Emily Blunt unpacks 'very sweet' final scene of 'Devil Wears Prada 2'

Spoiler alert! We're discussing major details about the ending of “The Devil Wears Prada 2” (in theaters now). Stop reading if you haven’t seen the movie yet and don’t want to know what happens.

There’s nothing that a few carbs can’t fix.

Emily Charlton (Emily Blunt) is back in all her frazzled, vapid glory in “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” slinging acerbic zingers right and left as she reunites with former Runway magazine colleagues Miranda (Meryl Streep), Andy (Anne Hathaway) and Nigel (Stanley Tucci).

When we pick up in the sequel, Emily has left Runway to oversee luxury retail at Dior. But midway through the movie, we learn that it wasn’t by choice: Years earlier, Miranda pushed her out of the magazine, telling Emily that she didn’t have what it takes to rise in the ranks of the esteemed fashion bible. (“You’re not a visionary, you’re a vendor,” Miranda snipes.)

Thirsty for revenge, Emily enlists her billionaire boyfriend, Benji (Justin Theroux), to buy Runway out from under Miranda so that she can run it herself. But Andy and Miranda eventually beat Emily at her own game, finding another wealthy buyer, Sasha (Lucy Liu), who outbids Benji for controlling stake of the publication and its parent company.

Emily Blunt says Andy and Emily are ‘the other love story in the movie’

At the end of the film, Emily shocks Andy when she asks her out to lunch. Emily offers a mea culpa, explaining that even when they were rival assistants at Runway 20 years earlier, she always wanted to be friends. In fact, when Andy first left the magazine, Emily called her to hang out but Andy didn’t pick up.

Now single and working at Coach, Emily gets a much-needed pep talk from Andy, who assures her that she doesn’t need a man and will always be iconic. And much to Andy’s surprise, the once carb-conscious Emily orders a basket of fries for them to share. ("Don't you know that shared carbs have no calories?" Emily quips.)

“I loved that scene,” Blunt tells USA TODAY. “Emily gets her comeuppance, rightly so, as she claws her way to the top and has to be taken down a peg or two.” But even still, “there’s remorse. She’s someone who doesn't apologize terribly well and it's painful. And yet, I think her and Andy have always had this weird affinity. It's the other love story in the movie and I found it very touching.

“As much as these characters get put through the wringer, you deal with elements of forgiveness and recognition,” Blunt adds. “That scene encapsulated that and it made me laugh. It was very sweet and I loved doing it with Annie, who's just a great dance partner in that way.”

Stanley Tucci unpacks Miranda’s emotional ‘epiphany’ about Nigel

Runway’s longtime art director, Nigel, also gets closure of sorts with Miranda. As you may remember in the first movie, Miranda sabotaged a lucrative job opportunity for Nigel so she could keep her own position as editor-in-chief. But Nigel kept his head down and remained loyal, telling Andy that “when the time is right, she’ll pay me back.”

That moment comes in the sequel, as Miranda cedes the spotlight to Nigel during Milan Fashion Week, allowing him to take charge of Runway’s fashion show and be the face of the brand, even giving the keynote speech.

“Have I taken you for granted?” she tells her right-hand man during a quiet, heartwarming aside. "In a world where everyone shouts and complains and whines and screws up and tries to cover up, there's you. There's always been you."

“I thought that scene was lovely,” Tucci says. “She has that epiphany and comes to him with her heart in hand. He’s very moved by it, but he almost doesn’t know how to react. It’s the same thing in the first film, when he doesn’t get the job and has almost no reaction.

“He’s just this person who exists under the surface, but with such dignity,” Tucci adds. “Catty, but dignified.”

How does ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ end?

In an early scene of “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” Andy and Miranda win Sasha’s trust by writing an exclusive Runway cover story that sensitively details her high-profile divorce, career and new engagement. And so, when Sasha later agrees to buy the magazine, Miranda and Andy have hope that she will run the publication with care – even as they concede that working in media in the current landscape is a bit like clinging to the last piece of wood from the Titanic.

The final scene is beautiful in its simplicity: showing Andy, Miranda and Nigel all working in their offices late at night, uncertain about where the future of journalism is heading, but acknowledging that all you can really do is roll up your sleeves and do the work that feels the most worthwhile to you.

It’s a bleak yet realistic conclusion, particularly for a big-budget summer movie.  

“I love journalists and their predicament is very pressing on my house,” says screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna, whose son is in journalism. “How does Andy learn how to monetize [stories]? Miranda has the same issue because the nature of advertising has completely changed. Google search has wiped out the entire newsstand. So we wanted to make the most joyful, fun movie that you humanly could about that.

“Somebody used to say that when you work on something successful, everybody fights. But when you work on something that’s failing, everybody becomes best friends,” McKenna adds. “These characters are so challenged that it bonds them together.”