And Just Like That.. - Season 3, Episode 12

"My overflowing toilet is an apt metaphor for this dismal series finale."

"Party of One"
Original airdate: 8/14/2025

Episode summary: In this series finale, Miranda hosts a dismal Thanksgiving dinner, which everyone (except Carrie, Mark Kasabian, and a trio of weirdos) bail out on. 

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Recap: Carrie arrives at a futuristic style Chinese restaurant for lunch...and after the waiter orders her some popular dishes via the iPad menu, the hostess brings over a large stuffed doll (Tom Tomato) and positions him across from Carrie in the booth. When Carrie just stares at the doll with a 'what the fuck?' expression, the hostess cheerily explains, "You don't have to eat alone."

Over at the editing studio, Marion gushes to Lisa about all the great sheroes content she scored during her recent D.C. trip. Lisa explains that the well-connected interviewee wouldn't sign the release until she agreed to bring her fashionista friends to a private New York bridal fashion show...which seems like a wholly contrived plot device, but OK. A few seconds later, Lisa gets a call from Terry Kirk (aka Marion's friend who works at Obama's production company). Terry is of the opinion that Michelle Obama is too well known to be featured as a shero - but she might instead have an interest in narrating the docuseries. Lisa's all, "Woo hoo!" and then she and Marion share a happy hug. He suggests they celebrate by grabbing some dinner, or at least a drink - but Lisa declines and decrees that they both need to "reel whatever this is back in" and firmly limit their contact to the editing room.

While out for dinner, Miranda tells Steve she's afraid that (Brady's baby mama) Mia "might be an idiot". She explains that Mia had complained to Brady that she (Miranda) had violated her aura when she went to the hair saloon she works at, so Brady fibbed that she's bipolar. Steve regrets blowing up at his idiot son for his inability to use birth control and plans to reach out to him - even though he still strongly believes "he did fuck up his fucking life". Miranda wails, "How did we get here?!" and recalls how hard she pushed the use of condoms for years, including using a banana to demonstrate to Brady how to fit it over his dong. Steve assures her they'll figure out this disastrous situation, mostly 'cause he wants this grandchild to be in their lives. He then asks if Mia is pretty, and shrugs when Miranda snappishly wonders why he'd ask a thing like that. 

Adam enters the bathroom where Seema is primping for work. She tells him she's going into the office early 'cause she's taking tomorrow afternoon off to attend a private bridal fashion show. Adam pees while sneering about what a waste of time anything wedding-related is, and Seema stares back at him looking perplexed and displeased.

While walking to the bridal fashion show venue, Carrie complains to the gals (Charlotte, Lisa, and Seema) about the Tom Tomato doll in the futuristic Chinese restaurant, and that she was forced to endure "lunch with a side of shame". As the gals gasp in horror, Charlotte suggests submitting a bitchy review on Yelp. Carrie further describes the horror of watching robot servers zipping past her, concluding that society's consensus is that women eating alone was not only tragic in the 1800s, but is also tragic in the future. [You're reading waaaaay too much into the Tom Tomato incident, Carrie.] 

Bridal fashion show! As young women model a series of gorgeous white gowns on the runway, Seema tells Carrie she just learned that Adam has zero desire to get married...and, furthermore, that he doesn't even believe in the institution itself 'cause his mother was never married and didn't give him "a reference" for marriage. She then questions whether or not she wants to marry or merely thinks she should, asking, "Do I really want it? Or am I just programmed for it?" [Dunno - but these questions sound suspiciously like repurposed musings from one of Carrie's Sex and the City columns, circa Season 4.] Carrie reveals that she was so into the idea of marrying Big because it meant 'I was chosen', and Seema chews on that 'no duh' of a non-bombshell for a few seconds before wondering aloud if it should even be Adam's responsibility to choose her.

"For years I craved being Big's chosen one."

"And based an entire HBO series on that sad objective."

Lisa, meanwhile, wryly remarks to Charlotte that someone should inform the young girls today that marriage is about waaaaay more than wearing a beautiful wedding gown. She then gripes about not knowing how to help Herbert better cope with his recent election loss, and Charlotte concurs and throws in cancer and how upset Harry is that he can't get hard enough to hit the sheets with her. Lisa grumbles that so much of marriage is dealing with the man's feelings and disappointments, then asks Charlotte if she'd go through with marrying Harry if, all those years ago, she knew then what she knows now. Charlotte happily replies, "Absolutely", and Lisa grins and says, "Me too" - just as the bridal fashion show comes to its conclusion. 

Later, Carrie laments to Charlotte that she stands a very good chance of being alone for the rest of her life...and that she's never lived without the hope of hooking up with a special someone in the foreseeable future. After the shock and devastation of Big's death, she couldn't help but wonder if perhaps Aidan could be recycled as a love interest...and when that didn't pan out, there was her fling with Duncan - before he made it clear he had no interest in pursuing anything permanent with her. She firmly concludes that she's going to have to start accepting that she's destined to live out the rest of her life as a single woman - but insists "it's not a tragedy; it's a fact". A troubled looking Charlotte responds by wankingly assuring her that she's sooooo fabulous. 

