The following contains spoilers for seasons 1-3 of Emily in Paris

The first two seasons of Emily in Paris were met with mixed reviews, but somehow this deterred neither creator Darren Star from creating an equally mediocre third season nor Netflix from funding it. The season starts off more or less where the second ended, with our intrepid international adventurer Emily (Lilly Collins) forced to make a choice between working for the overwhelmingly hot Sylvie Grateau (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu) or the overwhelmingly pregnant Madeline Wheeler (Kate Walsh). 

As a main storyline, this was well-played and rather delightful. In her usual misguided attempts to keep everyone happy, Emily balances both jobs at the same time, to unfortunate results. This part of the season felt like classic Emily in Paris, the reason that we all continue to tune into a show that truthfully just isn’t very good. In the middle of the world falling apart, it’s nice to see that there’s somebody out there handling the affairs of their life worse than you are.

Speaking of affairs, Emily and Gabriel’s romp in the hay continues to have detrimental effects on their current relationships, and to be frank, I am over it. Emily is still stuck in a love triangle between Alfie, the cute British boy who prioritizes her, and Gabriel, the seductive chef who went crawling back to his girlfriend Camille (Camille Razat) the second it became complicated. Alfie is quite simply the better man in every way, so it was frustrating to watch a show that obviously wants Gabriel to be endgame when that isn’t the right choice. 

The other relationships in this show were equally tangled and poorly executed. Take Camille, whose character has been defined by her willingness to screw over her best friend in order to stay with Gabriel. While she still seems intent on keeping him, that doesn’t stop her from pursuing a relationship with artist Sofia Sideris (Melia Kreiling). 

While Razat has not openly spoken about her own sexuality, she has been a firm advocate for LGBTQ+ characters in media. Though I would normally be thrilled by the addition of queer female characters to Emily in Paris, it’s hard to be anything but disappointed when rather than creating an authentic narrative, the show instead plays into many outdated and harmful stereotypes. Camille’s entire relationship with Sofia was an affair, with her cheating on Gabriel and never telling him. When she expresses remorse over this to Sofia, the woman claims that it is possible to be in love with multiple people, and as such, Camille shouldn’t worry. In this one sentence, which Camille implicitly agrees with, Emily in Paris damages the reputations of both the bisexual and polyamorous communities.

It is, of course, possible for someone to be in love with multiple people at once. That is the basic definition of polyamory. However, a polyamorous relationship—or even an ethically non-monogamous one—fundamentally relies upon the consent of all parties in the relationship. It is fully possible for Camille to be polyamorous and love both Sofia and Gabriel, but if she is truly interested in a polyamorous lifestyle, it is important for all of her partners to be aware and on board with this. Were Sofia an authentic representation of ethical non-monogamy, she would have said this to Camile. 

Is Camille queer in this season of Emily in Paris? The show, and post-show interviews, makes it appear that she is bisexual. It achieves this representation by leaning into an outdated stereotype that bisexual people will always cheat because they cannot be happy with “just a man” or “just a woman”. This is untrue! The idea that Camille would cheat also goes directly against the characterization we were given in the first two seasons, where she was loyal to Gabriel. There were so many ways this storyline could have been fascinating, with Camille talking to Gabriel or Sofia about her feelings and dealing with that ethically, but it was instead reduced to stereotypes on all accounts.

The final love triangle of season 3 was no more satisfying. Sylvie is widely known as having many lovers scattered throughout Paris, including her not-yet-ex-husband, Laurent G (Arnaud Binard). While Sylvie started the season in a perfectly fulfilling and happy relationship, she ends the season back with Laurent, who has proven time and time again that he doesn’t have Sylvie’s best interest at heart. She is a woman who we’ve seen at least a half dozen men swoon over, and yet she settles for the man who nearly forgot their anniversary.

There was some foreshadowing of trouble to come—Sylvie’s strained relationship with the morally bankrupt JVMA has the potential to interfere with Laurent’s career aspirations, something which I can only hope breaks them up for good. Is Laurent hot? Yes, but Sylvie deserves someone who’s not only easy on the eyes but also a better partner.

After watching this entire season, I can only hope that season 4 returns to what Emily in Paris does best: petty work drama and camaraderie among Emily, Mindy (Ashley Park), Julian (Samuel Arnold) and Luc (Bruno Gouery). That is what I enjoy watching on a show whose most redeeming quality is the eclectically colorful wardrobe choices. If I wanted to watch an actually well-done relationship drama, I would tune into quite literally anything else.

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