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‘Divorce’ Premiere’s Top 5 ‘Sex and the City’ Moments: Cheating, ‘D‑‑k’ and Sarah Jessica Parker

No matter how crappy (so to speak — ahem, Charlotte in the movie) some situations on Sex and the City became, there was always an underlying sense of humor, optimism, great sex — and, of course, the grace of goddess Sarah Jessica Parker. Loyal fans should be excited to learn that the same essence is captured in the premiere of HBO’s new dramedy Divorce, starring Parker and Thomas Haden Church.

Related: PHOTOS: Huge TV Shows That Were Quickly Canceled and Forgotten

During the premiere on Sunday, October 9, there was no Mr. Big (Chris Noth) — devastating, but true — and no mention of designer shoes or cosmopolitans. However, there were plenty of familiar SATC-esque moments that made Us as happy as Carrie (Parker) holding a beautiful new pair of Manolo Blahniks. We swear. Swear on Chanel. 

Related: PHOTOS: 10 Once-Great TV Shows That Went Downhill

Below are the top SATC-est moments from Divorce‘s first episode:

Shameless Talk About Men

At a 50th birthday party for her friend Diane (Molly Shannon), Frances (Parker) engaged in blunt, honest man talk over drinks with her girls. Sound familiar? When Frances asked Dallas (Talia Balsam) about the guy who was talking to her earlier, Dallas responded, “Oh, that human loaf of bread?” So Miranda of her. 

In true Carrie form, Frances questioned her head-on with, “When does the whole empathy thing kick in for you?” They then had a cheers over the man’s dead wife. If that doesn’t scream SATC, we don’t know what does.

The Over-the-Top Fight

Between Diane whipping out a gun on her husband at the party, and Frances getting into a tireless argument with the granola guy Julian (Jemaine Clement), we had multiple mental flashbacks to Carrie’s McDonald’s food-fight scene with Mr. Big. It looked like no Big Macs or Filet-o-Fish sandwiches were harmed in the making of Divorce, but that didn’t make the intense fights and Frances’ on-point delivery of relationship problems any less fascinating.

Caught in an Affair, Red-Handed

Turned out, Frances had been having an affair with Julian behind the back of her husband, Robert (Church). In a way, it felt like we were rewatching Carrie cheat on Aidan (John Corbett) with Mr. Big. But then once Robert caught Frances in the act, and we saw the pitiful look on her face — just like when Aidan found out about Carrie’s affair — it made the nostalgic SATC experience so real. Woman’s gotta do what a woman’s gotta do.

Thomas Haden Church and Sarah Jessica Parker
Thomas Haden Church and Sarah Jessica Parker

The Epic Monologue

Almost every SATC episode included a mesmerizing speech from Carrie. Some were short, like the “I couldn’t help but wonder” voice-overs of the show, but perhaps the most iconic was Carrie’s “I am someone who is looking for love” speech she gave Petrovsky (Mikhail Baryshnikov) in the series finale. Similarly, Frances sat Robert down and addressed wanting a divorce, point-blank, opening with, “I want to save my life while I still care about it. I don’t love you anymore.” Like Carrie, she demanded what she wanted, and owned how she felt. 

Later, she addressed her negative actions toward Robert, saying, “That is not who I am — that is not what I want.” Tell ’em how you feel, girl.

Sex, Sex and More Sex

What would HBO — and anything slightly reminiscent of SATC — be without open sex talk? Absolutely nothing. 

Not only did Divorce serve up sex scenes, but also the kind of unfiltered sex chat that made SATC fans so obsessed with the show. When Frances explained her relationship with Julian, she unapologetically stated, “He doesn’t just make me come. He makes me come a lot.” Yup. And this was after her friend Dallas real-talked, “You love his d‑‑k!” And just like the ladies of SATC, Frances found herself confusing sex with love, saying, “I love him … I think.”

Related: PHOTOS: Best TV Couples of All Time

Whether it be the spirit of New York City, biting relationship dialogue or obviously, all of the sex, it seems Divorce is the small taste of Parker’s previous smash hit that fans have been waiting for. Rejoice.

Tell Us: What did you think of the Divorce premiere?

Divorce airs on HBO Sundays at 10 p.m. ET.

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