Is it just me or is Jane kind of The Worst lately? She’s been dangerously teetering on the edge of The Worst for a few weeks now, what with belittling Pinstripe for his line of work and assuming Jacqueline should be happy to give her back her job at Scarlet, but she really cements it with an unbelievable display of self-righteousness in “Betsy,†after discovering that Sutton’s been keeping her shotgun in the apartment.
Sutton absolutely should’ve let her roommate know that she was keeping her gun (named after Betsy Ross) from her Central PA high-school skeet-shooting club in the apartment, and Jane’s initial shock is warranted (the rapid-fire Q&A is a bit dramatic), but at some point she needed to dial it back. This is her very best friend and she’s supposed to be writing a coherent story about gun control. Come on, Jane — less yelling, more listening! Even after Jane hastily pitches “I Love Everything About My Roommate Except Her Gun†and Jacqueline is into it, Jane never makes room for Sutton’s point of view. Jacqueline has Jane revise her first draft because it is clearly a one-sided rant instead of a nuanced look at the gun-control debate. Of course, Jane’s response to that critique is to ask her boss, the editor-in-chief of a major national publication, if she’s mad at her. Jacqueline somehow does not fire Jane again and calmly explains that no, she isn’t mad. She is Jane’s boss and she’s doing her job — telling one of her writers to make her story better. Mad at you?! My eyes are still rolling, Jane.
For her first attempt to understand Sutton, Jane has her roommate do a show-and-tell at the apartment. Sutton puts the gun together and while Kat acts like a normal friend and lets Sutton explain that Shooting Club, though perhaps strange to the rest of us, was a big part of her high-school experience, Jane just looks like she’s going to vomit. The two ladies continue to debate the subject, until finally Jane reveals where her emotional outbursts stem from: She was in first grade when Columbine happened just five miles away from her own school, and she was left traumatized. The boys responsible for the mass murder used shotguns. It’s hard for her to see her best friend holding up a shotgun in her own apartment. Jane’s feelings are extremely understandable and yeah, a person should get angry about a lot of this — the difference between Jane and Sutton though, is that Sutton actually takes in what her friend is saying.
Attempt two: Pinstripe is the one who pushes Jane to take some time and learn why Sutton loves shooting so much, since that’s, like, the whole point of her article. This leads me to wonder: is everyone a better journalist than Jane? Jane, Sutton, and Kat take Betsy out to shoot some skeet, but it ends up being much like before. Kat, who is also vocally against guns and not too enthused to discover that Sutton is a gun owner, is at least open to genuinely hearing her friend. Jane, again looking very green, pulls the trigger once and flips out. All she could feel was the power of a deadly weapon and she refuses to have it in her apartment anymore. Sutton’s offended that Jane saw how adept she was with Betsy, yet still does not trust her. Adeptness with a weapon isn’t really what Jane’s so riled up about, but sure. Regardless, that Uber ride back to the city is going to be super awkward.
The whole thing becomes moot anyway, since Jane figures out that Sutton’s attachment to Betsy is more emotional than anything else. It feels strange for The Bold Type to bring up something so divisive and end it tied up in a neat little bow, where everyone ends up happy and talking about desk décor and doing Marlon Brando impressions, but here we go.
Sutton’s having a tough week: Aside from all the Jane stuff, she’s also having trouble delivering on a Balenciaga bag she promised Oliver she could get from one of Brooke’s contacts. Sutton’s been avoiding Brooke since she ditched her for Jane’s award ceremony (still nothing with the $500 coke charge, huh?), and it seems Brooke is taking it out on her by taking away access to her wide network of fashion-industry connections. Sutton even goes as far as tracking Brooke down based on her latest Instagram post (the downside of broadcasting your every move, kids!), but it’s obvious Brooke is lying to her face — Sutton won’t be getting any more favors from the influencer. She’ll have to confess the big failure to Oliver.
With everything going on, Sutton heads to the gun range to clear her head. Jane finds her there and everything starts to make sense: Jane realizes that Shooting Club was Tuesday afternoons, which was perfect timing for Sutton, who by Tuesdays would need a reprieve from helping her alcoholic mother off her weekend binge. Doing something simple like shooting a target helped Sutton feel in control of things, when in reality they were very much out of her control. Sort of like now with the Balenciaga bag, with losing Richard. Betsy is Sutton’s safety blanket and maybe that’s why she is clinging to it so tightly. Sutton has an a-ha moment, decides she wants to let go of her past, and so she turns Betsy into a pair of earrings.
Jacqueline is pleased with the new draft of Jane’s story, which finds room for Sutton’s story, but wants her to keep going — dig deeper. Uh, does this mean we’re going to learn more about Babs Brady? My arms are open wide, ready for more backstory on our ladies.
In much more adorable news: Sutton finally fesses up to Oliver about the bag. His reaction is delightful. He immediately gets on the phone, calls the same contact Sutton was trying to work, and lands the bag. He got the Balenciaga guy his first job — he owes Oliver several favors. He also refers to himself as “the Wizard,†and if it wasn’t completely obvious before, we all deserve to spend more time with Oliver. He reminds Sutton that he’s been working in this industry for 20 years and he has contacts, too. Most importantly, he impresses upon his assistant that they are a team. They are meant to work together. If she has a problem, she should come to him. They don’t hug it out but Oliver does sarcastically yell “Go team!†and it is almost as good. Almost.
From the Back Page
• Adena thinks Kat needs to explore her sexuality and gives her free rein to sleep with other women during the week. Kat’s apprehensive at first, but agrees that it could be good for her. Her first exploratory mission is with her Uber driver, one in which Kat learns to be dominant in bed. She breaks Adena’s first rule of Open Relationship Club and tells her girlfriend all about her afternoon delight. They seem okay with it … for now.
• “Locate your inner sexual explorer and let that bitch out to play.†That line is begging to be cross-stitched onto something.
• Why don’t more people sing Oliver’s name?
• Okay, I know I’m coming off very “Get off my lawn†in this recap, but I have one more Jane gripe: She should be so grateful that she has her job back, not complaining that she doesn’t get to sit at her old desk. She’s the one who quit! And the parade through the bullpen upon her return? Don’t get me started. YOUTHS.
• What’s up with Pinstripe? Jane-Pinstripe scenes are always good, but I wonder what his endgame is here.
• Not to be dramatic or anything, but: WHERE THE HELL IS ALEX?