Emily in Paris – Trompe l’Oeil

By: Mariah Thomas

Emily (Lily Collins) has been putting in work to attempt to get Gabriel’s (Lucas Bravo) restaurant a Michelin Star. In a previous season Luc (Bruno Gouery) revealed he has a friend who is a Michelin food critic and now convinces her to come out to the restaurant. She is impressed by the food and expresses her intention to give a good review which would lead to a star. As time goes on, they continue to impress her to hopefully speed up the process. Emily inquires if she has any tips that could make the restaurant better and her main suggestion is to hire a pastry chef. Throughout the season we have seen new desserts pop up. Gabriel seems frustrated with the new chef and his showy ways of cooking. However, he deals with it knowing it is for the greater good of the restaurant. At a dinner with Sylvie (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu) and her husband, Luc discovers his friend…now girlfriend, has been lying. Another Michelin critic reveals she was fired last year for insider dining. She kept up the act to impress Luc as she always had feelings for him. He tells her she never needed to impress him for that purpose. Although they make up, he now faces the hard part of having to tell Emily the truth.

Mindy (Ashley Park) introduces Emily to a friend of hers who is an entrepreneur. She sets up a meeting with the firm to represent her for a new Korean skincare product. Although Sylvie doesn’t seem fully on board, Emily persuades her and they get the product into a retail showcase. Here consumers can try the product and purchase to test how it would do officially. While at the showcase Julien (Samuel Arnold) discovers she had previously been on France’s version of “Shark Tank” with the exact same product except it was presented as lube. At that moment Emily looks around and sees everyone trying this new “lotion” now knowing the truth. Mindy’s face is covered in its shine and their main retailer approaches them. Sylvie begins to tell the truth, but Emily cuts her off and says, “Actually, we were thinking we should raise the price,” and she agrees before walking off.

With the landlord now aware that three people live in Gabriel’s apartment, Sofia (Melia Kreiling) and Cami (Camille Razat) must leave. However, there was a vacant apartment right across from Gabriel and so their move is quite short. Sofia seems excited about a specific room with a big open window that would make the perfect art studio. Cami is set on making it the nursery for the baby. Later while shopping they get into a small argument on the topic. Cami is offended by her jokes and accuses her of not being happy about the baby. From the audience’s point of view, it is easy to see how much Sofia has given up for Cami and this new life – relocating from Athens as an artist to Paris. Cami’s motives for staying in Paris are simply for Gabriel and she is later called out on that. She still holds onto the life they could have had so tightly while trying to embrace a new one. Sofia decides it would be best for them to break up and for her to return to Athens. Before leaving she tells Cami, “I have a life in Athens. Let me know when you’re ready to join me there.” In the following moments, Cami silently breaks down in what would have been the nursery or art studio. Down below she witnesses Gabriel and Emily kiss. The pair exchange their first “I love you” and seem happier than ever. In previous seasons, we’ve seen this shot reversed – Emily watching Cami and Gabriel kiss from a window.

The next day Cami finally goes to see a doctor. Her pregnancy was only confirmed by an at home test. She discovers it was actually a false positive and she is not pregnant. While at lunch with a friend she expresses her wavering emotions surrounding this. Her friend tells her to share the news Gabriel after she’s had time to process. Seeing that this was the last time she had to keep Gabriel in her life, it is clear that will not be anytime soon.

Luc finally tells Emily the truth about the Michelin Star. She feels defeated and immediately goes to tell Gabriel the truth. Although upset, he appears more relieved. His first call to action is firing the pastry chef. Later, he celebrates this news as it did nothing but cause him stress. He brings out a round of drinks on him for everyone in the restaurant at the time. Cami comes in confused by the celebration and they explain to her. She declines an offered drink with a look of shame in her eyes, knowing the truth. Gabriel toasts and says, “I have a great restaurant, a smart beautiful girlfriend and a baby on the way.”