From her high-profile clientele to her massive social media reach, work-life drama, personal life shenanigans and avant-garde fashion, Emily Cooper (played by Lily Collins) hooked us to Netflix with the last three seasons of Emily in Paris. And now she is back with season 4. Ahead of its release, here’s a quick Emily in Paris recap, right from season 1 to season 3.
Emily in Paris season 4 will be released in two parts. The first instalment rolls out on 15 August with five episodes, while the second part arrives on 12 September. As more drama, romance and adventures follow our beloved influencer in the French capital, we are pumped for Emily’s new journey. Season 4 also takes viewers to Rome.
Emily in Paris season 4: A recap of seasons 1, 2 and 3
Emily in Paris season 1: Where and how it all began
Emily Cooper “is super excited” to be in Paris to offer an “American point of view” at the upscale luxury marketing firm Savoir. As she changes her Instagram handle to @emilyinparis, behold, a new influencer is born!
Office drama begins
Reality hits Emily hard the next morning as she speaks via Google Translator at the office. It doesn’t go down well with her co-workers Luc (played by Bruno Gouery) and Julien (played by Samuel Arnold) who don’t warm up to her, especially her boss Sylvie Grateau (played by Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu). A le plouc (loosely translated into “the hick”) to them, Emily spends her lunch time alone at the Palais Royale grounds. Here, Paris finally seems to look up to her.
Besties forever
Undoubtedly one of the best moments in the Emily in Paris recap! During her solitary lunch, she meets the super fun and chic Mandarin-speaking nanny Mindy (played by Ashley Park) who is also a passionate singer. They instantly pass the vibe check and become best friends. Mindy tells Emily the real deal about French people — “they’re so mean”. Soon, they go for lunch at a French restaurant near Emily’s apartment and share a hearty laugh over the chef, who turns out to be Emily’s gorgeous downstairs neighbour Gabriel (played by Lucas Bravo).
More work drama
Next, Emily attends her first work party for De l’Heure, Savoir’s most important perfume client, and commits another faux pas — talking about work at a work party. The man behind the exquisite fragrance brand Antoine Lambert (played by William Abadie), however, doesn’t mind and compliments her saying she smells like “expensive sex”. Emily professionally replies it feels like “wearing poetry.”
Turns out, Sylvie is Antoine’s mistress! She removes Emily from the De l’Heure campaign and reassigns her to the Vaga Jeune account, a brand promoting vaginal wetness in older women. As luck would have it, her post “The vagina is not male!” — a dig on the French term for it being ‘le vagin’ instead of a ‘la vagin’ — became an instant hit! Even Brigitte Macron reposted it! Emily in Paris season 1 sees her in more murky situations, like the De l’Heure ad campaign and the ‘sexy or sexist’ Twitter poll.
New neighbours and friends
Emily discovers her neighbour is an incredible chef who can whip up the perfect rare steak and omelette. They cross paths several times and have their own set of (mis)adventures. A faulty shower, the ever-so-handsome Gabriel telling a frustrated Emily, “But there’s just one problem, I like you”, and Emily coincidentally coming across Camille (played by Camille Razat) and becoming good friends.
Sparks are evident between the neighbours and right after they share a passionate kiss (yes!), Camille returns to the scene to reveal she is Gabriel’s girlfriend. Truly, “Paris seems like a big city, but it really is a small town”.
Mission Pierre Cadault
Pierre Cadault (played by Jean-Christophe Bouvet), a haute couturier and a coveted client for Savoir, dismisses Emily as ringarde, translating to ‘basic’ in English. Determined, to get him onboard, Emily goes to the ballet and barges into his private box. Pierre got her taken out, but later Sylvie received a call from Pierre for a meeting.
Emily In Paris season 1 inches towards an end, albeit the drama is far from over. Emily coaxes American sweetheart Brooklyn Clark (played by Carlson Young) into a Fourtier watch and a Pierre Cadault dress sponsorships and even strikes a deal with the designer’s nephew and business manager Mathieu Cadault (played by Charles Martins).
Awkward love triangle
Gabriel and Camille also hit a rough patch. His restaurant is up for sale, but the young chef can’t afford to buy it and neither will he accept help from Camille’s parents. Camille invites Emily all to her family château and requests her to market their line of champagne. It leads to a series of new complications.
