Season 5 of Emily in Paris dropped almost unexpectedly at the end of 2025, and I’m a little mad about it. I don’t know about you, but after all this time, the show is starting to feel genuinely boring and lackluster. Season 4 ended with the vibe that Genevieve was going to be the big villain of season 5, but she’s barely even in the show. Additionally, Camille’s absence can really be felt, but I must admit the best part of this season has got to be Emily and Mindy’s friendship (yes, despite the whole Alfie situation). But episode 10 had us wondering if there was going to be some sort of massive change again to the show, because last season, we were stuck wondering why a show titled Emily in Paris would suddenly move base to Rome; well, now we have the answer. I am genuinely happy it didn’t become “Emily in Venice,” even if it would’ve been just for a couple of episodes. The show’s lost momentum, and despite the exasperating, obnoxious campaigns, a lot about the show was still memorable earlier, but now it all just feels recycled and uneventful. But I guess we’re expecting another season, so for that, let’s go through the ending of season 5.
Spoiler Alert
Is Marcello Back In Solitano?
This season mainly focuses on Emily’s relationship with work in Rome, and by that I mean Marcello. I don’t know about you, but this relationship was totally unconvincing to me, because there was barely any chemistry, and Marcello’s quite the forgettable character. But we got some depth for him when he decided he wanted to be an ambitious nepo baby and start his own fashion line, only by using his family name for it anyway. For obvious reasons, his mother decided to serve him with a lawsuit because he’s using the already existing brand name. This is when Marcello loses the designer Emily had so graciously gotten for him, thanks to her affinity for his dog and the willingness to be licked in the face in a public space. I’ve got to say, nothing this season feels solid enough to be realistic; it’s all like walking in heels on rocky ground.
Anyway, Emily then learns that the designs that Marcello brought with him weren’t some ghost designer’s, but his own. She convinces him that it’s time for him to take the initiative and step up as a designer if he really wants to do this. It’s all exciting until Marcello freaks out after his sister drops by and tells him that his work is crap. Meanwhile, Emily’s all excited because her life seems to finally be back on track, and she’s got everything: a life in Paris again, a beautiful guy who’s crazy about her, and a solid future. But Marcello picks up on the fact that he’s actually good at what he’s doing after blurting out some hurtful things to Emily and then delivers a great show, which his mum attends. Ironically, it’s this “great” show that gets Antonia to resign and name Marcello the successor of Muratori. So much for trying to be “different” as a nepo baby. However, this makes Emily realize that she doesn’t want to move to Solitano with Marcello. But Marcello can’t run his parents’ company from Paris; he was only going to do that if he branched out. The whole point was to be able to take over, so that’s that. Ultimately, he tells Emily he’s moving back home and asks her if she’d go with him.
Who Proposes to Whom?
The shocking twist at the end of season 5 is that the ring in Marcello’s bag the whole time was never meant for Emily; he was just safekeeping for Nico, who proposes to Mindy while they’re with Marcello and Emily. Because they’re the power quad, right? Wrong, because as soon as the ring comes out, Emily word vomits all over the situation by saying she doesn’t want to marry Marcello, and all he can say in return is that he wasn’t asking her to, because the ring was never meant for her (yikes, speak about embarrassment). I honestly don’t know why she had to be so expectant about it. And why didn’t Marcello just tell her about Nico wanting to propose to her best friend? It’s not adding up at all. But anyway, Mindy says yes in a blur, and Emily says no in that same blur, but the truth is, neither of them wants to marry the guys they’re with, and this power quad never really had the power of love. Back in Paris, Emily tells Mindy that she’ll plan the bachelorette, and Mindy’s all excited about how things will pan out and where it’ll all happen until Alfie shows up and notices the ring. Now, Alfie told Mindy, what feels like a few hours earlier, that he wanted to see her when she was back in Paris, and he can’t help but feel cheated when she suddenly has a ring on. Fortunately, though, this time Emily’s there to notice the tension and open Mindy’s eyes to the fact that she’s not actually ready to marry Nico because she’s really in love with Alfie (whoo).
What’s Happening With Gabriel?
In Emily in Paris season 5’s ending, Gabriel gets a break from his world tour as a great chef (still not sure how he gave up the restaurant so quickly after getting the star, but okay) and is chilling in Greece when Sylvie sends him some information like a little spy. She tells him Emily’s returned to Paris, and she’s now fully single, with no Marcello in sight. He immediately writes her a postcard as promised, and asks her to come meet him in Greece, so I guess it’ll start off with “Emily in Greece,” eh? I know we’ve all been thinking that Gabriel is going to be the endgame, but when is that endgame coming? Because I’m genuinely tired of this back and forth. There was literally nothing going on with Marcello, so I really don’t know why we even sat through this season, if I’m being honest.
On the other hand, Jane’s now a new partner at Agence Grateau because, even if Sylvie divorced her husband, she’d be left paying off his debts, which would put the agency on the line. Fortunately for her, the princess is now rich thanks to the Four Seasons’ showing interest in the Palazzo her dead husband left her, so now she’s got everything she needs to be a new headache in Emily’s (and Sylvie’s) life. The show does end on the upbeat note that Gabriel can now enjoy the Greek sun with the thought of Emily coming to find him. Honestly, if another man walks into her life at this point, I will be jumping off the yacht deck where Gabriel is standing right now. The ending of the 5th season is clearly setting up another, with things being unclear for the agency as well as Emily’s obsession with returning to Paris (her visa literally does not expire, it seems). I really don’t know what a season 6 can do differently that will keep us interested in this story any longer. Genevieve seemed to have been just a pebble in a world full of rocks. Then there were some minor crises that all solved themselves, so honestly, nothing great happened this season.
