‘Emily in Paris’: the perfect 2020 guilty pleasure
I love a good murder mystery or sci-fi thriller that will have my questioning everyone and everything at all hours of the night. But most of the time, I’m so tired and brain-dead at the end of the day, I just want to sit back and watch something mindless.
Enter Netflix’s new comedy show, “Emily in Paris.”
Emily Cooper is a young, 20-something marketing representative with a steady life and steady boyfriend in Chicago. When her superior suddenly has to step down from a promotion, Emily’s reliable routine is thrown out the window as she’s sent to fill the position for a sister firm in Paris. Her easy-going, optimistic personality is tested by stubborn bosses, stiff clients, her cute but in-a-committed-relationship chef neighbor and a whole cast of Parisian characters who are less than amused by an American who doesn’t speak a lick of French.
Even when everything seems to be going against her, Emily always finds ways to work through it and documents her adventures via Instagram with the username @emilyinparis.
Written and produced by Darren Star, “Emily in Paris” is the baby of “Devil Wears Prada” and “Legally Blonde.” Light-hearted humor, bright color outfits, an ordinary girl in a less-than-ordinary position just trying to do her job well and live her best life.
Lily Collins leads as Emily. After roles in “Les Miserables,” “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile” and “To the Bone,” her performance as Emily is disappointingly static, even cartoonish at times, yet she plays it so believingly, it’s impossible to picture another actress in her place. She shines as the lovable protagonist and makes you want to improve your wardrobe and eyebrow game.
The show’s overarching simplicity is not limited to its protagonist; the entire thing feels basic, or “ringarde” as the French say. The characters are one-sided without any interesting arcs. The fast pacing can be refreshing at times and awkward at others. The pilot alone immediately drops you into the action without proper background. We meet Emily and her Chicago boyfriend, see her given the job promotion, and she arrives in Paris all before the pilot’s five-minute mark.
That being said, however, every time an episode ended, I immediately had the impulse to click the “next episode” button regardless of whether I had the time. When the second to last episode ended, I was upset there was only one more left and was even more so when I finally did watch the last one. Since finishing, I had the thought to go watch more “Emily in Paris” only to realize there were no more episodes.
Filmed on location, every scene’s backdrop is stunning. The costumes, in the meantime, are equally sensational and the food looks exquisite. Its style was fun and modern. Text messages appear on screen, complete with the three pulsing dots while characters are typing. Facetime screens are seen as well as Instagram posts and social media icons. The music is always upbeat.
Though “Emily in Paris” is far from perfect, groundbreaking or mind-blowing, it was a fun Parisian ride I couldn’t help but fall in love with. At a time where travel is restricted, especially between countries, it’s the perfect guilty pleasure that allows you to pretend you’re in Paris for 30-minute intervals, eating fresh chocolate croissants while a bunch of hot guys with cute accents hit on you. A colorful way to unwind and recharge after a long day stuck at home doing school work.
“Emily in Paris” is rated TV-MA for occasional language and crude humor and can be streamed only on Netflix.
Dara Lusk was born and raised in northern Virginia outside of Washington, DC. She is majoring in English with an emphasis in Technical/Professional Writing and a minor in Anthropology. When not writing she loves reading and annotating classic literature.
@dara_marie_