Emily in Paris 2 review: Lily Collins stuck-in-a-loop act gets better with this season

3/5

Story:

Emily Cooper is becoming more established in her life in Paris, and while she is getting better at navigating the city, she is still struggling with the quirks of French life. Emily is determined to focus on her work, which is becoming more complicated by the day after getting caught up in a love triangle with her neighbour and her first real French friend. She meets a fellow ex-pat in French class who both irritates and intrigues her.

Review:

Emily Cooper is still in Paris, straddling between her interesting personal and professional lives. And this time, Darren Star made it a better, more tolerable watch. The creator, who is also the man behind Sex and the City, slightly got out of the shadow of the 90s drama and also got into action after Emily in Paris season one was heavily criticised by the fans and the critics alike.

The second season is a simple continuation of the previous season's finale; not a day, month, or year later. We see Emily (Lily Collins) feeling regretful about sleeping with Gabriel (Lucas Bravo). Reason: He is her first French friend, Camille's (Camille Razat) ex-boyfriend, whom he left as he was leaving Paris forever. But fate has something in store for all three of the characters, which are explored well in the whole season.

Not just that, almost every character in the series gets a whiff of falling in love in Paris and maybe questions their love for the city. But the series is still explored through the eyes of a commercial tourist, with different angles of the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre Museum, and other places.

That's one of the few strikes that Emily in Paris this season had. The series, unlike the previous reason, prompted me to binge-watch. For sure, Collins as Emily is not the reason. Although she is in every frame of the series, it's the supporting characters who have got a better arc than the lead star.

Hands down, Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu as Sylvie and Ashley Park as Mindy Chen are treats to watch out for this season. They have been explored well and given a better narrative. Kudos to Star for that!

The creator this time introduced a British character, Alfred, aka Alfie (Lucien Laviscount), into the world of French stereotypes and he has been typecast well too.

The story hardly goes ahead and circles back to the same spot where it started. Her determination to focus on work goes haywire as she tries to fit in, even though she continues her streak with an Americanised attitude. To add to it, there's also an appearance by Kate Walsh as Madeline Wheeler, the very reason Emily is in Paris. But the veteran actor brings a good turn to the show, which was getting dragged by Collins.

Meanwhile, Emily's romantic angles are just as tiring as they were in the first season. There's no remorse in her eyes for getting into infidelity, although unknowingly, but, oh, she's fine. I'm not sure if viewers can be with it.

Let's skip to the good part...

Ashley Park as Mindy Chen brings a musical twist to the story. Her character still struggles to meet their needs despite being a Chinese heiress. But it just looks justifiable with the way her whole act has been penned. On the other hand, there's also a romantic angle that she gets, and it will leave you awestruck, indeed. As for her performance, Park is astonishing as Mindy, wherein she goes from being a struggler to an incredible singer in no time. You will feel for her character and also root for her eventually.

Meanwhile, the other good part of the series is Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu as Sylvie, who is Emily's French boss. There's a different side we get to see of her character, which I suppose should be shown to every boss who portrays a tough and bitter attitude.

Even though Collins has done a great job with the titular character, you will only watch her resent her and maybe fawn over her fashionable choices. She has translated her character well on the screen, which might cause the viewers to either love or hate her character. Emily often calls her 'decisive' throughout the season, but she hardly makes any right decision which works in her favour or others. Instead she brings her social media game on point this season which works well for her professional arc and not any personal benefits in the show.

Star has once again ended the show on a cliffhanger, dropping a hint for the third season. But, does this series need one? Well, Netflix might think so, too.

However, I would still prefer this season over the first season only for the supporting characters, who made it a decent watch. This time, the makers also got the French characters speak in French when they are only ones in the frame. One more thank you to Star for taking that critical point made by many while watching the first season.

Verdict:

Emily in Paris 2 is fun but still suffers from a questionable attitude from the lead character. Collins has done a great job in making her character slightly not-so-good-person covered with layers of incredibly stylish outfits.