Note: This story discusses spoilers for “Emily in Paris” Season 4 Part 1.
After “Emily in Paris” Season 4 Part 1 left off on a dramatic cliffhanger, star Lucas Bravo says viewers can expect “good old Darren Star chaos” in Part 2.
Season 4 finally saw Gabriel (Bravo) and Emily (Lily Collins) cement their romantic relationship after years of anticipation, with an unofficial “go ahead” from Camille (Camille Razat), who started dating Sofia (Melia Kreiling) after their affair in Season 3, despite still being pregnant with Gabriel’s child. By the end of Part 1, however, Camille and Sofia’s relationship imploded and so do Gabriel’s chances at a coveted Michelin star. If that weren’t enough, Camille found out she isn’t pregnant after all — a secret which she withholds from Gabriel.
“He was so happy — he was expecting that, and so it’s a lot — [losing] the Michelin star plus the baby,” Bravo told TheWrap. “All is missing is another heartbreak from Emily, and he will be off to Normandy never to be seen again.”
While Bravo says Part 2 will force Gabriel to navigate those waters, he pointed to the experience Gabriel has gained over the past season and said he has more “control” than he did in previous messy situations.
Below, Bravo breaks down Gabriel’s biggest moments of Season 4 Part 1, including finally taking his shot with Emily after three seasons of anticipation and coming to terms with his complex relationship with Camille.
TheWrap: Season 4 picks up after Gabriel and Camille’s disastrous wedding. What is Gabriel’s game plan for dealing with this fallout and navigating his relationships with Camille and Emily?
Lucas Bravo: He’s entered a very interesting mindset. He really wants to reignite everyone and everyone to be loving and compassionate. This promise of fatherhood gives him responsibilities that is ready to take on, and so it’s a very maturing process for him. He’s just becoming a man at this point.
In the Season 4 premiere, Gabriel tells Alfie that he thinks Emily and Alfie should be together and that his own feelings aren’t important. Is he just trying to keep the peace here?
Yes. That part of maturing is that he’s not putting his feelings before anybody else. He’s learning from his previous mistakes … because he’s going to be a father, he’s going to try to prepare a better world for his kid where he is a true, reliable human being, and that starts with being a true friend to Alfie and Emily.
In Episode 2, after Camille goes missing, Emily finally reveals to Gabriel that Camille was in a relationship with Sofia. What is Gabriel’s reaction to this betrayal? Does it hurt any less now that they’ve over?
[He] was relieved, because it kind of balanced the mistake he made in Season 1 and the guilt he had … kind of vanished into that — the fact that she allowed herself to have another relationship. He says to Emily, “I’m OK, because I know what it means to fall in love with someone else.” It makes everything organic and I think it was relieving news for him more than he was he felt betrayed. He wants Camille to be happy, so if she’s in love with someone else, she’s not going to fight it. He’s a very selfless person at the end of the day.
What does Gabriel make of Emily keeping this secret from him? Does he wish she had told him sooner?
Yeah, I think he does. There’s a lot of secrets; there’s a lot of things that aren’t being addressed, and that’s why I love Season 4 so much because they [are] finally addressing things and fighting and yelling at each other. It’s very healthy — this is how you maintain a couple. Of course he was mad; of course he was tired of the secrets like he says. Now things are … more real — this season where we’re addressing more things. It was about time.
Gabriel and Sofia have a drink together once they knew Camille is safe, and we don’t end up seeing their conversation. What do you think they talked and how does Gabriel’s approach to the situation change through their conversation and having things be out in the open?
I created that scene in my head before shooting it as a backup story. [For] any guy at this point, the conversation would be like, “when were you together? “For how long?” to try to make sure to understand how betrayed he must feel, and what is the amount of the betrayal. But Gabriel, I think,, in this moment, was just trying to see how in love they are, in order to endorse that relationship.
Does he still have feelings for Camille at this point?
Camille is Gabriel’s first love. And sometimes your first love isn’t your last and you have to move on, but you never forget your first love. There will always be love. I don’t think he’s the kind of guy that you know moves on and and wants to cut ties and have no relationship with an ex-girlfriend. I think he wants to stay close to her.
Things escalate quickly and Camille and Sofia start living in Gabriel’s apartment. What do you think Gabriel makes of this situation?
When I read the script, I went to Darren and was like, “Nobody does that here — nobody has his ex-girlfriend and the woman she cheated on him with moving into his own apartment.” We’re French — I know you want to paint us as free people, but I don’t think anybody would ever do that. But they articulated it well, and it works, and it brings comedy to the show. I think he just wants to give them a platform of enough space to build what they have to build and to move to better grounds.
At the masquerade party Gabriel puts his feelings for Emily out there again. What motivated him to put himself on the line? Was he concerned she might reject him?
In that episode, Gabriel from Season 1, Episode 1 is back. That’s when all the background, all the passive entanglements and all the issues they had don’t matter anymore because Alfie isn’t in the picture anymore, because Camille is in love with that woman and and he’s okay with it. He’s like, “for the first time in four seasons, we’re both single, and we know that we love each other.” So it’s time it’s time to build. I feel like he enjoys chasing after her. He’s not trying anymore to hold on to her, to have a conversation with her — he’s confident again.
There are definitely some growing pains as Gabriel and Emily start up their relationship alongside Camille and Sofia. What do you think is their biggest challenge or struggle in this first stage of their relationship, and how is complicated by Camille and Sofia?
It’s a sensitive relationship, even though they know each other by now, because there’s a lot of things within the relationship — a lot of people; a lot of factors — that make this relationship fragile, even though their feelings are pretty strong and established. The challenges will be to address things and to communicate, because this is what has been the main issue for them in the past seasons. They don’t communicate, there’s a lot of misunderstandings, and it takes like three to four episodes to understand what intentions were at stake.
Gabriel’s dreams of getting a Michelin star are destroyed when he learns Marianne was faking her job. How does this reality impact Gabriel and will he keep striving for a star?
He’s gonna try to enjoy not chasing after it for a while but, at the end of the day, this is his dream and passion, and so he will get back on the horse and and try differently, but still try. You see how he reacts when he gets the news — it’s a mix of denial, anger and relief.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
“Emily in Paris” Season 4 Part 1 is now streaming on Netflix. Part 2 will debut on Sept. 12.
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