Moving to Rome Is Just the Kind of Change Emily in Paris Needs

After four seasons, our beloved Emily Cooper (Lily Collins) has a major change afoot. After Sylvie (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu) pursued a major (yet still small) family business from Rome as a new client for Agence Grateau—much to Emily’s chagrin, seeing as it complicated things with her newest beau—Emily has been tasked to head the new Italian office of Agence Grateau. Thus, it seems Emily will be packing her designer bags and leaving Paris behind, preparing to leave her charming, disastrous mark on everyone with the misfortune to cross her path in the future. (And little regard for the smoldering shambles she’s leaving behind in France, it seems.) However, there’s an opportunity for the series to use this shift to prove the story is so much deeper than anyone expected.

From the moment she stepped foot in Paris, Emily has been struggling with the cultural differences. For instance, the difference in attitude, particularly the coldness that the French are notorious for, has been a drastic counter to Emily’s friendly, warm demeanor. She has (mostly) adjusted her expectations, but there was never a chance in hell that Emily would fit in with the French. She still sticks out, though often not in a good way, and is taken advantage of or made to look like a fool. While living in France has been a great opportunity for Emily, it’s clear that she still doesn’t quite fit, which has always had her subconsciously considering when she should hop on plane back to Chicago (even after leaving the Gilbert Group to join Sylvie’s agency).

During her time in Paris, Emily has learned a lot, specifically about herself and how to be more open and relaxed regarding work, friends, and romance—but let’s not forget that the language has not been one of those things. It’s something that has been pointed out online an obnoxious amount of times in the five years since the series premiered. Emily’s language classes in the first two seasons didn’t leave much impact on her, outside of meeting Alfie (Lucien Laviscount), and she seemingly never went again after being forced to repeat the introductory class despite working for a French marketing firm. There’s something about the language that Emily just hasn’t grasped or she just hasn’t put in the effort to learn (though it seems to be the former). 

This has complicated her life in Paris to quite an extent, most notably when her off-and-on-again beau Gabriel (Lucas Bravo) brought the issue to the forefront of their relationship during a heated exchange, explaining that their communication problems are directly tied to and partially caused by Emily never learning his language. Worst of all, he did so in French, leaving Emily clueless in the middle of their fight, needing an explanation afterward from a so-called friend. 

It’s hard to fathom how their relationship can recover from that if he does end up following her to Rome, given that she will be less inspired or equipped to learn French and repair this grand divide between them, but who knows? Anything can happen. This could be the fresh start these two toxic lovers need to get things right between them. With Camille (Camille Razat) likely out of the picture (finally!), these two still just may have a shot.

But, with this new career opportunity opening up for Emily after visiting Rome for the first time, it seems like something clicked inside of her during those last couple of episodes of Emily in Paris Season 4. She felt so much more at ease and comfortable in Rome than she did in Paris, which was only heightened by how welcoming the people she encountered were. 

Perhaps Emily’s reluctance to learn the language and adapt herself to the French way of life was (subconsciously) purposeful. Though she loved Paris and its beauty, maybe Emily knew she could never plant herself there for the rest of her life. The French way of life just didn’t work for her. That said, living in France gave her the experience and adaptability she will need to embrace life in Rome. (Maybe she’ll even learn Italian, with a little help from her new boyfriend—who actually seems to be emotionally available and just as interested in her as she is in him, thankfully!) 

While it may take a bit of time for the series to make this major transition a success, as so many are incredibly attached to its depiction of Paris and those characters who aren’t leaving their lives behind to start anew (spinoff anyone?), this seems like the best move to liven up the show and do something different. For so long, Emily in Paris had nothing new to say, keeping the characters stuck in the same repetitive motions and actions. I, for one, could not be more thrilled to see what’s in store for Emily and Mindy (Ashley Park) when they’re settled in Rome.

Jay Snow is a freelance writer. He has published many places on the internet. For more of his thoughts on television and to see his other work (or to simply watch him gush again and again over his love for the original Charmed) follow him @snowyjay.

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