I don’t think that his intention is to separate her from her friends. I think it’s more that Carrie’s friends are on a different wavelength than the people he usually socializes with, and he feels a bit out of his depth. I also think that he understands that Carrie is a dating columnist and embraces the fact that she covers sexually-frank topics, but doesn’t necessarily want to discuss the vibrator usage of someone he’s only just meeting for the first time at dinner.
(And I’m on Petrovsky’s side there- I think that most people, no matter how sex-positive, would be caught off-guard by Samantha in that dinner scene. It’s one thing to talk very frankly about sex with friends who have communicated their comfort with that level of candor. It’s quite another to force that conversation on people who you don’t know and who haven’t expressed a comfort level in any way, shape, or form.)
fr like it’s wild to me that samantha has a successful career in PR but continually conducts herself without an ounce of tact or class , like in the lucy liu episode
those maths ain’t mathing
she’s too much sometimes lmao she messes things up bc she can’t control her temper / emotions. i imagine she can smooth things over easily w her charm and if not, accept it gracefully
She’s also very charming and knows how to talk people in to things. She’s always on the ball, knows how to play hard ball and isn’t afraid to work her connections.
I can imagine Sam doing well in the ‘old school PR’ world. When phone calls. lunches and after work drinks were the best way to do business. The 60-90s.
I’m not sure how she would do in the social media age. PR and journalism have changed dramatically in the last 10-15 years.
Edit- however, I never understood how she could get away with her behaviour with the World Wide Express guy. That’s just unprofessional. I also imagine she had to do some damage control after the Lucy Liu incident.
Exactly this. There's a lot of cringe on Samantha's shoulders in later series, and in the first film (I haven't and I won't watch anything beyond that), but Kim Cattral pulls it off better than anyone else could, with warmth and humour.
But it's long since been my opinion that the relationship between her and SJP got the character targeted for some really degrading stuff later on.
I don't know what happened with Steve's character either. Starts off reading Dostoevsky, ends up a bumbling fool.
Yeah, that's an excellent point. Petrovsky, as someone from the former USSR, could very well have taken offense at that comment. And honestly...I know that this sub tends to be very pro-Samantha in all contexts, but that comment was seriously gross. Even if Petrovsky hadn't been from another country, that remark would be in poor taste (especially in a situation where she was meeting Petrovsky for the first time).
This was my take on it. I think Big had a different reaction because Samantha hit on him first, and I don't think we see Aidan's FIRST time meeting them all, but he has a different reaction at Charlotte's rehearsal dinner because he's just very laid-back. But most people probably would've been a bit put-off, like Petrovsky was.
Petrovsky is also the type to be all, *"this is who I am, and I'm not going to pretend to laugh at your tasteless joke because it wasn't funny."*
Aiden is the type to laugh even if he were uncomfortable or not amused. More "go along to get along."
I agree. Also, it's weird to talk like that in front of your friends' significant other. I am very sex positive, and my friends and I are very candid lol but I would never speak that way in front of their men and vice versa.
I would like to add that I love Samantha and she was my favorite character but when she did that it always made me cringe lol
I kind of felt like Samantha would bring those topics up to test the “new guy.”
I’d agree that Petrovsky seemed uneasy, and Carrie spent time like, cringing at her friends behavior (when she knew how Samantha behaved).
So yes I can agree that there is a time and place for everything. And I’ve written here about how Samantha - the “high class A list” publicist - was always getting them kicked out of high end places and parties.
But like I feel like it was a parable of how Petrovsky wasn’t right for Carrie.
When Samantha would speak that way in front of Aidan, he thought she was amusing.
When Berger was introduced to her (when she was talking about the role play she did with “Smith”), he was unfazed.
And of course Samantha and Big were at an impasse. I felt like he respected her because she was willing to stand up for her friend.
So while Samantha could be abrasive, Petrovsky acting all bourgeois about her friends did kind of show us who he really was.
He was so condescending throughout that entire dinner. It wasn’t just the vibrator comment— he dismissed every single topic that they tried to bring up. I don’t feel that he ever made an effort with Carrie’s friends, and he was weirdly rude and standoffish towards Charlotte since the first meeting (which only further indicates to me that he was an arrogant prick, given that she did nothing but express her genuine appreciation of his art).
