‘Emily in Paris’ “Hot Chef” is returning for season 5. I don’t think he should, though
Yes, Emily in Paris is officially returning for season 5, and no, the show will not be renamed “Emily in Rome.” While the upcoming season, set to start filming in May 2025, will partially be set in the Italian capital, it will also largely take place in Paris, as confirmed by Variety earlier this week.
Emily’s (Lily Collins) back-and-forth between Rome and the City of Light will allow her complicated, on-again-off-again romance with the show’s “Hot Chef,” Gabriel (Lucas Bravo), to continue, as his Parisian restaurant has just been granted a Michelin star. Though Emily is currently involved with Italian Stallion Marcello (Eugenio Franceschini), I have a sneaking suspicion her story with Gabriel isn’t over yet.
I think it should be, though.
Earlier this year, Bravo himself boldly revealed his true feelings about his character’s trajectory in Emily in Paris season 4. During an interview with IndieWire, Bravo admitted he was reconsidering returning for Emily season 5, as he was frustrated with Gabriel’s storyline. He explained:
“In season 1, there was a lot of me in him. But as they made him kind of unaware of his surroundings, of the dynamic, always victimizing and always being completely lost in translation and oblivious to anything that is happening around him and being manipulated by everyone, it kind of became not fun for me to shoot or to see a character I love so much and brought me so much, being slowly turned into guacamole. I really grew apart from him.”
Now, Variety’s report has confirmed that Bravo will be part of the show in season 5.
Free Gabriel and Emily!
Honestly, I can see where Bravo is coming from, and that’s not a knock on his talent or his handling of the script. One of the best scenes in the entirety of Emily in Paris season 4 (and perhaps the whole show) is when Gabriel finally lets his frustration with Emily override his feelings for her, telling her how annoying it is to constantly be forced to communicate deep, personal feelings in his second language. It’s one of the most brutally honest moments the show has ever scripted. Being bilingual myself, I felt more connected to Gabriel as a character during that scene than ever before. No, he shouldn’t have actively yelled at Emily (and leaving her on top of a ski slope when she couldn’t ski was an incredibly shitty move), but his trying relationship with Emily is slowly eroding his sense of self, and it’s a drag on the show as a whole, too.
Part of what makes Emily in Paris so oddly appealing—or at the very least, so addicting—is Emily’s ever-shifting love life. Every beautiful man she comes across falls in love with her, and she falls for them in return. Emily in Paris is a fantasy, after all, and part of Emily’s fantasy is the promise of gorgeous European men falling in love with the American social media mogul. Her affairs are fun, flirty, numerous, and a core part of the show’s structure. While Gabriel may have originally been introduced as a possible “endgame” for Emily, the show’s need for drama will never truly allow them to be together happily—at least not until the very last episode.
As a result, Emily’s love affair with Gabriel is weighing down the show and the characters, especially Gabriel and Camille. The high-level drama of the non-pregnancy, a forced adoption, and Camille’s infidelity were just too much. Gabriel hardly gets the time to revel in his Michelin success because the women in his life take up too much space. Though Gabriel could be a possible endgame for Emily, maybe he shouldn’t be. Maybe Emily shouldn’t end up with anyone by the end of Emily in Paris. Maybe she should move back to America, a wiser, more cultured version of herself (though her language skills will not have improved) without a man on her arm. In my humble opinion, that’s the best-case scenario for both Emily and Gabriel.
Gabriel’s character will remain stuck in this endless loop of despair and drama as long as he remains involved with Emily. Though I don’t have high hopes this will change any time soon, as Gabriel was on his way to Rome to sweep Emily off her feet at the end of season 4, a part of me wishes Bravo had followed through on his threat not to return (though I don’t begrudge him his choice to stay, either). Emily and Gabriel’s infatuation with each other has been entirely surface-level. I don’t think they’ll make it in the long run, and I want to see both of them thrive without being reliant on one another.
Let Gabriel pursue his dreams in Normandy. Let him move on the same way Alfie did! Man, he looked happy, didn’t he? The show might be better for it.
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