In the second hour of the two-hour premiere of The Bold Type, things get sexy (and in turn unsexy because that’s how balance works). Jane struggles with another assignment from Jacqueline that is way outside of her comfort zone while simultaneously learning more about herself. Kat reconnects with Adena and deals with feelings of her own that have sprung up since last they saw each other. Sutton decides it’s time for her to move on from her role as assistant and has to decide what matters most to her, stability or following her dream. “O Hell No” was written by Sarah Watson and Directed by Victor Nelli Jr. Let’s make our way to the fashion closet to unpack what went down.
THE BIG O | It’s time for another round of assignments for the writers of Scarlet and Jane (Katie Stevens) is officially in the mix at the staff meeting. Before the Grand Empress herself arrives, the others chat about a column from a writer, Ryan, for the men’s’ version of Scarlet downstairs. Jane is less than impressed with his subject matter but Sage (guest star Stephanie Costa) brings up that it’s not just men who watch porn. Jedi Master Jacqueline (Melora Hardin) chooses that moment to enter the room and just like that Sage has an article topic this week. That will mean someone has to take Sage’s sex column for the week and, “oh look who’s this right here oh hello Jane, tag you’re it!” Jacqueline, in her infinite wisdom, KNOWS it isn’t in Jane’s wheelhouse and is trying to push her to be the best Jane she can be. Sage, quickly becoming my favorite instigator, suggests a “Best Orgasm” piece and just like that, Jane has her assignment. In the fashion closet, aka my favorite place ever, the girls talks about their latest issues and Jane tells them about the orgasm column. Kat (Aisha Dee) doesn’t see what the big deal is and tells her to “open a bottle of gin. Chase it with nothing. Start typing,” which is honestly my new mantra. While the other two chat, Jane becomes increasingly more stressed until she finally blurts out that she’s never had an orgasm. There is a brief moment of hilarious silence before Kat and Sutton (Meghann Fahy) hop up, teamwork pants on, ready to get the whole story. Jacqueline, sensing a disturbance in the force, calls Jane to her office to make sure Jane is all good. The smug grin on Jacqueline’s face when Jane cops to being nervous is delicious. She gives her solid advice: just make it personal. It’s what made her last piece so good after all.
Jane gets ahold of her gynecologist to check there is nothing wrong on that front and takes a field trip to find somewhere private to talk only to find herself in an elevator with no service. She yells “A PROBLEM WITH MY VAGINA” right as the doors open and our new friend Ryan (guest star Dan Jeannotte) from downstairs walks in. He seems to be enjoying how flustered she is but she gives him the cold shoulder and departs. Next on the Orgasm Mission ‘17, Jane (with Kat there for moral support) goes to see a sexologist who gives her exercises and assignments to try on her own including a Yoni Egg and the task of watching porn to figure out what will “awaken her erotic creature.” Because friendship, Kat and Sutton join her for ‘movie night’ and they talk about their own preferences. Sutton is more of an erotic novel kind of gal as the production value of the porn industry has nothing on the HD quality of a girl’s imagination. Jane tells them that she always ends up overthinking any fantasy and it takes her out of the mood. Later, she is still at it, alone this time when she visualizes herself in an office fantasy but slams the computer closed when her brain fills in the blanks and puts Ryan as her partner. Frustrated she looks around and eyes the yoni egg (which I REALLY hope wasn’t the same one just being passed around on display.) The next morning she calls Kat and Sutton in a panic because the worst possible thing happened and the egg is stuck. I won’t even lie, I shot soda out of my nose. They meet in the fashion closet and nose goes for who has to go on the Easter egg hunt. Kat loses the battle but wins friend of the year and you know what, next year too, by diving right in and fishing the yoni egg out from where it was hiding. Later, Jane finds Kat in the kitchen washing her hands for what I can only assume is the 20th+ time and thanks her for her service.
Having no luck with the porn or the egg, Jane does what Jane does best and researches the living daylights out of the subject and learns that it is actually a lot more common than she initially thought. Her article she turns in to Jacqueline reflects that research but Jacqueline isn’t feeling the “Jane” in it and wants her to do another pass. She even offers to let Jane publish it anonymously, a thing she does NOT do, if it means the piece is truly a personal one. At an art show with the girls and Alex (Matt Ward), Jane spots Ryan. Taking her own advice to be more like Kat and just do something crazy, she marches up to him, checks to be clear he was indeed flirting with her, and plants one on him before about-facing and marching out. She spends the night knocking out her new pass on the article which is a much more personal piece about having never having had an orgasm. The next morning she turns it over to Jacqueline who loves it and wants to publish it right away. Jane stops her to make one teeny but monumental change. She puts her own name on the piece and walks out of the office, head held high as the other writers give her proud looks.
