The Future of Kydshaw

The CW’s Monday night line-up was introduced to a new television couple this past season on The Carrie Diaries. The on-again-off-again couple was given a nickname: Kydshaw – which is the combination of the two characters’ last names – Carrie Bradshaw and Sebastian Kydd. Throughout the season, the couple’s relationship took a number of twists and turns that caused their romance to stop and start again.

This stopping and starting of their relationship is a very truthful portrayal of how many high school relationships occur in real life, which is what I assume the writers were going for. Although the stops and starts of their relationship was frustrating at times, it made it easier for audience members of the show’s younger age demographic to be able to relate.

Relationships are never easy, especially when they occur between two young individuals with as much baggage and hardships in their pasts as these two. When you put two dynamic characters such as these together, it is easy to see how their backstory struggles would cause them to clash. The writers focused on the difficulties of this relationship more so than the times that were easy, which actually rarely existed. The challenges Carrie and Sebastian faced throughout their unsteady relationship shows how young love and first love is vital part to discovering who you are and what you want.

The Relationship Summary of Starts and Stops

At the beginning of the season, Carrie tries to make the first move on Sebastian by attempting to ask him to the school dance. Then she is interrupted by her father and never gets the chance. Later she chooses a party in Manhattan over hanging out with Sebastian at the dance, which shows a moment in which she chooses her career over love. Later she finds out that Donna LaDonna has her eyes set on stealing Sebastian’s heart as well and has to deal with the competition of winning his heart with conversation and charm over Donna’s party girl offerings of sex and drugs.

At first, it seems like Carrie and Sebastion’s relationship is going to work, that is until, her father intervenes and orders Carrie to stop seeing him. Carrie goes through her father’s case files and discovers Sebastian’s hidden secret about his past that caused him transfer schools, confronts him about the information and then he dumps her for bringing it up. After the first break up between them, Sebastian starts dating Donna and Carrie tries to get over him by dating a boy she meets at work, George.

Carrie’s relationship with George is a struggle because they come from two different worlds, he is older, and ultimately they both just want different things, so she breaks up with him and whaddayaknow, Kydd lands on her doorstep. Shortly after, Sebastian breaks up with Donna and then goes out of his way to win Carrie back by making a huge romantic gesture that takes him to her in the city. Carrie’s dad is still in the way until she has a talk with him that makes him realize she can’t be daddy’s little girl forever and he has to let her grow up and make decisions about who she wants to be with for herself.

Finally, Carrie and Sebastian get back together and everything seems fine and dandy until the three little words come out and complicate things. Sebastian finally surprises Carrie by telling her he loves her, and she freaks out and can’t say it back, but she does say she wants to have sex. They plan a special night in the city that is supposed to lead up to Carrie telling Sebastian she loves him and finally losing her V-card, but once again Carrie screws herself over by choosing her career over love and when they get in a fight at the end of the night, she breaks up with him.

Leading up to the season finale, Carrie is heartbroken and misses Sebastian. Sebastian finally gives in and goes over to Carrie’s house to make up to her. He tells her loves her again and this time she tells him she loves him back and then they become one again, but it doesn’t last long.

Back at school, Carrie finds out from her best friend Maggie a secret about her dad that Sebastian had kept from her. She confronts him and then breaks up with him AGAIN. Heartbroken at the hands of Carrie once more, Sebastian heads over to the bar to drown his pain in booze.

Meanwhile, Carrie takes Walt and heads off to a party in the city. When she gets home, she realizes she made a mistake and goes over to Sebastian’s so they can get back together again. The problem is that drunk Sebastian at the bar sees Maggie there and the two of them out of drunken depression share a kiss. Carrie has no idea about the kiss and Sebastian decides to keep it from her. She tells him she wants to have sex but clearly he doesn’t feel right about doing it then because of his secret.

Towards the end of the season finale, Maggie confronts Carrie and tells her about the kiss. Carrie dumps Maggie as a friend and blows off Sebastian as well for the last time this season. Sebastian tries to go over to her house to make amends, but Carrie has her little sister Dorrit tell him she’s not home.

The finale ends with Carrie, a single girl, still a virgin, but with the hope of starting a new life in the summer in the city living at Larissa’s loft with Walt.If the show gets picked up for a second season, the future of Kydshaw, as well as Carrie’s virginity, is still uncertain.