Who Charlotte York Ends Up With In Sex And The City

Charlotte York (Kristin Davis) tended to play the shy, conservative role as one of the four main members of the "Sex and the City" crew. In terms of her love life, she — more so than any of the others — tended to be looking for that happily-ever-after and viewed dating mostly as a means to that end. That being said, Charlotte was certainly not above allowing something other than her heart to guide her towards the various men she spent time with, and she definitely allowed herself some fun flings and physically focused relationships.

The original "Sex and the City" TV series launched on HBO in 1998 and ran through 2004, followed by two feature-length films released in 2008 and 2010, respectively. More recently, there's the sequel series "And Just Like That..." which has been going for two seasons and counting. While Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) has always been the de facto main lead, there's a definite argument to be made that Charlotte is the second most important character in the franchise. In fact, there are a number of reasons why "And Just Like That" season 3 should move the spotlight from Carrie to Charlotte, not the least of which is her love life, who she ended up with, and how their relationship has played out since it became official in the original series. 

As mentioned, Charlotte typically tried to date for romance vs. dating for "other" reasons. And for the most part, she succeeded in that aim. The majority of relationships she had on "Sex and the City" were with men she had an emotional connection with. She treated most of them like potential husbands — and was quick to cut ties when it seemed like they weren't marriage material.

Charlotte is tied with Carrie for the total number of episodes of "Sex and the City" spent dating. She also had the relationship that lasted for the longest number of episodes of any of the four main cast members. But Charlotte also has her fair share of men that she started and ended dating within the span of a single episode, some because her romantic prospects didn't pan out — and others because she just wanted to hook up.

One of the great things about "Sex and the City" is that even the so-called conservative and diehard romantic character is willing to just have no-strings-attached fun in her dating life from time to time. This helped to reduce the stereotype that women who have one-night stands or are interested in purely physical relationships are a certain "type" of woman.

Charlotte got married twice over the course of the "Sex and the City" TV series. In Season 3, she met Trey MacDougal (Kyle MacLachlan), a doctor from a wealthy and prominent family. They had a whirlwind romance that resulted in an engagement less than a month after they met. When Charlotte discovers that Trey has issues with physical intimacy, it leads to them separating. They eventually work all that out, begin to have a healthy sex life, and soon decide to try to conceive a child. When that doesn't go well, Charlotte suggests adoption, which both Trey and his mother are opposed to. Not willing to settle for a childless life, Charlotte eventually divorces Trey.

As fate would have it, Charlotte ends up meeting her future second husband when he represents her in her divorce proceedings against Trey. Charlotte specifically chooses Harry Goldenblatt (Evan Handler) to be her lawyer because his law firm partner was too attractive, and Charlotte didn't want to be distracted by that. But Harry was incredibly sweet to her, and she comes to fall for him despite him not being her type, as it were. She initially tries to mold him into the kind of man she thought she wanted, but she comes to fall in love with him for who he is, and they eventually get married and become parents.

Charlotte and Harry get married before the end of the "Sex and the City" series and remain the ideal couple through the first film. But during the events of "Sex and the City 2," the couple has what would become — and still remains — their most contentious period as a married couple. Charlotte had begun to feel a bit overwhelmed trying to balance her career with being a mother to daughters Lily and Rose and decides to hire a nanny named Erin (Alice Eve) to help out around the house.

With Erin being a bubbly and extremely attractive young woman — one who seems averse to wearing bras, a fact that is immediately noticed and commented on by Charlotte's friends — Charlotte starts to feel self-conscious and worries that Harry finds the nanny more attractive than her. While Harry wasn't averse to doing a bit of ogling, he didn't say or do anything to actually suggest he desired Erin, or that he and Erin were having an affair, but Charlotte's assumptions and projections still made things tense for a time. Ultimately, the whole thing was put to rest when it was revealed that Erin is a lesbian — which, unfortunately, is one of those moments that has joined the long list of "Sex and the City" moments that haven't aged well, particularly in regards to the otherwise progressive franchise not always handling lesbians in the best light, instead painting them with broad strokes and mostly using them for laughs.

Two of the couples that were still together at the start of "And Just Like That..." didn't remain so for long. Big's (Chris Noth) death left Carrie a widow, while Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) divorced Steve (David Eigenberg) after feeling their marriage had become a dull routine. Meanwhile, Samantha (Kim Cattrall) had already ended things with Smith (Jason Lewis) during "Sex and the City 2."

But Charlotte and Harry were still together at the start of "And Just Like That..." and have remained so through the end of the show's second season. None of their storylines have been about any serious marital strife, and it seems as though the "Sex and the City" franchise is content allowing them to be the one couple that actually stays together and remains happily so. Charlotte and Harry have proven to have a healthy, loving marriage, all while trying to be the best parents they can to Lily (Cathy Ang) and Rock (Alexa Swinton) — Rose's new chosen name since identifying as non-binary. They might be overshadowed by Carrie and Big as one of the most iconic TV couples of all time, but there's a case to be made that they are truly one of the best.