr. Big who's been looking all over Paris for her. When he finds out that Carrie and Aleksandr have broken up and why, Big goes on in a rage to fight him, only to be stopped by Carrie. The two then leave the hotel and walk the streets of Paris together and this is where Big finally tells her she's the ONE.Back in New York, Charlotte and Harry get the news that they are able to adopt a baby from China. This gives Charlotte everything she's been working the whole series for, the fairy tale.
Miranda then has a moment of realization herself, when her housekeeper comments about how good she was at looking after her family. This brings Miranda's arch to a close, making her believe that the world doesn't need to be such a cold and mean place.
Samantha then is woken in the middle of the night by Smith returning home for the weekend. He tells her that he loves her, and she has to admit that Smith is the first guy to actually mean something to her.
Carrie and Big arrive back in New York, and we see her get out of his car, and ask if he wants to come up, which is a full circle for them as that's how the first episode of the series ended. With Carrie getting out of Big's car in front of her apartment.
We then see the girls are gathered for their usual Sunday lunch and Carrie return. The comment she makes at the end, is about learning to love yourself.
I think it's interesting that once we get to the art gallery for the opening, we see Aleksandr Petrovsky written in large bold letters everywhere, and always with big open spaces around it. Almost like a metaphor in itself about how he has to be the center of things. And when Carrie is running back to her party from the gallery, his name plate is there. It's as if she's running from him to herself.
This is also one of only one or two episodes that does not have Carrie asking a weekly question.
I think I have seen this episode about 12 times over the last decade and it still makes me cry every time. There is just something about the idea of a happy ending that draws us in, specially when you've followed the story as closely as the fans of SATC have.
The elements in this episode are fairly clear cut. Just like the last few lines that Carrie says about the only real relationship you need to have is with yourself, and if you can find someone to love the you that you do, then all the better... I mean Fabulous. You should never feel that you have to give up any of your core beliefs in order to be in a relationship. Nor should you be afraid to want everything you believe in because of how you might come across to anyone else.
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