9 Things We’ll Miss About ‘The Bold Type’

In the age of peak television, with streaming options and platforms aplenty, there’s no shortage of content available to consume. With so many options, there’s no guarantee your favorite show will survive its first season, much less avoid the dreaded surprise cancellation.

How lucky then, is it, for a show and its creators to be granted the opportunity to wrap up the series in exactly the manner they so choose. Freeform’s The Bold Type is approaching its finish line quickly, wrapping up an impressive five-season run.

When it premiered back in 2017, The Bold Type was poised to fill the gap that Pretty Little Liars was leaving behind, as well as help the network pivot out of its ABC Family days and cement itself as the hub for young, fresh shows. Grown-ish and Good Trouble have similar vibes, all geared towards young adults.

Where The Bold Type stands out though, since its inception, is its unique take on a workplace dramedy. While it’s focused on a group of women who work(ed) together at a major magazine, rather than focusing solely on how they interact within the context of their careers, the show has expanded its scope to follow them in their relationships, friendships, and their families.

Maybe I’m biased as a Millennial woman, with a young career working in media, watching a show about other Millennial women, starting their careers in media. Or maybe The Bold Type has created something special in the last five years, capturing and navigating present-day corporate America.

The reality is, after your school years end, work really becomes your social hub. On other shows, characters end their workdays and then go home and socialize with other friend groups. The Bold Type has captured how the bonds between coworkers can be just as impactful, and oftentimes, stronger.

While The Bold Type has had its ups and downs, it has never shied away from taking a stand on issues, and in later seasons, even presenting opposing viewpoints. The plotlines, while sometimes exaggerated, have always felt true-to-life, covering topics you or friends you know have experienced.

These characters have been built up so well, and portrayed brilliantly by the cast, that in many cases they feel like real friends you could meet along the way. It’s a tragedy, personally, that The Bold Type is ending because as a member of the PLL to TBT transition, I feel as if I’ve evolved in my career at the same rate that these women have.

We’ll see how their stories conclude on the show, but in some way, I feel like Jane, Sutton, Kat & Co. are all still out there, working their asses off to see their passions through.

Here are a few specific things I think we’ll all miss when The Bold Type comes to an end.

1. The Power Trio Dynamic

The first one is easy — Jane (Katie Stevens), Kat (Aisha Dee) & Sutton’s (Meghann Fahy) friendship dynamic. Though throughout the series we’ve seen each of our main characters make career moves, Scarlet magazine was the first office job they each had.

As I alluded to earlier, corporate America can be a real shock to the system after years and years of academia, and so it’s really the people you work with that makes or breaks a job. The shared experience, navigating bureaucracy while trying to follow your dreams is a bonding experience like no other.

The women have gone from coworkers to best friends to roommates and have navigated the world of relationships, coming to terms with sexuality, divorce, family drama, and the ever-present internal storm that is trying to figure out one’s passions.

Their friendship is what makes this show special, and both on and off-screen these three women have built an incredible dynamic that I’ll be sorry to see go.

2. Jacqueline Carlyle

Sure, The Bold Type draws many comparisons to the classic The Devil Wears Prada, but besides the backdrop of a magazine job, that’s where the line is drawn. In The Bold Type, Scarlet is led by a strong female character who is almost the antithesis of Miranda Priestly.

It’s easy to make a successful female character into a bitch, or at the very least an ice queen, with little regard for anyone other than themselves. The Bold Type turned this cliche on its head, instead making their fearless leader into a caring boss, passionate about mentoring her employees.

Jacqueline Carlyle (Melora Hardin) has gone to bat for all of her staffers at some point in the show, paving the way for our core trio to thrive in their careers. While Jane definitely has the most interaction with Jacqueline, the others also received sound advice from the boss.

One of Jacqueline’s most consistent character traits is her ability to perform a rousing inspirational speech when needed, helping her employees to carve their career paths without outright telling them what they should be doing. Almost like a career guru.

I’ll miss Jacqueline Carlyle’s calming mentorship, her steadfast belief in her team, and her killer sense of fashion. Oh and also, her absolute badassery — working from her treadmill desk while walking in HEELS?! Iconic.

3. Cold Opens

Okay, so this is a more technical aspect of The Bold Type, in that it’s just the way they chose to structure each episode. Rather than getting right into the meat of the show, each episode of The Bold Type begins with a quirky little comedic intro.

