All of the women of The Bold Type make drastic decisions in their relationships as Season 3 draws to a close.

---

Starring Katie Stevens, Aisha Dee, Meghann Fahy, Sam Page, Matt Ward, Melora Hardin and Stephen Conrad Moore

---

As a brief recap, Kat is currently juggling two loves in the equally viable Tia and Adena, as well as just losing the councilwoman race; Jane has just discovered that Pinstripe has cheated on her, while Sutton has a big design fashion show coming up, whilst also finding out that Richard’s dream job is in San Francisco.

Sutton

Sutton has decided to use real women for her fashion show runway, which proves to be a massive success. Joanna Coles (who is a high powered editor of Scarlet’s parent company) wants a custom dress designed by Sutton, and she is thrilled. However, working through the night to get Scarlet’s emergency new issue out, she realises that she far prefers the community atmosphere of working in the fashion department, essentially in Oliver’s position. To be fair to her, she does have an absolutely brilliant idea for the photoshoot “exposing” the whole idea of the fashion world, with the makeup artists and stylists being part of the shoot to deconstruct the fairy tale and idealised imagery. She acknowledges that the only reason that she realises that designing isn’t her passion, as she originally thought, is because of the support of the people around her and the opportunity she had to pursue those whims. Consequently, she tells Richard that he needs to take the job in San Francisco, as it is his passion. Perhaps it won’t work out, but he needs to try. While long distance is tough, Sutton is confident that it is the right thing to do.

Jane

Jane is a woman of principles. Jane, you say? Opinionated? I didn’t know. Oh wait. We all did. It’s fine, we still love her. But by God, she always has an opinion to share, and it’s generally controversial. In any case, she is adamant that Ryan cheating on her (I still maintain that kissing isn’t that big of a deal) means the end of their relationship, even when he postpones his book tour to make it up to her and spend time with her. At an interview that Jane is having about her Pamela Dolan piece, in which she has been accused of being antifeminist, Ryan proclaims his love for her, for which she is unappreciative as she feels ambushed. Ultimately, however, Jane realises that she loves Ryan and if she broke up with him it would be because she felt that she had to, instead of actually wanting to. Resultantly, she gives him another chance, though sternly warns him against breaking her heart.

Kat

Kat has lost the election and comes back home to Scarlet as Head of Social Media once more. She is clearly finding it hard to let go of her aspirations and goals, however, and breaks down when she has to dispose of her election materials. She decides that she is still able to channel this energy into her work. Meanwhile, she is also juggling and working through her feelings for Tia and Adena. She is honest with Tia about her confusion, and Tia tells her to take her time figuring it out, leading to Kat and Adena sleeping together. Adena admits that she never stopped loving Kat, and that she doesn’t want anything halfway. Ultimately, Kat goes in completely the opposite direction and tells both Tia and Adena that she doesn’t want a relationship and wants to focus upon herself. This is especially awkward as Adena has accepted a position as inhouse photographer for Scarlet, assuming that it was a grand gesture by Kat.

Meanwhile

At Sutton’s fashion show, Jacqueline and Jane encounter a model for Scarlet who turns out to be fourteen. Still thinking about the criticism levied against them for their Pamela Dolan article, Jane wonders whether they are bad feminists for working for a magazine that continues to promote unhealthy body standards that can be damaging for younger readers (a nice call back to last week’s episode). This leads to Jacqueline unceremoniously scrapping the entire issue the day before publication, requiring the entire staff to work overnight to get a new magazine together in record time. It’s high drama, though highly unrealistic within a magazine. At the close of the episode, Kat, Jane and Sutton turn up to work to discover that Scarlet is no longer there. Boxes are clearing out the offices, and Jacqueline is nowhere to be seen.

---

Highlights

Sutton and Kat’s arcs this season

It may appear that both Sutton and Kat have come full circle since the beginning of the season. In many ways they have. Both of them embarked upon promising and exciting new career ventures, then went back to their old jobs. However, there is a difference in their perspective. Sutton is now wholly committed to her fashion role and has more of an idea of what she has to offer in a management capacity. Meanwhile, Kat is able to harness her desire for social justice into a women’s magazine, which is a very important voice. Furthermore, Kat started the season as single and unhappily so – admitting in the season premiere that she was heartbroken. In the finale, she chooses to be single willingly. She does not run back to Adena, or even throw herself into a new relationship with Tia, but instead makes the decision to take time to focus upon herself.

Jane forgiving Ryan

It’s nice to show that relationships can still work even when somebody has made a mistake. It would be easy for the show to portray Ryan as a cheating scumbag who Jane should never have trusted, but it’s nice to show that every relationship is unique and that it can still be a viable option to continue. The great thing about Ryan and Jane’s relationship is that it’s healthy.

The uncertainty

What’s the deal with Scarlet now? Does it not exist? Where’s Jacqueline? Has Patrick got something to do with this? All these questions give Season 4 a lot of scope in where they take our characters.

---

Lowlights

THE UNCERTAINTY

How am I meant to live until Season 4 without the answers to these questions. Come on guys, why are you doing this to me?

Keeping Adena around

I love Adena. I do. I love Kat and Adena. But does it not slightly undermine Kat’s decision to have Adena around all of the time? It’s just going to hurt our feelings, or going to feel inevitable that they’ll get back together. I’m very conflicted by all of this, I have to be honest.

---

And so The Bold Type Season 3 comes to an end. Change is afoot at Scarlet – if it even exists anymore. I look forward to recapping Season 4 with you all/both: sorry it took so long for this recap! Summer term is the most exhausting thing to have ever existed.