Carrie & Mr. Big’s Relationship Timeline

The Mr. Big and Carrie relationship was a rollercoaster that lasted throughout Sex and the City and into the 2021 revival, And Just Like That… — though it had an incredibly tragic ending. Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Mr. Big (Chris Noth) met in the Sex and the City pilot and developed an instant attraction. The meeting led to a whirlwind romance that ended up surviving Carrie being engaged to someone else and Mr. Big moving to the West Coast. Through breakups and new relationships, Carrie and Big couldn’t quit each other.

There were times when Carrie and Big were a toxic couple, but the longer Sex and the City continued, the more they matured into each other’s perfect partner. The “will-they-won’t-they” of Mr. Big and Carrie lasted until the final season of Sex and the City, when Big proposed. The first Sex and the City movie saw them tying the knot, with Carrie and Mr. Big still happily married by the time of 2021’s And Just Like That. The decades-long love story had more than its share of ups and downs, with the Carrie and Big relationship timeline making them one of the best sitcom couples.

Season 1

The Introduction Of Mr. Big

In the Sex and the City pilot, viewers are first introduced to Mr. Big when he and Carrie bump into each other on the sidewalk. They met incredibly early on in the first Sex and the City episode. Carrie drops her purse, and Big helps her pick up her things — including a handful of condoms. He watches her curiously as she walks away. From there, the two continue to bump into each other through the first few episodes of Sex and the City season 1, until they eventually introduce themselves and develop a flirtatious romance.

They soon start dating and Carrie falls head-over-heels in love with Big. Their early relationship sees her not want to be single anymore. She starts sleeping at Big’s apartment, wants a monogamous relationship with him, and even wants to get serious when she meets his mother. She and Big, however, aren’t on the same page in the first season. When she finds out he’s dating other women and doesn’t see her as “the one” quite yet, she ends things by the time season 1 is finished.

Though the first season of the show received mixed reviews from critics who didn’t love the scripts, but loved the cast performances, the relationship between Carrie and Big is often seen as the highlight of the first season. They have a unique journey in the first season. Big is the type of character who would only appear in one or two episodes of a sitcom, but for the drama, he makes it through the entire season for Carrie to understand what it is she’s really looking for in a relationship.

“After he left, I cried for a week. And then I realized I do have faith. Faith in myself. Faith that I would one day meet someone… who would be sure that I was the one.” – Carrie

Season 2

Carrie & Big 2.0 And The Natasha Era

Even though Carrie is one of the most likable characters in Sex and the City, she does some things to scare Big away in their relationship. So, when she first sees him after their breakup in the first episode of Sex and the City season 2, time stood still for her, and it very quickly leads to them trying to have a relationship again.

Unfortunately, many of the same problems plague them as Big doesn’t want any of Carrie’s belongings in his apartment, and doesn’t even stay for a speech she makes when he attends a wedding with her. They still try to make things work.

However, when Carrie finds out that he is moving to Paris for work and never mentions it or invites her to come along, Carrie has second thoughts. She knows they are never going to work, since she is more into the relationship than he is. The two break up once more, and she starts dating again. Months later, Carrie runs into Big at a party in the Hamptons. Not only is she shocked that he’s back in New York and didn’t tell her, but she’s stunned to find out he is engaged to a woman named Natasha.

Season 3

An Affair To Remember

In Sex and the City season 3, Carrie meets Aidan Shaw. From there on, she moves on from Big, and she and Aidan fall heavily in love. However, Carrie also runs into Big around New York. The two come face to face at a furniture expo when Natasha is ironically interested in Aidan’s work. After a few drinks, Big tells Carrie that he and Natasha aren’t happy, and he wants “out.“

Carrie and Big start seeing each other behind their partners’ backs, and Carrie’s narration implies that the two just don’t know how to stay away from one another when they’re in the same city. Carrie repeatedly says they need to be done, but they don’t stop seeing each other in secret.

They can’t seem to help themselves, but when Natasha finds Carrie in her and Big’s apartment, the affair ends. Soon after, Carrie tells Aidan, and now both she and Big are single in the city. Carrie and Big end the season as close friends until Samantha warns Big to leave Carrie alone.

Season 4

The End Of An Era

In Sex and the City season 4, Carrie and Aidan give their relationship another try. However, when Aidan learns that Carrie is still friends with Big (despite Samantha’s previous warning to him), things get tense. Tension between Aidan and Big comes to a head when Aidan shows up at Big’s cabin to talk to Carrie. Even though Carrie and Aidan actually get engaged, he calls it off because he knows she’ll never be able to commit to him.

One of the big growing pains for Carrie in season 4 doesn’t involve romance, but finances. She has to buy her apartment because of her building becoming a co-op, and initially, she’s hesitant to allow Aidan to help her. Without Aidan’s financial help, she can’t afford the prince with only her freelance writing. Big offers her a loan, but she eventually tears up the check after talking with her friends, and Charlote ends up offering Carrie her wedding ring to provide her with a down payment instead.

Carrie and Big still remain friends until she shockingly finds out that Big is moving to California. Without Big in New York to keep Carrie on her toes, it’s the end of an era. Carrie and Big were a relatable couple throughout much of Sex and the City, but the season 4 arc with two men fighting over Carrie was definitely among their most dramatic moments.

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Season 5

A One-Night Stand In California

Mr. Big only appears in one episode of Sex and the City season 5, Episode 7 “The Big Journey,” because he’s in California. This is one of the slowest seasons for the Big and Carrie relationship, but it has a significant moment. When she releases her first book and has to go to California for a book reading, she plans on seeing (and sleeping with) Big. Carrie spends much of the season trying to connect with other men – whether physically or emotionally – and she just cannot seem to find anyone that holds her interest for long.

