Released in October 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, Emily in Paris arrived as pure escapism. Created by Darren Star (Sex and the City, Younger), the series never aims for realism: it sells a stylized, Instagram-ready Paris where problems are solved with bold outfits, creative ideas, and perfect timing.

Emily Cooper (Lily Collins) is a young marketing executive from Chicago who is unexpectedly sent to Paris after her boss becomes pregnant. There, she joins the luxury agency Savoir, tasked with “Americanizing” the communication of traditional French brands — immediately sparking cultural conflict.

Episode 1 — Emily in Paris

Emily Cooper’s boss, Madeline, prepares to transition from the Chicago-based pharmaceutical marketing firm, the Gilbert Group, to a French fashion firm, Savoir, when she discovers she is pregnant. The Gilbert Group offers the job to Emily, who accepts, leaving her boyfriend back in Chicago. Emily moves to Paris even though she does not speak French. She changes her Instagram handle from @emilycooper to @emilyinparis and begins documenting her time in Paris. Emily starts her first day of work, much to the chagrin of her new co-workers, who reveal that she was only hired because of a business deal. She introduces the French, who seem reluctant about her and her American methods, to American social media strategies. Emily accidentally tries to enter the wrong apartment and meets her neighbor, Gabriel. As Emily becomes accustomed to life in Paris, she makes countless faux pas, and her colleagues nickname her “la plouc” or “the hick”. Emily meets Mindy Chen, a nanny from Shanghai, and they become fast friends. After Emily and her boyfriend attempt to have cybersex and the connection fails, she plugs in her vibrator and accidentally short-circuits the block’s power.

Episode 2 — Masculin Féminin

Despite struggling to fit in with French office culture, Emily convinces her boss, Sylvie, to invite her to a work party where she accidentally irritates Sylvie by conversing with Antoine Lambert, a client who turns out to be Sylvie’s married lover. As punishment, she is put to work marketing Vaga-Jeune, a lubricant for menopausal women. Annoyed with the gendered nature of the French language, Emily writes a post about the product, which goes viral, causing her to make further inroads at work. Emily’s boyfriend tells her that she should return to Chicago, as he struggles with a long-distance relationship, and he does not want to visit Paris despite it being a pre-planned trip. She refuses to return to Chicago and breaks off the relationship. She turns to Mindy for emotional support.

Episode 3 — Sexy or Sexist

Emily is invited to the shoot for De l’Heure’s latest commercial to take behind-the-scenes footage for social media and is shocked to discover the commercial involves a model strutting nude down the Pont Alexandre III while suited men ogle at her. She argues with Antoine that the ad is sexist while he counters that it is sexy, leading Emily to suggest an online marketing campaign that asks the perfume’s customers what they think. When the campaign goes viral, Antoine sends Emily La Perla lingerie as a thank-you gift. Mindy proposes a dinner party to help Emily meet new people, but the party turns into a rager. She meets a French man, and they hit it off, but Emily returns to Gabriel’s restaurant for comfort after the man offends her.

Episode 4 — A Kiss Is Just a Kiss

While struggling to communicate at a flower shop, Emily is rescued by Camille, a friendly French stranger, and gallery owner who proves to be a lucrative connection. When Emily discovers Sylvie and Antoine arguing at work, she tries to boost Sylvie’s credibility at work by pretending that she came up with an idea to pair Antoine’s perfumes with luxury hotels. After a miscommunication that renders her work dinner reservation at an exclusive, luxurious restaurant invalid, Emily convinces Gabriel to host them at his restaurant instead. As a gesture of thanks for his help, Emily kisses him, and he kisses her back. Leaving the restaurant, Emily bumps into Camille again, who reveals that Gabriel is her boyfriend.

Episode 5 — Faux Amis

With over 20,000 followers on her Instagram account, Emily is invited to Durée Cosmetics’ Influencer Lunch, where her posts about the brand’s products attract the attention of Durée CMO Olivia Thompson. Emily, however, fails to convince Olivia to have Savoir represent their company again, with Sylvie cited as the reason. Camille invites Emily to a night out with her and Gabriel. When alone with Gabriel, Emily asks that he forget about their kiss the night before, to which he agrees. But later on, he admits that he, too, feels chemistry with her. Initially outraged at seeing Emily’s Instagram posts for Durée, Sylvie demands that she delete her account. Still, when a client becomes inspired by one of Emily’s posts, Sylvie begrudgingly allows Emily to keep her account and leverage her “influencer” status.

