Emily In Paris Season 5 Review: Rome or Paris, Emily is always back to square one

Emily In Paris Season 5 Review:

Some things never change, or as the French put it, Il y a des choses qui ne changent pas! This holds very true for Emily in Paris, no matter how many more seasons Netflix decides to roll out. To give credit where it’s due, this fifth season does whisk us through multiple location changes: Rome, Solitano (fictional), and Venice, plus a handful of experimental changes to Emily’s (Lily Collins) mane. She starts out with a bob cut and even goes on to have a blonde wig in one episode. But whether it’s love triangles, romantic heartbreaks or marketing melees, Emily in Paris never fails to keep its loyal viewers in a state of perpetual anticipation, wondering if this could finally be the season that surprises them.

Cast: Lily Collins, Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, Ashley Park

Creator: Darren Star

Streamer: Netflix

Having set up the Rome office, Sylvie (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu) finds reason to keep herself, Luc (Bruno Gouery), and Julien (Samuel Arnold) stationed in the ancient city, because really, what is a season without the show’s holy trinity of sass? With half the narrative set in Rome and Emily flitting back to Paris for the rest, season five delivers exactly one true twist. The ménage à trois (love triangle) this time is between Mindy (Ashley Park), Alfie (Lucien Laviscount) and Nicholas (Paul Forman), without any involvement from Emily. Incroyable, no? Alfie and Mindy's “affair” might just be the season’s most interesting arc—steamy, saccharine, and short-lived, like every good romance in the Emily-verse. And when the makers bring back Nicholas in season 5, just like they resurrected Benoît (Kevin Dias) in season 4, nobody saw it coming. Plot twist à la Emily.

While Netflix can beam with pride about offering its subscribers uninterrupted entertainment, Emily in Paris increasingly acts like a long-form brand-placement extravaganza camouflaged as a show. Over four seasons, we’ve hopped from real maisons like Pierre and Boucheron to fictional-but-familiar ones: Bavazza from Lavazza, anyone? But this season, we get a full-blown commercial for L’Oréal Paris Infallible Matte Resistance Liquid Lipstick (yes, I remember the name, as the ad worked!). Emily’s marketing brain, paired with that of Sylvie, Luc, and Julien, functions mainly to spark conflicts or shut down branches, not to surprise us with clever, out-of-the-box ideas.

This season, though, the makers almost redeem themselves by letting Emily mostly stay with Marcello Muratori (Eugenio Franceschini), her charming new Italian beau, following the American ex, hot chef Gabriel (Lucas Bravo), and the lovable Brit, Alfie. And lest we forget, there’s a new American red herring, Jake, miserably underused except for a single lesson on friendship. The show is, however, delightfully self-aware of Emily’s serial-dater tendencies; Sylvie even deploys it as a meta joke in one of her brand pitches. The irony? Sylvie herself has acquired a fresh lover every season, all while dramatically contemplating a divorce from Laurent. Everything is forgivable until the show teases yet another meaningful romance, only to loop right back to square one. Can the show’s romantic arcs get any more ringarde (basic)?

As always, characters are introduced and dropped according to the whims of the makers. Genevieve (Thalia Besson) quietly exits stage left, while Yvette (Michèle Laroque) and Princess Jane (Minnie Driver) appear to stir drama in Sylvie’s personal and professional life. Luc and Julien still don’t get meaty storylines of their own, and Gabriel surfaces only for an episode or two, like a handsome cameo. And so, the climax becomes a hurried set of revelations about the future of Agence Grateau and what it might mean for Emily professionally and romantically.

If Netflix continues to indulge this guilty pleasure with a season six, che sarà, sarà, the makers may jet off to Rome, Venice, or London next. But as we close season five, one can’t help but wonder whether it’s finally time for Emily’s la dolce vita to come to an end.