‘The Bold Type’ Season 2 Episode 9 Recap: Road Trip

God bless drunk Jane Sloan.

The Bold Type’s divisive protagonist (played by Katie Stevens) had a nice uptick in her character development last episode, with an emotional plot that made her sympathetic. This week’s episode, even more crucially, made her fun again.

All three of the Freeform series’ lead women have something they want to escape this week. Kat (Aisha Dee) wants to get away from a hostile Jacqueline (Melora Hardin), who is making questionable business decisions amid questions about her competence. Jane wants to avoid going over the extensive fertility plan materials her doctor boyfriend left for her. And Sutton (Meghann Fahy) would prefer to not deal with her mother when she finds out she needs her original birth certificate for her passport application.

Unfortunately for Sutton, she has no such luck: She has to drive home to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to get the certificate from her mom. Luckily for the other two, the impromptu road trip gives them exactly the excuse they needed to avoid their problems.

Jane starts the road trip drunk, after joining former flame Ryan (Dan Jeannotte) for a drink instead of reading about potential fertility plans. She crests on that tipsy vibe throughout, even giving Stevens a chance to show off a bit with a cover of “Torn” at Sutton’s mom’s local bar. (Stevens, an American Idol alumna, does Natalie Imbruglia proud.) Between the performance, her sense of humor throughout, and her generally out-there approach (like suggesting they break into Sutton’s mom’s house) make her a breath of fresh air this episode.

If she kept avoiding her problems, Jane might turn back into being annoying. But on the trip back, she reads up on what her boyfriend gave her, and decides to freeze her eggs. The balance of letting loose and taking responsibility is a good look on Jane, making for her absolute best showing of the season.

Sutton continues to be the character who interests me most, in large part thanks to Fahy’s performance. This week, we dig into the mommy issues she mentioned a couple of episodes ago: Sutton’s mother Barb is a drunk, and was a terrible parent when Sutton was growing up. When she finally sees her mom in Harrisburg, Barb swears up and down she’s sober, and has been for seven months.

Sutton is skeptical, considering her mom has pledged to sober up before. But Barb’s tune seems to have truly changed, and Sutton agrees to give her the benefit of the doubt, and open up to her a little bit more. It’s a nice mother-daughter moment, the kind we don’t get much of on this show. It also nicely positions Sutton to go to Paris without much weighing on her mind back home.

Also joining her in Paris is Kat! Who was apparently always going. (This reveal gets played perfectly, with even the music cutting out to emphasize the joke. The Bold Type got really funny this week.) It’ll be a good distraction for Kat, who mostly bungles her mindless getaway to Harrisburg by thinking too much about work and her relationship.

After almost hooking up with a hot bartender, Kat rethinks things, and decides she no longer wants to be in an open relationship with Adena (Nikohl Boosheri). Though she’s enjoyed playing the field, Kat feels like she and Adena have lost a connection that she needs. Unfortunately for Kat, even after ending the open relationship, Adena remains distracted by work. She lost the casual sex and didn’t get much back. Honestly, I don’t see a way this season ends next week with Kat and Adena still together.

Most intriguing this week, however, was Kat and Jacqueline’s story. Jacqueline is the subject of a nasty New York magazine piece that questions if her time — and generally, the time of the celebrity editor — is up. Though she feigns not being fazed, the piece clearly rattles her, and she makes an unwise decision to close Scarlet’s comments section during the website’s relaunch. Kat advises her not to close the comments, as the publication has a vibrant commenter base and strongly moderates inappropriate comments. But Jacqueline doesn’t listen, and is furious when Kat tries to go over her head to Richard (Sam Page).

The thing is, as inappropriate and tactless as Kat’s attempt to stop Jacqueline was, the social media director was right. Losing comments infuriates Scarlet’s reader base, and Jacqueline has to reinstate them with a note of apology. Her fix is an elegant one, but the damage is done; Richard warns her that there are forces that would rather see her not continue as Scarlet’s editor. My guess: board member and fitness guru Cleo (Siobhan Murphy) will take the shot to try and remove Jacqueline.

Freeform already renewed The Bold Type for a third season before the second even went into production, so the show has some room to play going into next week’s finale. My guess: Jacqueline does get removed as editor — or at least leaves amid an attempted removal. Kat and Adena break up. And Sutton finds something in Paris that will make her want to stay. Those are just my guesses — we’ll see what really happens next Tuesday.

The season finale of The Bold Type will air next Tuesday, August 7, at 8 p.m. Eastern on Freeform.

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