To celebrate the return of And Just Like That… (plus the fact it’s TWENTY-FIVE years since Sex and the City first aired!) we’re looking at the best and worst Sex and the City boyfriends and ranking them.
Who was the most loyal? The kindest? The funniest? Had the best dog? Had the worst break-up moves? Was the most toxic??
We’re counting them down, the best and worst – and please, if you disagree, do send us your thoughts at [email protected]!
The Best
Number Five: Steve Brady
Steve was on the show for longer than most of the blokes on the show, which means, yes, we got to see a fair few of his flaws. His biggest, obviously, being that he once cheated on Miranda. But, we were still darned pleased that the pair could patch things up, because ultimately, bartender Steve was relentlessly positive, supportive, reliable and was devoted to both Miranda and Brady (which is still a very confusing name for their baby).
Number Four: Robert Leeds
Remember Robert? The smart, kind, very attractive doctor who Miranda dated right before she got back with Steve? Unfortunately Robert never lasted long enough for us to work out whether he was anything but perfect. His biggest flaw was that he sent Miranda a giant cookie that said ‘I Love You’ on it, which… is hardly a flaw, no? Sounds pretty delicious tbh.
Number Three: Smith Jerrod
Sweet Smith was exactly the man that Samantha (the best character) deserved in her life. The man was ridiculously good looking, but also had a kind, beautiful soul to go with it. Despite Samantha helping him to discover A-List fame, he remained completely unaffected by it, staying the same loveable man he always was. He was unshakable and calm during moments of strife (like when Samantha, out of fear of being in a relationship, nearly left him for the jerk Hotel guy), but most notably when she had breast cancer, even shaving his head in solidarity. Yes, it made sense that Samantha would want to go back to her life in New York, but part of me will continue to hope that she and Smith will return to each other one day.
Number Two: Aidan Shaw
I know Aidan is a controversial choice for many, and I will admit that he and Carrie weren’t a good match during the TV series. But, in my opinion, that’s because Carrie was addicted to the drama of a life with Big, and couldn’t see how wonderful life with Aidan could be. Some folks on the internet like to scream about the fact that Aidan was controlling, because he WANTED HER TO GIVE UP SMOKING. But personally, I think valuing someone’s lungs and health is actually pretty cool. Aidan was a loveable guy with a cute dog, a cabin in the woods, made beautiful furniture and had a wonderful mud-fight with Big one time. The only thing that bumps Aidan down this list is the fact that he did kiss Carrie in Abu Dhabi, while he had a wife and child. But also, we would love to forget that any of that hideous movie ever happened, so maybe it never did??
Number One: Harry Goldenblatt
Harry might not be an Adonis like Smith, or a great dog like Aidan, or even quite the same lovable vibe as Steve, but Harry has to be the best pick of the bunch. He’s the funniest, the most loyal (unlike any of the other main dudes – Aidan, Steve or Big – he’s never cheated), and completely dedicated and devoted to his wife and children. Charlotte has a lot of principles and ideas of how she would like her life to look and Harry has always respected those and supported her – whether it was through their IVF journey, or when he got his back waxed for her to attend a wedding in the Hamptons.
The Worst
Number Five: Jim ‘jerk-who-didn’t-have-a-last-name’
Jim originally dated Carrie, but, in a move that likely should have already raised some red flags, he turned up again in Season 3 to date Miranda (when does that ever work out well?).
Carrie had absolutely no feelings for Jim, so thought everyone would get a long great, but… it turned out Jim still had a lot of feelings for her. Big hostile feelings. Things took a turn for the absolute worst when Carrie, Miranda and Jim decided to go for lunch together to get over any awkwardness and start a fresh. But, instead, Jim used it as an opportunity to let out his hatred for Carrie, at one point exploding and calling her an asshole.
Miranda dumped him immediately, to which he really showed his true colours by saying, “Ooh, the fancy lawyer lady’s breaking up with me, like I give a shit.”. What a guy.
Number Four: Ned ‘didn’t-stick-around-long-enough-for-a-last-name’
Ned made a brief appearance in Episode 5 during Season 2 when he had a short-lived romance with Charlotte, but his behaviour during that tiny window was horrific enough to land him on this list. The episode began with Charlotte heading along with Carrie and Samantha to the funeral of a well-known Cuban designer who died – from an overdose – at just 34. Charlotte soon discovered she was the only one wearing black at the service, with everyone else seeming to pay tribute to the designer by wearing one of his colourful designs. Thankfully, Samantha let Charlotte wear the giant purple hat she was wearing – which then flew off amongst the gravestones in the cemetery. But, that twist of fate meant that Charlotte met Ned, a handsome, sensitive man (who went to Princeton University) who was there visiting his wife’s grave.
Charlotte was immediately smitten – and, in typical Charlotte-fashion was already picturing their lives together after they went on a date and slept together. But, she got more than she bargained for when she decided to take a bouquet of flowers to his late wife’s grave. There, she found Ned, and soon another two women also carrying flowers to the grave. Turned out, Ned was just using his wife’s grave to pick up women… Gah.
Number Three: Aleksandr Petrovsky
Ok, look, Petrovsky was a pretentious, insecure jerk, but I also don’t think he was the biggest villain in this show. Because while he was an arrogant jerk, he was very open about the fact that he was an arrogant jerk. Yes, he was so precious and pompous about his work, and downright rude to Carrie, and her friends – so much so that none of them wanted her to move to Paris with him. But he made no attempt to hide those facts, and was open with Carrie about his lifestyle (which is ex-wife further backed up to Carrie when they met). Even when she was breaking up with him he said, “I thought I was clear all along about who I am”.
He outdid himself on jerkiness that infamous night in Paris where he begged her to give up her chance of making friends in the city and instead hold his hand at an event (where he ditched her immediately). But what really did it was the slap. Now, there’s a lot of controversy still about whether it really was a slap, or an accident as he had his hand at his face as he turned away from Carrie, who then went to grab his hand? Either way, it was the final straw.
Number Two: Jack Berger
Jack seemed to have it all going for him. He was witty, charming and a writer himself, so already had a lot in common with Carrie when they started dating. But as time went on it seemed Berger actually had a whole lot of issues. There was the fact that he wasn’t over his ex (yikes), had crippling self-esteem issues and then the fact that he openly resented Carrie for her success (eeeeek). The final – memorable – straw with Berger though was that he infamously broke up with her via a Post-It note that simply read: “I’m sorry. I can’t. Don’t hate me.”
Number One: Mr Big / John Preston
While there are a number of major issues with Sex and the City in retrospect, one of the most major has to be that one of the biggest story arcs for all SIX seasons, TWO movies and the first episode of the reboot, was centred on Carrie and Big’s will they/won’t they relationship. Shudder.
Mr Big was a big-shot realtor. Samantha described him back in the first episode ever as being “the next Donald Trump” – back when, maybe that was meant to be a good thing? Or perhaps just foreshadowing what a lowlife he really was? But in actual fact, Big was nothing more than a big baby – a complete man-child who was incapable of acting like a grown man. Any time Carrie moved closer to Big, he took a big emotional (or physical!) step back. And then they broke up for good, he quickly married a beautiful young woman who he then cheated on with Carrie. (God, remember when Natasha chased Carrie out of the apartment and fell on the stairs, breaking her teeth, after she came home early? AAggggggh).
From then on Big continued to disappoint, coming in and out of her life, finally coming through for her by turning up in Paris at the very last minute of the last TV episode. One could have assumed that he did something dickish again a week later, but in the first movie we found they were somehow still together only to break up again WHEN HE JILTED HER AT THE AISLE. Then, again showing how terrible he is at communication and how emotionally stunted he is, his way of trying to make it up to her was typing out love poems obsessively????? Big and Carrie’s relationship did nothing but romanticise toxic relationships and toxic men.
Season 2 of And Just Like That… is on Neon from June 23
