Aww, our favorite magazine gals are screaming into the abyss one last time. That’s right, The Bold Type kicked off its series finale with best friends Jane, Kat, and Sutton holding hands, standing on a Brooklyn curb, and letting it all out, a call back to their NYC subway screaming in the pilot. Of course, this time they were living their truths out in the open for all to see (and hear) because, you know, growth. The once and future ladies of Scarlet magazine did a lot of that over the series’s five-season run in ways that were always fun, many times relatable, and sometimes baffling (see: so much of what Jane does). Although at points it felt as if the rules of the magazine-publishing industry and also space and time as they relate to New York City were wholly ignored, the series offered up a gorgeous look at female friendship in your 20s very much thanks to the undeniable chemistry among its three leads.
So after all those best-friend shenanigans, how did Jane, Kat, Sutton, and their Scarlet cohorts leave things? Here’s how The Bold Type said good-bye to its main characters before one final BFF group hug in the fashion closet (come on, you knew the series would end there!).
Jane Sloan
Well, friends, Jane did it. She finally did it! She learned how to make pad thai. Oh, sorry, that’s just on her life to-do list above “become editor-in-chief of Scarlet,” so I figured it was important. Oh, Jane, ridiculous to the very end. She has been training to become interim editor-in-chief for when Jacqueline takes a much-needed extra-long vacation with her husband because, sure, that sounds like a great and fair idea. But then, after like a week of this training, Jacqueline sees how great Jane is (sorry EICs, your job is so easy, I guess!) and realizes she shouldn’t just take a vacation — she should retire and make Jane’s new position permanent. Jane’s honored, of course, but then, after a run-in with Pinstripe (!!), she realizes she’s a writer, not a manager, dammit. She turns down the job and suggests that Jacqueline give it to Kat. So what will Jane do now that she’s rethinking all of her life’s dreams? Inspired by a picture of her late mother in Paris, Jane decides it’s time to leave her comfort zone at Scarlet and go see the world. Tiny Jane is ready for some big adventures.
Kat Edison
What a twist for Kat Edison! Days ago, she was a bartender at the Belle; now she’s editor-in-chief at Scarlet magazine. What a world! Turning to Jacqueline for advice, Kat brings her pitch for making her social-movement hashtag #DontTurnAway into a platform and digital magazine before presenting it to investors, but Jacqueline loves it so much she makes Kat an offer to bring it under the Scarlet umbrella. Kat will have total creative control and a huge-ass budget. Sure, she’d be rejoining the big, bad corporation she fought against for so long (which got her fired from the mag originally), but she’ll be able to do some good this way. Sounds great, right? But there’s more! After Jane turns down the EIC job, Jacqueline realizes Kat is an innovator and also like so, so good with spreadsheets, so hello, the job should have belonged to the onetime Scarlet social-media maven all along. Kat applies her new “I’m not afraid anymore” mantra to both her career (she takes the job) and her personal life (she goes and gets her girl, Adena). A real happy ending right here.
Sutton Brady (Hunter???)
Sutton has been Working on Herself this season. She’s in therapy for the first time, she has acknowledged an alcohol problem, she is course correcting. But then Richard “I Got a Divorce Beard and Learned That Hot Men in Turtlenecks Are a Thing” Hunter shows up and the estranged husband and wife can’t stop having sex with each other. They’re living in a dream where the one rule is to ignore that little issue of Richard wanting kids and Sutton not and both of them knowing it. Eventually, Sutton realizes she has to let Richard go. I mean, the man is in touch with an adoption agency! She reads him a lovely reference letter she wrote about how he’s meant to be a father, and she signs the divorce papers. But wait! Richard says, “Yes, I always wanted kids, but the thing is, I want you more.” He can’t imagine his life without her. It’s very swoony in theory but maybe a little more murky practically. Regardless, Sutton and Richard reunite. We wish them the best.
Jacqueline Carlyle
As a parting gift, Scarlet’s One True Queen gives us a final life lesson: She’s being brave and imagining a new chapter for herself, a post-Scarlet life. Jacqueline has been attempting to find that coveted work-life balance for some time now, and with her marriage finally back in a good place, she’s retiring. She and Ian can work together, as they’ve always dreamed of doing. She also decides that a person can bequeath the role of editor-in-chief to whomever she so desires, which is what she’s basically doing with Kat, but we’re going with it. All Jacqueline gets in return for her years of service is a real half-assed slide show at her final Scarlet party, but she seems cool with it all so who are we to judge? Sadly, she does not reprise her routine to “Push It.”
Oliver Grayson
If The Bold Type hadn’t given this angel man the happy ending he deserved, so many streaming devices would have been launched into the sea. Thankfully, for our hearts and our oceans, that did not come to pass. After all these years, and after some major prodding by Sutton, Oliver finally admits he’s in love with Jasper, his fashion-designer ex-boyfriend with whom he has been sharing custody of Jasper’s daughter while Jasper worked on his sobriety (he’s doing great). And then he asks him on a date. They look happy and gorgeous as they walk the red carpet at the Scarlet party in some of Jasper’s finest. All feels right with the world.
Alex Crawford
Alex’s big sendoff came halfway through season five, but in case you missed it, know that he took his writing and podcast skills to Pinstripe in hopes of being challenged and continuing to grow. And he’s still dating that hot, rich doctor. Although his going-away party was truly so lame (a last-minute office pickup basketball game full of people who don’t understand basketball?), his life seems pretty great at the moment.
Andrew
Jacqueline’s assistant and biggest fan had his big moment earlier in season five when he had a heart-to-heart with his boss about how dreadfully underpaid he was. He also wraps up his feud with Jane after Kat finally points out to him that his problem with her is simply that they’re the same person (try-hards obsessed with Jacqueline). We don’t know how he feels about the alpha and omega of his world retiring, but if I had to guess, it would be all the feelings imaginable.
Sage
Our sex-and-relationships writer never really got her due in this show, did she? In the end, Sage loses her work husband when Alex moves on to more challenging pastures, but she does get her very own vertical. She seems good?
The Dot-Com
Remember that one season of The Bold Type when everyone kept talking about “the dot-com” and growing “the dot-com” and saying I DON’T WRITE FOR THE DOT-COM? Well, I’m happy to report that, in the end, the dot-com is thriving. Everyone is getting a vertical flush with cash from investors. Everyone writes for the dot-com now. The dot-com is living its best damn life.
