The Carrie Diaries - Recap: Boobs, Bennet, and a Little Bastard

Episode 2 of Season 2 of The Carrie Diaries, “Express Yourself,” brought a heat wave to Manhattan, and while Samantha (Lindsey Gort) was doing just fine with a pair of frozen panties, her ever-naked presence began to grate on birthday boy Walt (Brendan Dooling), who’s upcoming legalization meant, at least in his mind, that a relationship with Bennet (Jake Robinson) was about to rev up. Speaking of revving up, Sebastian’s (Austin Butler) heinous father rolled into back Castlebury with a 1955 Porsche Spyder, a dead ringer for James Dean’s Little Bastard. Maggie (Katie Findlay) would spot the make and model from the street as Kydd got her purring… the car, not Maggie. Meanwhile, Mouse (Ellen Wong) found an unlikely coach in her quest to become adept at phone sex with West (RJ Brown), while Mr. Bradshaw, Tom (Matt Letscher), took advantage of his time alone in the house to reconnect with Deb (Nadia Dajani) in a similar manner but without the phone. Carrie (Annasophia Robb), meanwhile, learned to overcome her passive means of sorting out her feelings just in the nick of time to lay into Sebastian. Also, Donna (Chloe Bridges) doesn’t do throw-up. Here is the Recap and Review of The Carrie Diaries Season 2 Episode 2, “Express Yourself”!

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Aah, August in New York City. A problem for most, but not for Samantha Jones, who’s perfectly fine being permanently nude, much to Walt’s dismay. Storing your underwear in the freezer seems to be a surefire way to cool off. Meanwhile, Carrie, having dealt with her new live-in pal Samantha for three weeks, would spend much of the episode attempting to politely ask the girl to move the hell out before Larissa would arrive home early from her adventures in Kyoto. I liked the way the writers had Walt attempt to politely convince Carrie to say something to Samantha in a way that an actual friend of a friend would handle that situation. As in, he had to make sure Carrie knew that he enjoyed Samantha’s company, as to not insult Carrie’s character judgment skills, in the process of convincing Carrie to shoo her away. Walt’s birthday was on the horizon, and that meant he and Bennet could finally make some magic. Of course, Bennet is a gay man about town, and Walt has yet to meet any other gay boys his own age whatsoever. Walt kicked off his birthday celebration with a pair of boobs. Thanks, Samantha!

The CW "The Carrie Diaries"

Carrie, realizing that in planning Walt’s 18^th birthday she’d need to wrangle in Bennet to make the extravaganza a success, would talk to Walt’s crush at Interview, only to discover that Bennet already had prior work plans to attend Z100’s exclusive concert in the park. Carrie, under the impression that getting her group in would be a snap, ended up hitting a major snag when Bennet expressed his complete and utter shock that she’d managed to finagle so many VIP passes to a majorly exclusive event. Carrie, needless to say, was screwed. Luckily, Samantha who maintains an entirely unlikely understandable relationship with the great Howard Stern, would easily scoop up some VIP passes to the show, making it even harder for Carrie to kick her out of Larissa’s bachelorette pad.

Mouse and West continued to heat things up from a distance as the summer sun continued to scorch the scene. Well, they’d attempt to do so. West sprung an impromptu phone sex attempt on Mouse, who very quickly shut down that scenario with swift hang-up. Later, she’d venture into Manhattan for Walt’s big day, only to bump into Samantha working her butt off (literally) to a Jane Fonda workout tape. Samantha Jones can multitask, of course, and she’d juggle her brand of 80s booty popping with her new job as a phone sex line operator. Seriously, could there be a better career path for a twenty-something Samantha?

