S01.E10: Cancel Couture

[Door County Cherry]

Airs 10/02/20

Quote

With her job on the line over a Fashion Week debacle, Emily scrambles to devise a new plan while preparing to say adieu to a good friend.

 

[Aulty]

Wow, this is the skimmed milk version of Darren Star, isn't it? Emily is as unprepared for Paris as Brenda Walsh, dressed like Carrie Bradshaw and always saves the day like Kelsey Peters.

This show's narrative has zero calories. It is also highly predictable (of course perfume Casanova makes sure kitchen Romeo stays around) - but its easy watching and on its streaming platform it will do OK. I doubt it would stay around long on a network.

Mindy, to me, is the most interesting character and she gives the most memorable line in 'you can't punish people for their thoughts. I'm from China, we've tried'. I'd rather watch millenial culture and the culture/generation conflict through her eyes than an American princess out to re-educate old Europe. 

I hope a french person can tell us whether the cacophony of stereotypes in this show are offending or maybe well out of date.

[Door County Cherry]

I watched the whole thing.  It's an easy binge with such short episodes.  I do think the last few episodes, starting with A Family Affair, were better than the first episodes.  I still think Emily and Gabriel are a bit intolerable given who they are vs. who I think the show wants us to think they are.

I think Emily has more chemistry with Matthieu (the fashion heir) and even the married Antoine than she has with Gabriel.  So I'm sad he's staying.  It would be hilarious if he went back to Camille now that he's staying in Paris and was essentially dumped by Emily.

I also don't really get this work place structure.  If I understood things correctly, the firm that bought Savoir was an American firm where Emily and Emily's boss worked.  Emily's boss was initially going to go to Paris to integrate the office.  Once she ended up pregnant, Emily went as the American representative.  How does that make Sylvie Emily's boss with the power to fire her?  She has a specific job that does support what Sylvie does but it sounds like she's not there at Sylvie's behest.

 

[Guest]

The longer the show went on the more it felt like Katy Keene in Paris. I enjoyed it but can’t help thinking that Mindy in Paris would have been a much better show. How is it that we know more about Mindy and Camille’s backstory than Emily’s? And more importantly why are their backstories more interesting than Emily’s. 

On 10/3/2020 at 8:32 PM, Door County Cherry said:

I also don't really get this work place structure.  If I understood things correctly, the firm that bought Savoir was an American firm where Emily and Emily's boss worked.  Emily's boss was initially going to go to Paris to integrate the office.  Once she ended up pregnant, Emily went as the American representative.  How does that make Sylvie Emily's boss with the power to fire her?  She has a specific job that does support what Sylvie does but it sounds like she's not there at Sylvie's behest.

I feel like the show abandoned it’s own premise about half way through. Kate Walsh disappeared completely and Emily went from the parent companies representative in Paris to just another employee. 

[sashayshante]

As others have said, this show is all fluff and no filler. It's enjoyable enough that I watched it all the way through, but it's boring enough that I often opened Tik Tok and watched videos while keeping EIP on the background.  The comparisons to SATC are way off-base. As irritating as Carrie was, SATC had themes that resonated with viewers. This show was bland and predictable and not at all sexy.

The Mindy storyline about being a singer felt contrived. I recognized Park from Mean Girls on Broadway, so I knew they were going to find a way to work in an opportunity for her to sing, just like Ryan  Murphy did with Ben Platt on The Politician. In both cases, it was cringey and made no sense. If they were going to give Mindy a side-plot, they may as well have given one to the two men Emily works with in her office. Those two ar e foppish and one-dimensional.

[dubbel zout]

On 10/3/2020 at 5:27 AM, Aulty said:

I hope a french person can tell us whether the cacophony of stereotypes in this show are offending or maybe well out of date.

Pourquois pas les deux?

19 hours ago, Dani said:

Mindy in Paris would have been a much better show.

Mindy is by far the most interesting character. I also like Julien. I wish he had more to do than react to Emily.

Paris looked spectacular. It certainly was the dream version of Paris.

 

[Door County Cherry]

4 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

Pourquois pas les deux?

It really feels sometimes like this show is written by people whose only knowledge of Paris comes from watching other movies or TV shows about Paris written by people who may, or may not have, actually been there for more than 24 hours. 

 

[CarpeFelis]

42 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

Pourquois pas les deux?

Mindy is by far the most interesting character. I also like Julien. I wish he had more to do than react to Emily.

I would love a spinoff featuring Julien and Luc! They were a lot more fun than Emily.

Edited October 6, 2020 by CarpeFelis
typo

[buttersister]

Everyone was more interesting than Emily. I stuck it out for Paris. Who knows when we can return. And yeah, it's the postcard version, for sure, but since I'm only watching, I'm fine with that.

