How long can Emily possibly stay in Paris?
Netflix's "Emily in Paris" was streamed by 58 million households worldwide in 2020, and was crowned the streaming service's most-watched show in 2022. It also received two Golden Globe nominations in 2021, though the legitimacy of these nominations has been questioned.
So, what made the show so popular despite being widely regarded as frothy, breezy entertainment?
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We must remember that it premiered in October 2020, during the early days of the pandemic, a time when normalcy felt out of reach. In this climate of uncertainty, the show offered a comforting escape. "Emily in Paris" didn't challenge viewers; instead, it wrapped them in a cosy, predictable world where Emily, played by Lily Collins, jogged through the streets of Paris, became a successful influencer, and maintained her exaggerated American quirks amid French elegance. While we were stuck at home, Emily became our tourist avatar, representing the freedom we couldn't experience ourselves.
The show, often dubbed "ambient television," was designed to be watched casually, the sort of content you could have on in the background while scrolling through your phone.
In today's content-saturated world, many shows don't get the chance to grow an audience, often fading into obscurity soon after their debut. Netflix is especially notorious for cancelling shows prematurely, denying them the chance to build popularity through word of mouth and leaving fans without satisfying conclusions.
Given this context, the fact that "Emily in Paris" has reached its fourth season might seem unjustified, especially when compared to other shows that barely received recognition before being cut. We're said to be living in the "Golden Age of TV," with A-list Hollywood actors leading prestigious dramas. For instance, Kate Winslet will star in HBO's upcoming limited series "Trust", and Nicole Kidman headlines Netflix's thriller "The Perfect Couple". Shows like "Succession", which has won 19 Primetime Emmy Awards, boast loyal fan bases but comparatively modest viewership. (The "Succession" finale peaked at 2.9 million viewers, for example.) In contrast, "Emily in Paris" has captured an immense global audience.
But the success of "Emily in Paris" reveals that there's room for both highbrow, thought-provoking TV and light, unchallenging fare. While there are plenty of complex, intellectually stimulating shows, there are times when we just want something easy and predictable—shows like "Suits", "The Office", and "Friends" continue to top streaming charts long after their original air dates for precisely this reason. There's comfort in knowing what to expect and in watching a storyline wrap up neatly within 30 minutes.
That said, the fourth season of "Emily in Paris" reflects the increasingly commercialised nature of the streaming industry that created it. Product placements have become more prominent, and the characters have been reduced to little more than vehicles for monetisable personal brands. The show's incoherence is becoming harder to overlook, disrupting its once-addictive charm.
Emily herself seems stuck. Despite spending most of her time with French people, her French skills remain poor. She continues to be romantically tangled with her neighbour, Gabriel, and his ex, Camille, who also lives nearby. The only true friend Emily has made on her own is Mindy, a fellow expat whose busking band is now representing France in the "Eurovision Song Contest". In this season, Emily briefly dabbles in being single for a day, but ultimately settles back into her relationship with Gabriel, spending late nights at his restaurant waiting for him to finish work. Even her personal life is expressed through marketing gimmicks: her breakup with British expat Alfie happens during a staged kiss for a "French Open" ad, which then sets the stage for a masquerade ball promoting a new perfume. In "Emily in Paris", romance and relationships merely serve as content.
Perhaps aware of the show's waning appeal, Netflix is releasing season 4 in two parts, each with five episodes. It seems like a tactic to stretch the novelty with two premieres and cliffhangers. Yet splitting "Emily in Paris" this way is like removing the cheese from a pizza—it undermines its entire purpose. The series thrives on binge-ability, and the stakes have always been low.
What made the show enjoyable was the atmosphere—whether the characters were sipping coffee at a Parisian café or partying at a Provençal estate. The new season still offers moments of French culture, like when Gabriel takes Emily to a late-night gathering of chefs or when she and Camille argue at Claude Monet's famous garden in Giverny. But much of the new season feels like a slog, including a half-hearted luxury-fashion #MeToo subplot and Camille's overblown pregnancy scare.
In the end, "Emily in Paris" is what it is. Whether you love it, hate it, or hate to love it, it has remained consistent since its premiere. But how much more do we really need? How long can we continue following this love story and its frivolous complications before viewers grow tired of waiting a year for Emily and Gabriel to maybe share a kiss, only for things to revert to the status quo? While there's finally some progress between them this season, it doesn't feel much different from past obstacles, with Camille (or occasionally Alfie) coming between them at every turn.
As Emily heads to Rome in the second half of season 4, premiering on September 12, let's hope the change of scenery breathes new life into the show.
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