Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.
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The Bold Type remains a flagship program for FreeForm as it explores mature takes on relationships, continues to develop the ladies, and addresses workplace issues.
| Network | |
| FreeForm | |
| Creator(s) | Sarah Watson |
| Genre(s) | Drama, Comedy, Romance, Young Adult |
| Good If You Like | · Shows Which Address The Issues A 20 Something Could Go Through, But Not Be Over The Top
· Healthy Relationships · People Who Are Middle Age And Fabulous |
| Isn’t For You If You | · Want Men To Be More Than Love Interest, Mentors, or Insanely Annoying |
| Noted Cast | |
| Jane | Katie Stevens |
| Ryan | Dan Jeannotte |
| Kat | Aisha Dee |
| Councilman Reynolds | Matthew Kabwe |
| Tia | Alexis Floyd |
| Adena | Nikohl Boosheri |
| Sutton | Meghann Fahy |
| Oliver | Stephen Conrad Moore |
| Carly | Kiara Alondra Groulx |
| Jacqueline | Melora Hardin |
| Patrick | Peter Vack |
| Lauren | Emily Chang |
| Richard | Sam Page |
| Alex | Matt Ward |
| Pamela Dolan | Laila Robins |
| Angie | Shyrley Rodriguez |
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The Bold Type Season 3 Summary
A new season and slightly less drama. Starting with Jane, she chooses Pinstripe, aka Ryan, to be her boyfriend and things settle in nice. There are many moments in which, if this was any other show, they’d have large blowups, but instead something Ryan does during his book tour causes a major issue. Switching to Kat, as the lesbian bar, Wild Rose, is shut down, partly thanks to a callous man, Mr. Reynolds, she is compelled to do something and ends up running for Council person. A task which leads her to meet Tia, a love interest, who helps Kat get over Adena.
Well, at least until Adena shows up and rocks Kat’s world. Though, not in some petty, “I see you are trying to move on before I found someone new” kind of way. Adena has worked on herself, and that is why she is returning. Problem is, Kat has been crying, cleansing, working her butt off, so Adena’s return might allow for some sense of closure, but is still bad timing.
As for Sutton? Well, she continues to take advantage of this newfound stability in her life to see if becoming the next Oliver is really what she wants in life. Something Oliver is okay with and, as always, Richard supports, even as he is struggling with what is next in his own life.
Speaking of what’s next, Oliver adopts the child of his ex, Carly, and Queen Jacqueline has to contend with a young man named Patrick, who is all about the dot com. Leading to a series of battles that Jane gets involved in as Patrick recruits her to work for the online side of Scarlet instead of print. Making it so, hell or high water, she plans on trying to return Jacqueline to prominence and either put Patrick in his place or run him out. If she doesn’t get fired for being so petty.
Question(s) Left Unanswered
- What happened to Lauren?
- Will we meet Sutton’s dad in the future?
- What is the possibility, outside of a wedding, of meeting Richard’s family?
- Considering we met Kat’s parents, and Sutton’s mom, will we meet Jane’s brothers or dad ever? There was a lot of mention of family this episode, and it reminded me we have no idea what her family looks like.
Highlights
The Relationships – 95
With watching a lot of shows featuring teens or twentysomething-year-olds, it means a huge amount of relationship drama. However, The Bold Type doesn’t do that. When it comes to Richard and Sutton, despite their age difference, they don’t really clash. Yes, Sutton has issues with Richard using his money and her uncomfortable with depending on him, but they squash that. Also, when it comes to Richard opening up about his dad dying, while it takes some work, it happens.
However, the best example might be Jane and Ryan. Primarily due to Ryan presenting a slew of moments which, if this was any other show, Jane would flip out on a regular basis. Be it him coming home late at night, not going to a party Sutton and Richard were throwing, and other moments, she doesn’t flip out. Also, in episode 6, after Jane vents about a situation, she reminds Ryan that even when she is going through stuff, she it doesn’t mean she won’t be willing and able to celebrate his accomplishments.
Though, depending on how you look at it, they may stretch the maturity thing a bit far after Ryan kisses someone, tells Jane, and they don’t break up. Granted, the trust is broken, and he’ll have to earn it back. However, the way she weighs the pros and cons of having Ryan in her life, and doesn’t necessarily make a snap decision, it is so foreign that it makes you question if the girl is d***matized.
Kat – 89
What makes Kat so wonderful is, aside from being the rare depiction of a privileged Black girl, is that she is flawed but not messy. Prime example, the end of her and Adena has her all messed up, and when Adena returns to her life, it leads you to believe there is a good chance she may cheat on Tia. However, Kat vocalizes that she is working through things, in speaking with Tia, and respects Tia as a person. Especially considering Tia was closeted before meeting Kat and is learning how to be comfortable as a queer young woman with Kat by her side.
