Review: Why I despise Emily in Paris Season 4 and won’t be watching Part 2 despite new character Marcello

Quelle horreur! No I am not being dramatic. Whilst I would never describe Emily in Paris as a literary masterpiece because I would be lying if I did, at least it used to be mildly entertaining and I least had a vague interest in whether the lead character Emily, (played by Lily Collins), would end up with love interest Gabriel or Alfie. 

When I started watching Emily in Paris Season 4, I genuinely at times had to stop watching it because it was so dull and badly scripted. At first, I thought perhaps I was having a bad day and started to persevere a few hours later, but I encountered my original reaction. No, I was right, the first time, Emily in Paris Season 4 is just terrible. 

It made me start to assess what kind of mood I was in when I first started watching the series. I think I liked the Netflix series to begin with as it offered some light relief but there is light relief and just too ridiculous to watch…. 

When the characters of Emily and Camille played by Camille Razat end up fighting in Claude Monet’s garden in Giverny, outside Paris, all I could think about is why Netflix decided to film the absurd scene there. Yes, I was able to marvel at the beauty of the garden, but the absurdity of them falling out of their rowboats into their water, was far from funny and just painful to watch. 

And as for Emily herself, why would she be employed at a French marketing agency headed up by Sylvie?  She seems devoid of any ingenuity and as for her love life, or love interests, English banker Alfie and French chef Gabriel, did the show’s creator, Darren Star, decide to do the same as he did with his Sex and the City’s characters Harry and Steve and opt to strip them back to have no personality whatsoever. 

I remember being so invested in the Sex and the City’s characters such as Miranda, Harry, Steve and even Carrie, so was absolutely appalled when I saw that in order to make them apparently fit into the world as it is in 2024, they had to be completely unrecognisable to how they once were in And Just Like That.

At the end of Part 1 of Emily in Paris Season 4, viewers were given a glimpse of what to expect from Part 2. Emily is seen whizzing down a mountain skiing and is rescued by new character Marcello as she falls. Netflix describes the character of Marcello as “direct, confident, and values simplicity.”

Although obviously not intentional, if Marcello ‘values simplicity’ he is bound to be attracted to the character of Emily… Will I be tuning in to watch Part 2? No, I won't punish myself further and unfortunately can call my Emily in Paris viewing days as a show that I won’t be looking back at with any fondness, even when it comes to the fashion.