Emily in Paris Episode 1 recap: Emily loves Paris, but does Paris love her?

Emily In Paris Episode 1 begins with Emily arriving in Paris and discovering that she’s very lonely in the city as she’s ostracized at her new job.

Darren Star’s latest series, Emily in Paris, has finally arrived on Netflix! Lily Collins stars as the titular character and in Emily in Paris Episode 1, she struggles to adapt to her new life in Paris. While she might love the city, it seems like Paris doesn’t love her back just yet.

Emily is used to marketing pharmaceuticals from a successful marketing firm in Chicago. But when her boss Madeline (Kate Walsh) gets pregnant before she can travel to Paris to assist in their company’s newest acquisition, a luxury French brand called Savoir, Emily is asked to take her spot.

Not wanting to pass up a dream opportunity, Emily bids adieu to her boyfriend Doug and travels half-way around the world to her new home, at least for one year. On the plus side, her apartment is fully-furnished and she’s set to work for a lavish company, but her new home is sequestered on the top floor of an old building with no elevator and she struggles to make friends with any of her co-workers.

More from Netflix

Emily not being able to speak French is another big drawback for her, as many of the Parisians are aghast that she would start a job there without being fluent in the language (as Madeline is). She has to adjust quickly if she wants to fit in.

At Savoir, Emily shows up for her first day in an adorable pair of Christian Louboutin low boots, an Alice + Olivia Eiffel Tower shirt and a Re Done cropped top.

She’s introduced to her new boss Sylvie (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu) and her co-workers Julien (Samuel Arnold) and Luc (Bruno Gouery). None of them are inclined to give her a warm welcome. Emily also meets with Savoir’s owner, Paul Brossard (Arnaud Viard), who immediately makes his distaste of Americans and American culture known to an increasingly uncomfortable Emily.

Much to her credit, though, she remains positive and upbeat in her icy work environment and does her best to try and start working on new social media marketing strategies for the team. Unfortunately, the current social media spokesperson, Patricia, only speaks French and runs away any time Emily tries to chat with her in English. I assume that’s going to be a problem.

Even during lunch, every person at the office comes up with an excuse to avoid dining with Emily. She later sees them together having a grand old time together at an outdoor cafe, ouch.

Emily In Paris Episode 1 recap: Not everyone in Paris is unwelcoming.

However, not everyone Emily meets in her new home is prickly and unwelcoming. She makes friends with an au pair named Mindy (Ashley Park) who hails from Shanghai and her hunky downstairs neighbor Gabriel (Lucas Bravo) certainly doesn’t seem too upset when she accidentally tries to break into his apartment not realizing she’s on the fourth floor instead of the fifth (in Paris, the ground floor is the “first” floor).

Plus, Luc eventually joins Emily when he happens to see her sitting alone at a cafe table along the river. He tells her that everyone at the office is intimidated by her and her American ways. In America, they live to work, while in Paris, they work to live.

Emily argues that her work makes her happy and Luc wonders if she’s ever truly experienced happiness. He also says he didn’t agree with the others who had started calling her “la plouc” (roughly translates to “the hick” or “redneck”) at the office. So maybe Luc will become a friend to her at the office.

She’ll have to tread carefully though, as a private conversation between Sylvia and Paul reveals that Sylvie is intent on making Emily leave early by being a cruel boss.

In the final moments of the episode, Emily and Doug finally catch up on a phone call. Emily tells him how much she misses him. He’s planning to visit her soon. They try to have a little cybersex to cope with the distance but the connection cuts out just as Emily is telling Doug how overwhelmed she feels in the city.

Good thing she has her handy dandy vibrator nearby! At least, it seems like a good thing until she plugs it in and shorts out the electricity in the entire building. Oops.

Next. 7 shows like Utopia for fans to watch. dark

Scoop the fashion from Emily in Paris Episode 1

According to Refinery29, you can scoop Emily’s Ronny Kobo Faux snake-effect leather mini skirt from her first day at Savoir at The Outnet, while her Christian Louboutin Gorgona 85 leather ankle boots are as pricey as, well, Christian Louboutin boots, retailing for a cool $995.00 at Matches Fashion.
The yellow tank-skirt combo Emily wore while meeting Mindy at the park was a Ganni Hemlock printed crepe de chine camisole available at The Outnet and a Hemlock Printed Silk Maxi Skirt available at the Vestiaire Collective. The black belt cinching her ensemble is from Rag & Bone but is currently sold out.

What did you think about Emily in Paris Episode 1? Are you planning to watch the remainder of the season? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

All ten episodes of Emily in Paris Season 1 are now streaming on Netflix.

Home/Netflix

Emily in Paris Season 1, Episode 1 recap: Emily loves Paris, but does Paris love her?

By Mads Lennon | Oct 2, 2020

Emily In Paris Episode 1 recap: Not everyone in Paris is unwelcoming.

Scoop the fashion from Emily in Paris Episode 1