Emily in Paris

Trompe l’oeil

Season 4

Episode 5

Editor’s Rating

2 stars

**

Photo: Stephanie Branchu/Netflix

We’re still dealing with Gabriel’s never-ending drama and the search for a pastry chef. The newest employee just does the old TikTok trick where things look like other objects but are actually cakes or chocolate. They have the pastry chef on behalf of Marianne, the Michelin-starred critic who has been here three times, and makes Emily pay the bill. That should have been one of her first signs that something was wrong (seems pretty unprofessional to me!), but no one here has a clue, so it gets passed on without much comment.

Mindy’s friend Leigh, whose accent is very This week: A hot new sex bomb enters the villais here from London to launch a skincare line, and she wants to hire a French marketing agency. Before we spend too much time on this subplot, I just want to say: if Netflix insists on splitting these seasons into two parts just to (I assume) get more media exposure out of a show that would otherwise come and go in one weekend, then the least they could do is try to make that make sense creatively, rather than just have an arbitrary “be back later!!!” feel at the end of what is technically a season finale. In our case, the emphasis is unfortunately on the middle: this episode is completely average, and we spend a not insignificant amount of time on a client-of-the-week bit with Leigh, which would be fine at another point in the season, but here, in an episode that should It’s about the resolution of the episodes that have been building up over the last four episodes and/or about tension ahead of the second half of the season next month.

Speaking of tension, are we surprised that Camille and Sofia don’t get along? Sofia basically only came to Paris because she thought Camille was missing and/or dead. She didn’t come to Paris to give up her cool, independent life and help Camille raise Gabriel’s baby. It’s going to take the entire episode for that to play out the way you’d imagine, and first we have to sit through several lengthy discussions about symbolically significant objects (art studio vs. nursery; rocking horse vs. easel). Also, Gabriel lets Camille keep his grandmother’s engagement ring because they’re becoming a family. Normally I’d say that’s a nice gesture, but I really wonder how his girlfriend would feel about it. Camille’s girlfriend certainly wouldn’t be pleased!

Somehow, Sylvie can’t manage to book a table at a great restaurant without Luc’s help. I can’t believe it! But she begs him to rely on Marianne for the favor, and Marianne, in turn, convinces Luc that it’s a good idea to use the dinner to force Sylvie to give him a raise.

I fear that Emily’s stupidity will spread osmotically through the office and infect everyone she works with, including my beloved Sylvie. Mindy’s friend comes with Mindy as a model in tow to demonstrate her product. Her product looks terrible. And later we will find out that her product is literally just lube repackaged as moisturizer (?!) and that this was incredibly good to know because Leigh presented it in a television show, Fox Cavethe (wrong) French equivalent of The Shark Cat. Under the same name and everything! And that wasn’t that long ago!! Did no one at Agence Grateau bother to google this person? They literally do no research at all before signing a new client?? And I’m supposed to keep my fingers crossed for them?! None of that matters because nothing matters in this world. The product is a success.

At the restaurant – L’Ambroisie, a real place where, from my cursory glance at the booking calendar right now, it’s really impossible to get a reservation; points for authenticity – Sylvie and Laurent realise they’re sitting at a table for FOUR. But Sylvie was NOT wearing that amazing jumpsuit! (The open back? Stunning!) Laurent takes the whole thing very fairly, especially considering that dinner is for him. In a shocking twist, they seem to be having a great time! At least until Luc demands a raise right after Marianne insists on taking them all to dinner. Then Marianne threatens the waiter to buy them their meal – at which point a man who is actually a Michelin inspector interrupts and says Marianne is a FRAUD. Sylvie saves everyone further embarrassment by picking up the tab.

Because no one in the world will ever be held accountable for her deranged behavior, Luc tells Marianne that he still wants to be with her. Apparently she just works for the phone company. I mean, sure, good luck to those crazy kids.

You know who else looks pretty good? Emily! I love her studded turtleneck dress and her updo with the thin hairpins. I feel like we get a well-dressed Emily every now and then, just so we don’t give up on her completely. Gabriel takes Emily to his favorite cooking class where they play biscuit and everyone gossips about how Gabriel is going to get the Michelin star. He expects the star to completely change his life. Someone should read up on the fallacy of arrival!

Back at the apartment, Sofia has packed her things to tell Camille what we’ve known all along: this isn’t why she came here and she wants to go back to Athens. This is a pretty mature breakup. I wonder what everyone’s financial situation is like. Can Camille afford to live alone in this apartment?

Later that night, Gabriel takes Emily to the oldest bridge in the city. It’s been a while since we’ve had our share of “Wow, Paris is so beautiful!!!” moments. There used to be a quota of one per episode. Is that… growth? Anyway, Gabriel tells Emily he loves her. She says she loves him back. It’s a very beautiful kiss. Do I believe them that they love each other? Not really, but what’s important is that Camille, who can see them through the window, absolutely does. For some reason, they end their night on the street, even though Gabriel is finally living alone because Camille and Sofia moved out, like Emily and Gabriel supposedly wanted so badly. Now that they can finally spend the night together in peace, they just… don’t. HOW MAKES THAT SENSE?

The next day, Sylvie says she’s afraid Emily will rub off on her. I’m worried too! Emily finds out that Marianne isn’t a real Michelin inspector. Camille goes to the doctor to explain her whole mystery. I write in my notes: wait, she hasn’t been to the doctor yet?!? At this point we realize that CAMILLE IS NOT PREGNANT.

Apparently she never was! Her test was a false positive! I can’t believe Camille changed her whole damn life without even going to the doctor first?!?? Girls, you have universal health insurance, so use it! And, sorry, but as much as I find pregnancy plots annoying (i.e. when pregnancy is used as the only thing that could change/make interesting/important a female character’s life), I find “oops, actually we’re NOT pregnant” plots even more annoying. Honestly, it feels like after not having a more character-appropriate idea of ​​how to bring Camille and Gabriel closer together, they didn’t have the courage to just have Camille choose to terminate her pregnancy, but they also didn’t want to deal with how a baby would affect the show, so they just called “backsies” (to use a technical term).

For those keeping score at home, between this and the Michelin star, all the major stakes introduced at the end of last season have been swept away. It really makes you want to get involved in whatever they do next!

Gabriel takes the news of the Michelin star surprisingly well. He had cracked under the pressure. He fires the pastry chef with real passion. It is more passionate than anything he has ever done or said to Emily. Camille realizes that the baby is the reason Gabriel stays so nice and close to her, but does not reveal that there is no baby at all. Will Camille attempt to get pregnant, I wonder? Or will she see reason and flee to Athens to have fun away from Emily’s annoying interference?