The Carrie Diaries - Finale Recap: Keep Calm and Carrie On

Funny thing; I believe this is the only time a teen-geared series has skipped out on the opportunity to throw an 80s themed dance, and The Carrie Diaries actually takes place during 1985. Not that I’m complaining about “Kiss Yesterday Goodbye” in the slightest. The show capped off its first season with a pretty stellar showing, leaving off with some characters surging in their strides towards adulthood and others spiraling down into the depths of a “Cruel Summer” on repeat. Carrie Bradshaw (Annasophia Robb), of course, finds herself square in the middle. At least she’ll always have Manhattan, and Walt (Brendan Dooling) sure seems like he can mix a mean Bloody Mary for a high school kid.

The episode opened with a scene we’ve become familiar with; Carrie turning back to stare at Sebastian Kydd (Austin Butler) from the center of her high school hallway, only to see her hopes dashed when he just continued strutting off into the crowd of peers.

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At the diner, Mouse (Ellen Wong) and Maggie (Katie Findlay) attempted to make Carrie see the relationship with her now former flame in a faux-negative light, but that plan fizzled fast. No one can knock the boy Larissa (Freema Agyeman) later referred to as a “Viking god” for his face, Maggie. With Maggie and Carrie sitting solidly in their singledom, Mouse was left in a unique predicament. As a descendant of the Ch’ing Dynasty, her parents would only allow her to date Chinese boys of a similar line, like their family friend Eugene. Racist, sure, but only against anyone who isn’t Chinese. Poor West (RJ Brown), who’d been very quickly promoted to “boyfriend” status, would have to sit this dance out. Don’t look now Maggie, but it’s the pervey cop you used to, well, do. Congratulations on your engagement to a woman who looks nothing like Maggie, Simon (Josh Salatin). I’m glad I finally know your name. Maggie attempted to get her mind back on prom, suggesting that the trio invite Walt to join in on their group date night.

A reconciliation between Sebastian and Carrie came sooner than I’d expected, honestly. After stumbling upon Dorrit (Stefania Owen) and Miller getting cozy on the couch back at the Bradshaw residence, Carrie found herself sideswiped by a surprise Sebastian sighting from the far left. Dorrit and her new boy made haste scurrying up the stairs. If there’s anything that makes Dorrit spontaneously nauseous, it’s the thought of Carrie getting mushy. Although, Miller did seem to be working wonders on the former problem child. Sebastian and Carrie were quick to apologize, recognizing that their love for one another surpassed a petty selfish bout of word vomit outside of a party. Sebastian finally got his “I love you moment.” Of course, everything was about to be shredded to pieces.

Tom Bradshaw (Matt Letscher) continued his romps in the sack with Deb (Nadia Dajani). The couple was doing it like a couple of teenagers by this finale.

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Yep, that is most certainly the face of a horny teen. Still, as happy as they were growing together, Tom felt it inappropriate to start a relationship so soon following his wife’s passing. He was sure his daughters wouldn’t approve, for one. For now, Carrie was clueless. Of course, Maggie changed that in a flash. Back at school, Walt invited Maggie to go with him to prom as a friendly date, if only for old time’s sake. Things were surely looking up for the anticipated night of plutonic prom-time shenanigans, until they weren’t. Seemingly excited that Carrie and Sebastian had rekindled things between them, Maggie let it slip that Sebastian had been protecting Carrie from something. Remember when Sebastian and Maggie caught Carrie’s dead hooking up in his car a few episodes back? Carrie was furious with Sebastian for keeping a secret like that from her. Inevitably, their conversation went completely off the rails and turned into an argument surrounding how their different upbringings made them incompatible. It seemed as though all of the differences that had made them love one another, and reconcile back at Carrie’s house earlier, now devolved into fears. Maggie attempted to set things right with Sebastian afterwards, only to come up short. Questioning why she consistently ends up alone pushed Sebastian to finally break the news to Maggie; Walt is gay.

Maggie, who has struggled tremendously with self-worth all season long, decided to take out her aggression on Walt in a very public “outing” at the diner. Throughout Maggie’s tirade, Walt totally kept his cool. While I don’t necessarily think Maggie is homophobic, albeit a bit ignorant, the mortifying rant was totally uncalled for, even if she was burnt by Walt's secret.

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However, things were looking up for Walt! Surprisingly, the guy who’d spent the entire first season grappling with his own inner demons took his yanking from the closet in stride. A trip to the city with Carrie brought out a different side to Walt that we hadn’t truly seen yet. He seemed… grown up! Pop the pinot grigio, Bennet (Jake Robinson), the finale would double as a makeshift “coming out” party! Why bother with prom when you have Manhattan?

