Emily in Paris is one of Netflix’s latest offerings, first made available to our screens on the 2nd October 2020.
This series is currently very on brand for me. It’s very chic, very Vogue, very Sex and the City, which makes sense as both have been brought to you by the same person. It’s romance, comedy, and a little bit of drama. And it’s Paris, the most beautiful city I have ever experienced. So yes, extremely on brand for me.
I did need the second episode. The first episode set a very cliché scene in the 30 minutes it had. Two standard Americans: The ambitious, pretty marketing executive with perfect hair and her unbelievably bland sports fan boyfriend. Her firm offers her a dream role in Paris and who can say no to Paris? No surprise, Emily jets off to the French capital and we are very quickly introduced to her stylish and catty co-workers, and an array of potential French suitors for our protagonist – but of course, she still has the boyfriend in Chicago.
On a lonely lunch break spent sitting on a park bench, Emily meets Mindy, a refreshingly bubbly character and very welcome first friend in Paris.
As I said, all very cliché but it makes for easy watching. The dialogue is funny and the social media references relatable. The pilot’s saving grace for me is Luc, one of Emily’s quirky work colleagues and the only one to level with her, offer some advice and give her hope that maybe she’ll be able to find her way. It’s just enough to get me to commit to a second episode.
The second episode comes in heavy with the innuendos, and we see a sassier Emily. The editor in me particularly enjoyed the day to night time-lapse of the River Seine, just before we see Emily attend her first exclusive French soirée, complete with a sparkling Eiffel tower as a back drop.
At this point, with all the suggestive lines from the relentless French, the existence of the American boyfriend is increasingly inconvenient, so when they do break up in this episode, it’s a RELIEF. The adventure can now commence. Indeed, it does. Emily’s first win – an Instagram post calling out the French language “the vagina (le vagin) is NOT male!”, conflictingly earns her both the respect of her colleagues, and what looks like a brewing woman vs woman power struggle…
It’s enough to commit to a third.
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