There were plenty of major moments (Gabriel and Emily exchanging “I love you’s,” Camille and Sofia breaking up) but none more seismic than the reveal at the end of episode 405 that Camille was actually never pregnant. She had missed her period due to stress, and it wasn’t until she started spotting that she finally went to see an ob-gyn to find out what was going on.
For Camille—and the audience—it’s truly devastating news, given how excited Camille was about having a baby and having Gabriel so involved in both of their lives. (It also gave her something to focus on in the aftermath of her breakup with Sofia.) After she finds out the news, she is next seen smoking a cigarette and telling her friend what has happened, but when she later visits Gabriel at his restaurant and he’s in a jovial mood, she can’t bring herself to tell him. And so when a waiter offers her champagne, she declines, explaining that she’s pregnant.
Given the shock of what’s just happened—and the occasion in which she sees Gabriel—it’s understandable that Camille wouldn’t tell him, but just when she’s going to—and what toll it’s going to take—remains to be seen.
With that, there was only one thing to do: get on a Zoom with creator Darren Star and ask him to explain another Emily in Paris finale shocker, and preview what’s to come in the second half. “It’s a roller coaster,” he teases.
Glamour: When you first decided to reveal Camille was pregnant in the season-three finale, had you decided then she wasn’t really pregnant after all?
Darren Star: There were different scenarios and eventually this was the one that I felt like was tonally best for the show, and also had some more interesting twists in the second half of the season. [It’s not about] Camille being manipulative or anything. I think she’s, in fact, the most devastated person to have the news, but I think [her not being pregnant] also has some more interesting ramifications to the second half of the season.
You said that it was tonally the right move. What do you mean by that?
I mean I feel like it gave us the most complicated stories, for me.
Tell me about the decision not to show Camille getting the news from her doctor. We see her first sitting down with her, and then in the next scene, she’s smoking a cigarette outside a cafe and sharing the news with her friend.
We didn’t need it. I feel like with this kind of storyline, less is more.
Completely understandable. And now, though, we end on a cliffhanger because Camille can’t bring herself to tell Gabriel the news…
It wasn’t the right moment in that moment.
Totally. But what can you say about how long until he’ll find out?
It’s not a huge leap in time between part one and part two. [Those answers will come] in part two.
Sofia is returning to Greece. I know you love the character, and the actor, Melia Kreiling, who plays her, but is the last we’ll seen of her for now?
I love Sofia. I’d never be surprised to see her again. And we have definitely not seen the last of Alfie. I will tell you that.
I was wondering that as well, because he kind of just fades from the picture, and yet you don’t even notice until the end because there’s so much else going on.
There’s so much going on. But Alfie’s still working for Antoine in Paris.
Lucien Laviscount as Alfie, Lily Collins as Emily
Let’s talk about Gabriel telling Emily that he loves her. It certainly raises the stakes for them, given what we now know about Camille. Is there any significance to the timing of when he finally says “I love you”?
Well, I think it was independent from what was going on with Camille. I think Gabriel’s feelings for Emily were independent from his relationship with Camille. And it felt like, for me, just a natural evolution of the two of them, after all this time, finally getting to be together.
It was so nice to see their relationship finally get a chance to take off. Will that continue into the second half?
I think that as they get closer…the infatuation period, the romantic fantasy period is over and they see each other in a more realistic, clear-eyed way. And I think they’ve always been a bit of a fantasy for each other, and now they get the opportunity to be together, so the rose-colored glasses came off a little bit.
Lily Collins as Emily, Lucas Bravo as Gabriel in episode 405
By the way, what was it like bringing the masquerade ball to life?
That was fantastic. It’s something I always wanted to do. We had the participation of Baccarat and the Baccarat Mansion, so we had this amazing location and it was a dream to be able to do that and film there.
What else is on your list of dream places that you still want to go to to film?
Oh, I don’t know. I’m still thinking about it.
Speaking of, we have yet to see the episode or episodes where Emily goes to Rome. However, in the photos that Netflix released earlier this summer, it looks like Emily is actually in Switzerland based on the Swiss flag on pillows in the background, and the Swiss-looking chalets. So, does she indeed go to Switzerland?
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She’s in the French Alps. I’ll tell you that much. She’s in Megéve in the French Alps. And it’s all the same Alps, so it looks like Switzerland. Yeah.
Emily in the French Alps, apparently
Christmas in Rome?
Tres chic, Emily.
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Going back to Gabriel for a minute, it seems he’s very happy to not have the pressure of getting a Michelin star, at least for the time being. But how long can he really put that on the back burner before the itch to achieve one comes back? And what’s next for Luc and Marianne?
Well, I don’t think it’ll completely go away. But I do feel like the idea that Luc’s girlfriend was not truly a Michelin inspector was on the table for a long time. She seemed like a bit of a kooky character who was a Michelin inspector. It felt like she had to keep up appearances because that’s why Luc was interested in being back with her again. But at the same time, she always gave him good advice.
Let’s move on to Sylvie and her takedown of Louis de Leon given his very inappropriate workplace behavior. She’s the same Sylvie, but there’s much more vulnerability this time around, and a willingness to do something that she previously was hesitant to do. Talk to me about her growth this season.
Yeah, and I think that was established in season three when they had lunch and she alluded to something in their past that she was willing to sweep under the rug. But I think in season four, when she realizes it’s something that’s still ongoing and affecting other people’s lives, and she has the opportunity to speak up, it’s not something that she wants to do. I don’t think it’s in her DNA at the beginning. She doesn’t want to expose her vulnerability, and I think when she does it, it has some real ramifications in terms of her personal and professional life.
Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu as Sylvie Grateau.
What was the most challenging part of these first five episodes?
I think it was really just at the beginning, just getting our feet wet again after being away for so long from doing the show with the writers’ strike and everything. And also the weather was cold. It was the first time we filmed in the winter. I really wanted to have the change of seasons in winter, which just looks beautiful and it’s fantastic for this show, but it probably rained every single day we filmed there. It was a challenge. We finished filming in May in Rome, but we started filming in January in Paris.
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Part two premieres on September 12, and based on this interview, it sounds like there’s a lot in store in the back half. Give us your best tease, Darren.
I love the first half, but the second half is just like a roller coaster. Part two, for me, is the show on steroids.
Related: Will there be a fifth season of Emily in Paris? Read everything we know here.