The Bold Type Review: Trust Fall (Season 5 Episode 1)
Kat, Jane, and Sutton all end up at the Scarlet retreat on The Bold Type Season 5 Episode 1, “Trust Fall,” even though they don’t all work there anymore.
Instead of the clarity and new start one might expect from a retreat, the bold three are in the middle of the messes they’ve created for themselves.
It’s not ideal to meet them all here, but because of the abrupt pause in production on Season 4, I suppose there is nowhere else they could be.
The Bold Type fans would have been happy if we never saw Ava again, but I understand why we do. She doesn’t deserve to be ghosted via text because of her political beliefs — no one does.
It is satisfying to hear Kat say that she wants to be proud of the person that she is sleeping with and she can’t be proud of Ava. The harsh reality for marginalized people is that we can’t just ignore someone’s harmful beliefs because the sex is good. It’s a privilege we just don’t have.
Ava’s storyline is messy, but she needs to appear on screen again for The Bold Type to really clean it up, and then never bring her back again.
Unfortunately for Sutton, there is no way to clean up her situation with Richard right now, whatever it is.
It’s sad to see her so unfocused and lost, but it’s at least realistic. People make mistakes when they’re hurting and she’s in the middle of hopefully the worst heartbreak of her life.
Jane is also smack in the middle of writing her expose. The way she gets the assistant at States & Nations to trust her is, well, bold.
No matter that it makes sense that Jane, Kat, and Sutton are at their respective places in life, “Trust Fall”‘s biggest flaw is that it is boring and not even Carson Kressley can fix that.
A retreat is an interesting event to center a season premiere around, but The Bold Type does not actually do that.
Jane leaves to work on her story with Scott, Sutton is drunk, and Kat is there to “take care” of Sutton but it is just an excuse to have her run into Ava.
One scene of trust falls is a waste of a retreat. We love The Bold Type as much for the Scarlet brand as for everyone’s personal issues and after this retreat? I hope the staff gets something together for their presentations because I would not want to invest in Scarlet.
Sage, Joey, and Alex’s dilemma about cancel culture is the most compelling. Should someone lose their job over a homophobic tweet they wrote years ago?
I’m inclined to be on Alex’s side here. The internet is forever and even young adults who are immature know this. Is it “cancel culture” or accountability? I resent The Bold Type a little bit for making me question if accountability is right.
On the other hand, Alex’s fragile male ego is why Joey lost his job in the first place. I don’t agree with Joey’s point of view about Alex. But does Alex have the right to dig for the worst of someone’s old tweets just because his feelings are hurt?
I don’t know, but it is certainly a waste of time — as is a lot of this episode. Here’s to hoping we only go up from here and this season doesn’t fall forward on its face doing a trust fall like Sutton.
—
What did you think of this episode of The Bold Type? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Critic Rating:
User Rating:
The Bold Type airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on Freeform.
Follow us on Twitter and on 
Instagram!
Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!
Esme Mazzeo
Esme Mazzeo is a lifestyle and entertainment journalist from Long Island. When she's not writing for work, she's writing for fun, or searching for something to satisfy her sweet tooth. She thinks rainy days are the best kind of days. Certified night owl.