Here's Everything To Remember About Emily's Pre-Paris Love Interest
Because Season 3 made him relevant again.
Emily Cooper has had a stressful love life over the first three seasons of Emily in Paris. Relocating to a foreign country where you don’t speak the language is hard enough. Since arriving overseas, she’s bounced from flirting with Mathieu to sleeping with Gabriel to chasing after Alfie to being torn between the latter two. Season 3’s conclusion seemed to clarify her choices, but could an unexpected blast from the past also come back in Emily In Paris Season 4 — like, IDK, Doug?
Warning: Spoilers for Emily in Paris Season 3 follow. It was only a matter of time before Alfie realized Emily was still holding a torch for Gabriel and decided he couldn’t be her fallback option. That this revelation happened dramatically at Gabriel’s failed wedding to Camille was par for the course. Camille’s declaration that Emily and Gabriel should be together as she ran from the altar was a nice sentiment. However, she cannot force two people to get together (even when they are perfect for each other) because she doesn’t want to marry one of them.
As Season 3 ended, Emily was once again single. Alfie had left her, while Gabriel had to worry about Camille’s carrying a child, presumably his. Mathieu was long out of the picture, and newcomer Nico is with Mindy. So, where does Emily go from here? Viewers may be rooting for Gabriel, but there’s another option: Doug.
Longtime fans of Emily in Paris may remember Doug as Emily’s initial love interest back in Chicago, the one she left behind to go to Paris. Viewers may remember him from such complainy conversations as, “I don’t wanna have a long-distance relationship,” “I don’t want to go with you to Paris,” and “I don’t want to fit into your spreadsheet.” Emily finally accepted that he was breaking up with her because she wouldn’t return to Chicago in the show’s second episode. By Season 1, Episode 4, she was totally over him.
Doug would probably stay out of the picture if not for a scene in Emily in Paris Season 3, when he called her up, announcing he’d been made associate manager of global partnerships for McDonald’s, a position which suited him just fine, because the HQ was in Chicago. He hadn’t forgotten Emily, though, and he threw her a bone by giving her the heads up about a McDonald’s marketing opportunity in Paris. Grateful for the opportunity, Emily thanked him for it.
Emily probably won’t be looking to get back together with Doug after all this — I mean, they just now found their way to being friendly. But Emily also lacks straight male friends in her life, especially those who know her well, as Doug clearly does. With everything up in the air, audiences may see Doug again in Season 4, either for a video call or a (short) visit, helping Emily gain some perspective on what she wants from Paris and her love life.
Emily in Paris Seasons 1 through 3 are streaming on Netflix. Season 4 is expected in 2023.
