'Emily In Paris' Is More Proof That Netflix's Two-Part Seasons Aren't Working

“I don’t know if I should thank you or blame you for everything this year, but it wouldn’t have been the same without you,” Sylvie (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu) tells Emily (Lily Collins) at Agence Grateau’s staff Christmas party.

That’s right, the second part of “Emily in Paris” Season 4 kicks off with a holiday-themed episode, and Emily has apparently only been in Paris for less than a year, a fact that is easy to forget because of the nebulous passage of time in the show. (Also, without the visible cue of Kate Walsh’s very pregnant Madeline this season, it’s especially easy to forget how little time Emily has actually lived in the City of Light.)

Sylvie’s words and the red and green flashing “Emily in Paris” intro left me feeling so off-kilter that I was convinced I’d accidentally missed something. So I went back to Episode 5 and rewatched the final scene where Gabriel (Lucas Bravo) celebrates his restaurant, girlfriend Emily, and the baby on the way that he still thinks ex-girlfriend Camille (Camille Razat) is going to have (remember, she’s not actually pregnant).

Somehow, I didn’t miss anything. The show suddenly speeds away from fall to a winter that necessitates the most spectacular and impractical array of furry and feathered outerwear and accessories that I’ve ever seen.

Simultaneously, there is also a change in the characters who drive the show. While Part 1 spends more time on Alfie (Lucien Laviscount), Luc (Bruno Gouery) and Laurent (Arnaud Binard), Part 2 introduces three entirely new characters who dramatically change the direction of the show. Between the new dramatic winter wardrobes and the new faces who shake up everything in Emily’s world, Part 2 feels like it’s an entirely new season, not the