Emily in Paris season four

After the shocking ending of season three, the fourth instalment of Emily in Paris has a lot to unpack. The series starts off with the titular fashionista (Lily Collins) dealing with the fallout of being exposed on TikTok over her unwitting ménage à trois with Alfie (Lucien Laviscount) and Gabriel (Lucas Bravo). As the poster girl for the new Ami campaign, Emily’s tenacious outlook in life is put to the test.

Meanwhile, Emily’s BFF Mindy (Ashley Park) is trying to enter Eurovision, adding an extra dash of camp to proceedings. But unlike Darren Star’s most famous show, Sex and the City, which wore its flamboyance on its sleeve, one gets the feeling that Emily in Paris never quite veers into the overtly campy territory that would transform it from tedious to endearing. It’s a show that isn’t quite sure of its audience. While Sex and the City was equally unrealistic, it revelled in over-the-top sexcapades, weighty characterisations and catty one-liners. Emily in Paris has none of that. The outfits on display are undeniably eye-grabbing, matching the crisp direction, but it takes more than haute couture to engage an audience.

Four seasons in, Collins appears to be going through the motions, delivering stilted dialogue and, after all this time, still very little of it in French. Perhaps this is a fault of the writing, as Emily Cooper simply isn’t interesting enough as a character to warrant her own series, let alone four of them. Similarly, Laviscount, though undeniably charming, feels out of place here, his acting more Hollyoaks than Hollywood. As always, a scene-stealing Samuel Arnold is a joy to watch as Julien, but his charisma alone is not enough to keep the series afloat.

While the perfectly curated costumes and aesthetically pleasing shots of Paris offer unquestionable Instagram-perfect eye candy, Emily in Paris is a tired franchise that meanders rather than soars.   

Antonia Georgiou

Emily in Paris season four is released on Netflix on 15^th August 2024.

Watch the trailer for Emily in Paris season four here: