Sex and the City
Defining Moments
TV Flash files “Defining Moments” as hour 51 of 94 in the TV Flash guide — Sex and the City (1998–2004) on HBO, season 4, episode 3, aired 2001-06-10, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S04E03: listed hour 51 of 94 in the Sex and the City guide, hour 3 of 18 in season 4. It aired 2001-06-10 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “The Real Me” (S04E02). Next is “What's Sex Got to Do with It?” (S04E04).

Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Carrie goes barhopping with Big and finds that their relationship as "friends" has never been better. Charlotte and Trey are enjoying themselves as well - having steamy sex in coatrooms and other public places around the city. However, Charlotte starts to wonder where she and Trey are headed. Out on the town again with Big, Carrie is drawn to jazz musician Ray King, who flirts with her and gets her number. Big is noticeably annoyed and Carrie realizes they need to define their relationship. Meanwhile, Miranda is a little freaked out when her date Doug pees in front of her the morning after their first night together. Miranda decides that she should go with the flow, and tries peeing with the door open herself. However, Doug takes the no-boundaries thing too far, subjecting Miranda to an "open door dump" after which Miranda quickly dumps him. At Charlotte's gallery opening, Samantha meets Brazilian artist and lesbian, Maria. Maria, a "relationship person" is attracted to Samantha, but Samantha says they should stick to being friends as she's not a relationship person. On Carrie's first date with Ray King, they run into Big and his supermodel date, plus Samantha and Maria. Big is clearly being territorial about Carrie, and Samantha tells Big to "back off." At the end of the evening, Big is distant with Carrie, leaving her confused. Maria tells Samantha they can't just be friends and Samantha decides to try being in a relationship with a woman. Carrie and Ray share a passionate goodbye kiss and Carrie ponders the notion that "what ultimately defines a relationship is another relationship."
Viewer FAQ
Where does Defining Moments sit in the Sex and the City guide?
S04E03 is listed hour 51 of 94 — hour 3 of 18 in season 4, season 4 episode 3.
When did Sex and the City S04E03 air?
Defining Moments aired 2001-06-10 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Where should I start?
Season 1, episode 1. The voiceover and the four-silhouette contract are the whole machine.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Watch it as the original big-city look book: four women, a voiceover, and shoes that did more character work than half the boyfriends. Manhattan is a lighting setup. The reboot noise is later; this run is the template every brunch-core series still copies.
The first thing you see is a woman on a street that is really a runway. Carrie Bradshaw’s voiceover is a fashion dispatch with dating as the alibi. HBO at the end of the 1990s did not accidentally invent the look book as comedy-drama. Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, and Cynthia Nixon made Manhattan photograph as a weekly fitting: four silhouettes, four theories of sex, one city that never dressed casual unless the casual cost more. Style is the plot. The shoe is not a punchline. The shoe is a…
Filed against
- Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw
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- Kim Cattrall as Samantha Jones
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- Kristin Davis as Charlotte York
Kristin Davis’s Charlotte York is Sex and the City’s corporate sheath — architecture in a brunch quartet, shoes as character work, Manhattan sidewalk as campaign. Four women and a voiceover; her column is the manners. On TV Flash she is…
- Cynthia Nixon as Miranda Hobbes
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- Chris Noth as Mr. Big
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