​Lisa returns home and heads over to the bedroom, where Herbert is mopishly sitting up in bed, reading. She takes his hand and vows, "I, Lisa, take you, Herbert...in Tom Ford suits or sweatsuits 'til death do us part." Herbert smiles back at her and promises to get over the loss of not being the city's comptroller, and she corrects him, "We'll get over this" and kisses his hand before leaning in for a hug.

On the morning of Thanksgiving Day, Adam is putting the finishing touches on Carrie's courtyard - which somehow looks worse than it did before he began planting things - and declines to reveal what he's planting in one of the beds so that she'll be (pleasantly?) surprised once spring arrives. When Carrie asks him why he's working on Thanksgiving, he just shrugs and says that to him it's just another Thursday. Carrie remarks on how he doesn't seem to believe in a lot of traditions...and when Adam correctly assumes she spoke to Seema and is referring to marriage, she says she only has one question: is Seema just a Thursday? Adam dreamily describes Seema as special and a lifetime, and Carrie seems satisfied enough with that response, then glances around the courtyard and tells Adam she'd like it to return to something that feels more wild and free. He nods and says, "OK. Let's do you" ... and I can't help but wonder if Carrie wishes she had hired a more astute landscaper.

Charlotte is in her kitchen, basting the turkey, when Harry appears behind her with a holy shit! expression on his face. He announces, "I'm crisp and ready to baste", and then he and Charlotte rush over to their bedroom, breezing past a joyous looking Lily on the way...and the knowing look on Lily's smiling face came across as extremely weird.

"If I were a Thanksgiving turkey, I'd be crisp and ready for basting."

"Then let's get you inside the oven, pronto."

Carrie stops by the local bakery to collect the many pies she ordered at the beginning of the previous episode, then begins making her personalized deliveries. When she arrives at Casa Goldenblatt to drop off a pie and collect stuffing, Lily tells her that Charlotte's too busy getting boned by a newly hard Harry to come to the door...to which Carrie cheerily retorts, "OK, no stuffing!" She then continues on to..

• The Wexley residence to deliver apple crisp to a delighted Lisa
• Seema's street, where she finds Seema casually dressed in jeans as she's about to head over to Adam's sister's place
• Anthony's decrepit apartment, from which she hastily departs when he starts lamenting having to dump his betrothed on a national holiday

Carrie finally arrives at Miranda's apartment and learns that Miranda is upset because Joy just texted that her dog is "suddenly sick". She assumes that Joy is lying about it after she witnessed a terrible fight between herself and Brady. Carrie urges her to call Joy to find out what's actually happening, then heads over to the kitchen to greet Brady, who's making mashed potatoes and grumbling about the guest list, which has abruptly dropped from thirteen to six. A few seconds later, Miranda appears in the kitchen doorway and announces, "It's real" and explains that one of Joy's dogs swallowed something sharp and needs surgery. She tells a bewildered Carrie and Brady that she's off to the animal hospital to check in on Joy, and promises to be back in an hour.

Carrie is putting a French cheese plate on the table when Mia and her two weird friends arrive: a cartoonishly flamboyantly gay man named Silvio, and the transgender, non-binary Epcot (whose parents are Disney freaks). Brady emerges from the kitchen to say hey to Mia, prompting Silvio to remark, "Oh, he's a ginger. No girl...bye." Carrie motions at the cheese plate - but Mia declares that she only eats cucumbers, brown rice, and seaweed, while Epcot snootily says they don't eat dairy. A few seconds later, Mark Kasabian arrives clutching a bottle of wine, and a confused Carrie informs him that Charlotte and her family opted to spend the holiday at home this year. Mark smarmily replies, "You're here, I'm here", while Brady glumly announces that he's off to buy "seaweed and shit". Carrie introduces Mark to Mia, Silvio, and Epcot...and he looks less than impressed by the trio.

Miranda arrives at the animal hospital and finds a tearful Joy awaiting the veterinarian's assessment of her ailing pooch, who apparently ate a Lego piece some demon child dropped in the park. A few seconds later, the vet emerges to assure Joy that her dog is A-OK, and that the surgery was a total success. Yay!

Mark gushes to Carrie about how much he looooooves autumn and that he wishes to share his East Hampton house with someone special. Subtle, Mark. Carrie does her best to ignore his flirting and heads over to the oven to check on the turkey and thinks it looks done...and when Mark's like, "Sure - but what do I know?", they stupidly take it out of the oven several hours too soon. A few seconds later, Charlotte arrives to drop off her stuffing and happily tell Carrie about Harry's re-functioning penis. Carrie whispers, "I'm going to kill you" and motions at Mark...and Charlotte pokes her head into the kitchen and apologizes to Mark for not updating him about her change of plans.

