Emily In Paris is rarely heralded for its realism. The social media manager scoops her job despite having just 48 followers and is sent to Paris by a global company without speaking a word of French. But in series two the writers got something very right—A British man’s dialogue.
Played by Lucien Laviscount, Alfred aka Alfie enters Emily’s life when they (reluctantly) partner up in French class. The London banker makes his disdain for the language school he was sent to for his job known and, quite stereotypically, would rather be playing football.
Alfie resists speaking French, ignores Parisian culture, and prefers drinking pints in an English-speaking pub. His character is, pretty much, dad vibes on an all-inclusive holiday with slightly better clothes.
Topically, he was sent to Paris by a UK bank to assist a French branch with their financial services during the post-Brexit transition. Despite his lack of interest in Europe, he’s chosen for the role as he’s the only person in the office without a family to uproot…Hence the surly attitude.
When Alfie meets Emily their opposing romantic and pragmatic perspectives of Paris collide, which makes for a fun and teasing friendship-turned-romance. So, when Emily’s career is thrown into jeopardy it’s understandably Alfie who she opens up to.
‘They all just abandoned me without saying a word,’ she vents in a red tulle dress with a cocktail in hand at the end of a long day. And what words of wisdom does Alfie offer her back? ‘That’s mad.’ Two words, two syllables, basically no meaning at all. Yet, one of the most uttered phrases in the UK.
A favourite of many male Love Island contestants, ‘that’s mad’ is essentially a get out of jail free phrase that allows you to respond to someone’s distress while saying essentially nothing. Semantically, it’s from the same family as ‘it is what it is’.
‘The most realistic part of Emily In Paris is her pouring her heart out to this British lad just for him to reply with this,’ wrote one fan on Twitter. ‘That’s the best representation of someone British I’ve ever seen in cinema,’ added another.
While it’s troubling that British men’s defining attribute is communication issues, it’s a trope that has run through endless rom coms. Think of Mark Darcy in Bridget Jones - or indeed Pride and Prejudice.
Aside from the lack of emotional intelligence, Alfie has habits that are a little too familiar: Carrying a Chilly’s water bottle with him everywhere he goes, judging Emily before he really gets to know her, and saying mate at the end of every sentence. If you head to London’s financial district, you will bump into over a dozen Alfie-esque people before lunchtime.
Yet, as is often the way, Alfie’s prejudice and stubborn nature is clearly a defence mechanism. ‘Alfie’s role is to capture the sense of being lonely in a city,’ Laviscount told [Time](https://time.com/6129566/lucien-laviscount-alfie-emily-in-paris-season-2/eason-2/) of his character. ‘When you feel like that, you can become quite bitter, which is why he puts up his guard by being defensive and sarcastic. Emily opens up his world and gives him this perspective on what life in Paris can be like, and that’s where their friendship blossoms.’
READ MORE: All The Ways Emily In Paris Fails As A Social Media Professional In Season Two