The Bold Type has a knack for taking a basic thing, such as weddings, and making them about so much more. It’s one of the many things I love about this show, and “Tearing Down the Donut Wall” epitomized it in every way.
As Sutton starts her wedding planning, she realizes that there are some deeper-rooted issues that come from her past, and it’s causing her to feel confined to this “bride bubble.”
Meanwhile, Kat thought she could handle uncomplicated dating, only to realize she couldn’t, while Jane focuses on protecting her happily ever after in a world where it’s not guaranteed.
Let’s break down the latest episode of The Bold Type and all of the beautiful love and individuality that came with it.
Sutton’s Fight For Individuality
The first response to hearing someone is getting married typically involves excitement and happiness. Which is exactly how Jane and Kat reacted upon discussion. But Sutton, our bride to be, wasn’t quite feeling it.
Sutton was a bit curious as to why that feeling was absent. But she was able to put it together rather quickly upon seeing Carly’s fight for individuality in a uniformed school where everyone looked the same.
It was surprising that Sutton felt so strongly about Carly’s establishing her individuality. Until she realized why. She’s Carly in this situation. Sutton feels like a wedding dress would be like a uniform, just like Carly is forced to wear.
Sutton feels confined by the expectations that come with the wedding dress. Considering Sutton watched her mom depend on men for her own happiness, it doesn’t exactly make Sutton excited to replicate the process. She feels like she’s destined to become her mom, because that’s the only example she’s ever known.
Sutton begins fighting for her individuality — in her love life, in what her marriage will ultimately become. She understands that as she stands in the wedding dress Oliver chose for her. Sutton wants to cry. But “in a good way.” She realized she’s making her own path. It’s not about her mom. It’s about Sutton and Richard. And that is where she’ll carve out her own path.
Kat’s Struggles With DTF
As Sutton was preparing to settle down, Kat realized she was at a point in her life where she’s not in the right emotional state for a relationship. She doesn’t want to have the feelings. She just wants to DTF.
So, that’s what Kat decides to do. She swipes right and meets this woman at a bar. Kat seems determined to keep this casual, and that’s what it appears to be at first. They head back to Kat’s and have sex.
Only, the next morning, things get complicated. While Kat thinks she just hooked up for one night, Kat’s drawn towards emotional connections — even if she doesn’t want to be.
Kat thought she could handle uncomplicated dating. Only, things turn out to be a lot more complicated than originally thought. The two of them are going to get breakfast together — hey, they love that egg sandwich — and the girl invites Kat to a friend’s birthday party, which she casually accepts.
I’m sorry, Kat, but things are getting emotional.
Which is proven true when the two begin learning they have a lot in common with each other. They know how each other think, and they’re having a great time. Kat finds herself holding her hand, and she’s freaked out. That’s not what she wants. She just wants to hook up.
So Kat walks tight out.
Kat liked her, but she wasn’t ready for something new — in a relationship. She just wanted sex. Suddenly Kat realizes she’s become the cliche she described earlier — Kat’s the lesbian that brings the moving van to the second date.”
Ultimately, Kat finds the courage to “break up” with this girl, telling her she’s not in an emotional place right now. Which is when she hooks up with the hot bartender, who happens to be a dude.
What better way to just have sex with no emotional connection than to, as a lesbian, have sex with a guy?
Happily Ever After?
Ever since we were young, we’ve been taught to expect a happily ever after. In our fairytale books, Disney movies, and in entertainment. Only we realize in life that there’s really no such thing as happily ever after. Not really. It’s not always happy. It’s difficult. It’s ugly. And it’s frustrating.
But that doesn’t stop us from pursuing that happily ever after. From telling ourselves that, just because we haven’t found it, doesn’t mean it’s not out there somewhere. It gives us something to keep fighting for, to keep searching for.
That’s where Jane finds herself in this episode, as she’s tasked with writing a story about weddings. Honestly, it was her own fault, as she pitched the whole thing.
But Jane gets more than she bargained for when she accidentally tapes — and then accidentally listens TWICE to Jacqueline’s conversation with her husband, which reveals their marriage is failing. Jane is suddenly uninspired, and she then does the bare minimum with a basic listicle that leaves everyone shocked that Jane Sloan wrote something as uninspiring as that.
Jacqueline confronts her — pissed that Scarlet used all of these resources on Jane’s suggestion. Which is when Jane reveals the real reason she can’t write the article Jacqueline wants — she can’t describe Jacqueline’s dream wedding when she knows her marriage is falling apart.
That’s when Jacqueline hits the nail on the head, as she describes it as “a fantasy, not a dream.” Suddenly, it all makes sense. Jane is protecting something more personal than Jacqueline. She’s protecting her fantasy of “happily ever after.”
Which inspires Jane to rewrite her article, an inspiration piece about searching for a happily ever after even though you know the challenges that come with it. Because while you might experience pain, love is something that we can all agree is something worth fighting for.
The Bold Type airs Thursdays at 9/8c on Freeform.
