Charming and running for local office, Slattery’s Bill Kelley first pops up in the Season 3 premiere “Where There’s Smoke…” alongside Carrie as he judges a competition of firefighters vying for a spot on a calendar. His inclination to give “half-points” and dogged pursuit of Carrie works, and by the season’s second episode, “Politically Erect,” they’re officially dating, with Carrie following Bill around at political events. Before long, though, he asks that Carrie join him in a kind of unexpected act — and we won’t get into it here, but it certainly triggers her fight or flight instinct.
When Carrie says she’s not interested, Bill just ends up dumping her because he says his campaign doesn’t love that he’s dating a sex columnist, which is kind of a pathetically timed lie. Slattery never reappeared on the show, and nor did Bill — but it definitely doesn’t feel impossible that Carrie’s New York could have elected a Mayor Kelley. If nothing else, hopefully Bill convinced the politically averse Carrie to vote already.
