Carrie and Aidan are interrupted in bed by the voice of Big on Carrie's answering machine. Though Aidan says nothing, Carrie fears that he'll never be able to forgive her for her affair with Big. She wonders if you can ever really forgive if you can't forget. Carrie works hard to show Aidan that she's a great girlfriend, but he seems distant and angry.

Charlotte stuns the girls by announcing that she's planning on quitting her gallery job and devoting herself to having a baby and redecorating. Charlotte is angry that the girls, especially Miranda, are judgmental of her decision. She calls Miranda and while on the phone Miranda's neck goes out. Aidan offers to go check on Miranda and finds her naked on the floor unable to move. A mortified Miranda lets him scoop her up in bathmats. Charlotte hires a young ambitious 20-something who reminds her of herself. On the new gallery girl's first day, Charlotte has a moment of doubt, but sticks by her decision and walks out into her new non-working life. Miranda recuperates with her neck brace and finds that not working isn't such a bad thing.

Samantha starts an affair with a guy who steals her cab. They have great sex but Samantha is miffed when her new boytoy tells her she needs a bikini wax. She evens the score next time by shaving his own hairy private parts.

Meanwhile, Carrie finds Aidan at his bar flirting with the waitress and practically ignoring Carrie. Carrie realizes she's being punished for her big mistake. She offers to walk Aidan's dog while he works and again finds him hanging out with the sexy waitress. She angrily goes home. Aidan shows up and says he's pissed and wants Carrie to remove Big from her life. She says she can't do that and pleads that Aidan has to forgive her. He surrenders his anger and takes her in his arms.

Miranda finds out from Aidan that Steve has testicular Cancer. She has lunch with Steve and screams at him for being so nonchalant about his cancer, causing him to break down and cry. Carrie prepares for a trip to Aidan's country cabin in Suffern, NY with a true city girl's trepidation. She tells the girls she's going because Aidan loves the country. Charlotte understands, adding that she's going to Bunny's Connecticut house to please Trey.

When Carrie gets to Aidan's extra rustic cabin, she immediately laments not being in the city. She realizes that relationships are inevitably a series of compromises and asks: When does the art of compromise become compromising? Unable to stand it anymore, Carrie returns to New York and goes out for a steak with Big. Big tells her he's dating a movie star and that he might be in love. Carrie decides to go back to Aidan's and recruits Samantha to provide some entertainment. Samantha has a hard time in the great outdoors until she spots a hunky farmer. She approaches "Young McDonald" to borrow some milk and gets a lesson in how to milk a cow and then some. Carrie tries to embrace the country and gets to work on baking Aidan a pie. But when a squirrel scares her, she drops the piecrust and admits to Aidan that she hates the house.

Over in Connecticut, Charlotte is busily monitoring her fertility. Looking for Trey, she walks in on him taking a bath with his mother sitting nearby. She's disturbed but when her ovulation beeper goes off, she and Trey get to work in Bunny's prized orchid greenhouse.

Back in the city, Miranda invites Steve over for take-out Chinese but her pitying behavior pisses off Steve. Still, he thanks her for being a bitch the other day because it motivated him to see a good doctor and schedule surgery. Miranda is by Steve's side when he awakes after his operation.

Carrie goes home after compromising with Aidan. He'll install A/C and she'll brave the bugs and dirt every now and then.