Emily In Paris 2 REVIEW: Lilly Collins returns with a funny, silly and a perfect holiday comfort watch

Cast: Lilly Collins, Ashely Park, Lucas Bravo, Camille Razat, Philippine Leroy-Beaulie, Samuel Arnold, Bruno Gouery, Kate Walsh and William Abadie

Bollywood Bubble Rating: 3.5

Caught between two hot men, a friend, work and lots of drama, Emily Cooper (Lilly Collins) this season is back to square one. What started as a mere work holiday for a year in Paris has taken a 180-degree turn for Emily as she experiences heartbreak, dilemmas, hiccups in friendship whilst she juggles her work as a marketing person. Emily In Paris continues from where it left us hanging with a foot in the door. While the first season centred more around Emily trying to find her space in Paris, the second season focuses more on the boyfriend drama with work taking a backfoot.

Emily, who had been embroiled in a love triangle with Gabriel (Lucas Bravo) and Camille (Camille Razat), ends up hooking up with Gabriel in a night of passion. What was meant to be a mere farewell kiss ends up adding a lot of chaos in their respective lives. While Emily tries to ‘fix’ things between the two lovers, the dynamics of the relationship between Emily, Gabriel and Camille change, for the worst. While Camille turns hostile towards Emily, Gabriel continues to juggle between his restaurant work and personal life.

To make this already spiced-up story tangier enters Alfie (Lucien Laviscount), a Londoner finance guy who is not just good-looking but also keeps challenging Emily to come out of her comfort zone. The love triangle dangerously turns into a square in ways. As Emily finds respite in Alfie, things heat up at work with her boss Madeline (Kate Walsh) coming unannounced in Paris to shake up the workspace at Savior. The entire American Vs Paris cultural clash and stereotypes make for a perfect backdrop as we enjoy this funny unravelling of what will Emily do next. Emily’s constraint track with Sylvie (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu) also keeps things interesting for the former at the workspace. Amid all this, a parallel track for Mindy (Ashley Park), Emily’s friend ensues.

Lilly Collins’ complex take on relationships and the desperation to ‘fix’ things as Emily make her relatable. There are moments when you want to perhaps shake her up and reiterate that not everything needs fixing but then Emily is Emily. But, thank god for Mindy who tries to knock some sense in our distraught Emily. Torn between friendship and possibly love, Emily is caught in a web of dilemmas of her own this season. Lilly Collins continues her stint perfectly and make us feel empathetic towards Emily quite a bit. Her character graph, however, does not grow too much for me except maybe in the last episode where she is to take a major decision for herself.

 

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On the other hand, there is a decent graph we see in Mindy who goes from being lost and wanting to find her foot as a singer in Paris to make some move there. On the other hand, Emily’s relationship with Sylvie and others also sort of see a slight graph. Although Alfie does add a nice dynamic to the relationship, I found his character very weak. There was no intrigue factor about Alfie which sort of was a put-off. On the other hand, Lucas Bravo as Gabriel was charming as ever and honestly, the entire triangle was something that was amusing silly and funny but at the same time kept things interesting.

The chemistry between Emily and Gabriel, Emily and Mindy were the major highlights for me. There are particularly two scenes that really made me feel warm. When Mindy ends up beating herself for the social media mishap that sort of put her reputation at risk, the way the two friends comfort each other was very heartfelt without going over the top.

 

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The screenplay is obviously very linear with no major complications. The background score is peppy and there is a surprise Dynamite performance by Mindy which is definitely a treat for BTS fans. No Emily In Paris review can be complete without the mention of fashion. Paris and fashion go hand-in-hand and the makers have obviously upped the fashion quotient this season by several notches. What’s amazing is that the fashion can be replicated in day-to-day life and is not merely aspirational.

By the end of the season, creator Darren Star has obviously left it at a cliffhanger with Emily taking a major decision for her life. Should she go back to America to her job and an impending promotion or should she take up Sylvie’s offer, who by the way has started a new firm? So, obviously, there will be a season 3.

 

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The fact that Emily In Paris 2 releases two days before Christmas Eve is a perfect comfort watch to set the tone for a Merry Christmas!

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Bhavna Agarwal

Assistant Editor at Bollywood Bubble. An ambivert who is currently high on K-dramas and K-Pop. A forever Bollywood fan, who continues to gush over solid stories and characters. Hit me up for a fine conversation over chai.

You can also reach me on – https://twitter.com/filmybugB