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A FOLLOW-UP | Kat is tasked with contacting Adena (Nikohl Boosheri) for a follow-up piece on her very popular article but can’t seem to get ahold of her. She deleted all of her social media and isn’t answering any nexts. To make matters worse, those unanswered texts started with the picture Kat sent to her at the end of the pilot so Kat is worried she freaked Adena out. She tries calling but the number has been disconnected. In the meantime, she tells Sutton and Jane about the fact that she had a sex dream about Adena the night before and this entire exchange was magic from start to finish. Instead of being like, “Gasp! A woman!” Sutton was like, “Gasp! Details!” the same way it would have been if Kat had told them she had a sex dream about a male coworker they weren’t aware she was into.
Later, as if she sensed Kat had been thinking about her, Adena shows up at the office to explain to Kat why she ghosted. It turns out, after the vibrator contraband debacle (what a sentence) Adena started getting death threats and so she deleted all her accounts and changed her number. She clarifies that she DID get the picture though and tells Kat that she touched her [heart] as well. Kat tells her about the follow up article and while Adena is busy at the moment, if Alex (who will be writing it) wants to come to her art show later that week she will make sure to talk to him. She also adds that Kat should come too *wink wink*. Before the show, Kat tries to figure out what she is feeling for Adena and ends up doing exactly what Jane has been struggling with – overthinking. She talks to both Sutton and Jane about it but at the time of the show, still hasn’t jumped on the “this is a real crush” train.
At Adena’s show, the three girls and Alex watch Adena arrive and then watch Kat hesitate to go over and talk to her. Much later on, Jane gives her a supportive push in the right direction and Kat heads over to finally say hi. She only gets a few feet before she sees Adena approached by another woman who, based on the cuddling and the kissing, I am going to go out on a twig of a limb and say is Adena’s girlfriend. Kat looks absolutely crushed and returns to her friends who tell who are all kinds of supportive and tell her she is incredibly brave for putting herself out there even to herself. Once Adena is alone, Kat goes over and tells her how amazing the show is and how honored she is to be a part of it (her “Misunderstood” picture is one of the pieces Adena has on display).
DREAM JOB | While the other two are busy with their own jobs and love lives, Sutton is ready to take the next big step in her own professional life. She has been on Lauren’s (Emily Chang) desk for three years and both wants and needs a change. She asks Lauren for her support in looking into the business side of the magazine and for once Lauren is legitimately impressed. She was expecting Sutton to ask about fashion (what she secretly wants to do mind you) or writing or something but praises her for being “practical”. She sets up an informational interview with someone on the business side that would for sure be a great opportunity if it weren’t for the teensy fact that this someone is Richard (Sam Page) aka Sutton’s secret boyfriend. In the interview he is blown away by her resume and she tells him about how she studied finance in school because is was a stable job and she and her mom weren’t exactly well off. He tells her about a job in ad sales that just opened up and tells her she would be perfect for it. Later, she is filling out the application when Alex spots it and asks her about it. She admits to him it isn’t her dream job but the money is great and she would still get to work at this magazine she loves.
She gets in an argument with Kat about going after a job in sales because Kat knows Sutton’s dream is fashion and can’t understand why she wouldn’t just go for it. With Richard that night, she tells him that Kat doesn’t understand because she has never had to worry about money like she does and tells him about her emergency $100 that she keeps in her purse at all times in case she can’t cut it and has to go back home. She tells him that if she gets the job the first thing she is going to do is spend it. Later at the art show, she gets a call from Richard who tells her that he heard from a little birdy named “his email” that Sutton is getting the job. She tells Alex who notices she isn’t as thrilled as he would think and reminds her that she deserves to have a dream too. After the show, the two of them go to a bar where she orders a VERY expensive bottle of wine that she is paying for with her emergency $100. They toast not to Sutton taking the job, but rather her turning down the job and deciding to go after her dream.
OTHER THOUGHTS:
• Underrated Line of the Night goes to Kat for “Hold my Fitbit,” before raising the friendship bar for best friends everywhere.
• I wish I had a giant poster of the look of confusion and apprehension on Jane’s face paired with the look of unbridled joy on Kat’s at first sight of the Yoni Egg.
• 10/10 would read “Spooning or Forking: Which One Makes You Hungrier?”
So what did you think? Are Jane and Ryan going to be a thing now? Is there more to him than Jane thinks? What will Kat do now that she knows Adena has a girlfriend? Is Sutton going to be able to get her foot in the door in the fashion industry? On a scale of 1 to “Also Shot Soda From Your Nose” how much did you enjoy the Easter Egg Hunt scene? Let us know in the comments below!
Be sure to watch The Bold Type Tuesdays at 9/8c on Freeform!