“Cover Girl”

Sex and the City season 5, episode 4
Original air date: August 11, 2002

Carrie's obsessing about the picture for the cover of her book after her editors' idea is to put her head on a naked body hailing a cab. She's worried that people will look at the cover of her book and not take her seriously. Case in point: while wandering through the bookstore, to which they've all gone to draw inspiration for cover designs, Samantha picks up a copy of Dr. Phil's book and snorts, "Yeah, like I'm gonna take advice from him!"

Charlotte's seeking a self-help book - Starting Over, Yet Again - but when she visits the "self-hell" aisle, she can't bring herself to buy it, as she too-favorably compares herself against the losers in the aisle buying those kinds of books. Miranda's seeking a diet book, but the saleswoman counsels her that the only sane way to lose weight is Weight Watchers. She joins Weight Watchers, where she wears a nametag stating her name and her excuse for being overweight - "Miranda Baby Fat" - and meets up with "Tom Big-Boned," with whom she really hits it off.

Samantha's offered to help Carrie come up with "looks" for her cover over lunch, but when Carrie picks Samantha up, she finds her giving a blow job to the Worldwide Express guy in her office. Carrie runs out, and Samantha's furious that Carrie's judging her. Meanwhile, Stanford's telling Carrie about his new boyfriend, Marcus, but he's afraid that Carrie's going to judge Marcus for being a "Broadway-caliber dancer" with the Rockettes. Which gets Carrie thinking:

"If it is instantly clear that a person, place, or even a profession is not for you, is it better to ignore your better judgment and read between the lines, or should you judge a book by its cover?"

Miranda's having a fine time with Tom Big-Boned, except for the fact that after he ... eats ... he always wants a kiss, which she's not willing to give without a little clean-up first. He's devastated when she tells him, because his overeating is triggered by criticism. Because he's too fragile to take her criticism, he dumps her.

At the styling session that Samantha's set up for her, Carrie criticizes all the clothes the stylist has chosen, saying that she's too old to be wearing any of the very racy outfits. Samantha's miffed, because they're all styles she'd love, and boils over at Carrie for judging her lifestyle. She storms out, but as she walks in the bathroom, she walks in on Marcus giving Stanford a blow job in the bathroom. Samantha realizes how Carrie felt walking in on her, and they're able to patch everything up. Carrie ends up at the photo shoot for the cover in a long black jacket with no pants, sexy shoes, and her laptop for the photo shoot.