Episode 6 — Ringarde

Emily joins Sylvie and Julien to visit the atelier of haute couturier Pierre Cadault. Pierre is mortified by the gauche charm on Emily’s handbag and calls her a “basic bitch” in French, which hinders her credibility in the firm. At Café de Flore, Emily meets French philosophy professor Thomas. They hit it off, and she invites him back to her apartment, where they have sex. Emily and Thomas encounter Gabriel and Camille, and Camille invites them to join them at a tapas restaurant. Thomas and Gabriel do not get along. The next day, Gabriel tells Emily he thinks Thomas is a snob and not worthy of her. Emily discovers Pierre has designed the costumes for Swan Lake, so she invites Thomas to join her. However, he insults her by telling her Swan Lake is a ballet for tourists. Emily realizes that he is a snob, so she leaves him. She sees Pierre at the ballet and walks into his private box to talk to him so he will remain with Savoir.

Episode 7 — French Ending

Because Emily’s ride-share car fails to arrive, Gabriel rescues her by obtaining a moped to take her to the club where Brooklyn, an American actress, is partying. They find Brooklyn intoxicated, and she ditches them again. Emily and Gabriel go to the Hôtel Plaza Athénée, where Brooklyn stays, but the front desk clerk is uncooperative and won’t divulge Brooklyn’s room number. Sylvie arrives and threatens the clerk with scandal and possible damage to the hotel’s reputation should the famous actress be harmed. He reluctantly takes them to the room and opens the door.

Episode 8 — Family Affair

Camille invites Emily to lunch and asks if Savoir could take on her family’s champagne vineyard as a client. Mindy’s friend and five bridesmaids are in Paris for wedding dress shopping. Camille invites Emily to meet her family at their chateau. Gabriel surprises Emily by joining them for the weekend trip, which makes Emily uncomfortable. Emily tours the winery and meets Camille’s younger brother, Timothée. Gabriel refuses Camille’s mother’s business loan offer. At a club where Mindy’s girlfriends are partying, they force her on stage to sing the song she flubbed on Chinese Popstar. Back at the chateau, Camille and her mother are arguing, so Emily takes refuge by the pool, where Timothée joins her. They drink champagne and eventually have sex. At breakfast, she learns Timothée is not the brother Camille was referring to. Instead, it was her younger, 17-year-old brother. Emily meets Théo, Camille’s older and more age-appropriate brother. Emily finally gets an opportunity to pitch her idea to Camille’s motherly naïve and becomes emotionally reckless.

Episode 9 — An American Auction in Paris

Sylvie is unimpressed with Emily’s idea to market Camille’s family’s champagne. Emily meets Judith Robertson, a member of the American Friends of the Louvre (AFL). She is aware of Emily’s association with Pierre Cadault and asks if Pierre might be willing to donate a dress to be auctioned at AFL’s fundraising benefit. Emily calls Mathieu Cadault to arrange a meeting to ask about the dress donation. They agree to meet at an art opening at Camille’s gallery. Sylvie and Luc also arrive at the opening to meet Camille. At the AFL auction, Grey Space, which consists of two avant-garde fashion designers, shows up and bids for Pierre’s dress. As Emily models the dress on stage, Grey Space shoots her with paint as a publicity stunt, which shocks the audience. The next day, the stunt is featured in all the newspapers and online. Pierre is sad and takes to his bed. Emily visits him to try to positively spin the incident, but to no avail. As she leaves Pierre’s home, she runs into Mathieu, who makes a pass at her.

Episode 10 — Cancel Couture (Season finale)

Mathieu and Emily go on a date, but are interrupted by Pierre, who calls, threatening to cancel his fashion show. Pierre is holed up in his atelier on the verge of a breakdown and will not show his new collection to anyone. Sylvie blames Emily for shaking his confidence and fires her. The next day, Pierre requests to see Emily. Sylvie goes with her to see Pierre. At the atelier, they see a dress from Pierre’s new collection. In need of a venue to launch his fashion show, Pierre hijacks the outside of his former venue to show his new collection, which is well-received and makes him the toast of Fashion Week. To celebrate, Emily hosts a dinner at Gabriel’s restaurant for Mathieu and Pierre. Mindy agrees to emcee and sing at a drag bar two nights a week. However, her employers fire her for this, so she moves in with Emily. To pursue his dream of opening his restaurant, Gabriel decides to move back to Normandy. Realizing that this may be Gabriel’s last night in Paris, Emily and Gabriel have sex. However, Antoine later decides to invest in his restaurant idea, thus keeping Gabriel in Paris.