And then with Adena, you have to love the fact Kat recognizes she still has feelings for Adena, yet recognizes her mind isn’t in the place to be with her. Don’t get me wrong, a part of her wants to pick up from where she left off. However, it seems there is this recognition that just because Adena recognized where she went wrong and grew from that, it doesn’t mean Kat should welcome her back with open arms. Plus, there are more conversations needed to heal old wounds, and those wounds can only truly heal as friends. Which, as both recognize, for them it can be very all or nothing so until they figure a way to deal with the weight of their previous relationship, they can’t start a new one.
But, personal life aside, there is also the fact Kat is a woman of action and isn’t one to just vent and complain. Take note of her campaign. Originally, she was volunteering for someone else, but with her speaking up for that women, she eclipsed her and led to that woman dropping out, and Kat being pushed to run instead. Which, despite some hesitation, she did and only lost within what could be seen as a margin of error. And as for her work at Scarlett, compared to Jane, she worked marvelously with Patrick and, despite him often crossing boundaries, I’d submit he helped, alongside Tia, step up her social media game.
Sutton – 88
Each year Sutton sheds a bit of fear of the possible and seeks out the various opportunities which are available to her. This season dealt with her becoming a designer after a last minute change to save a model. Now, was her journey as heart-wrenching as her becoming Oliver’s assistant and adjusting to him? No. This time she had support. But, as noted above, Sutton had to find a way to get past her issues with her father and her feelings about money for Richard to invest in her. Because, essentially, that was the thing to conquer this season.
In season 1, it dealt with believing in herself and being willing to ask for help to pursue her dreams vs. do what made financial sense. Following that, in season 2, the focus was proving herself to her peers, her boss, and learning how to manage having a sense of autonomy and power. Leading to what she conquered this season which is not only recognizing that power but doing something with it beyond your job. Alongside, in her relationship, allowing it to evolve in such a way where you are not so much dating but prepping for marriage.
Also, one last thing, you have to also appreciate how she handled the whole Carly situation. Between giving advice to Oliver to checking her privilege when it comes to being a slim young woman, she aced being a role model and someone who can be a big sister figure.
Jacqueline’s Rebirth & Oliver’s Next Chapter – 85
Speaking of Carly, you have to appreciate how she was part of opening Oliver up to us a little bit. For while we knew he was a boy from the middle of nowhere who worked his way up, is Black and proud, and things of that nature, his present-day life was a mystery. We didn’t see him with anyone at parties, didn’t talk about dating, but then with Carly, we got a taste of not only his past dating life but also learned he wanted to be a dad. Something he struggles with, yeah, but it isn’t like Carly is a baby. She’s in middle school, the hormones are about to kick in, and Oliver hasn’t really slowed down at work. Which will certainly make it interesting to see how a single man handles raising a child on his own.
But, not to be outdone, there is also Jacqueline. Someone who is dealing with ageism from the board, as well as their new favorite Patrick, while not being 100% sure what will be her next movie. Something I appreciated for often Jacqueline is a sage, a benevolent leader, but rarely someone threatened or on the ropes. So this shift was welcomed, especially with Jane really bucking up ready to do anything and everything to get people to respect Jacqueline. It was so cute. A waste, since Jacqueline seemingly got fired, but the shock of that happening is of itself also a plus for it makes you realize how a title and experience does not protect you when you could affect a company’s bottom line.
Learning What A Councilman Does – 80
There are tons of titles in government, but while the federal government gets a huge amount of attention, local government doesn’t get the same. At least beyond the title of governor and mayor. So the explanation we got in episode 4 really helped flesh out how important local politics can be. After all, a local politician today can end up on a larger platform depending on the support they were given.
Low Points
Pamela Dolan Was Such A Disappointment – 60
Considering what a big name she was touted to be, how vicious her reaction to the article calling her out was built up to be, her appearance and reaction fell flat. Which negatively affected Jane’s storyline, which was already floundering in intrigue, outside her relationship with Ryan, and made it seem the show wanted to address #MeToo/ #TimesUp issues, as it did in the second season, but wasn’t sure how to deal with them long term. For if it wasn’t Alex’s dealings with the #MeToo movement, mentioned below, it was this situation that led to you feeling the writers were pushed to address it, but weren’t necessarily comfortable with how to handle it. If not, after Sutton dealing with it in the second season, felt they were milking the topics, so they did what FreeForm maybe pushed on them, to keep them happy, but put more focus into other things.
On The Fence
Alex – 79
Since the failed attempt to be Sutton’s boyfriend, Alex has been a bit of a floater. He shows up, doesn’t do or say all that much, outside of make Kat have a slight identity crisis, and that’s it. At least, in season 2, that was the gist of his character. In season 3? Oh, he gets to have two, maybe three, major moments!
