Take out your tissues and prepare to weep… of joy. After six years of low-stakes drama, clichés about French people and questionable costume choices, Emily in Paris will end with its sixth season.
To quote the iconic Dionne Warwick, it appears that, finally, “that work visa expired.”
The show’s final series, which is currently filming, is expected to take Emily to Greece and Monaco.
As a die-hard hate-watcher, I am happily welcoming the departure of our favourite overachieving, people-pleasing, slightly annoying marketing executive.
Emily Cooper (played by Lily Collins) appeared on our screens in October 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. When we first met her, she had just left her native Chicago for Paris, where she was to bring an American point of view to a French marketing firm.
Emily hoped to find professional accomplishment in her new hometown and, perhaps, love.
Created by Darren Star, the series reached 58 million households in its first month.
It debuted to mixed reviews however, as it was revealed to have none of the wit and humour of Star’s darling Sex and the City.
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Critics lamented the show’s stereotypical portrayal of French and Parisian people as lazy, constantly flirtatious and averse to monogamy.
French viewers also derided the unrealistic depiction of the capital and curious understanding of the city’s map... Why does Paris resume itself to the fifth arrondissement, the Seine and Montmartre? And where is the metro?
As seasons progressed and the show’s charming novelty wore off, Emily in Paris evolved into what can only be described as an empty, vapid, capitalistic shitshow.
Storylines, for instance, stopped making sense. Once it became clear that Emily would not be returning to the United States anytime soon, the series lost its aim.
Emily’s influencer arc, which was an integral part of her character in the first season, was just dropped.
Her will-they-won't-they relationship with chef neighbour Gabriel kept going round in circles.
Actor Lucas Bravo, who plays Gabriel, said his character has been “slowly turned into guacamole” and described the series’ narrative choices as “a lot of souffles.”
“Anything that could go off road is carefully taken back,” he told IndieWire in 2024. “There is a lack of risk.”
Netflix made a big fuss of Emily’s departure for Rome in Season 4. Even French President Emmanuel Macron, whose wife Brigitte made a cameo in the programme, pleaded for her to stay in France.
But there was no need to cry foul. Emily went to Rome and came back to Paris half a season later, virtually unchanged.
The most jarring aspect of this whole show is perhaps the fact that, over the course of five seasons, our lead character has experienced a staggering lack of personal growth.
The show’s confusing timeline only makes this more apparent. It’s not exactly clear how long Emily has actually been in Paris. Six months? A year? Characters evolve in a perpetual summery atmosphere that makes us wonder if we’re somehow watching a remake of Groundhog Day.
A handful of supporting roles have managed to salvage the whole experience. There’s Mindy (Ashley Park), Emily’s quick-witted roommate, an aspiring singer from Shanghai who is estranged from her wealthy father. Marketing colleagues Luc and Julien (Bruno Gouery and Samuel Arnold) make a quirky comic duo. And of course, there is Emily’s unapologetic boss Sylvie (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu), who is often hailed as the real star of the show.
At its best, the series’ chaotic mix of thick French accents and taste-defying outfits is almost camp. But more often than not, Emily in Paris just feels like a cash grab. McDonald’s, Ami Paris, Fendi, Intimissimi… Fictional and real-life brands dominate storylines without producing so much as a sprinkle of reflexive discourse.
Failing to move us - or just entertain us - in any meaningful way, the series has excelled in constantly trying to sell us products.
There is something quite grim and cynical about the prospect of sitting down to watch a harmless romance comedy-drama and ending up in front of a “giant advertising billboard,” as GQ France put it.
As Emily prepares to bid us farewell, I will perhaps miss arguing with friends about preposterous plotlines. But I'll get over it. The world will be a better place for its absence.
