The kiss that Charlotte York shared with the gardener at the MacDougal family estate in Sex and the City was partly justified. As far as Sex and the City goes, the moment wasn’t a particularly shocking one, though it did ultimately have some far-reaching effects. Occurring during the third season’s seventeenth episode, the moment offered crystal clear insight into how frustrated Charlotte was with her marriage to her romantically-challenged husband, Tre.
With its no-holds-barred look at relationships in New York City, Candace Bushnell’s Sex and the City novel was arguably the perfect source material for an edgy TV series adaptation. From 1998-2004, the HBO series broke new ground and pushed the envelope on what could be considered acceptable subject matter for a television series. Though today some of Sex and the City hasn’t aged well, the fact remains that its four main characters – Charlotte, Miranda, Samantha, and Carrie – delivered the sort of raunchy hilarity that sealed Sex and the City’s fate as an award-winning and often controversial series.
Why Charlotte Kissed The Gardener In Sex & The City
Married for roughly a year, Tre and Charlotte’s Sex and the City relationship was questionable from the start. Their marriage was suggested by Charlotte, who desperately wanted to experience a fairy tale love story. Tre’s laissez-faire attitude about it all should have been a warning, but Charlotte was too overcome by what she felt was going to be the perfect life and love.
Not only that, but the couple didn’t have sex prior to their union, and only once they were married did Charlotte realize how disinterested (and somewhat incapable) Tre was in that respect. As Charlotte and Tre’s Sex and the City relationship became increasingly distant, Charlotte began to fantasize about the muscle-bound gardener at the MacDougal family estate. Soon enough, these fantasies lead to temptation. Not long afterward, Charlotte gave in to her desires and kissed the gardener.
Throughout Sex and the City, Charlotte wasn’t portrayed as a character who would be unfaithful to her love interests. In fact, her character was arguably the most traditional in nearly every respect when compared to the other three main characters. However, Tre’s consistent lack of affection toward her and emotional unavailability quickly became a major deal breaker for Charlotte. The series is called Sex and the City, after all – and while Charlotte’s behavior may have got worse over time, and she may have liked the financial security she had with Tre, she didn’t have actual physical love or the feeling that he cared for her on a deeper level.
How Charlotte’s Kiss Changed The Trajectory Of S&TC
Charlotte’s brief moment of indiscretion may not have been fair to Tre in terms of their marital vows, but he simply wasn’t pulling his weight in the relationship. It’s difficult to begrudge Charlotte kissing the gardener for this reason. What’s more, the series received a subtle yet significant change in its trajectory as a result of Charlotte kissing the gardener. The kiss was not just a symbol of the beginning of the end for Trey and Charlotte. It was also evidence of her stepping up and taking control of the direction she wanted to head in, which continues for Charlotte through to the Sex and The City revival series.
Charlotte’s decision to do what was best for her eventually lead to her finding a happy family and true love with Harry. As for Samantha, Miranda, and Carrie, the episodes that followed Charlotte’s kiss saw the characters become increasingly driven toward more serious relationships. Miranda would discover she was pregnant with Steve’s baby, Samantha would struggle with being in love with Richard and Carrie would enter her notorious relationship with Aidan. All in all, the women of Sex and the City entered a new stage of the show, one that took the series into more serious yet far more engaging territory for several more seasons to come.