While Carrie is in California promoting her book, Big confesses how sorry he is for their relationship. He read her book and realized how much turmoil he put her through and wasn’t sure if he should sleep with her because he didn’t want to lead her on. The two eventually do get intimate and say their goodbyes before going back to their respective lives on different coasts. If the series hadn’t continued, it would have been closure for their relationship.

Season 6: You’re The One

Big And Carrie End The Series Together

In Sex and the City season 6, Carrie and Big are still connected through the phone and see each other yet again when Big is in town for heart surgery. Big’s surgery scares both of them and makes him realize that he could see his future with Carrie. Carrie doesn’t necessarily take him seriously and continues dating other men until she meets Aleksandr Petrovsky. Carrie falls in love with Aleksandr, so she starts ignoring Big’s calls because she knows he’ll distract her from her happiness.

Carrie agrees to move to Paris with Aleksandr, but when Big tries stopping her because he’s in love with her, Carrie snaps. She swears him off and moves anyway. Knowing he has to win her back, Big travels to Paris and tracks her down. He tells Carrie she is “the one,“ and it makes for one of Sex and the City‘s most romantic scenes.

Sex & The City: The Movie

Carrie And Big Tie The Knot

In the first Sex and the City movie, Big and Carrie are seemingly living out their happily ever after in New York. While apartment-hunting for a place they could call their own, Carrie begins to wonder about her assets when he buys a stunning penthouse for them. This conversation leads to Big proposing and Carrie’s plan for a small, intimate wedding growing bigger and bigger.

On the day of the wedding, Big gets cold feet and calls it off. It seemed like he was still afraid to commit, just like he was in the television series, but he eventually attempts to redeem himself. Heartbroken, Carrie spends the remainder of the movie trying to get her life back in order until she realizes Big has been trying to get her back all along. Despite all the hurt, Carrie and Big get back together and get married at city hall.

Sex & The City 2

Carrie And Big’s Marriage Faces A Test

Two years after the first movie, Sex and the City 2 arrived in 2010. Now that Carrie and Big’s wedding was over and done with, viewers saw what post-wedding life is like for them. While Big is content with their small life at home, Carrie misses hitting the streets of New York and going to parties. The two decided to spend two days a week apart as a way to decompress from each other.

The bulk of the movie, however, involves Carrie and her friends going on a very big trip. When Carries goes to the Middle East for a trip with the girls, she bumps into Aidan and kisses him after dinner. It makes sense that Aidan would be the one to cause doubt in their marriage since he was the one man who seemed to seriously be between them in the series as well. Big is devastated by the news, but manages to console himself. He gifts Carrie a black diamond and the two are in a better place.

And Just Like That…

Carrie Becomes A Widow

The Sex and the City revival And Just Like That… arrived in 2021, over a decade after the second movie. The series picks up with Carrie, Charlotte, and Miranda years later, leaving Samantha out of the storylines almost completely. It was expected to pick up with the romantic relationships as well. However, it didn’t progress the Big and Carrie relationship in the way many expected.

Given that so much time had passed, viewers had expected that And Just Like That… would show Carrie and Big navigating the trials and tribulations of keeping the passion later in a marriage. While their romance was in a stronger place than ever, Big died in the first episode from a heart attack. His surgery in the Sex and the City series years earlier may have even foreshadowed the possibility, making Carrie’s worry well-founded. From there on, Carrie grieved his loss and had to focus on her life as an independent widow.

Was There Someone Better Than Big For Carrie?

Many Sex And The City Fans Still Consider Themselves Team Aidan

While many Sex and the City fans will have their own favorite when it comes to Carrie’s boyfriends, few seemed like a better choice for her in the long run than Mr. Big. Much like Ross and Rachel in Friends, Robin and Ted in How I Met Your Mother, and Penny and Leonard in The Big Bang Theory, the on-again off-again nature of Carrie and Big’s relationship across the 6 seasons of Sex and the City led many viewers to correctly presume they would end up together. The two were drawn to one-another too strongly for Carrie to have ended up with anyone else, and the question was more how they’d finally settle rather than if they would.

However, even though Carrie and Big always felt destined to end up together eventually, there are still many Sex and the City fans who don’t feel he was the best choice of all her boyfriends on the show. While every single one of Carrie’s boyfriends likely has a handful of supporters who feel they were who she should have chosen over Mr. Big, the one name that crops up most in discussions about better partners than her eventual husband is Aidan Shaw (John Corbett).

First introduced in Sex and the City season 3, Aidan was an instant fan-favorite among the characters Carrie dated. The conscientious furniture designed may have been the antithesis of Carrie’s high-flying New York aspirations, but this is what made Aidan so endearing to many viewers. He proved time and time again that he had an infinite amount of patience for Carrie, recognizing throughout their relationship that she simply needed time to figure out what it was she actually wanted from life.

Few of Carrie’s exes would have been able to forgive her cheating on them with Mr. Big, but Aidan managed to heal from this wound. The pair were even engaged during season 4. While it ultimately wasn’t meant to be, there are many Sex and the City fans who still adamantly believe that the pair should have ended up together, and that Aidan was a far better choice for Carrie than Big. This might prove to be the case too, as Aidan returned in season 2 of And Just Like That, with both he and Carrie wanting to give their romance another try.

Sex in the City follows Carrie Bradshaw, a New York writer who finds inspiration for her column from the genuine, emotional, and often humorous exploits of life in the city. Joined by best friends Miranda Hobbes, Charlotte York, and Samantha Jones, Sex and the City follows the ups and downs of the characters’ romantic relationships, being single, sex, and friendship as 30-something women.