After all that, it is time for Emily to finally bid au revoir to her neighbour as Gabriel decides to leave for Normandy and start afresh. They share an epic night of lovemaking to end their last moments together. As a farewell present, he also gives her his omelette pan. And guess what? The next morning, Mathieu arrives at the restaurant to back the promising chef financially for the latter’s own venture. So now, with Gabriel not leaving Paris, Camille, Emily and he are in a love triangle and it is awkward!
Emily in Paris season 2: French class, client and romance
Saint Tropez and a girls’ trip
Guilt-ridden about her rendezvous with Gabriel, Emily forces herself into a relationship with Mathieu. But an ill-timed call from the chef derails her journey to Saint Tropez with Mathieu. Stuck on the trip alone, she invites Camille (still unaware of the affair) and Mindy to join her. However, the truth is soon out. Upon returning, Camille and Emily run into Mathieu who tells Camille her friend is seeing another man. On Emily’s birthday, Camille discovers Gabirel’s omelette pan and confronts her in front of all. She even cuts her out of the Savoir deal.
Later, after her parents convince her to tackle Emily differently, Camille decides to put it all in the past, as long as they promise to stay away from him. However, under the garb of a pinky swear, Camille continues to bond with Gabriel, leaving Emily in the dark.
It’s an Alfie romance
At her language class, Emily finds her new love interest, British banker, Alfie (played by Lucien Laviscount). She struggles to speak French and is paired with him for assignments. Although they get off on the wrong foot, Emily soon starts dating Alfie and feels things are “so much easier” with him than with Gabriel. Yet, her feelings for both men are conflicted when they become buddies.
Later, Aflie reveals that he was supposed to return to London but stayed back to see if they had any chance and suggests long-distance. Things take a turn when Emily confesses to Mindy she still loves Gabriel. When Emily tells him the same thing, she learns that Gabriel and Camille are back together and are moving in together.
Crisis at Savoir
Now we arrive at a major turning point in the Emily in Paris recap. In the middle of season 2, Emily’s American boss Madeline (played by Kate Walsh) appears to take control of the business and enforce the Gilbert Group (Savoir’s parent company) policies. Madeline is taken aback by the way things function in Paris.
Her unexpected landing in France puts Emily in the most precarious position. She tries to reason with Madeline about Sylvie’s stance and how she is the best person for the French market, but Madeline is adamant about terminating her.
Season 2 finale brings back Pierre Cadault who is highly disappointed with the way Madeline is dealing. When his rival designer Grégory Elliott Duprée’s (Jeremy O. Harris) marketing team quits, she is eager to seize the opportunity and get Grégory onboard. Sylvie warns her as it would upset Pierre, but Madeline doesn’t pay any heed. Naturally, Pierre leaves Savoir.
A French revolution
She gets furious with Sylvie’s way of things and calls her to Chicago for a performance review, but the latter quits along with Luc and Juliene, surprising both Madeline and Emily. The two are now forced to build a new team from scratch.
Meanwhile, Sylvie opens her new firm and has Pierre and Grégory on board. But there’s one last twist waiting. Grégory promises to join only if Emily heads the account. Despite all their ups and downs, Sylvie offers Emily a position at her firm. Emily In Paris season 2 ends at a cliffhanger if the protagonist takes up the new role or accepts Madeline’s offer and heads back to Chicago.
Emily in Paris season 3 recap: Everything to keep in mind before season 4
Is it Team Madeline or Team Sylvie?
Emily in Paris season 3 begins with the American influencer balancing working with both bosses. By the third episode, she makes up her mind and accepts Sylvie’s offer to work full-time at Agence Grateau. Through the season, a flurry of events turns Madeline and Sylvie into rivals as both lose serious business due to their issues. The latter did not realise that she signed a non-compete with Savoir, leaving her with practically no clients of her own.
At such a juncture, Pierre Cadault steps in again as he announces luxury conglomerate JVMA has acquired the brand. JVMA does their marketing in-house, implying Sylvie lost her only client as well. However, the next morning when Nicolas de Léon (played by Paul Forman), JVMA scion, lets Sylvie exclusively manage Pierre’s account, she declines it and continues the French Revolution. Throughout season 3, she tries to strike deals with other potential clients, and it is only time before she finally gets started.
