The Scarlet squad won't be going anywhere — at least, not for a while. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Freeform has renewed journalism drama The Bold Type for season 2 and 3, and if this doesn't call for a round of unicorn dreamtinis, I don't know what does.
The Bold Type became a surprising voice for Millennial women, one that neither patronizes nor glamorizes — and hearing that they'll be at least two more seasons of the series is a real win.
The show — which is based on the women of Cosmopolitan and the life of the magazine's one-time editor-in-chief Joanna Coles — is about three 20-something women navigating the complications of life, love, and their careers at Scarlet Magazine.
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Jane (Katie Stevens) is a just-promoted writer struggling to find her voice. Sutton (Meghann Fahy) is an assistant who just scored her dream (entry-level) job in the fashion department, but whose romance with the magazine's lawyer jeopardizes everything. Then there's Kat (Aisha Dee), the young, ultra-confident social media director who is questioning her sexuality and her career path. Through their many trials and tribulations, the women of Scarlet have each other — and it's shocking how rare that is to see on TV.
It's equally rare to see a show that navigates social issues that affect young women with such intelligence and grace.
When Kat's potential girlfriend Adena (Nikohl Boosheri) becomes a victim of Donald Trump's immigration ban in the episode "Before Tequila Sunrise," the series tackles it in a way that puts a real person behind a very big, highly politicized issue.
In "The Breast Issue," Jane struggles with being tested for the BRCA gene, which will reveal her odds of developing breast cancer — the same disease that took her own mother's life. The series showed how pink ribbons are lovely, but showing support to cancer survivors in real, tangible ways is what makes the real difference. It was an episode that made me wonder: Why haven't we seen this perspective on TV before?
Then there's the heart-wrenching season 1 finale "Carry That Weight," in which editor-in-chief Jacqueline Carlyle (Melora Hardin, whose character is based on Coles) reveals that she was sexually assaulted by a former boss, something she never told anyone for fear her career would take a hit. It was a reminder that sexual assault survivors live with their trauma for years, and that choosing not to come forward doesn't make the pain any less real.
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It would be easy for The Bold Type to go full-on Devil Wears Prada, and while that would certainly be a fun show (I'm in no position to ever criticize Miranda Priestly), The Bold Type fills a need for real, honest storytelling through the Millennial lens. We may be spending a small fortune on avocado toast, but we need our voices heard now more than ever. And we will...on two more seasons of The Bold Type.