‘The Bold Type’: Melora Hardin Addresses Future Of The Magazine After Major Cliffhanger

Season 3 of The Bold Type ended on dramatic note thanks to Melora Hardin’s Jacqueline Carlyle, and now, Hardin is sharing her thoughts on the show and her character’s decision, according to a report from TV Guide.

Hardin’s character, Jacqueline, is the editor-in-chief of popular women’s magazine, Scarlet, a fictionalized version of Cosmopolitan. During the Season 3 finale, Jacqueline makes an important decision to change the image being portrayed by Scarlet in order to make sure the magazine remained “a leader when it comes to empowering women” rather than set unrealistic standards for its readers. Jacqueline ends up completely redoing the magazine’s upcoming fall issue but this decision did not please the members of the magazine’s board.

At the end of the episode, viewers watched as Scarlet employees — writer Jane Sloan (Katie Stevens), social media director Kat Edison (Aisha Dee), and fashion assistant Sutton Brady (Meghann Fahy) — showed up to work to find their offices in total chaos. The women stood stunned while watching people shuffle around to pack, move boxes, and cry. During all this chaos, Jacqueline was nowhere to be found.

When asked about what that final scene means for Scarlet and its employees, Hardin said she wasn’t sure.

“Well, I think your guess is as good as mine,” she said.

“It looks like maybe Jacqueline’s out, but that would be very strange, wouldn’t it? I think it is quite a shake-up for sure, and it’s going to be interesting to see how that all plays out.”

Hardin was also asked whether she thought her character actually considered the consequences of her decision before making the leap to overhaul the entire September issue of the magazine.

“I think she’s weighing everything all the time, but what I think is amazing about her is she does the right thing. She continues to, even when it’s hard and it might mean losing the thing that she loves — the job she loves, these people she loves, it might mean that.”

The actress went on to say that her character’s inner moral judgment and integrity played a major role in the decision. She said staying at the magazine simply wouldn’t be worth it for Jacqueline if she felt her morals and integrity would be compromised.

Throughout the season, Jacqueline, who is in charge of the physical magazine, found herself bumping heads quite a bit with the editor-in-chief of the digital platform, Patrick. If Jacqueline is out, it’s possible the magazine could pivot to a purely digital platform but that has yet to be confirmed.

The Bold Type will return for Season 4 on Freeform at a later date.