Comedy
Kaos
This modern retelling of Greek mythology falls into a pit of questionable themes and content concerns deeper than Tartarus.
Emily Cooper is the sort of girl who lives to work—even when she’s not technically working. She goes running first thing every morning, shows up early to the office each day, uses spreadsheets to plan out every detail of her vacation time—and she somehow does it all with a smile on her face.
In short, she’s not the sort of person who transfers to an office in Paris at a moment’s notice. But that’s exactly what happens when her boss becomes pregnant and is unable to relocate herself.
So now Emily is in Paris, working for a luxury brand marketing firm. And it’s a bit … challenging.
Sure, the food is so delicious and the fashion is so chic and the lights are so magical. But the people are so mean!
With her friendly demeanor being consistently fire-hosed by her less enthusiastic and cynical colleagues, it’s no surprise that frustrations may arise. And as Emily begins adapting to this new culture, she finds her own values changing over time–for better or worse.
With the culture shock fading, it won’t be long until she changes her Instagram account from @emilyinparis to @emilyofparis.
Emily has to adjust to many French customs, many of which can be pretty problematic.
For starters, Emily’s boss, Sylvie, repeatedly makes comments about American eating habits (i.e. that we eat disgusting food and too much of it). She often substitutes a cigarette for a meal, and it is very common to see people smoking both inside and out. Many Parisians drink wine with every meal, too—including breakfast.
Emily is also shocked when she learns that Sylvie is not only romantically involved with a married client, but that everyone is aware of the situation and OK with it (including the man’s wife). However, this creates tension when the man shifts his attention to Emily. Because apparently, it’s one thing to cheat on your wife with your mistress, but it’s another thing to cheat on your mistress with someone else.
While Emily shuts the man down and even calls out some of her firm’s ad campaigns for their sexism (one features a nude woman, and we see her rear briefly), she isn’t above dressing provocatively and having sex with plenty of other men, including a minor. In fact, it isn’t long until she fully compromises on her values and chooses to become a mistress herself.
Trying to navigate all the show’s relationships is a bit of a rollercoaster. Just about everyone is sleeping with at least two others at any given time. It results in a lot of broken hearts and, in recent seasons, an unexpected pregnancy between two unmarried people, each in love with somebody else (including a same-sex attraction)..
Language is another barrier—and not just because Emily can’t speak French. Each episode features a variety of colorful terms both in English and French, up to and including the f-word.
Emily in Paris feels like Gossip Girl in Paris (or perhaps even Sex and the City, if that city was the City of Lights), and its content is just as problematic.
And unfortunately, Emily in Paris increasingly portrays the message that the pursuit of maximizing self-pleasure is a noble cause–regardless of who you might wrong along the way. So, while it might seem like a cute show about luxurious living, it’s actually pretty lackadaisical in its treatment of the characters living it up.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at [email protected], or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
When the details of Emily’s love life go public, it affects her work, and she struggles to fix the problems she’s created for her boss and coworkers.
Dialogue and an online video blasting Emily recaps the previous three seasons of Emily in Paris: Gabriel (Emily’s neighbor) and Camille (her friend) were dating. But Gabriel was in love with Emily, and Camille was in love with another woman. Then Camille found out she was pregnant, so Gabriel proposed. At their wedding, Camille called it off, lambasting Emily in the process and revealing to Emily’s new boyfriend, Alfie, that Emily and Gabriel slept together. We’re also reminded that Emily had sex with Camille’s underage brother (she didn’t know he was a minor at the time) and almost caused a man to lose his finger (which is paired with a cartoon graphic of blood spurting).
Emily’s friends love the drama the video creates, watching it behind her back. But one of her coworkers is mortified when he learns Emily and Alfie broke up since their relationship is the highlight of a new campaign. Alfie confronts Gabriel, who assures Alfie that his and Emily’s affair occurred before she met Alfie. But Alfie knows that Emily still harbors feelings for Gabriel. He helps her to fix the campaign, but then they break up.
A video shows Alfie and Emily kissing. Couples smooch elsewhere. We hear a couple is getting divorced. Several people regret dating coworkers after things end badly. There is a joke about strippers. Someone jokes about selling pictures of feet online. A woman is asked for information on a man who has a “complicated history” with female subordinates.
