You can follow the decline and fall of the American dream through the prism of Darren Star’s protagonists. Carrie Bradshaw of “Sex and the City” was able to afford an apartment full of Manolo Blahniks as a freelance columnist, while Liza Miller of “Younger” has to cheat her way into an entry-level job in publishing. Like her predecessors, the title character of “Emily in Paris” (played by Lily Collins) has a passion for storytelling – but instead of the written word, she’s channeled that skill into social media marketing for brands and her personal Instagram account. A move to Europe has done nothing to dampen Emily’s ultra-American work ethic; if anything, it’s contagious, and her unapologetic capitalism rubs off on colleagues, friends and lovers like a virus.
After its October 2020 premiere, “Emily in Paris” went viral in another way, too: The series became a massive hit for Netflix, earning Season 4 the multi-part release strategy reserved for the platform’s most popular titles. (The first five episodes are currently streaming, while the second half will premiere next month.) With microscopic stakes, jaw-dropping outfits, and second-screen potential limited only by the liberal use of subtitles, the series has become emblematic of the so-called “gourmet cheeseburgers” that Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria so prizes.
It’s just as likely, then, that you never noticed that Emily in Paris took a long break—more than 18 months!—between seasons due to the entertainment strikes last year And that you are delighted that it is time again, especially after the 2024 Olympic Games have brought the City of Lights to the forefront for many viewers. Little berets (that is what I call Emily’s fan army), don’t worry! “Emily in Paris” remains a feather-light souffle of workplace comedy, stale romance and shameless commercialism. Whether she’s using a rooftop tryst as inspiration for a skincare campaign or convincing an ex to attend an activity event, Emily is the depraved Don Draper her generation deserves.
Describing the plot of season four feels like reading the fine print under one of Agence Grateau’s glitzy ads: completely beside the point of all that visual stimuli. Still, season 3 ended on a cliffhanger, as the wedding of Emily’s lover Gabriel (Lucas Bravo) and his long-time girlfriend Camille (Camille Razat) was called off by the bride at the altar, sending Emily’s own relationship with her British businessman Alfie (Lucien Laviscount) into disarray. But even though Gabriel and Camille’s relationship is over, they have a lasting memory in the form of Camille’s surprise pregnancy.
Gabriel and Emily have a reputation for being one of the least sexy or exciting couples in the history of the will-they-or-won’t-they thing, surpassed only by Camille’s fling with Greek artist Sofia (Melia Kreiling) or the affair between Emily’s roommate, singer Mindy (Ashley Park), and billionaire scion Nico de Léon (Paul Forman), heir to the series’ version of luxury conglomerate LVMH. (It’s called JVMA, changing only 50 percent of the acronym.) Even “Emily in Paris” seems a little bored with romance, spending the first act of season four either dutifully advancing the predictable plot or casually neglecting its few big twists. As with Emily herself, the focus of the series is clearly on work, where the withering gaze of agency boss Sylvie (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu) creates enough friction to give the action some momentum.
“Emily in Paris” is at its most fun when it breaks the fourth wall, whether through product placement of real brands like Baccarat, through stunt casting of playwright Jeremy O. Harris as a diva fashion designer, or—most satisfying of all—through the realization that Emily is both selfish and annoying. (At one point, Emily dines Camille’s friends, leaving the disgruntled French women to blame for their very U.N-French iced tea.) But such moments of self-awareness gain their power because they are so rare. Marketing is about creating an illusion and sticking to it at all costs, an art that “Emily in Paris” continues to master as well as ever.
All five episodes of Emily in Paris Season 4, Part 1 are now available to stream on Netflix.