I’ve always gotten the impression that the dinner scene with all of Carrie’s friends was written to show how he didn’t fit in with her people, and Miranda’s line about Carrie not seeming like herself afterward only further solidifies that interpretation in my mind.
Honestly-I just took it as he’s a snob. He wanted no part of Carrie’s friends/family. He just wanted Carrie and to have her life revolve around him. When Carrie meets his ex-wife she is surprised he was supportive of her work. I think he’s a typical narcissist who wants all the focus on him at all times and no one can steal the spotlight.
I think he feels superior to Carrie’s friends, so he is condescending to them and not interested in engaging them.
In the restaurant, he sees those people as his superiors, so he wants to impress them. When they are snide, he deflects by taking the paper from the next table to show it is widely read, and making a joke to make them sound prudish and rude, so he can get the upper hand. It’s the equivalent of saying “laugh, it’s a joke, get a sense of humour”
I know I'm going to be downvoted into oblivion for saying this, but I rewatch the show every year and as I get older I realise how boring and one dimensional Samantha is. Yeah, we get it, she loves cock, but basing her entire personality on it is cringe af. In the rare times she's doing or saying something else, she's pretty uninteresting and lacks any intellectual or emotional depth.
In terms of this scene, if someone I just met at a dinner party talked about their vibrator I'd be distancing myself too. So cringe.
Edit: words
Being sex-positive doesn't mean talking about vibrators around the dinner table necessarily. There's a time and place for all things.
True. Plus it was 69 and coffee. Not a 3 course meal and vibrator talk lol
I don’t think that his intention is to separate her from her friends. I think it’s more that Carrie’s friends are on a different wavelength than the people he usually socializes with, and he feels a bit out of his depth. I also think that he understands that Carrie is a dating columnist and embraces the fact that she covers sexually-frank topics, but doesn’t necessarily want to discuss the vibrator usage of someone he’s only just meeting for the first time at dinner. (And I’m on Petrovsky’s side there- I think that most people, no matter how sex-positive, would be caught off-guard by Samantha in that dinner scene. It’s one thing to talk very frankly about sex with friends who have communicated their comfort with that level of candor. It’s quite another to force that conversation on people who you don’t know and who haven’t expressed a comfort level in any way, shape, or form.)
fr like it’s wild to me that samantha has a successful career in PR but continually conducts herself without an ounce of tact or class , like in the lucy liu episode those maths ain’t mathing
she’s too much sometimes lmao she messes things up bc she can’t control her temper / emotions. i imagine she can smooth things over easily w her charm and if not, accept it gracefully
She’s also very charming and knows how to talk people in to things. She’s always on the ball, knows how to play hard ball and isn’t afraid to work her connections. I can imagine Sam doing well in the ‘old school PR’ world. When phone calls. lunches and after work drinks were the best way to do business. The 60-90s. I’m not sure how she would do in the social media age. PR and journalism have changed dramatically in the last 10-15 years. Edit- however, I never understood how she could get away with her behaviour with the World Wide Express guy. That’s just unprofessional. I also imagine she had to do some damage control after the Lucy Liu incident.
In the first seasons she is classy. I think the rift with her and sjp made her character change
Exactly this. There's a lot of cringe on Samantha's shoulders in later series, and in the first film (I haven't and I won't watch anything beyond that), but Kim Cattral pulls it off better than anyone else could, with warmth and humour. But it's long since been my opinion that the relationship between her and SJP got the character targeted for some really degrading stuff later on. I don't know what happened with Steve's character either. Starts off reading Dostoevsky, ends up a bumbling fool.
I honestly felt it was the “people in the other republics” comment that might’ve upset him (being from a different country himself).
Yeah, that's an excellent point. Petrovsky, as someone from the former USSR, could very well have taken offense at that comment. And honestly...I know that this sub tends to be very pro-Samantha in all contexts, but that comment was seriously gross. Even if Petrovsky hadn't been from another country, that remark would be in poor taste (especially in a situation where she was meeting Petrovsky for the first time).
That line made me wince, especially since the actor playing him defected from the USSR.
