The creative team behind Emily in Paris is hard at work on the show’s upcoming fifth season, and it seems they have some exciting plans in place for one beloved member of the cast who was criminally underutilized in the show’s fourth season!
Deadline has reported Lucien Laviscount will be returning for Emily in Paris season 5 and not just in a guest role. Per the report, Laviscount is returning as a series regular which seems to hint we hopefully will be seeing more of British transplant Alfie in the next season.
While Alfie was a part of season 4, Lasiscount’s role in the show’s more recent season was seriously reduced which was due in part to his status shifting to recurring for season 4. The fourth season of Emily in Paris saw Emily and Alfie officially calling it quits after the fallout of the season 3 finale.
Following their breakup we learned that Alfie had moved on while his relationship was fresh, it had quickly developed into something serious with him spending the holidays with his new girlfriend’s family. We never got to formally meet the new woman in Alfie’s life before the season came to a close, so it’s going to be interesting to see if we’ll finally meet her in season 5 and if their relationship will become a major part of his storyline next season.
Of course, Alfie does also work at Antoine’s business so it’s possible we could see more of that thread explored in the new season. He was also the one who convinced Gabriel to go after Emily following his own breakup with her, so perhaps Gabriel and Alfie’s friendship will get more screentime next season as well… though that could be dependant upon Gabriel actually being involved in the season.
Lucas Bravo hasn’t signed on to return for Emily in Paris season 5
At this time, Lucas Bravo has yet to sign on to return for Emily in Paris season 5 and remains in negotiations with Netflix over extending his contract, which expired following the show’s fourth season.
According to Deadline, “conversations with Bravo are ongoing” and things are looking promising; however, the fact that no deal has been inked yet is interesting. Season 5 is set to begin filming in April and the season is currently being written so it’s going to be interesting to see how the show pivots should Bravo choose not to return if negotiations fall through.
Across the show’s four seasons, Bravo has played Emily’s will-they-won’t-they love interest and for many, he’s viewed as her endgame. However, Bravo’s future on the show was thrown into question during the break when Bravo began publicly calling out the show and the direction of his character.
“In Season 1, there was a lot of me in him. But as they made him kind of unaware of his surroundings, of the dynamic, always victimizing and always being completely lost in translation and oblivious to anything that is happening around him and being manipulated by everyone, it kind of became not fun for me to shoot or to see a character I love so much and brought me so much, being slowly turned into guacamole. I really grew apart from him,” Bravo told IndieWire.
He went on to suggest that he was strongly considering leaving the show unless the writers made some significant changes to the direction of his character.
“It makes me question if I want to be part of Season 5 […] because my contract ends at Season 4. I really want to see if Gabriel gets back to his fun, cheeky, playful, alive self. Because three seasons playing melancholic, sad, depressed, and lost is not fun anymore. It’s a comedy, everybody is having fun around me, everybody is jumping around, and I’m just slowly sinking into god knows what,” Bravo revealed.
If Netflix inks a deal, it’ll be interesting to see if it brings Bravo back as a series regular or could see him shifting to a recurring role. We imagine the key for Bravo might be a say in the character’s direction and a change to his storyline.
At this point, we have to question whether his character is honestly even needed as he’s run his course and we’re much more interested in seeing Emily explore her relationship with Marcello than to take a step back and get back together with Gabriel. So if he by chance doesn't sign on to return, the show has never been a better chance to handle his exit.