I liked the Sex and the City series finale overall. A little predictable, but it struck a decent balance between resolving storylines and setting up the upcoming movie. Miranda's resolution was the best--a poignant full-circle arrival from her prickly first-season self. Still, I was unsettled by how a show that purportedly glorifies singlehood couldn't rest until each character was paired up: Carrie with Big, more or less; Charlotte and Miranda finding husbands and embracing family values; and even Samantha settling in with a steady. The writers have always suggested that they prize good character development over good feminism, but I wonder what subtle messages the finale sent to single viewers about their social adequacy.

Steve Johnson puts it this way this morning in a negative review, talking about Carrie taking back Big:

Isn't rejecting a man who had delivered her so much maltreatment what a truly modern woman would have done?

Yesterday, the NY Times ran a conversation about whether or not Carrie should get married.

And here's my earlier essay on Sex and the City and belief.