From “verifying sex positions” to stealing each others’ phones to text back a crush, it was nice to start off each week of The Bold Type with a little levity, especially when sometimes the content of each episode could get a little heavy.

4. The Fashion Closet

It’s no surprise that a show centered on a fashion magazine would have a solid sense of fashion itself. From Kat’s edgier, more athletic chic vibe, to Jane’s poised, put-together fashion and then Sutton’s bold, riskier fashion-forward looks, the ladies of The Bold Type dress for the job they want (and the job they have).

Another perk of working at a fashion publication? Access to hot fashion! It seems mundane, but just like you and I, Scarlet houses all of its clothes in a closet. It just so happens that this closet is probably larger than some New York City studio apartments.

Though Sutton is the only one who actually works in the fashion department, all three women spend their fair share of time in the fashion closet.

Need a break from work? Fashion closet. Kat’s having a sexuality crisis? Fashion closet!

Sutton’s crushing hard on an exec? You got it — fashion closet!

In an episode from the final season, where the girls are tripping on shrooms, they even declare their love for the closet’s “poof.” It’s a little oasis in the middle of their 9-5 job and gives them the respite they need when work becomes a little too much. Don’t we all wish we had that?

5. The rest of Scarlet’s staff

Even though The Bold Type is undeniably a story about three young millennial women navigating life, love, and their careers in the city, the show has featured a breadth of strong side characters.

From Oliver, fashion editor extraordinaire, and Alex, one of the only male writers at the female-centric magazine, to Sage, a staff writer who specializes in a sex-advice column and Andrew, Jacqueline’s assistant who moonlights as a drag queen based on his boss, every character on TBT can be your fave.

One particularly standout moment, from a recent episode of The Bold Type Season 5, came from Andrew’s dynamic with Jacqueline. As an executive assistant, Andrew arguably has a job that helps keep the wheels at Scarlet rolling.

Whether for the women of TBT or the men, the show has never shied away from making statements on salaries and opening lines of communication with gatekeepers at your company. That’s why I was pleased to have seen a scene where Andrew is blatant about how his salary isn’t substantial enough to live off of.

The assistant-level pay rate has been a hot topic of conversation in recent years, and considering how many companies prefer to promote internally, the position can be the key to upward mobility in companies such as Scarlet magazine.

I appreciate that The Bold Type shed some light on this issue and that a character like Andrew, while oftentimes billed as the comedic relief, was able to highlight the need for an open dialogue about issues that may feel uncomfortable.

6. Covering the Uncomfortable Issues

Just like with the discussions about salaries and compensation, The Bold Type hasn’t been one to stray away from showcasing women’s health issues in a way that not many other shows haven’t touched.

We learn early on in The Bold Type that Jane’s mother passed away from breast cancer at a young age, and so when the opportunity for a wellness campaign passes through the Scarlet office, the young women are encouraged to get tested for the BRCA mutation, which can be a precursor for cancer later in life.

As it turns out, unfortunately, Jane does have the mutation, which leads her down an anxiety-fueled rabbit hole and presents a stark look at what it means to be a woman in your twenties having to make massive life decisions, much earlier than anticipated.

I appreciated how The Bold Type handled this storyline, and that they showcased it at all. So many viewers, myself included, have a loved one who has lived with cancer, and for many people, cancer seems like an issue for “later” in life.

The Bold Type brought the story much closer to home and much closer in age, and no matter how uncomfortable it is to think about our mortality in our 20s, it served as a reminder to check in on ourselves at all ages.

7. The Ships

What would a TV show be without its ships? Some have stuck it out all five seasons, some have fizzled out as seasons came and went, and some are yet to be determined in the last few episodes of The Bold Type Season 5.

My top TBT ship is probably one that has gone through it all, Kadena. Kat and Adena started as colleagues, turned into lovers, broke each other’s hearts, went back to coworkers, hooked up, and have ended up in a will-they-won’t-they friendship/relationship.

I think by the time all is said and done, the two will have come to some sort of consensus on what they want their future to look like (all roads are pointing to a rekindling of their romance), whatever that may be.

The most established of the TBT ships is Suttard, Sutton and Richard, whose steamy forbidden exec/assistant relationship turned into a marriage that has since fizzled out once it was discovered they’re on different pages, lifestyle-wise.

