WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Emily in Paris Season 2, streaming on Netflix now.
Emily in Paris was met with a fair amount of backlash when it first premiered on Netflix in 2020. The premise of the show created by Darren Star (who also gave TV viewers Sex and the City and its much less popular revival) seemed entirely too familiar: a quirky, stylish 20-something is given the opportunity to work in a beautiful foreign city but finds herself unable adjust to the culture. Nevertheless, she meets new friends, falls in love and learns the value of a unique perspective. That unoriginal plot wasn’t the show’s only problem.
In addition to its bland storyline, Emily in Paris faced heavy criticism for its poor portrayals of French culture, its idealistic depiction of Paris and its jingoistic viewpoint. Korean actress Ashley Park’s portrayal of Mindy Chen, a disinherited Chinese heiress who spent the bulk of her screen time mocking Chinese culture for comedy, also prompted annoyance from critics. While that problem was swiftly dealt with in Season 2, Emily is Paris’ other faux pas only worsened the second time around.
The titular Emily Cooper has never been well-liked by viewers. She’s also been described by critics as bland, self-absorbed and incapable of personal growth. This hardly changes in Season 2. The show wants viewers to sympathize with Emily: their pixie-esque protagonist is wracked with immense guilt over having slept with her friend’s boyfriend. But Collins’ character does little to atone for her actions; she’s dining, partying and chatting with Camille (Camille Razat) while neglecting to mention the affair to her. This season Camille has been reduced to the role of the jilted ex, either bashing or pining after Gabriel (Lucas Bravo) — who moons over Emily, fondly remembering their encounter. To the show’s detriment, this tired love triangle trope is used twice.
Emily in Paris has also been widely criticized for its lack of ethic sensitivity and racial diversity. Season 2 makes some effort to correct this; the character of Mindy Chen states that she’s half-Korean while Lucien Laviscount joins the cast as Alfie, an English banker in Emily’s French class. While the cynical Alfie does a decent job of undressing Emily in Paris’ sanitized view of the city, his role in Emily’s life does little to correct the show’s fatal flaw. Not unlike Nomi from the infamous Showgirls, everyone Emily meets is drawn to her in some way. While reluctant and teasing at first, Alfie becomes smitten with her as well. And while a jealous Gabriel tries to sabotage their romance — declaring his desire to be with Emily — his simultaneous flirtation with Camille makes him appear manipulative, unsavory and wholly unlikeable. The season shortchanges its male characters similar to what And Just Like That… did to Miranda.
The show’s most egregious follies, however, have little to do with its main cast. Last season, in addition to seducing Camille’s boyfriend, Emily also slept with her younger brother Timothée. Unbeknownst to the quirky 28-year-old protagonist, her new bedmate was only 17. This dire situation was made light of: everyone involved found it utterly amusing. Season 2 makes no effort to address this mistake. Instead Timothée is portrayed as a delusional schoolboy, eager to show Emily off to his friends and make a big show of “dumping her.” Again, this is played for laughs.
Even more worrisome, though, is the show’s mishandling of Petra, a one-off Ukrainian character played by Daria Panchenko. Featured in the season’s fourth episode “Jules and Jim,” Petra partners with Emily in their French class. As both struggle to learn the language, they agree to a coffee date in order to better familiarize themselves with it — or at least Emily does. Petra leads them to a clothing store, dresses herself and Emily in their wares and promptly leaves without paying.
This unsavory portrayal enraged Ukrainian citizens and members of its government alike. The BBC reported that Ukrainian culture minister Oleksandr Tkachenko referred to Petra as an insulting caricature. Ukrainian resident Yevheniya Havrylko shared this sentiment in a viral Instagram post quoted by the BBC: “The way you treated the image of Ukrainians in your second season, fourth episode is such a low cost trick, absolute scandal and a shame.” Despite this well-deserved backlash and all of its other flaws, Netflix has already renewed Emily in Paris for Season 3 and Season 4, ensuring that Emily’s adventures (or misadventures) will continue.