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Emily in Paris Season 2: When Friends Become Enemies


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Credit: Netflix/YouTube

[SPOILER WARNING]

While designed to be a show that’s light and easy to watch, what’s surprising in Emily in Paris Season 2 is the fact that the main character’s close pals turned out to be the show’s true villains.

Emily Cooper, played by Lily Collins, is a Chicago transplant who ends herself working at a Parisian marketing agency after her boss, Madeline Wheeler (Kate Walsh), becomes pregnant. Among the various characters in Emily in Paris, Walsh's Madeline received the most screen time during Season 1 and the beginning of Season 2, primarily speaking with Emily over the phone and assisting her in adjusting to her new life.

Although Emily had a difficult time adjusting to life at Savoir, the cheerful marketing executive found it simple to make friends. Emily immediately made friends in Paris, from Mindy to Camille.

Even though Emily had a romantic relationship with her boyfriend, Gabriel, before they met, Camille proved to be one of her best friends. Emily's infatuation with Gabriel became a source of tension in her relationship with Camille, ending in one of Emily in Paris Season 2's more scandalous, but ignored plots.

Despite her best intentions, Emily's efforts accidentally converted Camille and Madeline, two of her closest allies, into the show's villains.

The Trouble with Madeline

Since Sylvie's introduction in Season 1, Kate Walsh's Madeline Wheeler has been set up as the show's most overt antagonist. Emily In Paris seemed to forget about the Madeline storyline after she was introduced in Season 1, but Season 2 revealed that she may be a huge foe when it comes to Sylvie leaving Savoir and bringing all of its clients and staff with her.

Despite the fact that Madeline acts with a sense of American obliviousness, she manages to dismantle the marketing agency she traveled to Paris to help.

Camille Finds Out

Camille and Emily restore their relationship after learning of Emily and Gabriel's romantic fling, assuring each other that they would not be with Gabriel for the sake of their friendship. Camille breaks her promise, and the show subtly implies that this was her plan all along.


Emily had made it plain to Gabriel all along that she didn't want to compromise her friend's trust, which is why Gabriel chose Camille at the end of Emily in Paris Season 2. Camille, however, duped Emily into making a vow she never planned to honor.

This is likely to play out in a probable Emily in Paris Season 3, with Emily and Gabriel having to resist the desire to be together for the sake of Camille once more.

While Emily in Paris is more amusing than plain malicious, it is evident that the Netflix hit wants people to perceive Madeline and Camille as villains rather than allies in the future.

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