I think it’ll be okay if Sutton and Richard don’t end up together, especially with how much closure the show is giving Sutton in its last few episodes. They’re just two people who clearly loved each other, but who aren’t compatible in the long term. And that’s okay.

The only character who doesn’t seem to be ending the series in a relationship is Jane, though she has always been the most career-oriented of the trio, so it might just be that she’ll end up focused on work rather than love.

That’s not to say Jane was relationship-less through all five seasons of The Bold Type. From Dr. Ben to Pinstripe to her most recent flame, Scott. The longest-lasting, Pinstripe aka Ryan, seemed the most promising until he cheated on her, their relationship never recovering from the betrayal.

It’s been a joy to watch these women fall in love over the course of all five seasons of The Bold Type, and find themselves both in terms of sexuality and just in what they want from a long-term partner.

How deeply loved these ships are is a testament to the chemistry all of these actors have with each other, and I’m sad we won’t get to see more of their relationships once the finale airs.

8. Sutton Brady

Okay, I’ll admit it. Even though I love each and every one of the characters on The Bold Type, Sutton Brady is my number one. Meghann Fahy is a comedic timing queen and is the perfect balance for Jane and Kat.

Where Jane and Kat are more serious characters, in the work and in their activism, Sutton lightens the mood up every time she’s on-screen and is oftentimes the most relatable of the three. Like many twenty-somethings, Sutton struggled through the uncertainty of what to do next in her career until she settled on what she’s most passionate about — fashion.

But even after deciding the industry she loved, she still experimented within her newfound lane, trying out designing clothes in addition to her stylist gig at Scarlet. It’s indicative of what plenty of us Millennials go through, wanting a change of pace and not feeling afraid to switch jobs if we’re unhappy.

Sutton Brady is one of those characters who, if they existed in real life, you couldn’t help but want to be friends with. She’s loyal to those she loves, she’s hard-working and knows what she wants, and she’s not afraid to have a great time. She’s written beautifully, and I’ll miss her when she’s gone.

9. Where the Future was Headed

I think what I’ll miss most when The Bold Type is gone is not being able to see where these characters end up next. As a 20-something myself, as I’m sure many other TBT watchers are, these characters are advancing through their careers at a similar rate that we are.

Just like how watching Glee or One Tree Hill hit differently when you were a high school student yourself, The Bold Type resonates differently when you’re going through similar situations.

Just in the first couple of episodes of The Bold Type Season 5, there have been hints at what’s next career-wise for these women. Jane is mentoring younger staff writers, Kat is leaving her job to follow her passions again, and Sutton is continuing to make a name for herself in fashion.

With a shortened final season, The Bold Type won’t necessarily tell us what these characters do next, but it’s very possible we see their paths reset onto the next thing. Jane, while still young, seems poised to move up the ranks of Scarlet. If only we had more time to watch that unfold, rather than have to fill in the gaps and estimate how long that would take.

Assuming there are no drastic plot twists in the last few episodes, I’m sad we won’t get to see these women navigate domesticity with partners and their careers. I’m bummed we won’t see more of Jacqueline and her husband rekindling their relationship, and it’s a downer that we won’t get more of Oliver being a great dad.

It’s also a shame we won’t get more of Alex’s new writing at his new job and how he takes his experience at Scarlet and writes through a more feminist lens at a male magazine. I’m sorry we won’t see more of Sage and her brand new vertical in Scarlet and that Andrew won’t make another appearance as Drag Jacqueline.

I feel like when it’s gone, The Bold Type is going to leave a female-focused, relevant, genuinely funny, workplace dramedy-sized hole in my heart that won’t be filled until the next great Millennial geared show takes its place.

I’ll miss these characters and watching them navigate the world we live in today, and I’ll miss the warm comfort of watching their friendship antics. And yes, I’ll even miss some of the crazier storylines the show delved into.

For a generation that grew up on 13 Going on 30 and The Devil Wears Prada, I think a small part of us all wanted to work at a magazine, and through The Bold Type, we all got to do that. I’ll miss it when it’s gone.

—

What are your hopes for the finale season of The Bold Type? Where do you hope these storylines end up? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

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!

The Bold Type Renewed for Fifth and Final Season