Louise doesn’t get a whole lot of screentime in the Sex and the City franchise, and she only appears in the first film, but fans are wondering if she might make a return (even just a cameo) in the upcoming revival, And Just Like That. It would be nice to see where she is in life now – presumably still in St Louis with her boyfriend (now husband), as she ended the film about to get married – but fans also want to catch up with her just because she was such a bright personality.
Although she only appears in a handful of scenes as Carrie’s assistant, Louise managed to stick in fans’ minds because she was charming, sincere, and surprisingly wise for her age. Despite her youth, she often gave Carrie wonderful advice, and led Carrie to nickname her ‘Saint Louise’ and tell her that she ‘brought her back to life’ when they said goodbye. However, sometimes her words (or actions) were a little less wise…
Best: I’ll Hook You Up
When Louise first appears in the show, it’s when Carrie is interviewing for assistants. She asks Louise, after a brief and charming conversation about her skills, how on earth a woman living with three roommates can afford the designer bag she’s carrying – and Louise lets her in on the secret of Bag, Borrow, Or Steal, a website to rent them! It’s great advice on the face of it (renting designer items instead of buying something for a huge price that will be out of style in a season is amazing advice), but it’s a little deeper than that, too. It’s advice to listen to others and to be open to new ways of doing things.
Worst: ‘But If He Comes To Me, It’s Not a Booty Call…’
When Louise and Carrie are out for cocktails, she gets a text from a waiter, who has just got off work and wants to see her. Carrie points out that it’s nearly midnight, and that feels like a booty call – but Louise brushes it off. She even tries to find a technicality to mean that it wouldn’t really be a booty call, based on who goes to meet who. Clearly, given that Louise gets back together with her ex and the waiter is never heard from again, Carrie was right… and trying to loophole your way into doing something that your friends advise against is not behavior to emulate!
Best: ‘One Thing At A Time’
When Louise says this to Carrie, she is talking about working through a backlog of emails before getting to organizing the closet, but it’s good advice for all things.
Just take it one thing at a time, and it will be much easier to get everything done. There’s also some good advice here about not skipping over the unpleasant tasks just to do the fun ones, but to take everything in turn.
Worst: I Had To Move To New York To Get Some Room
This may be more in line with a less than perfect decision, rather than bad advice, but still! The decision to move to New York City is a great one – and something a lot of people dream of doing. But moving to one of the most crowded and expensive cities in the US in order to get more space? Louise, what were you thinking here?
Best: ‘Ain’t Nothin’ In There For You’
This is just a throwaway line, but it’s a great one, as Louise casually shuts down a man who is delivering Carrie’s new mattress, and very obviously gawps at Louise’s cleavage. The ‘advice’ to the man might be to back off (and it works), but the bigger lesson is in the behavior – Louise takes absolutely no disrespect, and shuts this guy down quickly and simply, and then gets on with her day of work.
Worst: ‘In that case, I’ll get another one’
This is a line clearly played for comedy, as Louise and Carrie are out for drinks, and Louise decides to go meet a waiter. Carrie advises her not to, but then laughs and tells her that ‘your twenties are to learn the lessons’ before offering to pay for their drinks.
Louise then says that she’ll stay to have another one, seeing as Carrie is paying. This scene is so short that it’s actually unclear if she’s just joking, or if she does actually stay (and leaves her waiter waiting), but either way, it’s a bit cheeky to add to someone else’s tab like that!
Best: Give People A Second Chance (Sometimes)
One of the biggest parts of Louise’s storyline is when she reunites with her ex-boyfriend in St Louis, when they are home for the holidays. It’s a sweet moment, as they decide to give it another try, and the advice here is clear – to give people a second chance. This is also shown to be her approach when Carrie is asking her to make sure no emails come through from Big, when Louise asks her if she’s sure she wants to cut off communication for good.
Worst: ‘This Looks Like A Good One’
Like her line about the cocktails, it’s difficult to know if this really was bad advice or not, as there’s not really enough context in the scene. However, when Louise is about to go home for the holidays, she pushes Carrie to go to some holiday parties, and Carrie declines. This may well have just been a gentle nudge between friends, but it may also have been the last of many refusals – and given that Carrie was only jilted that year, pushing someone to go out to parties when they don’t want to is rarely good advice.
Best: ‘Love Is The Thing, you know!’
As well as being all about second chances, Louise’s story is all about love. From the first interview with Carrie, she says that she came to New York to fall in love, that she carries love with her, and that ‘love is the thing, you know’. And while it may be ‘corny’ (as she puts it), it’s also sweet and sincere, and it is possibly the biggest takeaway of the whole movie. That following love (and not just romantic love) is always a good idea.
Worst: Leave It To The Last Minute
This may not be something that Louise would outright advise, but it’s something that she did herself, and was a terrible idea! After leaving NYC, Carrie called her for a password, and Louise says that she was going to call anyway, to remind her that it’s the last chance to go to the apartment she bought with Big, and collect the shoes she left there. Given that Carrie almost doesn’t because she only has about an hour, shows just how late Louise was willing to leave it – what if Carrie had been out, or hadn’t picked up the phone? For a capable assistant, this was a fairly ridiculous move!