Women wear revealing outfits. One woman is humiliated after learning the “conservative” dress (it still shows quite a bit of cleavage) her boyfriend asked her to wear was because his father doesn’t approve of her usual skimpy getups. And she’s hurt he didn’t stand up for her, noting that it makes her feel “cheap.”
A man boxes shirtless. He’s hit hard and knocked to the ground after someone distracts him.
Gabriel and Emily become scared after learning that Camille is missing and hasn’t been seen by her family or friends since the whole wedding fiasco.
Emily jokes that someone put a curse on her inside a church. People drink. There are a few jokes about open bars. There’s a single use of the f-word. We hear uses of the s-word and “b–ch” in French and English and a single use of “h—.” God’s name is misused nine times.
Drama unfolds at the engagement party of Gabriel and Camille (Emily’s friends) when their former infidelities come to light.
Several couples kiss and make out. People talk about having sex (and we learn about an unplanned pregnancy). We hear that Gabriel and Camille both cheated on each other (and that Camille’s affair was with another woman). Women wear revealing outfits.
People drink alcohol throughout the episode. We hear about some wild parties.
Characters are rude and lie to each other. We hear two uses of the f-word and “p-ss.” God’s name is abused six times.
A couple nearly gets married in a chapel officiated by a priest.
After the French employees of Savoir quit to follow Sylvie, Emily must decide if she wants to join them or stay and help a pregnant Madeline before returning to Chicago.
A scantily clad man and woman make out in bed (the woman is married, but the man is not her husband). Other couples kiss and make out. Some people talk about having sex (and some women joke about birth control). Women and men wear revealing outfits and/or tight-fitting clothes.
Emily dreams about falling off the Eiffel Tower (and wakes just before her body would have hit the ground).
People drink alcohol and smoke throughout the episode. Emily’s friend Mindy returns home tipsy after a night of partying. There are jokes about using prescription drugs illegally.
In general, characters can be rude and snobbish. People lie to each other, causing many hurts. A few insults are exchanged. We hear a single use each of the s-word, “a–,” “b–ch” and “h—.” God’s name is also misused eight times.
When Emily discovers that Gabriel is staying in Paris, she scrambles to hide the night of cheating she had with him from his girlfriend, Camille. If anyone wondered what the episode would be about, look no further than the title, which translates to “Do you want to sleep with me?”
A flashback shows Emily having sex with a man. Hiding this incident is the central issue for the episode. She also later hallucinates the same moment onto a television screen during an office meeting. Both instances do not reveal anything, but we see movements and hear sounds. Both men and women pose in tiny swimsuits in a black-and-white advertisement while being sprayed with champagne. There is a reference to the ad wanting to position the beverage as an aphrodisiac.
Mindy, Camille and Emily wear outfits with short skirts that show off their cleavage. Emily and Sylvie talk about having affairs and reference lingerie. We hear that Emily is planning a romantic weekend trip away with a client of her workplace. Mindy sings and dances sensually in a drag club, where we see multiple men wearing women’s clothing and makeup.
As a tip, someone offers Mindy an ecstasy pill, though we don’t see her take it. Sylvie smokes a cigarette and misunderstands someone to be gay. Two women kiss. Luc makes a reference to being bisexual. Emily mistakes a question about beds for a question about sexual preferences. Women make generalizations about men. Someone is nearly hit by a car. We hear one use of the French word for “s—.”
When Emily’s boss, Madeline, finds out that she’s pregnant, Emily has to replace her in Paris, where she’s to market luxury brands.
Emily and her boyfriend smooch several times. They also have cybersex (critical parts are hidden by covers, but we see movements and hear sounds). We see Emily’s vibrator. A couple makes out on a bridge.
We learn that Madeline isn’t sure who her baby’s father is. Some women wear cropped tops and short skirts. Someone calls the French president “hot” and also mentions that he married his former teacher. People make rude comments about Americans, Germans and obesity.
Emily is offended when her colleagues call her “la plouc,” which translates to “the hick.” She is also hurt when they all make excuses to not have lunch with her. People smoke throughout. One man vapes. People drink wine and beer at restaurants and bars. A woman vomits from morning sickness. We hear multiple misuses of God’s name as well as a use of “h—.”
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.
This modern retelling of Greek mythology falls into a pit of questionable themes and content concerns deeper than Tartarus.
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Prime Video’s Classified feels like it was written by someone who wasn’t sure which social justice issue on which they wanted to focus.
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