Carrie makes big decision in Sex and the City finale

Torn between two lovers, Carrie Bradshaw returned to Mr Big and New York, ditching Aleksandr in Paris, in yesterday’s finale of TV show Sex and the City.

Her big decision settled a question the HBO comedy series had been building toward for six seasons: which man, if any, would Carrie end up with?

The satisfying answer: Carrie (series star Sarah Jessica Parker) chose the on-again/off-again businessman beau (Chris Noth) with whom she first struck sparks on the series’ premiere.

But first, she had to confront her mistake in leaving her world behind to move to Paris with Aleksandr, the self-involved, neglectful artist played by Mikhail Baryshnikov.

“I am someone who’s looking for love, real love … can’t-live-without-each-other love – and I don’t think that love is here,” Carrie tells him.

Moments later, Big, who has come to his senses and raced across the ocean to bring her home, finds her, alone, in her hotel lobby.

“It took me a really long time to get here,” he says. “But I’m here. Carrie, you’re the one.”

After nearly 100 romantic and often raunchy instalments, Sex closed the book with a top-secret, much-hyped conclusion that made good on its promise to resolve the love life of New York sex columnist Carrie.

“The most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself,” says Carrie in her role as narrator.

“And if you find someone to love the you you love,” she concludes, “well, that’s just fabulous.”

The Manhattan-set series, which premiered in June 1998, became a cultural phenomenon, defining a new breed of modern woman who was not afraid to talk about men – and her desire for them – with raw honesty even as she placed top priority on friendships with other women.