Emily In Paris (Netflix)
Flouncing its way into August, a whirlwind of day-glo designer outfits and romantic frippery, Emily In Paris — the show all serious TV critics love to hate — is back.
The first half of the fourth series, starring Lily Collins as the eponymous Emily, is now streaming on Netflix and fans (myself unashamedly included) have been binge-watching the lot.
We’ve waited almost two years for the latest instalment — series three premiered in December 2022 — and this one picks up where the last left off.
Emily is still torn between her two loves, ‘Hot Chef’ Gabriel (Lucas Bravo) — whose fiancée, bisexual Camille (Camille Razat), stormed out of their wedding and announced her pregnancy in the closing moments of series three — and suave businessman Alfie, played by British actor Lucien Laviscount.
Emily’s best friend, aspiring Eurovision singer Mindy (Ashley Park), is caught in her own love triangle, while her marketing firm boss, the indomitable Sylvie (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu) is wrestling with personal and professional loyalties, as she chain-smokes her way through long Parisian lunches.
The first half of the fourth series, starring Lily Collins as the eponymous Emily, is now streaming on Netflix and fans have been binge-watching the lot
We’ve waited almost two years for the latest instalment — series three premiered in December 2022 — and this one picks up where the last left off
Emily is still torn between her two loves, ‘Hot Chef’ Gabriel (Lucas Bravo, pictured) and suave businessman Alfie, played by British actor Lucien Laviscount
Viewers can expect a masquerade ball, mistaken identities, glamorous events, steamy sex scenes on a rooftop and — as ever — more hair-raising fashion than you’ll find in any French Olympic opening ceremony
Creativity in the wardrobe department seems to have reached a peak, with some of Emily’s outfits truly defying belief: in one scene, she’s dressed in a Morphsuit resembling a zebra crossing
Then there are her work colleagues, Luc and Julien, each with their own messy storylines. Not to mention the fact Camille’s got a new girlfriend, Greek artist Sofia, who moves into the flat she shares with Gabriel, beneath Emily’s apartment — creating the ultimate ménage à quatre.
Viewers can expect a masquerade ball, mistaken identities, glamorous events, steamy sex scenes on a rooftop and — as ever — more hair-raising fashion than you’ll find in any French Olympic opening ceremony.
Creativity in the wardrobe department seems to have reached a peak, with some of Emily’s outfits truly defying belief: in one scene, she’s dressed in a Morphsuit resembling a zebra crossing; in another, she has a large frilly doily strapped to her bosom.
And location scouts must have had a ball selecting backdrops for the action, with scenes taking place courtside at Roland-Garros, in a nightclub themed like an indoor beach and on the boating lake outside the house where Claude Monet lived.
The reviews are starting to come in for the new season of Emily In Paris on Netflix
Lily Collins returns as the title character – Emily Cooper – a young American woman from the Midwest who uproots her life and takes a new job in Paris
This is not, of course, real life, with Emily strutting her way around a Paris full of tropes and fantasies that belong only on the small screen — and previous series of the rom-com have come in for criticism for their superficial take on Parisian life
But there’s a reason thirty-somethings like me love this show; it is, in a world where the news is often awful and distressing, the ultimate escapism — inconsequential, absorbing, fabulous fluff
This is not, of course, real life, with Emily strutting her way around a Paris full of tropes and fantasies that belong only on the small screen — and previous series of the rom-com have come in for criticism for their superficial take on Parisian life.
But there’s a reason thirty-somethings like me love this show; it is, in a world where the news is often awful and distressing, the ultimate escapism — inconsequential, absorbing, fabulous fluff.
Creator Darren Star, the genius behind Sex And The City, should be praised for sticking to his guns. This is Emily In Paris at its finest: frothy, funny storylines that tackle real issues (betrayal, commitment, insecurity, identity — there’s even a short-lived ‘#MeToo’ plotline), backed up by witty dialogue that keeps millions of viewers hooked.
Some of the best lines go to Sylvie, who is more centre-stage than she has been in previous series, and rightly so. Leroy-Beaulieu’s portrayal of this Anna Wintour-esque PR queen is brilliant: she is powerful and vulnerable, with never a perfectly coiffed hair out of place.
The series remains one of Netflix’s most popular ever romcoms with the ongoing love triangle leaving viewers gripped
The show continues to inspire audiences with protagonist Emily’s painfully chic ensembles
When Emily pitches a non-alcoholic cocktail to a drinks client during a meeting, Sylvie bites back: ‘Sobriety may be popular in America, but it’s the antithesis of French culture.’
The supporting actors have more prominent roles in this series: there’s something amiss with Luc’s Michelin restaurant-inspector girlfriend, Marianne; Mindy’s relationship with her wealthy heir boyfriend, Nicholas, is fraying at the seams; and Sylvie’s mother is drafted in to fund her husband’s new Parisian club, after his backer pulls out when Sylvie sells a story about him to Le Monde.
I found myself caring less about the Emily-Gabriel will-they-won’t-they this time around and feeling sorry for poor Alfie, who gets fooled by a Venetian mask and ends up kissing a stranger.
Nothing, of course, is resolved: shrewd scheduling means the second half of the series won’t air until next month, prolonging the endless online chatter about what’s to come.
It’s hardly edge-of-your-seat stuff, and perhaps remarkable that in the five half-hour episodes nothing much actually happens. But as fans know, that’s not what Emily In Paris is about.
In this Disneyland take on the City of Love, we’re here for the fun of the ride.