I asked some eps back for a Camille and Mindy show and I'd still rather have that. Or I'll take a Sylvie and Camille's Mom sit com/rom com, because grown-ass women in Paris? Brava.

This actual thing? Could not have been more predictable. Emily berets: 2. Script: 0.

[dubbel zout]

13 hours ago, CarpeFelis said:

I would love a spinoff featuring Julien and Luc!

I find Luc’s inappropriate-for-work obsession with sex a bit much, and his cluelessness about it even worse. That whole Eiffel Tower bit was painful to watch.

I do appreciate his support of Emily when she needs it.

[sacrebleu]

well, it's basically the entertainment equivalent of a Twinkie, completely without substance, But these days-- it's actually nice to turn off the news and watch something mindless. 

I call BS on her wardrobe (who owns that many hats.?!?!) and going from a  social media flack for a drug company, to some kind of influencer/social media engagement wiz for luxury brands. 

I also am trying to get a sense of time-- she screwed up the dates for the big hotel meeting (8/11 vs 11/8), and at the end of the season, the hotel is close to opening (and it's Fashion week-- so late sept early Oct with the hotel opening in Nov)-- so I guess all this happened in 3-4 months. 

 

[dubbel zout]

Three to four months sounds about right to me, though she crammed in a lot, heh.

[Door County Cherry]

Yeah.  I saw an interview with the creator where he said it only covered a few months because they were asking about her "one year term."  

If there's a second two, I imagine that means we'll still be within the same year. 

[tennisgurl]

I love a bit of light fluffy rom-com, but this had so little substance that the sugar ended up tasting a bit too bitter. Its unfortunate that Emily is the least interesting character in her own show, and that the show is so focused on her. The show has a good supporting cast that seem to lead interesting lives and have interesting backstories, but we never see much of them because almost the entire show is told from Emily's point of view. And Emily basically spends the whole season as a bull in a china shop, just plowing about with little understanding of the culture she is living and working in, and not much desire to learn more about beyond drinking wine and getting into love triangles. I have no clue why so many men seem to find her so charming and are falling for her left and right. 

I do think the last few episodes were stronger than the first half, they had a bit more happening plot wise and some forward momentum, even if that momentum seems to be based around Gabriel and Emily, a couple that has pretty much no chemistry, certainly less than what Emily has with the designer heir. 

Paris looks amazing though, it really did look like a postcard. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

I liked it, I didn't love it.

The last scene with Gabriel was really hot.

I love the actor who plays the magnate having the affair with Sylvie - Antoine?  He's so fine.

I don't know what the show is missing, but it's missing something.  Maybe it's Emily herself.  I'm not sure. 

I loved everything about it superficially - Paris, food (more please), some of the men, Mindy, Camille.  

I'm sorry but I really don't find that designer heir attractive AT ALL.  He looks all wrong for Emily.  

Edited October 7, 2020 by Ms Blue Jay

[dubbel zout]

4 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

I love the actor who plays the magnate having the affair with Sylvie - Antoine?  He's so fine.

That's William Abadie. He plays these kinds of roles fairly often. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

1 minute ago, dubbel zout said:

That's William Abadie. He plays these kinds of roles fairly often. 

Well I specifically know him as Blair's stepfather from Gossip Girl.  I forgot that he's the Prada guy from SATC.

[dubbel zout]

He was also a sort of sleaze to Summer on The OC.

[Ms Blue Jay]

I think somebody mentioned he looks like Gavin Rossdale which is pretty damn spot on.  I saw Bush in concert last year and Gavin is still as hot as ever.

[Nellise]

All the work stuff was so blah and predictable. Every slight failure turned into a rousing success showing just how awesome Emily was at her job. She had no personality outside of her job either. Having every guy she meets want her isn't a personality. Do we know anything at all about her except what she does for work? I enjoyed the stuff outside of work a lot more, her friends were fun, and at least with the guys there were things that didn't go perfectly for her.

 

[zenithwit]

I feel like Emily had wayyy too many love interests who looked the same.  I had a hard time telling them apart.  At some point, the only way I could tell them apart was if they were older vs younger and the amount of scruff on their face.  Surely Paris has more diversity in straight men other than white and brunet.  Hell, even a blond dude every now and then would have been a nice change of pace.

On 10/3/2020 at 10:32 PM, Door County Cherry said:

I watched the whole thing.  It's an easy binge with such short episodes.  I do think the last few episodes, starting with A Family Affair, were better than the first episodes.

Agreed.  I think once Camille was introduced the cast dynamics started to gel.  They should have introduced her in episode 2 (not 4).

On 10/5/2020 at 8:29 PM, dubbel zout said:

Paris looked spectacular. It certainly was the dream version of Paris.

