Netflix's Two-Part Seasons Aren't Working — And This Show Is Further Proof

“I don’t know if I should thank you or blame you for everything this year, but it wouldn’t have been the same without you,” Sylvie (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu) tells Emily (Lily Collins) at Agence Grateau’s staff Christmas party.

That’s right, the second part of “ Emily in Paris ” Season 4 kicks off with a holiday-themed episode, and Emily has apparently only been in Paris for less than a year, a fact that is easy to forget because of the nebulous passage of time in the show. (Also, without the visible cue of Kate Walsh’s very pregnant Madeline this season, it’s especially easy to forget how little time Emily has actually lived in the City of Light.)

Sylvie’s words and the red and green flashing “Emily in Paris” intro left me feeling so off-kilter that I was convinced I’d accidentally missed something. So I went back to Episode 5 and rewatched the final scene where Gabriel (Lucas Bravo) celebrates his restaurant, girlfriend Emily, and the baby on the way that he still thinks ex-girlfriend Camille (Camille Razat) is going to have (remember, she’s not actually pregnant).

Somehow, I didn’t miss anything. The show suddenly speeds away from fall to a winter that necessitates the most spectacular and impractical array of furry and feathered outerwear and accessories that I’ve ever seen.

Simultaneously, there is also a change in the characters who drive the show. While Part 1 spends more time on Alfie (Lucien Laviscount), Luc (Bruno Gouery) and Laurent (Arnaud Binard), Part 2 introduces three entirely new characters who dramatically change the direction of the show. Between the new dramatic winter wardrobes and the new faces who shake up everything in Emily’s world, Part 2 feels like it’s an entirely new season, not the continuation of one. This jarring jump is also further proof that Netflix releasing new seasons in two parts isn’t working.

For some shows, such as “ Bridgerton ,” the two-part model is annoying and detracts from the viewing experience, but the show still feels cohesive. However, for “Emily in Paris,” it changes the viewing experience entirely.

Already in a few Part 1 subplots, such as Mindy (Ashley Park) singing in Eurovision and Sylvie’s Me Too moment, the stories don’t have enough space. When you combine arcs that already aren’t fully developed with multiple new characters and force everything into two chunks of episodes, the result is an incongruity that left me feeling whiplashed as Part 2 progressed.

While this is partly because “Emily in Paris” is already oversaturated with subplots (a characteristic that makes it fun to watch), it’s mostly because this show is meant to be binged instead of drawn out. When the season is split in two, the show feels chaotic in a way that straddles the fine line between entertaining drama and overwhelming dribble.

This inconsistency is felt acutely in Episode 6 because so much happens after the Christmas party. Unsurprisingly, Emily’s plan to travel home to Chicago for the holiday is derailed, and she starts Part 2 of this season the way she ended Part 1 — as the third wheel between Gabriel and Camille, even though she is the one actually dating Gabriel.

This isn’t unexpected. Neither is Emily’s realization that, as a girlfriend, she will always come in second to Camille because she’s going to have a baby (except she’s really not, but Emily doesn’t know this). Instead, on the slopes of the French Alps, she finds herself once again on the outskirts, wondering how she can fit into Gabriel’s life if he is going to have a family with Camille.

Her literal mountaintop revelation changes the direction of the season so drastically that it’s another reason Part 2 feels like an entirely new season, and this feeling is exacerbated as the subplots of the other characters unfold. Sylvie and Laurent’s relationship takes a turn when a surprise houseguest comes to stay. I won’t spoil the way this houseguest’s presence ripples outward to affect everyone working at Agence Grateau, but it is a new character and twist that I didn’t see coming. The addition makes everything that happens in Paris this season even more dramatic (which apparently is possible).

The drama and work are becoming so overwhelming that Emily finally decides to take a vacation and jets off to Rome. Of course, being Emily, both work and personal drama follow her to the Eternal City because her work, friendships and love life can never exist in isolation.

Thus, where Emily goes, Sylvie, Luc, Mindy, and Julien (Samuel Arnold) must follow. And I don’t want to spoil the revelations and plot twists that turn some friends into lovers and some lovers back into friends, so all I’ll say is that the new setting of Italy was a delightful change.

As might be expected, the last of the five new episodes ends on a cliffhanger, and it’s so fun that it left me even more excited for Season 5 than I was for Season 4. I know it will be chaos; I just hope that Netflix chooses to package it differently, so the show can remain a delicious treat instead of a hot mess.