Advance Review: The Carrie Diaries Is A Totally Rad Surprise

Upon hearing that The CW was doing The Carrie Diaries, a 1980s period piece prequel to Sex And The City, I must admit my first reaction was “Why?!?” I’ve never seen a complete episode of SATC, and thought that maybe the 80s-prequel thing was tried and didn’t succeed with the Gossip Girl spin-off try a few years ago.

My feelings quickly changed this past May when I saw the extended trailer for the show, and then even when The CW sent out the pilot. Very quickly, you get brought in to the story of the younger Carrie Bradshaw — played here by AnnaSophia Robb — and you also can’t help but to like her a lot. Yes, she goes on her tangents with her history and narrating the story, but then again, these are her stories, right?

The show also got points with me by casting Freema Agyeman as Larissa, a somewhat mischievous party girl that takes Carrie under her wing and introduces her to the wonders of Manhattan. If you don’t know who Freema is, you’ve clearly missed her great work on other iconic franchises such as Doctor Who and Law & Order: UK. I like her. Really, all of the folks Carrie spends time with are interesting. There’s Sebastian Kydd — yep, sounds like a name out of a Babysitters Club novel, right? — played by Austin Butler (Jones, we miss you). Katie Findlay as Maggie is one to watch, and I’m pretty sure she’ll be a fan favorite. Brendan Dooling, who plays Maggie’s boyfriend Walt, is another to watch, and is also one of the most interesting characters of the pilot, as they explore what it is like to be a guy in the 1980’s who doesn’t want to have sex with his girlfriend. I also thought Carrie’s friend Mouse (Ellen Wong) was fun and had some of the best lines of the pilot. This show is well produced to begin with, but moreso, this show would simply not have worked without such good casting across the board. Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention… there are the typical snooty 80’s snob girls, too. Gag me with a spoon and all that. They’re fun to watch, though.

Apparently, there are differences between TCD and Sex And The City itself. Here, Carrie has a younger sister named Dorrit, and as far as I know, she was not seen or mentioned in the series. If it is a major change, it’s one I don’t mind, as I think a close family member like that adds to the story a bit. I also know of Sex And The City enough to wonder where Carrie’s later friends are… or are we to see them come in later, Lois Lane on Smallville style, if the show proves to be a hit? On the same note, where were Maggie, Mouse, Walt, Larissa and the rest in Carrie’s later life? Being a prequel series, these questions will be inevitable.

I would be remiss if I failed to mention the other highlight of The Carrie Diaries — the music. Things might have changed between the pilot screener and what will air on Monday night, but what I saw had modern remakes of classic 80’s music in several scenes. That makes me very happy.

I am assuming The Carrie Diaries will continue to be good, and I’m curious to see what comes next. For a show I had low expectations for, it ended up being my second favorite CW pilot of the year… after Arrow, of course. Assuming all of the promo trailers haven’t scared you off, I recommend giving it a try when the show premieres Monday night, January 14 at 8PM on The CW. Male or female, gay or straight, 15 or 45… there is probably something you’d like within. Me? I thought it was pretty rad.