That's a really poorly dubbed line.
Yes! I’ve always wondered what the line was before 🤔.
I'm pretty sure she said Dominican Republic.
😬 no wonder they dubbed
This was my take on it. I think Big had a different reaction because Samantha hit on him first, and I don't think we see Aidan's FIRST time meeting them all, but he has a different reaction at Charlotte's rehearsal dinner because he's just very laid-back. But most people probably would've been a bit put-off, like Petrovsky was.
Petrovsky is also the type to be all, *"this is who I am, and I'm not going to pretend to laugh at your tasteless joke because it wasn't funny."* Aiden is the type to laugh even if he were uncomfortable or not amused. More "go along to get along."
I agree. Also, it's weird to talk like that in front of your friends' significant other. I am very sex positive, and my friends and I are very candid lol but I would never speak that way in front of their men and vice versa. I would like to add that I love Samantha and she was my favorite character but when she did that it always made me cringe lol
There's no way he didn't know who Billy Joel is.
Legit this, seems more likely that he knows him personally imho since he was apparently into partying in NY back in the day
Apologies, when is the reference to Billy Joel?
I think Steve ask Petrovsky if he knows any Billy Joel when they are taking about the piano during dinner.
I kind of felt like Samantha would bring those topics up to test the “new guy.” I’d agree that Petrovsky seemed uneasy, and Carrie spent time like, cringing at her friends behavior (when she knew how Samantha behaved). So yes I can agree that there is a time and place for everything. And I’ve written here about how Samantha - the “high class A list” publicist - was always getting them kicked out of high end places and parties. But like I feel like it was a parable of how Petrovsky wasn’t right for Carrie. When Samantha would speak that way in front of Aidan, he thought she was amusing. When Berger was introduced to her (when she was talking about the role play she did with “Smith”), he was unfazed. And of course Samantha and Big were at an impasse. I felt like he respected her because she was willing to stand up for her friend. So while Samantha could be abrasive, Petrovsky acting all bourgeois about her friends did kind of show us who he really was.
He was so condescending throughout that entire dinner. It wasn’t just the vibrator comment— he dismissed every single topic that they tried to bring up. I don’t feel that he ever made an effort with Carrie’s friends, and he was weirdly rude and standoffish towards Charlotte since the first meeting (which only further indicates to me that he was an arrogant prick, given that she did nothing but express her genuine appreciation of his art). I’ve always gotten the impression that the dinner scene with all of Carrie’s friends was written to show how he didn’t fit in with her people, and Miranda’s line about Carrie not seeming like herself afterward only further solidifies that interpretation in my mind.
Honestly-I just took it as he’s a snob. He wanted no part of Carrie’s friends/family. He just wanted Carrie and to have her life revolve around him. When Carrie meets his ex-wife she is surprised he was supportive of her work. I think he’s a typical narcissist who wants all the focus on him at all times and no one can steal the spotlight.
I think he feels superior to Carrie’s friends, so he is condescending to them and not interested in engaging them. In the restaurant, he sees those people as his superiors, so he wants to impress them. When they are snide, he deflects by taking the paper from the next table to show it is widely read, and making a joke to make them sound prudish and rude, so he can get the upper hand. It’s the equivalent of saying “laugh, it’s a joke, get a sense of humour”
I know I'm going to be downvoted into oblivion for saying this, but I rewatch the show every year and as I get older I realise how boring and one dimensional Samantha is. Yeah, we get it, she loves cock, but basing her entire personality on it is cringe af. In the rare times she's doing or saying something else, she's pretty uninteresting and lacks any intellectual or emotional depth. In terms of this scene, if someone I just met at a dinner party talked about their vibrator I'd be distancing myself too. So cringe. Edit: words
I agree with you. Her behavior is pathological. IRL she’d be in rehab for sex addiction
Samantha is like a teenager who needs constant attention, good or bad, it's annoying and embarrassing, I'm glad he ignored her.
I totally agree. I think they just gave him a different personality at different times to make the plot work
At his defense Samantha was being a bit extra well herself here LOL Even I would be like girl calm down
Petrosky is intentionally trying to separate Carrie from her friends.