The first is him being the perpetrator of a #MeToo situation. One that honestly doesn’t hit him that much after the episode, but during episode 3, the show explores how complicated things are from being called out, presenting your side, as well as cancellation culture. Unfortunately though, recovering from being cancelled isn’t gone into.
However, following that, Alex does end up becoming roomies, temporarily, with Jane, and makes her as an individual tolerable. Also, he ends up with Angie, Kat’s assistant! Unfortunately, though, there is no build to them dating and no word on how she felt on the whole #MeToo article.
Patrick – 75
Patrick is a complicated character. Not because he is written to be complex himself, but in trying to understand his motives and how to feel about him is difficult. For one, he is pushed to be a feminist of some kind, yet is clearly on the side of those trying to push Jacqueline out. Also, he has previously fought for equality in the workplace but exploits Kat while she is having a depressive episode and also digs into Jane’s business. Which, with her being a writer, who just got back into the fold, can you imagine her trying to push back against the board’s new golden child?
Well, she does, and someone there are no repercussions, even when e-mails are exposed, and her hatred of Patrick gets out. Of which his response is him getting it and some attempt to craft him as a victim. If not someone misunderstood. However, in the long run, you realize Patrick is about winning over people with grand gestures as he, on the sly, does a lot of shady things. All so he can maintain this idea he is this eccentric guy who is really nice, when really he is an a**hole.
Jane – 74
The problem with Jane is the same problem she has had since season 1, when you compare her to Kat and Sutton, she is out of place. Jane is that girl you are so used to seeing in shows like this. One who makes leaps and bounds, despite what she says and does, and even when she falls on her behind it is on a high thread count, memory foam, pillow. Making it so there are few, if any, reasons to invest in her and she slowly morphs into a brat.
Case in point, while Patrick is an ass, her trying to take him down because she is mad she no longer works for Jacqueline was childish. Also, her telling off her boss, even if it wasn’t at a work event, was jaw-dropping. And despite who Patrick is, there remained the question of who Jane thought she was to talk to someone that way to their face, never mind, when the e-mails came out, be like, “Yeah, I said it – and what?!”
Making her relationship with Ryan, and being Alex’s roommate, one of the few positive things this season. If only due to Alex challenging her, and picking with her a bit, and Ryan showing there is some form of maturity when it comes to Jane. At least when she is getting what she wants anyway.
Tia – 76
The thing about Tia is that she is in a weird position due to the Kat x Adena thing. She is almost a rebound, but when you take note Tia wasn’t out, and Kat gave her the courage to explore being with a woman, that complicates things. Also, Tia is sweet, mature like the rest, and has the kind of story you want to dive into. However, as much as you have to appreciate Kat making Black friends, outside of work, there remains the question of how and if Tia will be integrated in the next season? Much less, with the campaign over, what is next for her to do to make it so she isn’t just a puppy following Kat around?
Overall: Positive (Watch This)
The beauty of The Bold Type is that it isn’t a purely progressive, women will conquer all no matter what show. As seen by Jacqueline likely being fired, and Kat not winning her election, essentially losing to two men, character don’t just steamroll anyone and everyone because they want something. Instead, as shown by Sutton, you have to work hard and not just gain experience but grow as a person. Which may skip Jane’s character a lot, but they have to have that one girl don’t they?
But, outside of Jane, how the show handles #MeToo & #TimesUp situations, as well as the oddly crafted Patrick, season 3 was awesome. I will say though, even with this being rated positive, it is by the skin of this show’s teeth. For I do think we’re coming to that point where the end game should be talked about for I don’t know if this show can do more than 2 more seasons. Even when you consider the shakeup of the print magazine possibly being no more.
Has Another Season Been Confirmed?
Yes
Thoughts On Another Season
My issue, hinted at above, is that the show needs to be equal in personal growth and professional growth to work. As of now, relationship-wise, these girls are acing it. Yes, Kat is single, but dammit we need to see more single young women on TV. Especially ones who aren’t moping about it or going through a ho phase. Then, in terms of their professional lives, Kat has sort of hit a glass ceiling and Jane? Well, while this Pamela Dolan story may lead her to doing panels and things of that nature again, she remains the most immature character. One who isn’t going to change, she is who she is, and in that we see a problem. Mostly due to Jane being treated as a central, if not the lead character. So it is almost like Sutton and Kat can only go so far if Jane hasn’t reached that point yet.
Leaving the need to question, what can this show do for another, if not two, more seasons? It is already struggling with workplace topics like #MeToo and #TimesUp. So, outside of Kat looking for a promotion, Oliver maybe trying to be a co-director, so he can delegate more stuff to Sutton, but make a decent salary, what’s next? What can be done? Since they can’t leave Scarlett, yet Scarlett is a ball and chain to this show.
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