It’s hard to believe that The Bold Type‘s fourth season has come and gone with a flash. It feels like just yesterday when the show returned amid a slew of changes at Scarlet.
But, if possible, the end of the season marks even bigger changes on the horizon for Kat, Jane, and Sutton.
Sutton is a newly-married woman, who’s about to start her dream job as a stylist with Scarlet. Jane is a newly-single woman, who’s about to undergo a double mastectomy to try and preserve her future. And Kat is a newly-unemployed woman, who is staring at an uncertain future.
Let’s discuss The Bold Type‘s life-changing season finale:
The Truth Can Be Exciting
It’s hard to imagine that just a couple of weeks ago, Sutton was intent on giving up her dream to become a stylist at Scarlet and move across the country to start a new life with Richard.
The big question following last week’s episode was what Sutton’s reaction would be when she learned that she got a job as a stylist for Scarlet. Well, she almost didn’t get the chance to decide.
Oliver saw how excited Sutton was when she told him that she was moving across the country to San Francisco with Richard, where her goal was to use her Instagram following to get a stylist job on the west coast. So, Oliver held back telling her the exciting news.
Leave it to Jacqueline to talk sense into everyone, including Oliver. Why was Oliver giving up so soon? While he’s Sutton’s friend, he’s also her boss. And just a couple days ago, Oliver was bragging about how much of an asset Sutton was for Oliver and Scarlet. So why is he letting her go?
Ultimately, Oliver doesn’t know what Sutton would say to the job offer — because she wasn’t given the chance, as so eloquently pointed out by Jacqueline. How can she make a decision about something without knowing the context in full?
So Oliver tells her. Now, Sutton’s dream job is literally standing in front of her…and she turned it down.
This is literally everything Sutton has wanted for so long, but she can’t accept it. She made Richard a promise — they’re going to move to San Francisco and start a life together.
But, ultimately, Sutton is sacrificing a piece of herself for her relationship. While relationships are about compromise, they’re not about sacrificing something that makes you, well, you.
It takes a conversation with her mother in a limo before her wedding for Sutton to realize that. Her mom reminds her that, all her life, she’s been someone that has embraced independence, courage and conviction. It’s what makes Sutton, Sutton.
Sutton is someone that’s always known what she wanted. It never mattered what stood in her way. She’s been true to herself for her entire life. Her mom helps her see the truth that’s been staring her in the face: Sutton sees that she wasn’t being true to herself, choosing to forgo the opportunity to be a stylist at Scarlet.
Which leads to an uncomfortable, yet necessary conversation between Sutton and Richard before their wedding. But the truth is, Sutton hasn’t been honest — with herself of Richard. She tells Richard that she’s going to take the job at Scarlet, even though they decided to start a life together in San Francisco. Because Sutton has never allowed anything to get in the way of what she wants.
Ultimately, Richard knows marriage isn’t supposed to be easy, but he thought they had some time before things got hard. But, in choosing to marry a woman that knows what she wants, that’s better than spending a life with someone that never opens up to you, as Jacqueline tells him.
Sutton and Richard will work it out. Together. It takes two to make a marriage work. And they’re in this together. Sutton supported Richard’s dream, so why wouldn’t he support hers?
Now, as a happily married couple, Sutton and Richard have some rough seas ahead as they’re going to face the difficulties of long-distance marriage. But they’ll get through it. Together. That’s the hope. We need some happy love on this show, especially after what happened with Jane and Ryan.
The Truth Will Set You Free
The truth isn’t always the easiest thing to hear. It’s also not the easiest thing to admit to yourself. Fortunately and unfortunately for Jane, she admitted and accepted the truth about her relationship with Ryan.
Following the revelation that Ryan had drunkenly slept with a stranger during his book tour, Jane is struggling to come to grips with the future of their relationship.
Jane clearly is not okay with things, as she shouldn’t be. Ryan not only slept with another woman, but he betrayed her trust. Not only that, he failed to tell her the truth. So Jane has a decision to make, and she’s leaning toward ending things.
As Jane is struggling when it comes to establishing her vertical, she learns that Jacqueline is giving her marriage another chance. It plants this false seed of hope in Jane’s mind — If Jacqueline can make things work with Ian, why can’t I make things work with Ryan?
Relationships aren’t easy, far from it. So Jane tries to convince herself that Ryan’s cheating is just a hiccup. She invites him to the wedding, where she’s determined to try to make things work. She owes their relationship that much.
Jane tells Ryan that she’s trying to picture her life without him — with her surgery, the wedding — and she can’t. He’s always there when she pictures her future. Jane wants to try and make it work, like Jacqueline is doing.
But that’s all a fantasy. The truth has been standing in front of her the entire time, and she’s chosen to ignore it. Because embracing a reassuring lie is easier than accepting the scary truth.
And the truth is that Jane doesn’t trust Ryan.
So she ends things.
Not because she wants to end things, but because she has to. Jane loves Ryan, but she deserves to be with someone that will be honest with her. If she stayed with him, it would’ve been for all the wrong reasons. It would be because she’s scared — scared to go through her surgery alone, afraid to be alone. But it’s not a reason to stay.
Who knows if Ryan had told Jane the truth if things would’ve been different. But he never gave her a chance. Thus, it was the beginning of the end.
Ultimately, Jane ends the season with the two people she loves most in the world — Kat and Sutton — by her side at the hospital as she prepares for her surgery. And, while the truth was hard to hear, it also set her free.
The Truth Has Consequences
Doing the right thing is never wrong. But exposing the truth is not without its consequences. Which is exactly what Kat learns in this season finale.
Kat and Adena continue to fight the good fight when it comes to standing up for Travis, who committed suicide as a result of gay conversion therapy. Safford has refused to publish the image that shines a light on the disgrace that is gay conversion therapy, and that onus falls on R.J. Safford himself.
Kat and Adena plan to blackmail R.J. into either publishing the image or stepping down from Safford. Only, they’re not prepared for his lawyer daughter, who threatens to ruin their lives.
The problem is, there’s too much on the line for them — Kat’s job, future; Adena’s VISA. Adena suggests that they continue to fight the good fight within the system. Then, when the time is right, they can fry the bastard.
But is the time ever right? Because now that Senator Jackson voted against a ban on conversion therapy, the threat is greater than ever. Waiting for the right time doesn’t feel right. Because there wasn’t a right time for Travis, or even Adena.
Kat believes that her and Adena brought together because of something bigger than love — truth. So Kat decides to release R.J.’s tax returns to show the world he’s a hypocrite. So she does.
Through. Twitter. Like a boss.
Ultimately, Kat’s bravery forces R.J. to step down. Mission = success. But it wasn’t without its consequences. Kat was fired by Scarlet, and her very future is at stake.
Not to mention, Kat has made an enemy of R.J.’s daughter. And one thing’s for certain, this story isn’t over.
The Bold Type returns with new episodes this summer on Freeform.
