“It moves beyond what the show was initially about in Season 1,” series creator Darren Star said.

The massively popular Netflix show Emily in Paris returns for Season 4, Part 1, with Emily Cooper (Lily Collins) very much settling into the Parisienne life. What that means is while fans will of course be watching to see if Emily ends up with Gabriel (Lucas Bravo) or Alfie (Lucien Laviscount), we also get to dive into other captivating characters, like Mindy (Ashley Park) and her relationship with Nicolas (Paul Forman), Camille’s (Camille Razat) pregnancy, and looking into Sylvie’s (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu) past.

“It’s a natural, organic evolution, I think,” series creator Darren Star told Yahoo Canada. “It moves beyond what the show was initially about in Season 1, and it’s so much about the characters now.”

Season 4 of Emily in Paris picks up after last season’s dramatic ending with Camille walking out on her wedding to Gabriel. Camille is pregnant with Gabriel’s baby, but she also started a relationship with Greece-based artist Sofia (Melia Kreiling), which only Emily knows about. Alfie is heartbroken when Camille exposed Emily’s will-they-won’t-they relationship with Gabriel.

The drama starts off in Season 4 with Emily going viral after Camille’s brother posted videos on TikTok about the entire mess from the wedding that didn’t happen. Alfie has since been ghosting Emily, which causes a professional issue for Emily and her coworkers because clothing brand Ami Paris, Julien’s (Samuel Arnold) client, built an entire campaign around their relationship.

Speaking of ghosting, Camille hasn’t just ghosted Emily and Gabriel, but she’s disappeared, halting communication with all of her friends and family.

(L to R) Lucien Laviscount as Alfie, Lily Collins as Emily in episode 401 of Emily in Paris (Stephanie Branchu/Netflix)

If you think that means the door is now completely open for Emily and Gabriel to be together, it’s not that simple.

Throughout the series one of the show’s biggest strengths has been the volley between Emily and Alfie, and Emily and Gabriel, crafted in a way where fans are passionately divided about who they think Emily should end up with.

“They’re terrific characters. They’re terrific actors. They are both really super charming,” Star said. “It is fun to write for both of them and it’s a tough choice, but I think the show goes past just that question in the series.”

Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu as Sylvie Grateau in episode 403 of Emily in Paris 

Sylvie ‘stepping into a situation she did not imagine herself ever doing’

Aside from Emily’s story, one of our favourite Emily in Paris characters really takes centre stage in Season 4, Part 1, with the show putting Sylvie in an interesting personal and professional situation. While the previous season teased her contentious relationship with Louis de Léon (Pierre Deny), Nicolas’ father and CEO of JVMH, who’s now an investor in her husband’s club, we learn exactly how deep that strained relationship goes. It also impacts other characters in the present day.

When a reporter reaches out to Sylvie about her relationship with Louis and his reputation more broadly, Sylvie’s vulnerability, and strength, are more exposed than ever.

“It was really satisfying to be able to tell that story,” Star said. “The seeds were planted in Season 3 about that relationship and their past, so it was something that was always in my mind as something that would develop … in Season 4.”

“It also really challenged Sylvie in her character, her vulnerability and sort of stepping into a situation she did not imagine herself ever doing. And realizing she had to step up and sort of give voice to what had happened to her, because it was something that wasn’t just in the past for her. It had implications for other people.”

Star added that much of the success of that storyline can be attributed to Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu’s execution.

“She’s such a wonderful actress and to be able to give her something meatier to play was also super satisfying for me,” Star said. “I’m really inspired by the actors that I work with and I gave her some really strong material, and she always just takes it to the next level.”

Lily Collins as Emily in episode 403 of Emily in Paris

‘Emily in Paris’ has a ‘Bridgerton’ reference at an impressive ball

But it wouldn’t be Emily in Paris without a grandiose event with showstopping outfits, and the masquerade ball in Season 4 at Maison Baccarat is the most extravagant of them all.

“That was developed for a while and we had this amazing relationship with Baccarat and the Baccarat mansion,” Star said. “I had wanted to do a masked ball for a long time on the series and this just felt like the best opportunity, the best way to do it.”

“It was kind of amazing to be able to film there and have that opportunity to be there. … It just worked for us story wise, and Marylin Fitoussi, the costumes, she just knocked out of the park. It’s just so much eye candy in that one sequence.”

Leaning into the concept of this ball, Star also included a little nod to another Netflix hit, Bridgerton, in that episode, with a heavily rocking carriage outside the ball.

“There’s something historic about those kind of masked balls, the Baccarat mansion, it was kind of harkening back to the Bridgerton era, but in France,” Star said.

“We wanted to sort of, in a way, kind of make that wink to the show, because that is what the characters would be thinking about going to something like that right now.”

Something that Star has really tapped into in several of his shows, from Sex and the City to now Emily in Paris, is understanding that fashion and a character’s wardrobe are big draws for many viewers.

“Wardrobe was just another character and that character is a collaboration between the actors and our brilliant customer designer, Marylin Fitoussi,” Star said. “They put a lot of thought into the wardrobe in terms of not just how it looks, but what it means.”

“I certainly learned that’s something that is really entertaining for the audience and I don’t get too caught up in the reality of like, ‘How big is Emily’s closet?'”