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Carrie and Walt ventured in to NYC to say their goodbyes to Larissa, who’d made the decision to spend the summer studying the art of the geisha in Kyoto. Before taking her short leave of absence form Interview, Larissa had loads of advice to dish and plenty of opportunities to offer. Firstly, her loft was up for grabs, and she invited Carrie and Walt to move in while school was out. Carrie was also given the opportunity to work as a receptionist at the magazine. All of this seemed like a dream come true to a duo of bored high school kids, but I thought Larissa’s personal story and love advice ended her first season run extraordinarily well. Allegedly, Larissa was born the princess to a tribal king in Ghana. Refusing to get hitched to whatever man her father intended her to, she and her particular brand of spunk made their way to New York. Her advice to Carrie? Leave the minivans to the duds, order takeout, and love “madly.” Madness is awesome. Carrie had her answer, and she had just enough time to rush home to Sebastian to make up for missing prom. He challenges her, and that’s a good thing.

Meanwhile, meeting Mouse’s prom date, Eugene, was a total blast. The boy in braces looked half her age with glasses bigger than his head. In truth, he was in Dorrit’s class. Still, he served his purpose in informing Mouse that her family wasn’t of royal blood. Instead, they came from a farming village. She was the star of their family tree, and she would go to prom with the boy of her choice. Well, prom was sort of a long shot. She met up with West at the diner after scouring the jock hotspots of Castlebury. There, the two slow danced to some Bryan Adams. Later, Mouse would introduce her official non-Chinese beau to her folks, who seemed just fine with her choice.

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Dorrit was also busy cooking up some romance of her own with Miller. She’d attempted to jump the gun on the whole sex ordeal earlier in the episode, but Miller insisted that there was no reason to rush into experiencing something, when just a little patience could ensure that the same something would be special. Miller put in the effort to woo Dorrit, even if he didn’t have to. The two sealed the deal with a little ambiance, Dorrit style, at his place near the finale’s close. Young Dorrit seemed pleased with her decision to let herself go emotionally for the first time since her mother died. I was sure this story arc would end in disaster, with Dorrit making a bad decision she regretted, but she ended the season looking mature and satisfied. Miller has served her well as a companion and confidant. Here’s to hoping his affection is genuine heading into Season 2 (fingers crossed).

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While Carrie rushed home to Connecticut, Sebastian and Maggie gushed to one another about their disastrous love lives and all-around bad luck over some scotch at a local bar. One thing lead to another, and the two ended up “comforting” each other a little too much. The road back from this massive mistake could lead to absolutely nowhere but a lifetime shunning from Carrie. This was the ultimate betrayal for the both of them.

Carrie eventually made her way to Sebastian’s following his drunken tryst with Maggie. Secure enough in her love for him, the moment seemed to have finally arrived. Carrie was ready for sex, but Sebastian was not. Instead, he asked her to spend the night cuddling. Red flag, Carrie? The next morning a distraught Maggie went to Carrie with her confession immediately. Her excuses seemed to free her of her own guilt rather than to act as a genuine apology to Carrie. Finally, Carrie called Maggie out on her bull. For as long as they’d been friends, Maggie would conjure up reckless drama in an attempt to keep herself relevant. She’d spent most of this season depressingly fawning over boys, only to end up losing the only real relationship she had, her friendship with Carrie.

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On a brighter note, Walt and Bennet walked the streets of Manhattan following an all-nighter at a club. Slowly but surely, Walt too is falling in love with New York. One thing I enjoyed about this episode is that Bennet’s commentary on being gay seemed to be more reflective of the 80s-specific coming out story for Walt. I’d like this story to get even more detailed with regard to the time period going into Season 2 (fingers still crossed). There wasn’t a more satisfying moment than Walt making up for his botched Halloween kiss by planting one on Bennet in broad daylight. I also appreciated that Bennet knew to wait, considering that Walt is underage, especially because soon after we’d catch a glimpse of Maggie sleeping with Simon the cop yet again.

As it turned out, it was family that seemed to cheer Carrie up. Dorrit arrived home invigorated by her decision and nonjudgmental towards Carrie’s personal problems. She did a great job of comforting without prying, even managing to shoo Sebastian from the doorstep without getting too aggressive or bratty. Instead of closing the episode moping on the couch, Carrie decided to take manners into her own hands. She’d been hard on her father’s frequent “gym” visits earlier in the episode, but retracted her distaste for his current dating habits.

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In the end, Tom let his daughter spend the summer working as a sailor on a cruise ship. Nope, kidding. That’s just a result of this hack’s wonky screencapping skills. In truth, Carrie and Walt moved into Larissa’s loft.

What did you think of The Carrie Diaries Season 1 Finale, Episode 13, “Kiss Yesterday Goodbye”? Did you enjoy the first season? Are you pulling for a second? Did you enjoy the maturation of Dorrit and Walt? What about the decline of Sebastian and Maggie? Where does this leave Carrie? Is Stanford Blatch's arrival on the horizon?

Thanks for reading my Recaps and Reviews of The Carrie Diaries this season! Here’s to hoping we see these characters hit 1986!