Carrie pulls Charlotte aside to make her feel as bad as possible about taking it upon herself to play matchmaker, so Charlotte explains that she somehow got the idea that she and Mark shared a flirty connection when they ran into each other at Rock's school play. She adds that she haaaaates the idea of her (Carrie) believing there's no man out there for her, and points out that Mark is smart and cultured. Carrie blurts out, "He's been married three times!" and Charlotte refrains from countering, "Uh, so was Big", and shares that Mark is so wealthy he has his own plane. 

Silvio, who's wearing a denim ensemble that features a shoulder-baring top, is performing dance moves as music blares in the background...and while that's happening, Miranda returns home and explains to Mia et. al. that she had to briefly check in with her girlfriend about her sick dog. As Epcot heads straight for the bathroom to shit out all the French cheese they've been scarfing down despite being lactose intolerant, Miranda stares confusedly at Silvio's dancing and asks if he wouldn't mind turning down the music...and then try to behave like a polite grownup, given that he's a (barely invited) dinner guest in her home.

"What in the living fuck are you doing?"

"Taking up far too much airtime, clearly."

Brady announces that dinner is now going to be seaweed, brown rice, and cucumbers 'cause the turkey is very raw...and Carrie looks aghast and apologizes for taking it out of the oven too soon. Brady then notices Mia eating some of the French cheese, is all 'what the fuck?', and complains that he's been running all over town picking up seaweed, brown rice, and cucumbers. Mia just shrugs and tells him she never instructed him to do that, and then Epcot exits the bathroom and grimly asks if anyone has matches before explaining "that cheese is no joke". 

Later, Carrie and Miranda are sitting around the table after Mia et. al. have hastily departed. Carrie grumbles to Miranda that Charlotte had convinced herself that she (Carrie) would be dazzled by Mark 'cause he has his own plane. She then motions towards the bathroom (where Mark is relieving himself) and predicts that when he emerges he'll offer to take her home.  

Mark flushes the toilet...and a few seconds later, it starts overflowing with chunks of Epcot's turds (yep, it really does). Given Epcot's self described stomach issues, a more realistic outcome would probably have been more of a loose stool diarrhea situation - but that's all I'm going to say 'bout that. 

Miranda tells Carrie that Brady is soooo pissed at her that he opted to spend the night at Steve's place - just as Mark hastily exits the bathroom and reports the gross plumbing mishap to Miranda. He clarifies, "I don't have a problem with French cheese", then quickly says he'll see himself out and flees. A relieved looking Carrie gleefully smiles to herself. 

As Miranda cleans her pooped up bathroom, she deflatedly asks Carrie what in blazes has happened to her life, to which Carrie unhelpfully puns, "Shit happens." Heh. Joy then drops by to join Miranda for dessert as a thank you for spending part of the holiday with her family (aka the dogs). As the two hug (while Miranda is still wearing her poop smeared cleaning gloves), Carrie heads over to the kitchen, takes one of the leftover pies, and quietly leaves. She returns to her townhouse mansion, and decides that since there's no Duncan living below her, she no longer needs to take her shoes off. She then turns on the karaoke machine and selects Barry White's You're the First, The Last, My Everything.

Guiseppe assures Anthony he's wrong in assuming that he only proposed 'cause he needs a mommy figure as a spouse. He then expresses his anger by mashing a pie in Anthony's face...and a shocked Anthony reacts by declaring, "I'm not cleaning this up" before the two burst out laughing. 

Charlotte tells Rock that she dutifully deleted the photo Carrie took of them during the Thoroughly Modern Millie play 'cause it makes her think of them in a certain (feminine) way. Rock just shrugs and says it was merely a part in a school play, then pronounces, "I'm going to be a lot of people in my life." Lily tells Rock that she took oodles of photos of them as Millie...and then the entire family gathers around Lily and her iPhone to oooh and aaah over pics of Rock.

As Herbert enjoys a piece of pie, he happily points out to Lisa that, since he's not becoming NYC's comptroller, he no longer has to worry about gaining weight. He then stops her from starting to wash up all the dirty dishes and tenderly assures her that since she did all the cooking, he'll do all the cleanup. You're a good man, Herbert.

After that, we get a superfluous, pie-eating montage:

• Carrie eats her pie while jigging to Barry White
• Seema eats pie while enjoying the holiday at Adam's sister's place
• Joy eats pie while chatting with a beaming Miranda

 
Carrie heads over to her laptop and defiantly deletes the quasi-hopeful epilogue she had written during the previous episode, replacing it with, "The woman realized she was not alone - she was on her own." That's pretty much exactly the same thing, Carrie.

In the final scene of the (abruptly cancelled) series, Carrie aimlessly struts around her ginormous mansion, singing along with Barry White...which was a tad strange, given that Barry White's voice seemed to be emanating from the karaoke machine, which I thought only played instrumental music tracks.

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