The Bold Type Review: No Feminism in the Champagne Room (Season 1 Episode 5)

On The Bold Type Season 1 Episode 5, “No Feminism in the Champagne Room,” the series finally gains the momentum I’ve been waiting for!

As I mentioned in my reviews of The Bold Type Season 1 Episode 3 and The Bold Type Season 1 Episode 4, the show needs to become a bit more grounded in the real problems they attempt to explore.

It usually introduces a political to social problem, but by the end of the episode, everything goes according to the Sutton, Jane, and Kat’s plans. This formula dramatizes when it happens for all three women, so it tends to get old pretty fast. However, “No Feminism in the Champagne Room” does a better job showing the realities of life with still maintaining their core funny and positive message.

Bravo, The Bold Type. You are epic.

You are here for a reason. Now stand up for what you believe in. 3rd position! You cannot change unless you power through what’s right in front of you. -Soulwheel Instructor

Sutton stands up for what she deserves and gets her money’s worth of job perks. Kat finally understands the repercussions of her volatile reactions. And Jane experiences what it feels like to make large scale mistake that can’t be wisdomed away by Jacqueline.

Speaking from an intersectional perspective of their arc analyses, on this episode, all women wonderfully depict the different struggles that everyone can relate to in some way shape or form.

Sutton represents the young women from middle and lower classes, who have more at stake when they make bold moves in the work place. We haven’t explored how Sutton’s background affects her decisions since The Bold Type Premiere. So, the call back to that situation is perfectly thorough.

Kat and Jane can’t understand why Sutton is hesitant to pull a power move on Oliver. Unlike Kat and Jane, she doesn’t have the level of power that comes with monetary stability.

However, The Bold Type does an amazing job exploring this aspect because they also show how power is relative. If you don’t have the money, think about what you do have.

You may have friends or family, who may not be able to supply you monetarily, but can supply you a safety net. What about the other option of a side hustle? Maybe downsizing your way of life to accommodate your circumstances?

Instagram flexing might give you likes, but it could make you broke.

Sutton handles the situation in such a mature fashion. She looks at her options and weighs what she wants versus what she needs.  Then, with the help of her best friends, she decides to stand up for what she deserves based on what she brings to the table.

Kat undergoes a serious life road block: commitment. As I explain in my preview of The Bold Type‘s “No Feminism in the Champagne Room,” I’ve always known Kat doesn’t do commitment very well.

And amazingly, she becomes more open-minded in two ways. She realizes that Soulwheel acts as an important therapy for people who are going through life troubles and just need those affirmations. She also opened her mind to realize that everything isn’t about her and her timing.

I realize she was going through her own insecurities and struggles. I truly feel for her because commitment is a scary thing, especially when someone’s 3-year relationship hangs in the balance of if you can deliver that same longevity.

However, the way she speaks to Adena at her office crosses so many lines. There’s a kind way you tell people you aren’t interested. I know she’s torn in her decision and she just wants to get the Adena face-off over with, but Kat has to learn to see through other people’s perspectives without prompting from others.

When Adena runs from their street confrontation with the troll in episode 4, it took Jacqueline to explain to Kat how her behavior could negatively affect Adena’s green card application. When Sutton has to think twice before she can speak her mind and put her foot down, it takes her storming out for Kat to understand she isn’t understanding to Sutton’s perspective.

I’m ecstatic Adena also knows her worth, similar to Sutton, and she’s willing to walk away from Kat once she realizes that Kat can’t give her what she deserves. The audience gets to see the intersectionality at work in this situation.

We not only get to see more of Adena’s culture in her morning prayer ritual, that the Muslim community calls the Fajr prayer, but we also see more of Adena’s character. Her compassionate and mature personality rings true in the face of her cheating on CoCo in the beginning of the episode and how she handles Kat’s reaction to her after the latter gets cold feet.

If you all remember my review for The Bold Type’s season 1 episode 4, “If  You Can’t Do It With Feeling,” I explain my confusion in Adena’s choice to kiss Kat when she never stated if she had broken up with Coco or not.

Apparently, she didn’t. However, she handles the situation with grace and maturity. She immediately feels obligated to tell Coco about her feelings for Kat and, in the face of her severe attraction to the Scarlet Social Media Manager, she breaks it off with Coco before she breaks more of her trust.

That’s how you write situations like this! The Bold Type never fails to show how this show isn’t about immature mistakes leading to ridiculous drama. This show is about genuine mistakes and offers countless ways to handle these inevitable life problems.

This theme continues into Jane’s episodic arc, as well. Since the first episode, her formula has been: make a mistake, think about the problem, someone (usually Jacqueline) gives her a seed of wisdom, she finds a way around the problem, and everything turns out perfectly. This episode shows a break from this formula, and I couldn’t be any happier for it.

Jane finds herself with a problem that, even with her best intentions, she can’t make go away. And sometimes, that’s just how life works. We have to learn to compromise.

Jane does just that when she also learns how to look beyond her own perspective and how her article of good intentions still could lead to negative effects. Jane realizes she’s not as woke as she wants to believe.

She realizes that, instead of listening to Morgan’s needs and seeing things from her perspective, she can’t get past what she believes is right and how she only intends good things when she writes these articles.

In this episode, Jane learns to think with a wider perspective. Her growth is inspiring.

One thing that remains true throughout this entire series lies in their dedication to friendship. I don’t see any problem that these three young women can’t get past, as long as they continue to be each other’s support systems, love unconditionally, and try to see life through the other’s eyes.

Finally, a show that gets friendship, life, development, and feminism right. The possibilities and implications of this series get larger and larger by the episode.

I can’t wait to see what The Bold Type has in store for us next. What do you all think about Kat and Adena’s relationship road block? Is it over for our favorite couple?

How about how Sutton handles her job situation? Do you agree or disagree with her decision? What about Jane and her finally waking up to other people’s struggles?

Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

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The Bold Type airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on Freeform.

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