The 8 Best Sex and the City Episodes

Sex and the City has been off the air since 2004, but it still reigns supreme in the hearts and minds of many viewers as one of the greatest TV shows of all time. (Its fan base is wide and varied; for example, I knew I liked my friend’s brand-new boyfriend when he admitted to me that he averaged about two SATC reruns a night: one while cooking his dinner and the other while eating it.)

Of course, not all SATC episodes are created equal—the show had some glaring problems—so we’ve put together a list of our all-time favorites to better guide your binge-watching. (Note: We’ve also left out any majorly Mr. Big–related episodes, because in this house, we are staunchly Team Aidan. Sorry, those are the rules.)

8. The one where Charlotte tries to become Jewish aka “Great Sexpectations,” Season 6, Episode 2

Maybe it’s my JAP side showing itself, but I find Charlotte’s quest to convert to Judaism in order to marry her beshert, or soul mate, Harry, genuinely touching. It’s so much fun watching her get not once, but twice curved by a rabbi—but it’s even more fun to watch him finally accept her into the Jewish faith. As Charlotte once said, “There’s more to being a Jew than jewelry!”

7. The one where Carrie works at Vogue aka “A Vogue Idea,” Season 4, Episode 17

Of course we love this episode, which features Miranda being cranky about her baby shower and Carrie getting hired to write a column for Vogue. Carrie initially fumbles her shot, making too many boy puns in her shoe column (and uttering the immortal line “I’m drunk at Vogue!”), but ultimately pulls it off. Women thriving in the workplace: We love to see it!

6. The one where Carrie is “single and fabulous” aka “They Shoot Single People, Don’t They?” Season 2, Episode 4

In this episode, a nasty New York magazine headline totally gets in the way of Carrie hooking up with a young Bradley Cooper. The SATC girls’ single lives were so often represented to be all casual dates, great sex, and laughing with your friends over exorbitantly priced eggs at brunch, so it’s nice to see some of the anxiety and turmoil of being single reflected on the show for once.

5. The one where they go to the Hamptons aka “Twenty-Something Girls vs. Thirty-Something Women,” Season 2, Episode 17

God help me, I love an “away” episode, and this one nails the Hamptons mise-en-scène: boring book parties, sleazy time-shares, semi-ironic cowboy hats. Carrie and the gang get to feel superior to 20-something girls for approximately one second, until it transpires that Mr. Big is—gasp—dating one himself. Also, Samantha triumphs over her bratty assistant; Charlotte gets laid; and Miranda . . . stays out of the sun, which is good, I guess.

4. The one where Miranda gets hit on by a sandwich aka “Running With Scissors,” Season 3, Episode 11

Miranda is often stuck with the more ridiculous story lines, and this one is no exception; she starts getting street-harassed by a guy in a promotional sandwich costume, for whom she eventually finds herself developing feelings, but sadly, it is not to be. “She was a lawyer, and he was a sandwich.” Were more iconic words ever spoken?

3. The one where the girls enjoy Fleet Week aka “Anchors Away,” Season 5, Episode 1

For years after I watched this episode (at an inappropriately young age), I was convinced that Fleet Week was actually some sort of freewheeling holiday for single bachelorettes in New York—the straight girl’s equivalent of Pride. Spoiler: It isn’t, but you can re-create the fun by watching Carrie, Miranda, Samantha, and Charlotte flirt with sailors.

2. The one where we meet the Rabbit aka “The Turtle and the Hare,” Season 1, Episode 9

A classic for a reason! Plenty goes on in this episode—Miranda tries blind dating; Samantha tries to Love It or List It a guy with potential (and bad breath); and Carrie meets Stanford’s very chic grandmother—but it’s all just a backdrop for the A story, which concerns Charlotte’s newfound appreciation for the Rabbit vibrator. This episode will go down in history for helping introduce a generation of women to sex toys.

1. The one where they go to Los Angeles aka “Escape From New York,” Season 3, Episode 13

It might be the antithesis of these New Yorkers’ lives, but how can you hate on an episode of Sex and the City in which a) Carrie meets with Matthew McConaughey and he yells at her, b) Samantha dates a dildo model, and c) Miranda rides a mechanical bull? Plus, nobody will let Carrie smoke! L.A. is anarchy!

Originally Appeared on Vogue