Alfie gets a job in Paris
In season 2, we saw Alfie suggesting long distance to Emily as he prepares to head back to London. At his farewell party, Emily is preoccupied with her McDonald’s pitch and messes up the evening. This angers Alfie and he reaches the brink of breaking up.
The air settles down when Antoine hires him as his CFO and he doesn’t have to leave the French capital. Emily uses the opportunity to make it up to him and sings “Alfie” at Mindy’s solstice concert. He gives in, and they patch up.
Gabriel’s restaurant vision and his relationship
The Emily in Paris recap continues as Camille reveals that since they are living together, both of them have started to take each other for granted. None of them make any effort like before. While Gabriel is at his restaurant, Camille, too, is busy with an exhibition at her art gallery. In fact, during this time, she flirts with the Greek artist Sofia (played by Melia Kreiling)!
In episode six, Gabriel and Emily visit a Michelin-star restaurant which makes him resolute in his vision to make it big in the food and beverage industry. He dedicates all his time to his restaurant Chez Lavaux to make a future for himself and Camille. Gabriel asks Antoine for a raise and surprisingly, he offers him ownership of the establishment. As luck would have it, Luc’s ex-girlfriend is a Michelin Star judge. So obviously, Emily arranges a meeting at Chez Lavaux, and Gabriel receives the coveted accolade.
Mindy’s new boyfriend creates a rift between the besties
Emily in Paris season 3 begins with Mindy and Benoît singing their hearts out. At Alfie’s housewarming party, it is revealed that Nicolas and Mindy attended the same boarding school. Unknown to her, he tries to rekindle their connection, leading Benoît to break up in episode five. Now it’s Mindy and Nicolas.
Things go smoothly for a while, but things take a U-turn when Nicolas announces that JVMA will replace Pierre, as a designer, with Grégory and just keep his brand. However, Sylvie manages to get things sorted with JVMA owner Louis (played by Pierre Deny) and Nicolas is humiliated. He believes it was because of Emily’s interference, and he fires Agence Grateau.
Later at a party, Mindy confronts Emily and gets her thrown out. Thankfully, Alfie steps in to clear all confusion and the besties are reunited. Just when they are all about to leave for Gabriel’s engagement party, Benoît appears and says they have been selected for the Eurovision Song Contest!
Gabriel’s engagement party turns the plot
In season 3 episode 5, Emily sees Camille kissing Sofia and is taken aback. Later, in episode eight, a drunken Gabriel confides in Emily that he doubts Camille has forgiven him for his affair with her and the very next moment confesses his love for Emily. However, the next morning, everything goes back to normal, and Camille proposes to him.
At Camille’s family chateau, friends and family arrive for her and Gabriel’s engagement party. At this juncture of the Emily in Paris recap, we arrive at, perhaps, the most crucial moment. Happiness goes over the moon when Gabriel suggests they get married then itself. At the altar, as the two say their vows, Camille tells how she and Emily decided not to date him, but she broke the pact. She also said that they have been doing this only because Gabriel and Emily have been in love. An enraged Alfie storms out and the wedding stalls. Unable to suppress any longer, Gabriel and Emily express their feelings for each other, and he reveals Camille is pregnant.
Emily in Paris season 3 ends at this pivotal point. What happens to Alfie? Does Gabriel and Emily get back together? What happens to Camille’s child? Wait for season 4 to get answers to these burning questions.
(Hero and Featured image credit: Emily in Paris/ Photo by COURTESY OF NETFLIX – © 2024 Netflix, Inc./ IMDb)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
At the end of ‘Emily in Paris’ season 3, Emily joins Sylvie’s Agence Grateau. She attends Gabriel and Camille’s engagement party with Alfie,, but things become tense when Camille ditches him at the altar. It is revealed that Camille is pregnant, and Gabriel and Emily are still in love with each other.
Camille is pregnant with Gabriel’s child.
At the end of season 3, Emily and Gabriel confess their love for each other. Whether they end up together remains to be seen in ‘Emily in Paris’ season 4.
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Trinetra is an ardent foodie and bibliophile who writes about films, travel, food and lifestyle. As a writer and literature student, slam poetry and storytelling are her go to jam. When not working, Trinetra is busy looking for her next place to visit or binge-watching Instagram videos for travel inspiration.
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