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Mouse, intrigued by Samantha’s vivacious attitude and killer confidence, would take a lesson from Carrie’s new buddy, even going as far as to attempt to take one of Samantha’s calls on her own. Needless to say, the experiment blew up in Mouse’s face, leading Samantha to note that the girl needed a ton of work. Still, Mouse is a quick study. Just an aside; I think my favorite moment this week was when Samantha accidentally picked up the phone and mistook Carrie’s dad for a client. I know The Carrie Diaries is based off of a book series and not Sex and the City, but that doesn’t mean that people tuning in don’t expect this series to reflect the HBO hit. Adding Samantha was brilliant, and Lindsey Gort, the actress responsible for bringing a young Sam Jones to life, is pretty incredible.

The CW "The Carrie Diaries"

Tom and Deb reconnected back in Castlebury this week, as Dorrit was off, allegedly, with a friend’s family for a few days. I’m glad that The Carrie Diaries hasn’t written off Deb. It’s interesting to watch Tom oscillating back and forth between wanting to move on and feeling like he’s disrespecting the memory of his wife. It’s even better because Deb has been the one to help him cope, recognizing that there’s a difference between an ex and a dead spouse. The new girlfriend, funny enough, is what’s helping him to hold on to the memory of Carrie’s mom in a positive and healthy way. Of course, Deb comes with a whole new set of quirks, like obsessing over dirty dishes and the organization of the dishwasher, yet when you are truly falling for someone new, even their little flaws end up becoming things you love about them. That’s where we find Tom and Deb leaving Episode 2, and that’s a good place to be. Of course, sex happened, too. That’s a no brainer.

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Sebastian’s father surprised his boy with a new family car. Of course, this was just any car. This was the dream car Sebastian and his father had always fantasized about owning, a 1955 Porsche Spyder in the likes of James Dean’s iconic Little Bastard. Here, look!

His father suggested that the two make plans to fix the car up together, yet inevitably, true to form, bailed on Kydd at the last minute. Luckily(?) for Sebastian, Maggie happened by his house while babysitting a new rugrat, recognizing the make and model of the car before realizing that Sebastian was the one behind the hood fixing it up. The two shared an awkward bit of conversation that bounced between their common appreciation for amazing automobiles and their infamous kissing scandal. Maggie did, however, offer a bit of a shoulder to hypothetically cry on when she realized that Sebastian’s dad had ditched him.

In the end, Sebastian’s father would pull up in a limousine to admire his son’s fine work. Sebastian, still unwilling to believe that his arrogant father had knowingly abandoned him yet again, seemed to enjoy his father’s tiny bit of approval and pride before the man shattered everything to pieces. His father decided to sell the car to a friend for a profit, and what once seemed like a bit of father-son bonding now seemed to Sebastian like his father shamelessly taking advantage of him. Sebastian would ask for one simple ride before his dad would swipe the car back. Of course, Sebastian, who is still incapable of opening up emotionally to his father, would need to get his point across another way.

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The Carrie Diaries classic go-to plot twist is making Carrie choose between her social life and her career. During Episode 2, Carrie’s dad would land her an interview for a writing opportunity at New York’s New School. Carrie, however, was behind the planning of her friend Walt’s important 18^th birthday celebration. Rather than ditching one plan for the other— you guessed it — she’d attempt to do both. First, Carrie would sip champagne, eat caviar from the Caspian Sea, and watch Walt feign awe over Samantha’s gift of a “Rolex” (Carrie and Walt had previously discovered that Samantha was buying/ selling fakes for a quick buck). She’d then pretend to obsess over Brian Adams enough to just need a solo front row spot during his set in order to covertly hightail it over to her important interview. Amidst all of the “switcheroo” chaos, one of my favorite moments this week was Carrie’s one-on-one with Samantha. The two sat on the lawn talking the importance of good girlfriends and lame boyfriends. Samantha, who’s a bit of a drifter and a lone wolf for someone who seems so personable and connected within the city, admitted some of her past pains to Carrie over the episode. It’s clear that these two need something from each other as friends, and because we’re privy to SATC, I can safely say that the writers are doing a great job of planting the seeds of their friendship knowing just how things will grow to be.

