FreeformConsider this our official plea to Freeform: The Bold Type must absolutely be renewed.
The series just ended its stellar first season, and while yes, there were some endings, it was a finale full of new beginnings that need to be explored.
First of all, Jane (Katie Stevens) really did leave Scarlet, but not before taking on one last story about a young woman speaking out about her sexual assault by holding weights in Central Park. She invited anyone to join her, but only other victims could also carry her weight. Jacqueline (Melora Hardin) finally allowed Jane to cover the story, but kept a much closer eye on her than she usually did, which made all the sense in the world when Jacqueline joined all the girls in the park at the end, and quietly took the weights. And yes, we were crying, both at that reveal and at the use of the unofficial Women's March theme song, "Quiet," by MILCK.
It was a powerful and brave moment in an episode full of bravery, and made it all the more difficult to watch Jane walk away from her idol and her dream job, when it's hard to believe she had gotten everything she could out of her short-lived promotion.
It might actually be our least favorite thing that has happened on this show, because it just seems like the most insane decision…which is exactly the point, according to creator Sarah Watson.
"We thought it would be interesting to see [Jane] make the scariest choice," she tells E! News.
"Jane has had this idea of who she wants to be in her head since she was a little girl," she continued. "Your 20s are so much about discovering who you are, and we think that Jane kind of putting herself in this box early on in her life in a way kind of held her back a little bit. Like having this huge ambition in a way made her think like, ‘I can only be successful if I achieve this one thing.'"
Watson says the goal for all of the girls was to always ask what the "scariest thing" was, and for Jane, it was leaving Scarlet.
"It's leaving the nest and leaving this place she always thought she loved. So we thought like, ok, God, what if she did?"
As for what happens next, now that she has packed up all of her stuff and left the building, Watson has no idea…or at least no idea that the writers have discussed. Since the show hasn't yet been picked up for a second season, but as for what Jane does next, she says "anything is possible."
Kat (Aisha Dee) spent the entire episode obsessing over the fact that the Scarlet Twitter account was about to hit two million followers, but once it did, she wasn't as excited as she thought she'd be. Instead, she was thinking of the fact that she almost got on the plane with Adena (Nikohl Boosheri), but chickened out. At the very end of tonight's finale, she went through with it.
Kadena, as the couple has come to be known, is the aspect of the show that has deservedly gotten the most attention. It's a loving relationship between two women of color (including a Muslim who wears a hijab), but it's also one that was about to be torn apart due to immigration laws.
Adena discovered in last week's episode that she was not going to be allowed to enter the U.S. due to the Muslim ban, and while it created an opportunity for an incredibly romantic airport lounge date, the story was one of necessity for Watson.
"It was like our first or second week in the writers' room that the Muslim ban happened," Watson tells us. "And so I feel like it would have been irresponsible to have not played that, and also because we knew we'd be airing at a time when the Muslim ban was a thing, so we had to fly this girl back and explore that. So again, it would have just been irresponsible to not play the reality, but at the same time, it's been sort of…that's been such an organic, wonderful relationship to explore, and it's just been interesting for us as writers to see how these current event real-world things impact a love story."
The show's other major (though less socially relevant) love story is the one between Sutton (Meghann Fahy) and the world of fashion but also between Sutton and Richard (Sam Page) (from the legal department, forbidden) and Alex (Matt Ward) (from the editorial department, slightly frowned upon).
Tonight, after Jacqueline walked in on Sutton and Alex exploring their new potential relationship after last week's hook up, we were all subjected to the most awkward HR meeting in history, because it wasn't just HR. Legal also had to be there, meaning Sutton had to define her very new fling with Alex in front of her ex.
Sutton quickly realized Alex was just her friend (poor, poor Alex deserves better next season), and by the end of the episode, she had admitted that she loved Richard and before meeting up with him in the elevator. They turned towards each other…just as the doors closed.
That tease was "Definitely intended to give a glimmer of hope," Watson says.
"Kat and [Sutton] are kind of on the opposite ends of the spectrum, where Kat is like this girl who believes she can do anything," Watson says. "I think deep down Sutton is probably the most capable of the three girls, but she just is a girl who is more timid about using her voice and about asking for what she wants. She's the assistant who's going to excel at being an assistant, because she doesn't leap forward and take those bigger opportunities."
Let's all just hope Freeform does take that leap forward and renews this show, because as beautiful as that finale was, we refuse to let it be the end.
Check back tomorrow for more from Watson!
The Bold Type airs on Freeform.