Spoilers ahead for Emily in Paris season 4. If you’re a Francophile/Emily in Paris obsessive, you’ll know Emily (Lily Collins) has put herself in a rather complicated love triangle at the end of season two. So, the big question going into season three is who Emily will end up with: Alfie or Gabriel?
In season two, Emily was still grappling with her feelings for Gabriel (Lucas Bravo), a dreamy French chef who happens to be in a relationship with Emily’s friend Camille (Camille Razat). They first slept together at the end of season one, unbeknown to Camille, and Emily’s feelings for him carry through to season two.
Meanwhile, during French class, Emily meets Alfie—a super-hot British banker—and they’re reluctantly paired up for an assignment. After much playful banter, they end up sleeping together but all the while, it’s clear Emily still has feelings for Gabriel.
So, who does Emily end up with in Emily in Paris?
It keeps us guessing right until the end of part one, season 4, but it does appear, for the time being, that Emily and Gabriel end up together. What a mess that will be! They slip away together after a party, unaware that a heartbroken Alfie sees them leaving in a carriage.
In season 3, though, Emily chooses her hot Brit Alfie over Gabriel. The former star-crossed lovers agree they have to put an end to their romance. “Emily, we can’t keep doing this,” Gabriel tells her in the first episode of season three. “I’m with Camille and you’re with Alife. And Alfie’s great. I like him and I like him for you.”
But Alfie doesn’t seem so sure that he’s got Emily’s full attention as he plans his return to London. There are still clashes between their priorities, particularly Emily’s lack of a work/life balance, and she decides to throw him a going-away party to ensure he still feels loved. It just so happens to clash with a dinner to pitch Sylvie a new client and when Madeleine turns up at the same meeting and goes into labor, the shit hits the proverbial fan.
Emily makes it to Alfie’s party with only minutes to spare. He’s disappointed. “I get it, your career means a lot to you,” he tells her. “No, you mean so much to me,” she responds. If that’s true, he asks, why hasn’t she made plans to visit him in London (which, FYI, is a mere two hours by train) and she says she hasn’t decided yet. “Yeah, I think you have… Not choosing is still a choice,” Alfie says, quoting French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre. He leaves for London and, when Emily texts him, he barely responds, being cagey and blaming a “new job” for how busy he’s been.
In the second episode of season three, things get even messier between Madeleine, the head of Savoir, and Sylvie, who’s broken away from Savoir to start her own marketing agency. While Savoir’s clients are loyal to Sylvie, she cannot take her accounts to her new company because of a non-compete clause in her contract and Madeleine threatens legal action if she tries to do so.
Meanwhile, Emily is blindsided by the news that Alfie’s new job is as Antoine’s CFO. And that he’s staying in Paris. He apologizes for not telling her and they meet up for dinner to talk about their future. Alfie explains how he ended up working with Antoine: “I got to spend a lot of time with him at my going-away party that you missed,” he says, adding that he “was picking up the hints” that he and Emily weren’t on the same page. Emily apologizes for making him feel neglected. “I didn’t make this up, I put myself out there and you left me hanging,” he tells her. He cuts their dinner short, kisses her on the cheek and leaves.
When Emily returns to her apartment, Mindy blurts out that Alfie has been in Paris this whole time, a fact seemingly everyone knew except Emily herself. She reflects on how wrong she was that she didn’t reciprocate Alfie’s feelings, saying, “now he’s really hurt and he’s completely closed off.” Mindy starts singing the words to “Alfie”, written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David but made famous by Dionne Warwick. “What’s it all about, Alfie,” she starts playfully. “What’s it all about, when you sort it out, Alfie.” Emily confesses she hasn’t heard the song but admits she deserves the silent treatment from him. “I didn’t realize what I had until I lost it.” Mindy disagrees. “No, no, he’s hurt but that doesn’t mean you lost him,” she explains. “But you have to really put yourself back out there if you want him back.”
That evening, Gabriel, Camille and Emily go to watch Mindy sing in a riverside performance as part of Fête de la Musique—a Parisian celebration of the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. Alfie shows up, seemingly invited by Gabriel, who greets him first. Emily faces him. “So, I was thinking you’re right. I wasn’t giving you all you deserve and after you left, all I could think about was how much I miss you and how much I messed up.” He interrupts her, saying he’s had a long day and he’d rather just enjoy the music. It’s here that Emily devises a grand gesture to get Alfie back.
After Mindy thanks the crowd, Emily steps up onto the stage and starts singing the words to “Alfie” in a declaration of her feelings for him. It works and Alfie joins her on stage; they kiss and hold each other in a romantic embrace. Episode three begins with a shot of Emily and Alfie in bed, having reinvigorated their relationship. So, there you have it. Emily and Alfie are once again a thing, though Samuel Arnold, who plays the sassy and opinionated Julien doesn’t think this was the wisest choice.
“Personally, I think that she should take time off dating,” he told StyleCaster. “She needs to decide where to live, to be stable at work and then focus on healthy relationships because nothing about what’s going on right now is healthy. That’s my personal view.”
