Spoilers for Emily in Paris season three ahead!
When he meets Emily Cooper in the very first episode of Emily in Paris, Gabriel’s demeanor is completely, indisputably horny.
“Enchanté,” Gabriel (Lucas Bravo) says to Emily (Lily Collins), smirking playfully, after she mistakes his apartment on the fourth floor for her own on the fifth. When she inevitably repeats her gaffe the next day after a long, sweaty run, he greets her in the doorway: “You are very wet,” he observes, giving her a once over.
When the flustered Ms. Cooper promises not to “bang” on his door anymore, Gabriel adds, “No problem. You can bang anytime.”
And my crush on the fictional Frenchman was born.
With his swoopy chestnut hair, sleepy blue eyes, and god-like jaw, Gabriel ticks all of the boxes of My Type. He’s a cross between Notting Hill-era Hugh Grant and unsung rom-com hero Michael Vartan (the teacher in Never Been Kissed, for the uninitiated), but taller and French-er. Gabriel is a chef (hot) who is unavailable (also hot) and attempting unsuccessfully to quit his crush (the hottest!).
So how is it possible that a man who looks like that, with an accent like that, and can make an omelet that tastes like that was a complete turn off in season three? I did not believe it was possible to be so uninspired by a man I find so attractive, and yet…
In the latest installment of Darren Star’s hit Netflix show, which debuted on December 21, Gabriel is stiff, boring, and lacking all the flirty French charm that every other male character (even the Brit Alfie) seem to possess as a given in this show. In the first few episodes, I suspected that this Gabriel erasure was intentional—didn’t Carrie date Aiden for a season or two, even though we knew she was destined for life with Big? Maybe Star was intentionally distancing us from the chef, letting us believe that he was no longer on the menu—only to reverse course later on. Maybe, like the McRib, Gabriel would, in fact, be available again some day.