Emmy Catch-Up: Emily in Paris

Every year, I watch the six submitted episodes of every series I don’t regularly watch that’s up for one of the Emmy series prizes. Last year, I started watching the entire season of each show to get a better idea of the quality I missed, and I’ve decided to continue that this year.

Emily in Paris: Season 1, Episode 6 “Ringarde” (B+)

Whenever someone refers to Emily as an American in a way that she knows is meant as an insult, she will stop at nothing to make sure that they know what they thought was a negative trait is actually an incredible and irresistible positive. It turns out that a sneaky trip to the opera and a reference to “Gossip Girl” was all she needed to impress the high-minded Pierre Cadault, who happened to have a convenient guilty pleasure, not that it’s helped her to win over Sylvie, who still detests her with a passion. After she had trouble enduring the loud sex that Gabriel and Camille were having, Emily found romance of her own with Thomas the semiotics professor, which was going great and even enabled her to give the neighboring couple a run for their money, much to Camille’s delight and Gabriel’s horror. He turned out not to be as wonderful as he initially seemed, thinking that calling Emily simple-minded was a term of endearment, and she was smart to rid herself of that toxic relationship promptly. This episode was a great showcase for American best friend Mindy, played by Tony nominee Ashley Park, who I had the privilege to see on Broadway in that nominated performance from “Mean Girls.” Hearing about her unfortunate celebrity past was entertaining, and even if she’s not headed back into show business, she did manage to draw quite a crowd for her impromptu musical performance in the park, a passion I’m sure Emily will only continue to press her to explore.