We’re in the era of the multiligual TV show (Drops of God, The White Lotus, Emily in Paris), and it’s become more than fashionable to drop characters in a new country for an episode or two to shake off the shackles of a familiar setting. A new project from Amy Sherman-Palladino and Dan Palladino, creators of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Gilmore Girls, takes this concept to a new level. Étoile, whose first season dropped on Amazon Prime on April 24th, is set between Paris and New York, and focuses on two major ballet companies who have decided to swap some of their star talents for a season as part of a marketing push to combat waning ticket sales.
Amazon Prime’s Étoile, Reviewed
Well, “focuses” is a strong word. The sprawling cast counts among it dozens of French, American, and Canadian actors, both established names and rising talent, none of whom seem quite sure if they are the star of their own show. Poster privileges go to Luke Kirby and Charlotte Gainsbourg, who play the heads of the two ballet companies, as well as Lou de Laâge, who plays the titular “étoile” of Le Ballet National in Paris, who is traded to New York’s Metropolitan Ballet Theater as part of the swap. Yet Kirby’s larger-than-life charisma is stifled in the buttoned-up role of Jack, and Gainsbourg’s Geneviève is wildly inconsistent and underwhelming in ways that make you wonder if either she or Sherman-Palladino had any idea of who this character was supposed to be. De Laâge, a French Sydney Sweeney-lookalike who learned both English and ballet for the role, is more dynamic as the firecracker prima ballerina Cheyenne, but when indignation is your primary character trait, you’re bound to run out of steam quickly.
But wait—we’re also supposed to follow the story lines of Mishi, the daughter of the French Minister of Culture, who dances for MBT but is traded back to Paris against her will, and Tobias, the eccentric star choreographer of the New York ballet world whose neurodivergent idiosyncrasies piss off everyone in his wake. Every one of these primary characters gets a host of side characters who might pop in for a scene or a season, so you’re never sure who you should be paying attention to, and it’s impossible to get invested in anyone.
The problem here is that the Palladinos have departed in Étoile from their traditional formula: a story radiating from a charismatic female protagonist (Midge Maisel, Lorelai Gilmore), whose journey is propelled by scene-stealing side characters. Since there are simply so many characters in this show, it lacks a central driving force, and the lovable quirkiness of the supporting figures is diluted. (With one exception being Bruna Toussaint, Cheyenne’s taciturn and offbeat Parisian mother, who later takes in Mishi when her overbearing parents start to put a drain on her.) What motivation these characters have is largely obscured in puffed-up speeches about art and humanity, bolstered by a strong lean into the eccentric genius trope, which mandates that if you are talented enough, you apparently get to act like a total asshole with no repercussions.
Étoile Can’t Choose Between French and English
Language-wise, the show is similarly unbalanced. Many of the characters (and the actors who play them) are bilingual, and switch between French and English in ways that sometimes make sense, and are at other times baffling. Yanic Truesdale, who Gilmore Girls fans will recognize as the pretentious French concierge Michel, plays Geneviève’s second-in-command, Raphaël. Truesdale is from Montreal and a native French speaker, and here is presumably playing another Frenchman—yet, while he does converse in French frequently throughout the show, he will occasionally speak to other French people in English, with no Americans around. Gainsbourg, who is also bilingual, has similar moments. It made me wonder if the show had put a pre-mandated quota on how many French-language scenes would be allowed per episode. (It’s also worth noting that the classic rapid-fire dialogue the Palladinos are known for may pose a challenge during the French sections for those who need to rely on subtitles.)
Overall, Étoile is a show that is still struggling to find its footing. It was picked up for a two-season run a full two years ago, so we know that Season 2 is on the horizon. Hopefully, we will get a little more character development, and some actual stakes to drive up the tension, instead of a wash of ego-driven bickering between these so-called brilliant artists and their handlers. There is still time to make this a show worth watching, but it’s going to take more than tutus and tantrums for Étoile to stick the landing.
Catherine Rickman is a writer, professional Francophile, and host of the Expat Horror Stories podcast. She is currently somewhere in Brooklyn with a fork in one hand and a pen in the other, and you can follow her adventures on Instagram @catrickman.
