Note: Do not read on if you have not yet seen Season 1, Episode 8 of The CW's "The Carrie Diaries," titled "Hush Hush."
This week, Carrie Bradshaw and her friends discovered the sometimes awful drawbacks of keeping secrets -- especially as a teenager. "Secrets are like hand grenades," Carrie said during episode 8 of "The Carrie Diaries." "If you hang on to them for too long, they explode in your face." And explode they did.
In "Hush Hush," Carrie continued lying to her father about interning at his friend's law firm while she was secretly working as Larissa's intern at Interview magazine. During her first few days on the job, she was introduced to the man who would impact her life (and her bank account) forever: Manolo Blahnik.
Carrie modeled some shoes last minute and Larissa let her keep the colorful pair of Manolos, which led to a cute, but not fully developed, Cinderella theme throughout the episode. She made plans to go out with her Interview coworkers at Limelight, a church turned nightclub that is now a marketplace where Manhattan couples spend their Saturdays brunching and browsing.
The scheduling worked out perfectly, or so she thought. Carrie's father assumed she was spending the night at her senior year "Lock In," which seemed like a school-sponsored, grade-wide sleepover party at Castlebury High.
Meanwhile, Sebastian broke up with Donna LaDonna and revealed he still had feelings for Carrie (feelings that were reciprocated). Since Carrie and George broke up last episode, Mouse and Maggie urged Sebastian to make a grand gesture. This resulted in Sebastian and Mouse driving into New York City to find Carrie at Limelight so he could profess his love amongst drag queens and sequins.
As Carrie danced her way through Limelight, she tasted (more like gulped down) her first Cosmopolitan. "Oh, it's so pretty!" she gasped. "What's it called?!" The only issue with Carrie's grand plan was that her father also decided to use the night to let his hair down. He went on a double date with Harlan, whose piggish behavior is almost unwatchable, and two women. The group decided to follow steaks and caviar with a stop at Limelight.
Back in Connecticut, Donna, reeling from her breakup with Sebastian, decided to let Walt in on Maggie's little secret that is the most bizarre subplot of the entire show thus far: that she's been banging the local police officer in the backseat of his cop car. A devastated Walt confronted Maggie and decided to hook up with Donna later that night.
Meanwhile, at Limelight, a few drag queens picked Carrie up and placed her on a stage, only for her to see her father dancing (yikes) with a woman across the room. This entire reveal was done so well. I actually gasped on my couch when Carrie spotted her dad, and I cringed as he screamed at her in the club. The only part I didn't buy was that Larissa was just happy as ever to find out that Carrie was only 16. But Larissa, who usually rubs me the wrong way, was particularly entertaining during this scene. Carrie's dad took her home at once and banned her from going into Manhattan for what seemed like forever.
Sebastian and Mouse searched for Carrie at Limelight but arrived too late. And then Sebastian's car got towed.
"The Carrie Diaries" airs Monday nights at 8:00 p.m. on the CW.