Emily Cooper (Lily Collins) has amour on the brain. (But really, when doesn't she?) Our leading lady of Emily in Paris season 4 is surrounded by hunky men, from the muscley joggers and sharp-jawed police officers she sees on her daily run to, yes, her former love interests Alfie (Lucien Laviscount) and Gabriel (Lucas Bravo), who are both very much back in her orbit (as well as her shower — but more on that in une minute).
Emily In Paris season 4 episode 3, entitled "Masquerade," sees the mademoiselle finally choosing between her two handsome suitors.
Less-than-ideal living arrangements
Gabriel drops by Emily's apartment while she's out, but he's not actually there to see her — he needs to use her shower. You see, his own bathroom is quite crammed at the moment, what with both Camille (Camille Razat) and Sofia (Melia Kreiling) staying with him; a strange sort of "sleepaway camp," Emily notes.
Of course, Mindy (Ashley Park) doesn't alert Emily that her very naked ex is in la douche, so Em unknowingly returns from her run to not only gossip about Gabriel's unconventional sleeping arrangements — the mother of his child and her lover are in his bed, while he's taken the couch — but to swoon over all of the good-looking men she saw whilst jogging. When she notes she's forgotten how to be single now that Gabriel nor Alfie are romantically in the picture, the Frenchman finally makes himself known and confirms she's not with Alfie, despite the smooch he saw at Roland-Garros. Understandably, Emily is mortified by the whole sudsy situation.
Later, when Emily and Mindy are out to dinner together, the latter jokes she was doing a favor by leaving a stripped-down, soaped-up Gabriel in their shower for Emily to find. But Emily says due to Gabriel's soon-to-be-dad status, plus the prickly way things have been with Alfie — during a meeting to plan Maison Lavaux's latest perfume launch, he snappily challenged her "Heartbreak Ball" themed masquerade idea — she is now "so over" both of them. Sure.
Sylvie stands up for what's right
Sylvie Grateau (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu) is still being chased down by that Le Monde reporter to give her insights on what it was like to work for JVMA boss Louis de Léon (Pierre Deny) as a female subordinate. She's torn on whether or not she should participate in the investigative piece, especially since he is investing in the new yacht club that her husband, Laurent G (Arnaud Binard), is opening. She tells Laurent about her concerns: "I don't think they have a story without me."
At the Maison Lavaux masquerade, we find out Sylvie did end up doing the right thing and sat down with the reporter, wanting to hold men like Louis accountable for their actions despite the harm it will undoubtedly cause to her husband's business. After making amends with Julien (Samuel Arnold) at the Heartbreak Ball, she shows him the article and warns him about working for a place like JVMA.
She also runs into Mindy and thanks her for revealing that brand-closet business to Emily and thus sparking the whole investigation against Louis. Realizing the mess this will all make for Nicolas de Léon (Paul Forman), Mindy rushes to be with him. He's furious about the article, claiming that people have been trying to bring down the family's company for years, but Mindy confesses she believes the rumors to be true. "Sometimes our dads disappoint us," she tells him, and promises to be by his side through the whole media scandal, so long as he's "on the side that's right."
Emily's true feelings are unmasked
Looking like a chic Hamburglar — even crazier, she's not the only one at the Heartbreak Ball wearing the bold, black-and-white striped ensemble — Emily runs into Gabriel while awaiting her cab to the masquerade. He tells her all of his "complicated" things (i.e., Camille, Sofia, the baby, et al) shouldn't be getting between them. His feelings for her haven't changed; have hers? But the only way they could work is if we were two different people she tells him.
So later, when he surprises her at the Maison Lavaux event — having been invited by Antoine Lambert (William Abadie) — he jokingly pretends to be something else entirely: David Guetta. (No, not the DJ.) She plays along, as Irish middle school math teacher Anna O'Leary ("Please don't make me do the accent").
But Emily also encounters Alfie at the ball, who apologizes for giving her a hard time about the masquerade idea. Earlier in the episode, a conversation with Camille reminded Alfie that Emily hasn't just immediately resumed her relationship with Gabriel upon their break-up, which seemingly has given the Brit hope — he asks Emily to dance, and they have a fun, flirty time together.
So it's understandable that Ms. Cooper is quite conflicted when she runs into Mindy at the party. Both men mean so much to her for different reasons and now she has to choose. But who really has her heart?
It looks like Gabriel is the answer, as Emily seeks him out for a dance, but as themselves, not David and Anna. "Sometimes I wish there was nobody else. Just us," she tells him, to which he replies: "Why can't it be?" And it just might be, after Alfie accidentally declares his love to Emily's masquerade doppelgänger and spots the real Emily leaving the party with Gabriel hand-in-hand. Seems like he is officially and mortifyingly removing himself from that long-running love triangle all together.
Cozy with Gabriel in a horse-drawn carriage through the streets of Paris, Emily declares the night feels like a fantasy. "It feels too good to be true," she tells him. The real world will no doubt come to complicate things between them, but for now, "why don't we forget about reality for a night and just stay in the fantasy?" he asks, sealed with a kiss.
All five episodes of Emily in Paris season 4 part 1 are now available to stream on Netflix.
