Summary
Episode 3 sees Emily battling with sexism at work, finding ways to market feminism without undermining her peers. The plot is still thinly layered but this was an improvement over the first two chapters.
This recap of Netflix’s Emily in Paris season 1, episode 3, “Sexy or Sexist” contains significant spoilers.
We recapped every episode — check out the archive.
The opening
Emily gets a video call from Madeline. They both catch up and Emily makes out that the Paris office is treating her well. While having a shower, it turns off and she asks facilities for help but they blame her. Gabriel helps her out with the language barrier.
As you can tell, Emily is relying on Gabriel more and more with each episode passing.
A big day
Sylvie tells Emily that they have a big day ahead and there is no time for smiling — the character is clearly still jealous over Emily’s Instagram post. Luc is annoyed at Emily for office commandments she’s shared around the office that centre on positivity.
The male gaze
Emily heads to a photoshoot and Antoine is there. The woman in the shoot is naked and Emily is surprised — she feels it is sexist, not sexy. Antoine states it’s about the perfume but Emily claims the shoot is about the male gaze and that it won’t sell in America. Antoine asks Emily to explain. Emily wants to be more sensitive to many women but Antoine doesn’t want it to become morality police.
A running theme in Emily in Paris is the lead character’s battle against sexism and female empowerment. It’s flagrantly engrained into the story.
Shower help
The next day, Emily wakes up Gabriel to help her with language translation with the plumber who states it is impossible to fix it. The conversation turns into breakfast with the plumber who needs a new part but it may take a few weeks. Emily needs to use Gabriel’s shower in the meantime.
French treatment
Emily and Sylvie clash again on the shoot for the perfume — when she goes to her desk, someone has drawn a penis on her desk so she goes out for an early lunch with Mindy. Emily rants about how she’s being treated recently. Mindy invites her to a party to cheer her up.
Take it to the polls
Emily heads back in the office and Antoine shows the De L’Heure advert. He asks the group “Sexy or sexist?”. Emily tells them it’s not about her, it’s about the customer — she suggests posting the video on social media with the poll “Sexy or sexist?”. Antoine loves that idea. Afterward, Emily asks Sylvie why she will not get to know her and be friends. Sylvie explains that Emily will spend a year enjoying the culture like it’s an amusement park and then she will leave to go back to America. Emily invites Sylvie to a party anyway.
This scene shows Emily’s resilience to get along with someone she does not want to be an enemy — the natural progress of the story suggests that both characters will be friends soon.
Paris doesn’t like me
Emily attends the party that Mindy invited her to and there are loads of people. At the party, she speaks to a man named Fabien. They flirt and walk the streets of Paris together and he teaches her French and then they kiss. Fabien tells her he likes “American pussy” which kills the mood so she walks off. On the way home, she heads to a restaurant and asks Gabriel for a drink. She tells him that Paris doesn’t like her and that she’s going to give up trying. Gabriel tells Emily that he likes her.
The ending
The next day, Madeline tells Emily to go after some “French D”. She heads into the office and Antoine has left her a gift for the social media campaign she successfully implemented — it’s sexy lingerie and Sylvie asks her who is that from. Emily lies. It’s getting super awkward for her now.
Emily in Paris season 1, episode 3 sees Emily battling with sexism at work, finding ways to market feminism without undermining her peers. The plot is still thinly layered but this was an improvement from the first two chapters.
