Why does Emily move to Rome?

Emily is taking perhaps her first paid vacation since moving to Paris. And to everyone's surprise, Emily is happy to be living in the here and now and not having to think about work, but Sylvie has other plans for her. Marcello's family is considering hiring JVMA to handle their marketing – something they've never trusted an outside company to do before – and Sylvie is determined to win business for Agence Grateau by any means necessary. That includes sabotaging Emily's romantic getaway.

Emily in Paris often pokes fun at American work culture, so it's really suspenseful when Emily initially rebukes Sylvie. She goes to the town where the Muratori family lives to reconcile with Marcello, and he reluctantly shows her around. The company philosophy revolves around mutual appreciation and a simple lifestyle, and Emily is invited to an extravagant lunch thrown in honor of one of the long-time employees. But Emily lets her marketing brain get the better of her, suggesting ways to bring the Muratori brand to the masses, using the lunch as a jumping off point for the brand's identity. Once again, Marcello believes she's there for the wrong reasons, and asks her to leave.

Marcello's mother, Antonia, is more open to her advances and agrees to at least listen to what Grateau has to offer – but only in her Rome office. With the team in turmoil, Sylvie pulls some strings to set up her office in the office of one of her old flings, and Emily sells her vision of successfully marketing the lifestyle rather than the clothes at the expense of her budding relationship with Marcello. He accuses her of being there for the business and not him, and honestly, who can blame him? To make matters worse, Antonia sees through her lie about the Rome office, as she knows the same mutual friend Sylvie borrowed it from.

Sylvie, who is the real reason for Emily's relationship problems, seems to have only limited remorse for meddling in her co-worker's personal life. She admits that she was wrong to use Emily's budding romance to get ahead professionally with a former lover, an attractive Italian film director she took lessons from years ago, but also expresses concerns that her ambitions might get in the way of her happiness. But Sylvie doesn't really regret taking advantage of Emily, especially when she gets the coveted meeting.

Mindy's relationship isn't going so well either. She and Nico split up for good after she realized she would never fit the mold of the role model he was looking for. Nico turns out to be a vengeful ex: he uses one of Mindy's songs for a commercial without her permission, violating Eurovision rules and disqualifying her from the competition. To heal her broken heart, she flies to Rome to visit Emily. With a gelato in hand, they stroll through the streets and something Emily says leads her to a lyric for one of Mindy's unfinished songs. She takes over a piano in a piazza and belts out her own song “Beautiful Ruins,” in which she laments the end of the relationship but still finds beauty in the memories and love they shared.

Emily and tourists record the performance and upload the video to social media. Although Emily is a supposed influencer in the world of the show, a tourist's TikTok goes viral, prompting the Chinese pop star to invite Mindy back to be a judge and perform the new song. If anyone can make lemonade out of lemons, it's Mindy.

Back in Paris, Genevieve, Sylvie's stepdaughter and new co-worker, receives the news that Gabriel has finally received a Michelin star – for real this time. She runs to tell him the news, and his first reaction is that Emily should be here to celebrate with them. Genevieve is undeterred; at the celebration later that night, she throws herself at Gabriel in front of Anton and Alfie, and Gabriel calls it quits, telling her he'd rather keep things professional. Still missing Emily, Gabriel leaves her a voicemail telling her the good news and expressing his thanks. Emily returns the favor, leaving him a congratulatory message in French, a reminder of their argument about the breakup.

Unfortunately for Gabriel, the news is just a peace offering for a friendship. She's a little busy in Rome: Emily's offer is good enough to get Antonia to sign her for a six-month contract, and at the party to celebrate the partnership, she and Marcello reconcile. He feels encouraged that she insisted on having nothing to do with the account, and sees it as a sign that she actually wants to put the relationship first.

This immediately becomes complicated when Sylvie announces that she is officially opening an office in Rome, which Emily will manage. She will be closely linked to the Muratori account, but this is a difficulty that Emily in Paris sugarcoated – it seems that Marcello's gesture of non-interference was enough. She has settled into a beautiful villa with a stunning view of the city and stops to take a selfie of her new life.

Mindy tells Gabriel the news and Alfie encourages him to go after her. “Don't let your pride and misunderstanding get in the way of the most amazing girl in the world. We both did that,” Alfie says, which is a somewhat unbelievable attitude from him considering the end of their relationship, but it's the fuel Gabriel needs to ask Mindy where in Rome Emily is.

Emily is currently posting her selfie on Instagram and is considering changing her username and dropping Paris from her name, but she's not quite settling on @EmilyInRome yet. When Marcello knocks on her door, she leaves her phone behind (a first!) to jump in the back of his Vespa and start a new life.

Although Netflix has not officially renewed the series for a fifth season, it seems likely that the hit series will return: Guest roles were auctioned off at an amFAR event during the Cannes Film Festival earlier this summer. And when the time comes, fans will once again be wondering if they're bringing Gabriel and Emily together, or if there's room in their hearts for someone new (somewhere).

Radhika Menon is a freelance entertainment writer specializing in television and film. Her writing can be found on vulture, Teen Vogue, Hecticand more.