Mild spoilers ahead.
“Emily in Paris”? It’s time for the show to get renamed to Emily in Rome. After watching the newly-released second half of season four of “Emily in Paris,” I found myself with a renewed sense of hope that maybe this is the end of Emily’s run on Netflix. The (hopefully) last season of “Emily in Paris” was the worst of them all, from the character glow downs to the mixed story lines, and I truly can’t wait for it to be over.
With every season, everyone’s sense of style and personality seem to get worse and worse. Gabriel mysteriously gets a new haircut every season, and I do not know who his barber is but he needs to be fired. Looking at side-by-side comparison pictures of season one Gabriel and season four Gabriel next to each other, it looks like Gabriel got dragged through the cobblestoned Parisian streets during season two, and then spent season three on an abandoned and isolated island with no mirror or comb, and a pair of jagged and blunt scissors to look how he looks in season four.
Emily’s fashion choices used to be bold, creative and unique. In season four, Emily’s outfits were tacky and weird, and I genuinely dreaded seeing her onscreen whenever there was even the slightest opportunity for her to dress up. Her personality changed tremendously, going from lively and confident to insecure and vulnerable. Emily’s once shimmering excitement was replaced with uncertainty, which could have been great character development if it was any show but “Emily in Paris.” The series started off as, and should stay, a light and upbeat romantic comedy about a girl moving to Paris to bring them the wonders of American marketing while balancing her exhausting love life.
In Season 4: Part 2, the writers attempt to depict heavier topics in an otherwise lighthearted show, but it just comes across as disingenuous and ill-fitting. Watching an episode that simultaneously deals with Camille’s ghost pregnancy and Mindy’s struggle with singing topless seemed like I was watching two different shows at once. As each character’s personality adapted to the diverse season-long problems they were experiencing, it just seemed odd. Emily was (yet again) struggling to choose between Gabriel and another man while also moving to Rome, Mindy had to fund Eurovision, Camille was trying to become a mother, Gabriel was depressed because he didn’t get a Michelin Star and Sylvie’s surprise step-daughter started living with her. Having each of the characters sink into shells of their former selves while dealing with a multitude of varyingly complex problems just makes the show seem disconnected. Some of the storylines were the same as the previous seasons, like Emily in her never-ending love triangle, and others came out of absolutely nowhere—who is Sylvie’s stepdaughter, why does she matter and why is she trying to sabotage Emily for absolutely no reason?
“Emily in Paris” peaked in season one, and has been in constant decline ever since. But will I be hate-watching Season 5 of “Emily in Paris/Rome”? Absolutely.