The overall cinematography for this show was really good.  In particular, the aerial shots (of both Paris and Chicago) were quite beautiful.

[pasdetrois]

Quote

I feel like Emily had wayyy too many love interests who looked the same. 

When she launched herself at a third guy, like a teenager in a cosmetics commercial, I threw down my remote and said "Oh for Pete's sake." All that was missing was her perching on tiptoe and cocking one leg back as she slammed her face into his.

The series went from light and fluffy to annoying and boring, not to mention heavily derivative. As far as I can tell, Emily's day consists of her dashing about in fabulous clothes, punctuated by bouts of supposed marketing brilliance, at least one hijink, and lots of mugging at the camera (in place of acting).

But I hung in there for Paris and the clothes.

[hatchetgirl]

Yeah, they really aren't sure what direction they are going here do they? 90210 out Sex in the City? 

[HerkyJerky]

I watched this with my 88-yr-old mother (not exactly the demographic for the show) and we both LOVED IT!

[methodwriter85]

Wow, Gabriel is staying after telling Antoine he needs an investor? I never would have guessed! Anyway this show was a fun little trifle. Cute boys and cute outfits and a beautiful city.

[ichbin]

I like a bit of fluff as a palate cleanser of sorts. For me this filled the same void that a Bravo show does. Annoying characters?  Check. Ridiculous premise? Check. Expensive, yet questionable fashion choices? Check. Unreal world? Check.  It's a few hours escape to a world light on serious politics and devoid of pandemics or catastrophic events.  

[marny]

This show is the perfect way to pass time that isn’t stressful, suspenseful, complicated or affecting. You can just watch pretty people in their pretty clothes in a pretty city living unrealistically uncomplicated lives and forget about it the minute it’s over. In “usual times”, I wouldn’t have bothered with it. These days, it’s a welcome respite. Cotton candy without the stomach ache. 

[Harvey]

This will be renewed for season 2, it is doing amazing all accross Europe.

[blackdonnelly]

I knew from the trailer this was going to be fluffy and fun. Loved that they cast so many pretty men. And it helped that the actor who played Thimothée was definitely no teenager. I thought Emily and Gabriel had great chemistry, so no complaints from me.

[dubbel zout]

9 hours ago, Harvey said:

This will be renewed for season 2, it is doing amazing all across Europe.

I'm pretty sure the production gets some dough from the various French/Euro art councils, so this isn't that surprising. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

9 hours ago, Harvey said:

This will be renewed for season 2, it is doing amazing all accross Europe.

I'm happy to hear that because some people are so negative towards this show on social media and some are extremely rude even if you bring it up, so it's nice to hear.

[Door County Cherry]

12 hours ago, Harvey said:

This will be renewed for season 2, it is doing amazing all accross Europe.

It's still in the Top 10 in the US three weeks after debuting (it was still as high as #3 yesterday, I think) which is a pretty long run there so unless it's crazy expensive to make, I agree that it'll get renewed.  

[iMonrey]

Quote

I also don't really get this work place structure.  If I understood things correctly, the firm that bought Savoir was an American firm where Emily and Emily's boss worked.  Emily's boss was initially going to go to Paris to integrate the office.  Once she ended up pregnant, Emily went as the American representative.  How does that make Sylvie Emily's boss with the power to fire her?  She has a specific job that does support what Sylvie does but it sounds like she's not there at Sylvie's behest.

I didn't understand this either. According to the show's own dialogue, Emily works for a big marketing firm in Chicago that acquired Savoir. As part of the deal, Emily's company gets to bring some of their own people into Savoir. Originally, Emily's boss Madeline was going to go to Paris. Hard to imagine Kate Walsh getting bossed around by Sylvie. It seems like Emily should be their boss, not the other way around, if her company bought their company.

I also found it somewhat distracting that everyone was speaking English after making such a big deal out of Emily's inability to speak French in the first episode. Even in scenes where all the characters are French, they are speaking English. Granted, this is probably preferable to having subtitles all the time, but it was another hurdle I found hard to get past.

Ten bucks says Gabriel gets back together with Camille as soon as she finds out he's staying in Paris. You can see it coming a mile away.

[dubbel zout]

30 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

It seems like Emily should be their boss, not the other way around, if her company bought their company.

She should be, but it also seems like Emily is junior to Sylvie, whereas Kate Walsh was at least a peer, if not a superior.

They should have just ignored hierarchy altogether and have Emily be the crass American. That's pretty much how they wrote her in the first few episodes anyway.

[aghst]

Obviously the show was kind of a vehicle for Collins.  Never heard of her before watching the show.

I’d say she’s more than just a pretty face.  Has some charisma to carry off a lead role.

