The first half of Emily in Paris’s fourth season ends with a surprise—Emily Cooper, it turns out, will no longer be in Paris. Instead, she will go to Rome: Her boss, Sylvie (played by Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu), needs Emily to open her marketing agency’s new Italian office.
It’s not a move that makes any logical sense; Emily does not speak Italian, while two of her coworkers do. Also, wouldn’t there be visa issues? But to the viewer, it eventually makes all the sense in the world. A hot guy is there.
His name is Marcello, which I had to google. (Excepting Emily’s own, I forget most of the character names in the Emily in Paris universe, preferring to call them “hot” plus their job. Some examples: hot chef, hot finance bro, and so on.) In addition to being hot, he’s also rich. He’s the heir apparent to a Loro Piana–type cashmere company, plays polo, and skis in Megève. And in addition to being hot and rich, he’s also emotionally available. He invites Emily to meet his family (they’ve kissed, like, twice) and to leave her phone at home. In short: I love Marcello.
And so, as it turns out, does the entire internet. After his character arc aired this weekend, social media was awash in pro-Marcello posts. Most of them are too, er, colorful to quote here, but I’ll put forth the following as an example. When Netflix posted a TikTok announcing that the show had been renewed for a fifth season—“There’s no place like Rome!” trills Lily Collins, the show’s star, sipping from an Emily in Paris–branded espresso cup with the number 5 on its underside—the top comment was this: “You better stay there, girl.”
Photo: Giulia Parmigiani/Netflix
