The Carrie Diaries - Recap: Hush Hush, Voices Carrie… Bradshaw.

Hush hush, keep it down now, voices Carrie… Bradshaw. The Carrie Diaries saw everyone’s secrets aired out in the open for all to judge during episode 8, "Hush Hush." Carrie (Annasophia Robb) found her double-life exposed in the middle of a swanky nightclub, while Maggie’s (Katie Findland) sexcapades with that pesky cop came out in the worst possible place and at a pretty inconvenient time. Even Donna LaDonna (Chloe Bridges) had a wee bit of heart to bring to the onslaught of personal lives. One thing we can all agree on post-episode; dads shouldn’t ever dance… not like that.

The episode opened with Carrie’s first day at Interview, following around Larissa (Freema Agyeman) like a Harry Potter house elf who’d lost her way. Wait, who hired Larissa? Remember when she couldn’t remember what day of the week it was? Still, Carrie excelled, as we assumed she would, and the job seemed like more fun than anything else. The co-star of Walt’s (Brendan Dooling) first guy-on-guy kiss was back this week. Bennett cursed computers, swearing them to be a passing fad. Oh, that’s why he’s no longer a part of Carrie Bradshaw’s adult life come Sex and the City. I find myself looking for answers already.

Back in Connecticut, Mouse (Ellen Wong) avoided Sebastian (Austin Butler) as best she could, befuddled as to why he’d spent the entire formal dance staring at Carrie from across the room like a hungry blond teen-wolf, only to continue dating Donna. When Mouse eventually managed to coax Sebastian into admitting that he was on the brink of dumping LaDonna, she couldn’t help but spill that Carrie was long over what’s-his-face from Manhattan. This was all enough to push Sebastian past the point of no return. The dumping of Donna went surprisingly well. Having been planning the school lock-in for some time, she merely asked that he keep it a secret until afterwards, if only to spare her a moment in a positive spotlight before an influx of pity. She also managed to toss in that she’d be telling everyone in school she dumped him. Sebastian could give a crap, so long as he was off the hook.

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Maggie had wanted to tell Walt about her affair with the police officer, but word of Donna’s release from the confines of her relationship shut her up. Remember, Donna had been using the knowledge of Maggie’s affair to blackmail her into keeping Carrie away from Sebastian.

Impressed with Carrie’s work as a shoe model fill-in, Larissa invited Carrie to attend a party at a church turned nightclub called Limelight. She threw in the Manolo Blahniks from the shoot, free of charge. There you have it; Carrie’s infamous love of shoes was born. Sleeping over at a high school event sounds like fun when compared to going to church, on most occasions, but if the church doubles as a poppin’ nightclub, things change. Mouse encouraged Carrie to continue pursuing Sebastian at the lock-in, still unbeknownst to the breakup, while Maggie encouraged her to hit up the club, if only to allow her the chance to live vicariously in Carrie’s heels. Funny, Carrie also let it slip that she had Bitchy Barbara on her side, covering for her at her old windowless law internship.

Walt’s dad had made some connections through his fraternity, allowing Walt access to a wide variety of film classics to project at the lock-in. He was co-piloting the event with Donna. Donna was smitten to find that he went out of his way to dig up Rocky III just for her. I was impressed with Donna’s love of Mr. T, and her blunt candor with Walt. She’s really not so bad, is she? Of course, the wheels in Donna’s hairspray soaked brain started cranking when she began to realize that Walt is actually kind of a catch. I mean, we know he’s gay, but they don’t. How else could she screw with Maggie?

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Meanwhile, Sebastian had bumped into Mouse and Mags at the diner, and the duo managed to weasel the breakup out of him. Thrilled, Maggie reluctantly joined Mouse in her support of a Carrie/ Kydd revival. I liked that Carrie was aware of Donna’s attempt at using Maggie, by the way. It’s hard to blackmail when the people who would care to know a secret already do. Sebastian had planned on ditching the lock-in in any case, but with a little coaxing from Mouse, he thought up a better plan than, say, staying home and swigging whiskey alone. A grand gesture, especially a Mouse-approved one, would win Carrie over. In the end, the pair decided to track down Carrie at Limelight for a surprise ambush of amour.

