“Emily in Paris Takes a Romantic Detour to Rome in Season 4: A Blend of Love, Lifestyle, and Cultural Stereotypes”[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASp4mNuQgZc[/embed]

“Emily in Paris,” the successful series about a young American living a life of romance and luxury in France, has generated a wave of outrage since its debut at the end of 2020.

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Emily’s lack of skill with the local language, her eye-catching designer outfits, and her exaggerated encounters with charming chefs and flamboyant artists have left some Parisians irritated and American expatriates embarrassed, even as the series became one of Netflix’s most popular shows.

Now, in its fourth season — divided into two parts, with the second premiering this Thursday (12) — the show continues to delight and irritate with its sunny view of what the French newspaper Libération called “Disneyland Paris.”

But, in the new episodes, Emily (Lily Collins) leaves Paris and heads to Rome. Invited by her new Italian love interest, Marcello (Eugenio Franceschini), she scoots around with him, and the series offers us a postcard-worthy view of the Eternal City, stopping at landmarks such as the Fontana di Trevi, the Colosseum, and the Spanish Steps. As he encourages her to move to a new European capital, Marcello makes a proposal that also serves as the season’s mandate: “Forget the crepes. Let’s eat pizza.”

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Darren Star, the creator and showrunner of “Emily in Paris,” says that Emily “was feeling very comfortable in Paris. I wanted to throw her into some unknown waters.” He adds that “we got to live Emily’s life in Paris, and now we will do the same in Rome.”

The depiction of Rome in the series is as romantic as possible: gleaming arches, ruins at dusk, and plate after plate of prosciutto and carbonara, without the dirt, litter, and graffiti that are part of the real Roman experience.

Many other Italian stereotypes appear in the episodes, including nonnas who love food and men who exclaim “bellissima!” to passing women. The series also pays homage to classic Italian iconography, through references to films like “Roman Holiday” and one of Emily’s favorites, the underrated “Lizzie McGuire: A Popstar Dream,” also set in the Italian capital.

As Emily exclaims shortly after her arrival, enjoying a generous serving of gelato, “Look around us! Isn’t it amazing?”, Star says this was all planned.

— We are enjoying the beauty of the city of Rome — he states. — I’m not trying to portray Rome as the overcrowded place full of trash and graffiti. That is not the Rome that Emily is experiencing.

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It remains to be seen whether this romanticized representation will impress native Romans, or if they, like the Parisians before them, will be offended by the one-dimensional sketch. Will scenes of Emily tossing coins into the Fontana di Trevi, songs like “Mambo Italiano,” and references to films like “La Dolce Vita” and “Gladiator” captivate the Italians? Regardless, Star insists that he doesn’t care.

— I’m not worried about that — he says about potential objections from Italian viewers. — I don’t take those criticisms seriously.

Italy was a particular draw for Star, he said, due to its deep connection to the fashion industry, which made the shift “organic,” given Emily’s work in that field. But he also felt that the cultural differences between Italy and France would create an interesting tension: there’s “a certain warmth” that Italians have, he stated, that the French lack: a “sense of family” that he wanted Emily to experience.

The long-standing cultural rivalry between the two countries also seemed “fun to explore,” says Star. Emily’s French boss, Sylvie (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu), has a troubled history with Italy, which has been hinted at since the second season, and this connection shapes the action as it unfolds.

The showrunner always had in mind that Emily could travel to a different city, he explains.

— People living in cities in Europe leave them — Star asserts. — They don’t just stay in Paris and never leave Paris.

In that sense, Emily in Rome — or somewhere else in the European Union — was perhaps something inevitable.

With only two full episodes in Rome, Star says these new episodes “really just scratch the surface of Emily’s story in Rome, or Emily in Italy.” If the series is renewed for a fifth season, he might have the chance to explore more: the fourth season ends with the suggestion that Emily’s time in Italy is far from over.

Still, Star made it clear that “Emily in Paris” is not moving permanently.

— Paris is not over — he says. — She doesn’t change her Instagram handle to @emilyinrome. I think the show still has its feet firmly planted in Paris.

This could mean that “Emily in Paris” will become more adventurous, hopping from city to city in the future. It also means that frustrated Parisians are not yet free from Emily.