Emily in Paris Has Overstayed Its Welcome – Time to Say Goodbye
Emily has been navigating love and her glamorous job in Paris, France, but after three seasons and another on the way, it's time to say farewell.
Emily in Paris is one of the most popular shows on Netflix, focusing on Lily Collins’ Emily Cooper’s adventures in Paris, France. The series premiered on Netflix in 2020, and for the past three seasons, the audience has followed Emily in different funny, dramatic or awkward situations as she figures out life in Paris, her job at a marketing firm and her messy love life. However, as the show seems to revisit the same tropes and clichés every season, with love triangles, glamorous expats and French stereotypes, it’s time for the creators to start thinking of ending it — and while Emily in Paris proved to be the perfect it’s-so-bad-it’s-good show, the upcoming Season 4 offers the perfect time to say goodbye.
The Netflix series established itself as a low-maintenance romantic comedy with a lot of unfavorable reviews but a steady audience. The third season, which started with Emily’s decision on whether to work for Madeline (Kate Walsh) and go back to Chicago or stay in Paris and work for Sylvie (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu), provided quite a lot of dramatic, colorful and entertaining moments, but also cringe and eye-roll worthy scenarios. Emily decided to remain in Paris, got even better at her job, and got used to living in the City of Light. However, despite her new, healthy relationship with Alfie (Lucien Laviscount), the creators couldn’t get over the will-they-won’t-they romance between Emily and Gabriel (Lucas Bravo). After Emily and Alfie broke up and Camille (Camille Razat) didn’t want to marry Gabriel, nothing stood in their way — except Camille is pregnant, as revealed at the end of Season 3.
There Aren’t Many Adventures Left for Emily Cooper in Paris
According to creator Darren Star, Season 4 will be all about “navigating complicated relationships” — a sentence that can also be used to describe the entire series. Moreover, since Lily Collins has hinted that Emily is leaving Paris in exchange for a Roman holiday, it’s safe to say there aren’t many more adventures left for Emily. The show has already covered much of her life in the French capital, but there are some obvious points that need to improve.
Emily is not very good at her job and has no work etiquette, as highlighted when she worked for both Madeline and Sylvie at the same time. Although the show is intended as fiction and meant to be relaxing, everything about it is unrealistic. The way Emily comes up with ideas without any research, strategic planning or time spent at her desk shows that she is extremely unprofessional. Emily’s fashion sense wants to be evocative, but it plays out as childish. In addition, she has been in France for several months and has still never bothered to speak French.
Emily and Sex and the City of Light
Of course, there’s a reason why Emily in Paris is one of the most popular shows on Netflix. It stars Lily Collins, making a great time alongside a talented cast. Throughout the season, the Darren Star-created show has shown Emily wearing beautiful, impractical outfits — something the audience saw in Star’s other popular show, Sex and the City.
The outfits aren’t the only similarities there. The story, revolving around a young, successful woman navigating life in a crowded, lively city, also has a complicated love triangle, similar to Carrie’s Big and Aidan situation, here with Emily, Gabriel and Alfie. Plus, Emily’s marketing job isn’t that well paid to allow her to live such a crazy life in Paris, just like Carrie couldn’t live off writing in New York in real life. Last but not least, as much as everyone loved Star’s Sex and the City, no one needs another show to go on as long as that one did, with too many seasons, movies and reboots.
The Perfect Au Revoir to Emily in Paris
Over three seasons, the audience observed life in Paris alongside Emily, watching the city’s most historic landmarks, marveling at baguettes and narrow streets with cobblestones, and embarking on some awkward stereotypes. However, given how much criticism the show has received over its portrayal of France and French people, it’s a surprise there hasn’t been much change in Emily’s behavior or the overall narrative. Fans are bound to get tired of watching an expat unrealistically living life in a country where she doesn’t speak the official language and encounters no issues because of it.
The third season of Emily in Paris aired on December 21, 2022, with the upcoming Season 4 planned for later this year. So far, there hasn’t been an announcement about the release date and whether it’s the season finale, but it could end on a high note with Season 4 and not overstay its welcome.
