The events of Emily in Paris start when American executive Madeline Wheeler (Kate Walsh) discovers she’s pregnant, but this storyline raised a few eyebrows when Madeline was still pregnant in season 3. In the pilot episode, Madeline is Emily Cooper’s (Lily Collins) boss who was planning to move to Paris for work. However, when it’s revealed she’s pregnant, Madeline asks Emily to go in her place. What follows is a fish-out-of-water story as Emily struggles to fit in with her French colleagues and adapt to their work ethic while finding herself in a love triangle or two in the City of Lights.While Emily is keen to follow in Madeline’s footsteps in marketing, Madeline is the one with actual experience studying French and working with French businesses. This key difference between Emily and Madeline sets up the show’s plot that Emily is ill-prepared for acclimating to Parisian culture. In earlier seasons, Emily being unable to speak French was one of fans’ biggest gripes with the show. However, Madeline’s arrival in Paris in season 2 gave viewers something else to complain about: her ongoing pregnancy.

The Timeline Of Emily In Paris Seasons Is Short, Which Explains Madeline Wheeler’s Pregnancy

In Emily in Paris season 2, Madeline Wheeler is still shown to be pregnant, and fans became even more confused when she travels to Paris late in her third trimester. Some fans pointed out that the whole reason Emily moved to Paris was so Madeline did not have to travel while pregnant only for her to go to Paris anyway. Because Madeline arrives in Paris so late in her pregnancy, she ends up giving birth there in the third season. Fans questioned how Madeline could still be pregnant in Emily in Paris season 3.

But even though it feels like Madeline has been pregnant for far longer than nine months in Emily in Paris, time on the show does not reflect time in real life. When Emily is first sent to Paris, her assignment is supposed to last 12 months and Madeline is newly pregnant. Each season only takes place over the course of a few months, and Emily still hasn’t completed her stint in Paris when Madeline gives birth. In an interview with Glamour, Emily in Paris creator Darren Star confirmed that the “seasons are not nine months long.”

But Madeline Wheeler’s French-Speaking Ability Is A Plot Hole

While her pregnancy timeline is not a plot hole, Madeline Wheeler’s French-speaking skills in Emily in Paris are. When Madeline arrives in Paris in season 2, she mirrors Emily’s situation in the first season. Madeline’s French is rusty, and she makes multiple faux pas with the French staff, showing she is out of place. This does not make sense for the Netflix show’s continuity, as it was established in season 1 that Madeline was proficient at speaking French. But while this change does not work for Madeline’s character, it does the narrative service of showing Emily has found a home in France and no longer fits working for Madeline Wheeler.