The Bold Type review: The Scarlet ransom letter

At Scarlet, work emails are a bit more interesting than “free food in the break room!” When they get hacked, it’s a serious problem.

It’s the word no media company ever wants to hear: hacked.

Realistically, in 2019, no one says “hacked” anymore. These days, a hack is a “cyrptovirus” or “ransomware attack.” But this is TV, so hacked will do. It’s the same reason The Bold Type gets away with making such a distinction between the magazine and “the dot com.”

This week, both the magazine and the digital edition are at stake. The hackers got into all of Scarlet’s data, and unless they get $30 million in bitcoin, it’s all going public.

For Jane, this is particularly problematic. Not because she trash talks her boss via email – although, come on girl, that’s what group texts are for – but because she has a particularly sensitive interview on the email server.

Working together, Jane and Jacqueline tracked down Ingrid, a model who fell victim to Pamela Dolan. Provided she can maintain her anonymity, she’s willing to tell the women of Scarlet everything.

Unfortunately, this is one time Jane’s diligence comes back to bite her. Like a good employee, Jane sends the interview recording to Jacqueline seconds after walking out the door. Now, with it floating around in reach of hackers, that anonymity will be destroyed, along with Ingrid’s career.

She’s right to be angry and scared, and Jane is right to be worried. There’s no good way out of this situation. And, as we learned very early on, Jane is not a person who likes not being in control. So, as she helps Sutton prepare for a dinner party, Jane is about three seconds from a meltdown.

When Patrick shows up to the party, all bets are off. And Honest Jane is real fun at parties.

Meanwhile, Sutton’s having a panic of her own, though not because of the hack. She seems to be at no risk with this, meaning she can focus all of her worry on the Julian Grant seminar. That is, until Richard unintentionally reveals his search for a house in Connecticut.

While it’s great seeing him and Sutton thrive – count me in for a Suttard dinner party literally any time – this is twice now this season that Richard has pulled the trigger on a big step without consulting Sutton.

No one can fault him for wanting to move their relationship forward, but his methods need some work, and Sutton makes that clear to him. It is nice though, to see their communication deepen on screen; so few television relationships show it. Sutton and Richard are adapting to each other, and that takes time.

Time could be our enemy when it comes to Suttard though. Sutton was admirably honest in that she won’t be ready to do the house and kids thing for awhile, especially since she did get into the Julian Grant seminar.

Sidebar: we need to see the dress that got her in, ASAP.

Richard says he’s not going anywhere, and I so hope he’s not fooling himself.

On the topic of fooling, let’s talk Tia. Kat has developed some adorable feelings for her, and their chemistry is undeniable. As Jane points out, Kat hasn’t liked anyone since Adena, and that’s big and important.

But so far, Tia seems to be heterosexual. She’s reached date number three with a guy, and swears up and down that she’s not into Kat romantically when Kat finally addresses it. So maybe she’s not Kat’s love interest for the season?

I wouldn’t lose hope just yet. Once again, as Jane points out, we thought Kat was straight until very recently. It would be an interesting twist to see her have the same influence on Tia, as Adena did on her.

For now, we’ll just have to wait and see.

The Bold Type airs on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Freeform