Unfortunately nothing would go as planned for Carrie, as a terrible case of food poisoning during the interview process would cause her to puke… three times. Walt, meanwhile, took advantage of a moment alone with Bennet, as the two went for a stroll following an awesome time rocking out to American Authors. Sadly for Walt, things would not go at all as he’d hoped. Walt had spent the last few months of his summer waiting for the day he turned eighteen in hopes of jumping into a serious relationship with Bennet. Bennet, who’s been playing the field and enjoying life in NYC, always has a way with words. He’s been Walt’s gay spirit guide through his coming out experience. It would have been so easy for the show to simply write off Walt’s crush as high school puppy love nonsense, but I’m glad they decided to write in butterflies on Bennet’s end as well. Bennet does have feelings for Walt, but he’s not looking for a serious relationship just yet. Walt, who hadn’t yet come to understand that romance could exist in the grey between the black and white of “single” or “taken,” was initially embarrassed and disappointed. Of course, the vomit spree that followed pressed pause on this situation all together.

Back at the picnic blanket, Samantha would attempt to play “sexy nurse” to her sick friends, who’d puke in everything from strangers’ hats to Walt’s gift bag. Of course, wasn’t the fact that Samantha was the only one not throwing her guts up a sign that maybe something she’d brought to the party was to blame? Back at the loft, she continued tending to Carrie’s friends, and Bradshaw too, until the group managed to narrow down the list of possible causes to one thing… the caviar. Samantha admitted quite casually to exaggerating about the product she bought off of the back of a truck from a random Russian man. The caviar had come from Coney Island, not the Caspian Sea. Carrie would seize the opportunity to lash out at Samantha in an effort to banish her from Larissa’s apartment forever. Unfortunately for Carrie, Mouse managed to reveal the truth behind the food poisoning just after her explosion. Mouse had used rotten eggs, eggs Larissa had left in the fridge months prior, to bake Walt his favorite quiche.

Before we knew it, Episode 2 was winding to a close as the food poisoning ran its course, and Carrie offered an earnest apology to Samantha, who took Carrie’s accusations and aggression in stride. Samantha just needs to hear it straight. She’s not one to hold a grudge, especially not with a girls’ girl like Carrie. By the time Sebastian(!) had arrived, Samantha was preparing to move out with no skin off her back. Episode 2 saw her friendship with Carrie all but set in stone.

Sebastian, having struggled with his daddy issues this week, ran straight to Carrie looking for some of her signature brand of comfort. Carrie, absolutely spent by the day’s shenanigans, finally took the opportunity to stand her ground and to give it to Sebastian straight. Samantha had taught her well. Sebastian broke Carrie’s heart, and she now hates him because she still loves him. Sebastian left the apartment devastated, and inevitably picked up a pay phone to call his dad, pleading with him one last time to keep the car as a symbol of what their relationship could mean. His father rudely refused to budge, and Sebastian ended up leaving the vehicle unlocked and running on the streets of NYC.

The CW "The Carrie Diaries"

The CW "The Carrie Diaries"

The next morning, Bennet stirred awake to find Walt waiting for a conversation. Walt, who’d witnessed Carrie’s moment of brutal honesty with Sebastian, realized that the word of a commitment did not mean true invulnerability. He offered Bennet the opportunity to try things his way, recognizing their true feelings for each other, and the two closed out their arc this week with a long-awaited and minty fresh kiss.

Episode 2 of Season 2 of The Carrie Diaries ended with Bradshaw heading home for a visit. Her father welcomed her with open arms as the two began to discuss their wild weekends. Carrie, it turns out, landed the spot she’d interviewed for. The woman responsible for conducting it found her perseverance to be brave rather than second-hand sickening!

What did you think of The Carrie Diaries, Season 2 Episode 2, “Express Yourself”? Is Samantha bringing a whole lot of light to Season 2 for you as well? Are you happy with where Walt and Bennet are heading? Will Sebastian wait for Carrie to come around? Is there a possible romance with Maggie in his future? Is it time for Larissa to return to Manhattan?

Thanks for reading my Recap and Review of The Carrie Diaries, Season 2 Episode 2, “Express Yourself”!