She’s actually older than I thought so she might have had to have some grit and grind in her career, despite her father.

[Avabelle]

I did enjoy this and although Emily is pretty lame and one note I think that Lily Collins is charming enough to make the character work. The character played by a less likeable actress could have bulldozed the series. For some reason I feel this could easily have ended up in Britt Robertson’s lap and it would have been awfuL.

having said that - Emily and Gabriel have treated Camille like shit. I could kind of forgive Emily but Gabriel I’m meh on despite him being gorgeous. Realistically if you start off that way you’d never be able to trust the guy.

[methodwriter85]

On 1/25/2021 at 2:58 PM, Avabelle said:

I did enjoy this and although Emily is pretty lame and one note I think that Lily Collins is charming enough to make the character work. The character played by a less likeable actress could have bulldozed the series. For some reason I feel this could easily have ended up in Britt Robertson’s lap and it would have been awfuL.

Agreed that Lily Collins makes this work. She has really good charisma and charm. Someone like Britt Robertson would've tanked this show.

[SlovakPrincess]

So Luc is a really nice guy in the first and last episodes, but I don’t know what the heck the writers were doing with him in the rest of the season.  But it was nice seeing Luc and Julien help Emily in this episode, and the idea of her waiting it out because actually firing her would be a long, bureaucratic nightmare was kind of clever.  
 

I liked the idea of how Pierre Cadeaut staged his comeback… but the actual clothes in his fashion show were just awful.
 

Gabriel kinda sucks as a person.  I, also, will not be surprised if he goes back to Camille.  After all the build up, the eventual scene was not that sexy.  
 

And why did Emily dramatically and frantically run over to the restaurant?  He lives downstairs and you can literally see him closing up for the night  … just wait for five minutes for him to get home?  Lol. 

Edited December 12, 2021 by SlovakPrincess

[Klaw]

On 1/25/2021 at 8:58 PM, Avabelle said:

having said that - Emily and Gabriel have treated Camille like shit. I could kind of forgive Emily but Gabriel I’m meh on despite him being gorgeous. Realistically if you start off that way you’d never be able to trust the guy.

This part. 

Those 2 had a chance after Emily kissed him the first time - she should've told Camille right then and there that "Oh, shit! I just totally kissed your boyfriend - he wasn't expecting it, I didn't know he had a girlfriend - so so so sorry!" After that, it got shittier and shittier. And hooking up 2 minutes after they broke up ain't going to help. Sigh. I sure did like Gabriel at first. 

Oh, and Emily? Maybe start asking some questions before you undress - like how old are you? are you married/in a relationship? stuff like that...

Other comments - Mindy needs to ease up just a bit on the "sassy minority side kick" routine ... she's creeping up on Awkwafina territory with the "get it, girl!" and "ok, bitches!" Like, we get it, she's SASSSY! Are we to believe NONE of Mindy's rich as fuck friends don't have an apartment in Paris for her to crash at? Or they can't loan her money - or she doesn't have some money tucked away? I get she was cut off but "broke" by a rich person's standards ain't like "regular" broke. I get she's crashing with Emily for reasons but it's still odd. Did she not have any other friends in Paris before she met Emily?

I thought Mr. Couture Nephew is a snooze. They have no chemistry and his interest in her came out of nowhere. At least with Gabriel and Antoine you can see where they would be charmed by her. 

Mrs. Antoine giving her the green light to be Mr. Antoine's side piece is ... well, weird to me but I guess very French. Ooo la la. Wonder if she was sick of Sylvie holding that position?

 I call bullshit on traipsing around Paris in stilettos, cobblestones, people! You see alot of stylish flats, block heels and wedges for that very reason when you visit.  

This was fun and a nice romp in troubled times tho so I'm in for season 2!

 

[methodwriter85]

On 12/18/2020 at 11:07 AM, aghst said:

She’s actually older than I thought so she might have had to have some grit and grind in her career, despite her father.

Lily Collins came into Hollywood and had two big box office bombs with Mirror Mirror (a Snow White comedy) and The Mortal Instruments (a Scifi dystopian movie) which didn't exactly endear her. Since then Lily has mostly had a supporting actress career in various films and television, although she's done lead stuff in smaller films like her romcom Love Rosie. Her partnership with Netflix began in 2017 with To the Bone, where she played a girl struggling with anorexia.

This is honestly the most successful project Lily has had where she's the headliner. If Lily Collins had been Reese Witherspoon or Kate Hudson's age, I'm sure she would have been swimming with successful romcoms but unfortunately her entry into Hollywood coincided with the death of the genre.

[RealHousewife]

Lily/Emily is charming and adorable and wears the cutest clothes. Really enjoy a show set in Paris, and there are so many good-looking love interests. I appreciate this for fun escapism.