“Catch-38”

Sex and the City season 6, episode 15
Original air date: January 18, 2004

Question of the Week: Why are we should-ing all over ourselves?

When Steve takes Miranda for their honeymoon in the mountains, Carrie and Charlotte share the duty of watching over Brady. Taking care of him makes Carrie realize that she may be running out of time to have children of her own. Seeing how great Aleksandr is around Brady makes her realize that she would consider having children with him. That is, until she discovers that he has a daughter, age 22, and a vasectomy nearly as old. He assumes that she never wanted to have kids, and when she tries to correct him, he reminds her that she's 38.

Samantha is also facing the consequences of not having children, after her oncologist informs her that women who have never had children are at a higher risk of getting breast cancer. He recommends chemotherapy, but she's so outraged by his comments on her lifestyle that she vows to get a second opinion from a hot, woman doctor who will understand her better. In her pursuit of said doctor, she finds one who's booked for the next several months. Two days of sitting in the waiting room, dropping every name she can think of to get an appointment yield nothing. The nun sitting next to Samantha has been coming in every day for a couple more days than Samantha, even, and she hasn't been able to get in yet either. On the other hand, finding a nun who has neither had children nor sex and still wound up with breast cancer makes Samantha feel a little bit better.

Miranda can't stand her honeymoon after a few hours, because it's constant romance and sex and bubble baths, with no interruptions for TV, phone calls, or other human interaction. She winds up standing in the woods in her negligee, talking to Carrie on her cell phone, after lying to Steve about going to get some ice. On their last night away, she reaches her breaking point, and actually pushes Steve away from her. When he reminds her that it's his honeymoon, too, and he just wanted four quiet days away from work, she feels terrible, and realizes that she has a new set of "shoulds," which includes the fact that she should take Steve's feelings into account now.

When Smith comes back from his film shoot to begin promoting the movie, Samantha keeps him at arm's length, because she doesn't want him to know about the cancer. But after several days of it, he demands to know what's going on. She gives him the news just as the paparazzi begin snapping their picture. Fortunately, though, that picture makes the tabloids that the hot, woman doctor's assistant reads. When she realizes that Samantha is Smith Jerrod's girlfriend, and after Samantha promises that Smith will accompany her to an appointment, should she ever get one, the assistant books Samantha for an 8:00 a.m. appointment. Samantha says that if she can work the nun in, too, Smith would probably kiss her. So the nun's at 7:45.

Carrie decides to have a talk with Aleksandr about how flexible he might be on a vasectomy reversal. She knows she shouldn't, because they've only been dating for two months, but she feels like at her age, she can't afford to get into a potentially serious relationship without knowing where it could end up. She's also torn between the lifestyle that Aleksandr leads — which, by choice doesn't include children, because he likes what he likes — and a feeling that she "should" be a mother at some point. Aleksandr is very understanding. And then my TiVo cut out. So I missed the last minute or so. (Sorry)