'The Bold Type' Season 4 Finale: Kat puts an end to her 'forbidden love' and it was about time
Spoilers for 'The Bold Type' Season 4 Finale 'Not Far from the Tree'
Ever since the Freeform show first hinted at the possibility of a romance between its left Liberal strong-headed Black lead Kat Edison (Aisha Dee) and a white privileged Republican Conservative Ava Rose (Alex Paxton-Beesley), many of the show's ardent watchers weren't happy. And rightly so.
It was rather out of character for Kat to fall for someone who, in the face of homophobia, doesn't lift a finger. It was rather random for her to like someone who doesn't see where the lines of sexuality and politics merge or more precisely, refuses to see because she doesn't directly affect her. This romance also risked maligning Kat's character arc completely as a woman who, within her power and even beyond, has gone out of her way to provide help and assistance to those from marginalized groups and who as a queer Black woman had set a precedent among the show's audience. "So to try to make a romantic storyline with someone who opposes things that are so important to her, like her existence as a queer black woman, is diminishing her character," a fan rightly pointed out.
Fans didn't take long to recognize the real problem - constantly shifting showrunners and very little representation in the writers' room. So much was the flak that the actress Aisha Dee issued a statement via her Instagram calling for more diversity and representation behind the screen.
In the finale episode of Season 4, surprisingly, Kat decides, after spending the night with her, that this relationship is indeed complicated and that she'd rather stay away from it altogether. What's really surprising here is the fact that writers made it seem like this was one for the long run. And it is very suddenly that she arrives at this conclusion. At the Belle, during the launch of her podcast, it is brought to Kat's notice just how problematic her relationship with Ava is. In fact, the podcast needs to do damage control in order to redeem itself from the highly controversial views of its first episode which hosted Ava.
Even Kat's best friend Jane Sloan (Katie Stevens) points out that chemistry aside, this romance will only invite trouble for her. Not just her. As it turns out, her connection with Kat also brings introduces troubles for Ava. Following their podcast episode, in their respective Liberal and Republican circles, they are both questioned about the conversation with each mocking the other.
So after a passionate night, Kat sneaks out of Ava's house and then breaks up with her over a text message saying that she cannot do "this" because it's all too complicated. Although it doesn't look like the show gave into fans' demands since production was halted early on during the lockdown, we're glad that it came to this.
While this might have felt brusque, we're glad the show wound up this "romance" as soon as they could. Will it carry forward to the next season, who knows? We don't even know if the show is renewed as of yet.
You can catch all four seasons of 'The Bold Type' on Hulu.