'The Bold Type' Season 4 Episode 15 Review: Sutton and Richard move on, but Freeform seems to be losing the plot
Spoilers for 'The Bold Type' Season 4 Episode 15 titled 'Love'
If you thought that last week's episode of 'The Bold Type' was bad, this week, the show presents to you an even bigger disappointment with 'Love'. In five short stories, Kat Edison (Aisha Dee), Sutton Brady (Meghann Fahy), Jane Sloan (Katie Stevens), Jacqueline Carlyle (Melora Hardin) and Alex Crawford (Matt Ward) confront new challenges in their relationships.
The first 20-odd minutes of the 43-minute runtime of the episode are consumed with completely unnecessary updates. Allow us to rephrase that: untimely updates. At the end of the previous episode, much to the chagrin of its fanbase, the show had hinted that Sutton and her husband Richard Hunter (Sam Page) might be calling it quits. When Sutton tells him about not wanting children, he reacts emotionally by throwing away his phone. But the episode doesn't pick up from there, no. It begins with all the miscellaneous.
Early on in the episode, we're told that there are five types of love - forbidden, first, rekindled, complicated and unconditional. We follow Kat, Jane, Jacqueline, Alex and finally Sutton as they make new discoveries about their relationships.
Kat is obviously battling her attraction towards Ava (Alex Paxton-Beesley). But as was teased in the promo, they kiss. This is a highly problematic route for Kat who, as a Black Liberal woman had to go out of her way trying to prove to a white Republican that she can take criticism. But that's not the end of i, Ava is a lesbian who believes that because she doesn't particularly participate in debates surrounding the LGBTQ+ community in Republican circles, she is not a part of the problem. What was that ridiculous defense she had said? "My sexuality is not my identity." What surprises us more is Kat falling for an excuse that could have worked in 2012, not anymore. With the clout that Ava has, it is unfair and downright selfish. Don't just take our word for it. Fans of the show were livid following last week's airing and completely against this new romance forced down their throats.
There is more than one such romance forced down viewers' throats. Scott (Mat Vairo) confesses about his feelings for Jane. We have long cringed at the possibility of this office romance (in the age of Me Too, yes), but this episode was a downgrade at that too. Redundant dialogues, putting Jane on a pedestal for "exposing" sexist work practices and whatnot make this "first love" unbearable to watch.
For some reason, Scott and Jane's rapport is placed under the chapter of 'first love' and Kat and Ava's is 'unforbidden' - when it should have been the other way round.
There are some six-odd minutes given to Alex and his girlfriend Dr Alicia Golden (Yasha Jackson). Remember the very successful medical practitioner that he had deemed intimidating? She returns after what seems like forever. Alex is still trying to figure out his place in her life and this "complicated love" is not easy. If we're being honest, this was perhaps the most earnest portrayal of relationships this episode. And then there was Jacqueline and Ian repairing their marriage in quite the conclusive chapter. Hardly any complaints here because her character seems invincible and rightly so.
And then finally comes Richard and Sutton. In an unexpected turn of events, the couple is now having disagreements about having children. Now, months after tying the knot. Their arguments are childish, egocentric and irksome. If this is the show hinting that a working, career-oriented woman can't have it all, it might not work.
The show continues to do Sutton and Kat so much wrong, it is infuriating. The characters seem to have stunted and show no possibility of redemption. At the end of the episode, Sutton calls her two best friends with the show's signature "I need you" and they rush to her rescue. Richard has left Sutton.
It is redundant now more than ever to rely on the trio's friendship when things go downhill. Jane, Kat and Sutton's friendship is one that the audience (and us too) hold dear in our hearts. But some battles are fought alone. And maybe Sutton needs to know that.
With this, 'The Bold Type' delivers its absolutely worst episode since it first came on air in 2017. Complaints from fans about the quality deterioration on the Freeform show can be traced back to the second half of Season 2, but we kept mum owing to the timely discussion of socio-political issues they tied to the characters. But with this latest episode, maybe it should just shut shop.
'The Bold Type' airs Thursdays at 10 pm ET/PT on Freeform.