The Sex and the City Prequel Brings New Drama to the Small Screen

“Before there was sex, before there was the city, there was just me, Carrie, Carrie Bradshaw.” said the actress that plays Carrie in The Carrie Diaries, AnnaSophia Robb. “It’s 1984. Ronald Reagan and shoulder pads were all the rage. I am trying to figure out who I am with the help of my family, my best friends, a sexy new guy, and a hot new city. Figuring out who I am and finding my voice was not going to be easy, but I was pretty sure it was going to be a lot of fun.”

The Carrie Diaries, the Sex in the City prequel, is a show that follows the young Carrie Bradshaw as she engulfs her city of Manhattan as an intern, while going through high school. The series is a teen drama show that is based on  the book Sex in the City by Candace Bushnell. The first season of the show focused on Carrie Bradshaw during her junior year of high school in 1984, while she explores life in New York while interning at a fashion magazine. Carrie is a very relatable character because she goes through lots of experiences that lot of people can relate to. I enjoyed watching The Carrie Diaries because I found them very relatable, entertaining with all the drama, and interesting to see it taking place in the 1980s and the fashion those years brought with them.

This series takes place during Carrie’s last two years of high school and also shortly after her mother passed away. Carrie now has a younger rebellious sister named Dorrit, played by Stefania LaVie Owen, and a caring, troubled father named Tom, played by Matt Letscher, as family. On the first day of her junior year, Carrie finds a childhood friend, Sebastian Kydd (Austin Butler) who was possibly just who she was looking for. She also finds comfort in Mouse (Ellen Wong), Walt (Brendan Dooling), and Maggie(Katie Findlay) her suburban friends. During her Manhattan adventures Carrie finds Samantha (Lindsey Gort) who helps to build to Sex and the City.

In comparison with other coming of age shows, The Carrie Diaries is different because the teenagers also experience New York City. The show has however been canceled by the CW for the 3rd season as of last Thursday the 19th of March. Amy B. Harris is the executive producer for The CW’s The Carrie Diaries, who also wishes there could have been a third season, but she is glad that the season two finale provided some closure for fans. Although some fans may have found closure, I for one did not. I wish I could have seen the cast go on to college. The Carrie Diaries are also filled with the perfect mix of vibrant colors, over-the-top accessories, and bold retro prints as expected by stylist Eric Daman treated us to an array of creations worthy of the Sex and the City prequel.

Although the 3rd season may have been canceled for whatever reason, I loved the series and recommend it to all my friends. I would give The Carrie Diaries a solid eight out of ten because I loved the drama and adventures that I never saw coming. On the other hand, the show was not perfect for me due to it’s ending with no true conclusion and some characters, such as Maggie, who I didn’t care for. I didn’t appreciate the character of Maggie because she was simply not a good person and the fact that she still was one of Carrie’s friends through it all I found annoying. Overall, I found The Carrie Diaries to be wonderfully enjoyable as Carrie enjoys the beginning of her love affair with Manhattan.