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Carrie’s father, Tom (Matt Letscher) had given Carrie warning that he was going out for “steaks” in Manhattan. In reality, Harlan (Scott Cohen) had enlisted Tom’s help in playing wingman on a double date. Strangely, Tom hit it off with the cousin of Harlan’s date, and both bonded over referring to the other couple as lecherous fools behind their backs. Well, one was a creep, and the other, a moron.

On some other New York City avenue, Mouse and Sebastian sat suffering in standstill traffic. These two are my favorite couple on the show. As this was going down, Carrie was getting accumulated at Limelight, hunting for boys with Bennett and sipping whatever swill wasn’t a cosmo with Larissa. Luckily for Carrie, a new city boy introduced her to her signature drink. Wow, first the Manolos and now a cosmopolitan. The writers are knocking off the Sex and the City references left and right now! You just know on the season finale they’re going to have Carrie bump into some other fresh-faced young girl skipping around Central Park, only to have her introduce herself just before the credits roll. “Hi, I’m Charlotte York!” *End Season 1* Can you picture it?

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The lock-in was an absolute disaster. Things were going fine, until Donna’s friends, the Jens, lured Walt into the projection room for a private encounter with Donna. Inside, she blew Maggie’s secret. Walt was unforgiving in his response to Maggie’s affair. I was surprised, honestly, considering the fact that Maggie did mention that the affair resulted due to her “problems” with Walt. Walt knows why Maggie sought sex elsewhere, let’s keep it real. I understand the hurt from the betrayal, but he got lucky here when push comes to shove. Is there any worse of a place to be dumped than during a high school overnight lock-in? Maggie pounded on the door until the goons observing her meltdown finally budged and unlocked the doors. Afterwards, Donna and Walt had an earnest heart-to-heart about their breakups. Donna couldn’t believe she, of all people, had experienced that ridiculous emotion known as pain. The uselessness of it all! Walt, drawn to Donna’s charm, went in for a kiss. Hmm...

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Unfortunately for Carrie, the theme at Limelight that evening was “Watching Each Other Watch Each Other,” as live cameras featured the dancing crowd on large video screams plastered all over the room. Carrie, dancing on some central stage, was mortified to catch her father dancing like a lunatic on the big screen. Too shocked to hop off the stage and bolt, Carrie sat there gawking as her father turned to meet her eyes with his. Bradshaw, you’re exposed, curly! Humiliated, Carrie stood there while her father furiously chastised her in front of the club. Larissa arrived just in time to keep the explosive exposures coming. Carrie’s only sixteen, kooky lady. Larissa was, obviously, proud to boast as the proud owner of a hot young intern. Unexpected but appreciated, Larissa. Carrie was dragged home by her father, while Mouse and Sebastian scoured the club for her little blond fro popping about the dance floor.

At home, Carrie and Mouse packed up her heels while discussing Sebastian’s act of grandeur. Carrie would have to kiss her internship and life in Manhattan goodbye as punishment, but Sebastian was the silver lining. Downstairs, Carrie attempted to set things straight with her father, explaining that her passion for writing and fashion had pushed her to pursue an internship with Interview behind his back. Her father was unapologetic in his decision to keep her in Connecticut for now, but Carrie reminded him that he could take everything from her but her deep yearning for a life in New York. Then Maggie showed up bawling over Walt.

Meanwhile, Donna and Walt said their goodbyes, as the doors to the school were officially pried open. Where do they go from here? Donna decided that they would date, having always had a crush on him. Seriously, though; why would Walt do this to himself? The narration explained that his secret made it easy for him to go with it, but wouldn’t it be hard to keep that secret from someone far less naïve when it comes to dating than Maggie?

The episode closed with Carrie writing in her diary, only to be surprised to find Sebastian showing up to share her fries at the diner.

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What did you all think of The Carrie Diaries, Season 1 Episode 8, “Hush Hush”? Are you happy to see Carrie and Sebastian back together? Will Carrie make it back to New York City anytime soon? Do you like watching Sebastian and Mouse interact? How do you feel about Donna? Most importantly, where was the 'Til Tuesday "Voices Carry" musical reference?

Thanks for reading my Recap and Review of The Carrie Diaries Season 1 Episode 8, “Hush Hush”!