Emily in Paris season 4 episode 4 recap: grey is the new black
Emily is trying on ambiguity for a change, and Sylvie and Co. must deal with the murky mess of that Le Monde exposé.
![Arnaud Binard as Laurent, Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu as Sylvie Grateau in Emily in Paris season 4 episode 4](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/f9eTw4RUqD5hXaePr5kruP-320-80.jpg)
Though Emily Cooper (Lily Collins) has officially chosen Gabriel (Lucas Bravo) over Alfie (Lucien Laviscount), there are still things that need clearing up when it comes to their complicated relationship, as we learn in Emily in Paris season 4 episode 4.
Sure, Emily may proudly declare to Mindy (Ashley Park) that these days she's "someone who's living the question instead of always trying to find the right answer," but our heroine still wants clarity about her romance with the Frenchman, as well as exactly when his ex will move out of his apartment.
Too many people at Chateau Gabriel
After a night of steamy texting during service at L'esprit de Gigi, Emily and Gabriel are looking forward to some one-on-one time back at her apartment — his own unit is still pretty packed, what with both Camille (Camille Razat) and Sofia (Melia Kreiling) having moved in — except a weepy Mindy is there, saddened by the drama between her and Nicolas de Léon (Paul Forman) following Le Monde's investigative piece against his father. Gabriel takes that as his cue to leave and lets the two women talk, but it's clear that lack of privacy is getting frustrating for the newly reunited couple.
It doesn't help that Gabriel's landlady has gotten word he has three people living in the unit, which goes against his lease. Camille manages to appease the propriétaire with a slice of homemade quiche and assurance that Sofia is simply a visiting friend from Greece.
Their ménage à quatre continues as Gabriel forgets to tell Emily both Camille and Sofia will be joining them for a dessert tasting at the restaurant, under the guise of him hiring a top-notch pastry chef to secure that Michelin star. Em's not particularly happy about the whole situation, especially with Camille and Gabriel chummily reminiscing in their mother tongue about a vacation they took together to Megève, but Gabriel makes it up to her with a romantic secret rendezvous up on their apartment building's roof.
However, later, when Sofia informs Emily that Camille has ixnayed every single new apartment they've seen, Emily desperately confirms their illegal living arrangement to the landlady in the hopes it will force the women from Gabriel's home. "Too many people!" she cries.
She tells Gabriel what she did while attending the Laurent G à Paris launch party. She thought she could "live in the gray area and be cool with it," but it's just not her, she needs boundaries, order "and a ceiling over my bed." He surprises her by telling her that he also told the landlady about the situation and doesn't want to lose her or his apartment over this whole mess.
Get the What to Watch Newsletter
The latest updates, reviews and unmissable series to watch and more!
At the same shindig, Camille reveals the propriétaire has given them only 24 hours to vacate Gabriel's apartment, but there's good news: she and Sofia will be moving into the vacant unit right next door. Looks like Emily's worries are far from over: "She's having his baby. Did you really think that she was going to move away from him?" Sofia asks
Who will Nico choose: Mindy or Louis?
Things between Mindy and Nicolas have been tense ever since the Le Monde article against Louis de Léon (Pierre Deny), with the family going doing damage control. First, Mindy refuses to be photographed with Louis during a charity event, saying she didn't want to be complicit or connected to the scandal. Then, Nico declines attending the Laurent G launch party where Mindy would be performing with the band, as JVMA pulled the funding for the yacht club in retaliation for Sylvie's (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu) participation in the piece. She tells him she's not asking him to choose between JVMA and Agence Grateau, but simply to choose her.
It doesn't help that during the Laurent G à Paris event, the onstage sparks are positively flying between Mindy and Benoît (Kevin Dias), so much so that Luc (Bruno Gouery) mistakes them for a couple.
When Nico does show up to the Laurent G party to surprise Mindy, he mentions that he sadly missed her performance — though it was probably for the best, or else he would have spotted all of that bandmate chemistry. He tells her he told the JVMA board that as long as his father is still CEO, he won't work for the business. The board wants Louis to step down, potentially meaning that Nico could move up as CEO. As he and Mindy kiss in celebration, Benoît moodily looks on. Uh-oh, looks like another messy ménage à trois!
Life's a beach for Agence Grateau
Yes, Sylvie and Co. are in a bit of a panic when they get the news that JVMA won't be funding Laurent G's (Arnaud Binard) new yacht club after all, especially with the opening party so close and more than 500 RSVPs confirmed to attend. Laurent isn't upset about the business, though — he's proud of his wife for taking a stand. He also has missed Saint-Tropez and his beach club there, he tells Sylvie.
Sylvie, however, is not excited to have her husband leave Paris for the coast again, nor does she want Agence Grateau to be "too controversial" for clients to want to work with. (Though her team is still getting commissioned by beauty big wigs like Augustinus Bader). Scrambling to come up with a new location for the Laurent G à Paris launch, she reaches out to a surprising source: her mother, Héloïse (Liliane Rovère), who might be even more intimidating and French than her daughter. This is a woman who owned a bumping Parisian nightclub back in the 1970s and reportedly once had an affair with Mick Jagger and Rod Stewart... at the same time!
During lunch with maman, Sylvie asks if she can use Héloïse's old, empty nightclub space for the Laurent G launch. Mom has some misgivings about the Le Monde article and some terms and conditions but ultimately agrees. As for filling the space with water and sand to mimic a beach? "Carla Bruni practically drowned in a foam party here in the 80s," Héloïse assures; the club can handle a little water.
The event ends up being a big success, aided by the strategic arrival of Gregory Dupree's new (and very phallic) fashion collection for Pierre Cadault. Nicholas and the JVMA crew had brutally scrapped Gregory's whole presentation earlier and that, coupled with Louis and Co. trying to dig up dirt on Sylvie via Julien (Samuel Arnold), led to the latter leaving his cushy corner office and coming back to Agence Grateau. The team is officially back together, and Gregory Dupree's risqué looks will be in the pages of every tabloid in Paris. "Louis is going to be furious!" Sylvie delights.
All five episodes of Emily in Paris season 4 part 1 are now available to stream on Netflix.
Christina Izzo is the Deputy Editor of My Imperfect Life. More generally, she is a writer-editor covering food and drink, travel, lifestyle and culture in New York City. She was previously the Features Editor at Rachael Ray In Season and Reveal, as well as the Food & Drink Editor and chief restaurant critic at Time Out New York.
When she’s not doing all that, she can probably be found eating cheese somewhere.