The Bold Type: Melora Hardin says the show will tackle gun ownership

There are many reasons why The Bold Type seems to have everyone talking, from its portrayal of successful women to its handling of social issues. And there’s more where all of that came from in its second season. “I was so pleasantly surprised that a woman of power is being portrayed on television as a real person,” Melora Hardin, who plays the oh-so-wise Scarlet editor Jacqueline Carlyle, says of her experience with the show. “I think we need to see examples on television of powerful women that are three-dimensional, that are balancing all these things that Jacqueline’s balancing, between family and career and relationship.”

Season 2 will continue to explore just how Jacqueline balances it all as she returns to her roots and starts writing again. “This is an opportunity for her to actually speak from her heart,” Hardin says. And yet, Jacqueline rediscovering her passion for writing isn’t the story line Hardin is most excited for fans to see. “There’s an episode where we deal with gun ownership and I think it’s a particularly interesting episode,” she says. “I like that it’s a balanced conversation. To me, the show in its best form is an honest show and it reflects modern day society, but it’s also an inspirational show, and so I would hope that it would inspire people to start having more intelligent, more balanced conversations around things that we disagree on.”

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