Last week’s episode of Freeform’s The Bold Type was a big one for the three leading ladies. “Day Trippers,” Episode 4 of Season 5, had life lessons and dramatic changes for best friends Jane, Sutton, and Kat. However, we can’t fully comprehend this episode’s impact without recapping recent events.
What Happened So Far
Throughout this season, writer and “future of Scarlet Magazine” Jane Sloan has been learning how to manage her team, after being promoted to editor of a column called “The Failing Feminist.” Being new to this job, she’s clearly struggled. After Jane develops romantic feelings for Scott, one of her employees, her other employee, Addison, feels sidelined. Eventually, Jane decides to break it off with Scott in order to be the mentor that Addison wants and deserves, and Scott decides to leave the magazine. This leaves Jane with the responsibility of being a mentor, a “Jacqueline Carlyle” (Editor-In-Chief of Scarlet Magazine) figure, and no idea where to start.
Sutton Brady (formerly Brady-Hunter) is not doing so hot after deciding not to have children and separating from her husband, Richard. Trying to stay afloat, and at times refusing to admit her true feelings over the separation, she is making many mistakes. From sleeping with her married ex-boyfriend from high school (last season), to getting drunk at a work retreat, Sutton is trying to stay above water without anyone’s help. Just two episodes ago, Richard officially asked for a divorce, and she hasn’t seen him since, leaving Sutton in an emotional mess.
The third friend, our favorite social media guru Kat Edison, has been slightly lost this season. Last season, she developed a relationship with Eva, a very conservative acquaintance Kat interviewed for a podcast. After eventually sleeping with Eva, although she had majorly different values and political ideas than her, Kat broke it off after one time for that very reason. Now, Kat is trying to figure out what she is doing, and how her political views and activism interests can fit into her life. Her job at a local club, The Belle, pays the bills, but it doesn’t provide the fiery activism rush that Kat gets every time she creates a new hashtag or starts a campaign. She continues to search for this passion, from starting a podcast (again, last season), to helping former classmate Zuri get hired despite having been in prison…but Kat’s current day job doesn’t provide this sense of purpose.
What Happened This Episode
In this week’s episode, Jane, Sutton, and Kat, are struggling in different ways. Jane, after almost losing Addison, is trying to become a better mentor. Sutton, tasked with working with Villadar, a clothing company that is far from good for the environment, feels conflicted. Fashion had kept Sutton sane especially when her romantic relationship became non-existent, so the fact that the fashion industry is not perfect is a hard pill for Sutton to swallow. Kat, after starting the hashtag #DontTurnAway to help a former classmate, and projecting videos onto The Belle building, is in trouble at work. She convinces her boss to give her a few days to prove it was a beneficial move, or else she will be fired.
With our three leading ladies anxious about work, they decide to microdose. Yes, you read that right. In order to cope with stress, they decide to get high on ‘shrooms, and let’s just say, things don’t go as planned. Kat’s father prescribes this to his patients (remember, he’s a psychiatrist), so she has easy access and knows how to take them in measured doses. The same cannot be said for Jane and Sutton, and when Kat says they may not feel anything, Sutton decides to put more into the tea that Kat is brewing. This delivers hilarious scenes of each of them tripping. Jane sees Jacqueline sing a meeting to the tune of “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” while Sutton refuses to get up from a pink poof in the fashion closet. Kat is the only one to not go into work, and instead goes to Scarlet, so the three of them are together, making for an even better time.
While the episode is a riot of fun, there are also more serious moments. Jane, being the woman she is, tries to become the perfect mentor after telling Addison that she would be. Jane begins reading books at 4:00 a.m. and going into work at 4:30 a.m., but driving herself crazy, so Jacqueline sends her home. However, still wanting to be perfect, she refuses to tell Addison that anything is wrong, which ends up looking like she’s just blowing her off again. By the end of the episode, Jane learns that it is okay to have flaws. She is not going to be a CEO or mentor like Jacqueline for a very long time, maybe ever. However, the most important thing is to be herself, and Jane is able to keep Addison from leaving Scarlet by admitting that she makes mistakes.
Sutton’s storyline this episode is a bit heavier. After she messes up at work, and Oliver—her boss and mentor—finds a wine glass near the clothing, they have a heart-to-heart. During this episode, Oliver is constantly checking on his daughter, Carly, who is spending the day with Oliver’s ex, who has a history of substance abuse. So, having seen this before, Oliver tells Sutton that he is worried about her and how much she’s been drinking. He also reminds her of her mother, who struggles with alcoholism. Over the episodes, Sutton has been using alcohol as a crutch, being devastated at the turn her relationship took, which is completely understandable. But, given that alcoholism can be hereditary, the fact that Oliver is worried doesn’t come as a surprise.
Finally, we have Kat. As I described, Kat is floundering with her activist goals and lacking satisfaction from her job. She spends the day trying to prove that her campaign actually helped The Belle, which she does, but she also discovers that it could do even more. When working at Scarlet, she was always the first to start a social media campaign about something that was important to her, even though this often fell outside her actual work duties. Realizing this, and that she is drawn to activism, Kat finally quits her job to put all of her time into #DontTurnAway.
With this episode being so significant to our ladies’ lives, I’m excited to see where their journeys go. At the end of the episode, Jane is promoted to Interim Editor-In-Chief while Jacqueline is away on vacation (sort of unrealistic, but I’ll take it), while Kat quits her job, and Sutton decides to try therapy. Each of these accomplishments could lead to great storylines for the rest of the season. Given Jane’s personality, I’m expecting to see more of the stressed-out, overachiever in the future, especially with more responsibilities. For Sutton, I really hope that she gets to resolve what she’s been going through in therapy. A lot has happened to her, and I think she needs to process it. I’m also hoping that the show will dive into why she doesn’t want children. And for Kat, I can’t imagine that things will work out the way that she wants. I’m definitely looking forward to her struggling to get the campaign going. I am also hoping for some more scenes with Kat and Adena—her main love interest since Season 1—since we only got a little bit of the two of them in Episode 3.
Overall, this episode was great, and I can’t wait to watch the last two episodes. But, knowing me, I may stall to keep the show from ending, especially since this is the final season. (I can only hope for a potential reboot in the future—hint, hint, to any of the Freeform producers reading this!) And whether you watch the next episodes when they air, or wait to savor them, you can let your friends know what episode you’re currently watching on BingeRoom!
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