“Out of the Frying Pan”

Sex and the City season 6, episode 16
Original air date: January 25, 2004

Question of the Week: Denial: friend ... or foe?

Aleksandr surprises Carrie when he arrives to take her out someplace exotic, someplace they've never been before: her place. She's embarrassed that her apartment is cramped and cluttered, compared to his sleek, modern one, but he says he's happy to see where she lives. The only thing that mars their evening is a mouse running across Carrie's countertop, which Aleksandr promptly smashes with a frying pan and disposes of. Carrie's astonished at how swift and brutal Aleksandr is about it, but he dismisses her astonishment immediately.

Carrie shares her shock with the girls as they suck popsicles by Samantha's bedside, while she receives her chemotherapy. Samantha pretends that she's at a fabulous nightclub, instead of a chemo lounge, and proclaims, "Cancer is hilarious!" She tells the girls that she's planning to get a fabulous dress for Smith's premiere party, demonstrating that cancer isn't slowing her down.

Carrie marvels aloud to Aleksandr about how vibrant Samantha seemed, while she and he are browsing for an espresso machine for Carrie's apartment (a "must have" in his eyes). He begins to tell Carrie about his friend who had cancer and died, and Carrie's again flabbergasted at how brutal he is. She protests that Samantha's not going to die, but Aleksandr very practically says, "But she could."

Charlotte's also facing the harsh reality of her situation, when her latest round of infertility treatments aren't successful. Harry suggests that they get on some adoption lists, just to be prepared, but she's still determined to conceive. She throws herself into running in the park, to distract herself, and meets a woman walking several King Charles spaniels. Charlotte is smitten by one in particular, but the woman dismisses that one as being a failure. It turns out the woman is a breeder and shows the spaniels, and Charlotte is very upset by her calling the dog a failure. After several more run-ins in the park with the woman and the dog, during which the woman can tell that Charlotte is really taken with the "failure," the woman sends the dog to Charlotte's house. Harry is equally taken with the dog, since it makes Charlotte smile, and they decide to call her "Elizabeth Taylor."

Steve also confronts Miranda with the fact that something needs to be done about their living situation: they're sleeping in the dining room, because Brady's taken over their bedroom, and the dog and cat aren't getting along in such confined quarters. They want to buy a house, but can't afford anything in Manhattan. Steve pleads with Miranda until she agrees to at least consider buying in Brooklyn, although she drags her feet pretty hard to even go to a showing. As she sees Steve playing with Brady in the yard, though, she realizes that, once again, not everything is about her anymore. She yields, and they make an offer on the house.

When she begins losing her hair, Samantha can no longer deny that cancer is not hilarious. She searches for a wig to wear to Smith's premiere, but can't find anything that looks natural enough. Smith walks in on her shaving her head, and she informs him that she's not attending his premiere. He refuses to accept that and shaves his head to show solidarity with her. She ends up getting a completely unnatural, bright pink wig for the premiere, and she looks fabulous.

Disturbed by Aleksandr's view of the world, Carrie avoids him for awhile, until the mouse returns to her house. After another mouse runs across her face in her sleep, she screams and calls Aleksandr to come over and set some traps. He does, and they discuss how differently they confront hard issues. Carrie tries to explain that she desperately needs Samantha to be fine, which is why she's been in denial about even the possibility that she could die. Aleksandr reveals to Carrie that the reason he kept talking about his friend who died is that when she did, he was surprised at how much he hurt. He was trying to prepare Carrie for the pain that could come. Understanding more about each other, they snuggle back into the relationship they had before.