35 of the most shipped television couples
By Sundi Rose
Carrie and Big – Sex and The City
What you need to know: I know I probably don’t have to give you the rundown about this couple’s comings and goings. Anybody alive in the last decade knows exactly who Carrie and Big are, and probably which Sex And The City season is their fave for the couple. I will tell you that this writer/SATC fan doesn’t necessarily endorse this particular relationship as Carrie’s best, and I will also admit I was an Aiden fan all along. I actually feel a tad bit robbed about how it all panned out.
Why we ‘ship them so hard: I believe the reason American women love this love story so much is because it validates a narrative we subconsciously believe, and often play out over and over, to our own detriment. It reinforces the idea that those men who are unavailable, emotionally distant, hard to love, withholding, and disappointing will eventually come around.
We root for Big because if he can change his ways for love, then that terrible love interest in our life can too, right? The more they succeed, the more this romantic mythology grows in size and breadth. Big even goes so far as to leave her at the altar — wedding dress and all — and we still ‘shipped the heck out of these folks.
In the end, Carrie tames her bad boy, domesticating him and making him marriage material after all. We can just chalk this up to one of the many lies pop culture has told us over the decades.
How to watch it all unfold: Carrie and Big’s love story starts from the very first episode in the very first season. They went on again, off again for six seasons and two movies. To watch this slightly toxic nonsense in all its glory, you’ll have to have HBO or its streaming service, HBO Max.
E! plays the reruns, but the naughty bits are all edited out, making it impossible to enjoy the remaining 12 minutes of the episodes.