The Bold Type returns for its second season on June 12. If you haven’t watched the first season, now is the time to do it!
The Bold Type, airing on Freeform, follows three best friends — Jane, a writer; Kat, a social media director; and Sutton, an assistant extraordinaire — working at a Cosmo-type magazine in New York City.
Its first season received a lot of positive attention when it debuted in summer 2017 (including from Hypable!), but, if like me, you’ve been living under a pile of work a rock since then, you may have missed out.
Already renewed for seasons 2 and 3, The Bold Type is a refreshing show that will brighten up your summer. If you’re still on the fence, we have 10 reasons to check out what has been termed the Millennial Sex in the City before it returns for its second season:
Rootable characters
Each member of the main trio — Jane, Kat and Sutton — is rootable. These young women have their own goals, desires and quirks that drive their stories. They make mistakes, but they grow from them. They work hard and don’t have a lot of time for play, but they push for what they want.
They are different enough that it can seem amazing that they are so close as they are at times, but their love and support for one another is unwavering. It makes watching them work through the trials and tribulations of adulthood engaging and inspiring.
Effortless diversity
The show takes place in New York City… and it looks like it! The show’s diversity also extends to sexual orientation. One of the key relationships of season 1 occurs between Kat, a woman of color, and Adena, a lesbian Muslim artist. The people who work at Scarlet magazine look like a representative cross-section of our country. It’s refreshing to see a show be so diverse with so little comment about it.
Women supporting women
The message at the center of The Bold Type can be summed up by Janet Reno’s line (which gets quoted in the show!), “There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t support other women.”
The show believes in the importance of women lifting each other up, of women pushing each other to be better and of women helping each other through highs and lows.
Unabashed feminism
Besides showing women supporting other women, The Bold Type features a feminist viewpoint in other ways. Its narrative lens is female — the male characters exist in supporting roles to the women at the center of the story, but they are never caricatures. For instance, Alex, one of the trio’s best work friends, is a solid and welcome presence whenever he’s on the screen.
The show explores issues specific to women, challenges the patriarchy — including the magazine’s all-male board — and lets its women own their sexuality in ways specific to them. Plus, the women are not expected to be perfect; they make mistakes but are given the chance to learn and grow rather than be punished.
Strong mentor figures
Scarlet magazine’s editor-in-chief, Jacqueline, is introduced in a montage that is clearly meant to evoke Miranda Priestly. But she turns out to be one of the most nurturing and supportive but no-nonsense mentors a young woman could ask for. She pushes her employees, including Jane and Kat, to be better but she is not afraid to praise them when they’ve done well. She takes no crap but she also stands up for her people.
Sutton starts working for Lauren, another no-nonsense figure at Scarlet, but her hard work earns Lauren’s approval, and she is not shy about helping a deserving employee advance her career. When Sutton shifts into the fashion department, her new mentor, Oliver, is similar in that he asks a lot of his people, but he pushes them to be better and is not afraid to give them the rewards they earn.
It’s a nice change of pace to see the mentor figures be tough but supportive — rather than the bosses from hell. It earns the respect of the employees and makes them better at their jobs.
A willingness to tackle difficult — and relevant — subjects
The Bold Type is not afraid to tackle subjects like breast cancer through Jane’s struggle with her personal experience with the disease, internet trolling through Kat’s experience getting rape threats through Twitter, sexual assault through the words of survivors, immigration through Adena and more.
These issues are relevant today, and the show puts a human face on them.
A nuanced take on controversy
Not only does the show tackle difficult and controversial topics, it does it well. Rather than feeling like it has delved into a “special episode,” The Bold Type integrates these issues into the everyday struggles its characters face. After all, isn’t that how we face these issues in our own lives?
The Bold Type has a specific political stance and is not afraid to make statements about these issues — but it never feels preachy.
Snappy dialogue
The characters of The Bold Type are smart, snarky and not shy about expressing their feelings. Combine this with the crazy situations these ladies find themselves in, and this leads to some quality dialogue.
I dare you not to lose it when Kat is having to help Jane remove a yoni egg from, well, you know. Kat declares, “This is the worst Easter egg hunt ever.”
Or, when the ladies are having some relationship drama and Sutton decides to confront the source of her issue, she says, “I am going to talk to him right now. Because I am emotionally mature.” To which her friends reply, “Show off.”
Gorgeous clothes
On a shallow note, the outfits on this show are divine. They work at a fashion magazine and the budget has been used to make it look like it.
It’s damn fun
Perhaps most importantly, The Bold Type is just fun, feel-good television. The world may be falling apart around us, but that just means we need more comfort than ever. And this show should be the chocolate bar show for your summer.
The Bold Type season 2 premieres Tuesday, July 12 at 8:00 p.m. ET on Freeform.
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