‘My Life With the Walter Boys’ is this Fall’s newest love triangle

By Amelia Morris

Today’s obsession with the love triangle is nothing new. Lately, “The Summer I Turned Pretty” has been occupying most viewers’ attention, but its biggest rival is “My Life With the Walter Boys.” Season two of the hit Netflix series premiered a few short weeks ago on August 28 after an almost a two year wait. 

“My Life With the Walter Boys” is a Netflix original series based on the book of the same name. The story follows a New York City teenager, Jackie Howard, as she adjusts to life in a small town after moving to Silver Falls, Colorado. As a result of her parents’ unexpected passing, Jackie is sent away to live with her mother’s best friend, Katherine Walter, and her large family of eleven sons. The first season deals with Jackie’s struggles to assimilate into a small town ranch lifestyle, making new friends and eventually falling in love. 

Even though Jackie tries to stay focused on her academics and her long road to Princeton University, she finds herself easily distracted. Jackie becomes torn between two of the Walter brothers, Alex and Cole. The older brother, Cole, is the stereotypical ex-football player who is failing every class. Alex is more of a cowboy who loves video games. Both of the boys symbolize how much Jackie’s life has changed from her busy life in New York to the small town she finds herself in. 

The first season focuses on Jackie’s relationship with Alex while her attraction to Cole remains on the backburner. At the seasons’ conclusion, Jackie’s feelings come to an apex and her world implodes. 

The release of the new book “My Return to the Walter Boys” earlier this year gave inspiration for a second season. When the second season opens, Jackie is still in New York and Katherine has to convince her how important it is to come back to Silver Falls for the upcoming school year. After deciding to return, Jackie is thrown into drama with the brothers and how she feels about them.

The first book and series were lackluster at best. I enjoyed them both but for separate reasons. The book was interesting and I had a fun time reading it but it ended on such an anti-climatic cliffhanger that left me with a sour taste in my mouth. It ended up ruining my entire love for the book because of how boring the ending was. 

The series ended in similar circumstances.My main complaint, however, would be that there are too many tertiary storylines in the series that were not even mentioned in the book. For example, Will and Hailey are a huge part of the series while they are barely mentioned in the first book. I understand that the series writers had to fill forty minute episodes somehow but the side plots were boring and dry. 

As a whole, the triangle drama portions of the episodes were excellent and made the series worth watching. I also liked how Jackie dealt with the situation she was thrown into. Her family passing away, moving in with strangers and leaving the city she grew up in is no easy feat but Jackie somehow takes it in stride. While she does struggle, I think she handles it well as a character and I enjoy watching the series because of it.

The second season definitely did see improvement. The writers made Will’s storyline more interesting and necessary to the overall story. Jackie’s indecisiveness finally catches up with her and she is forced to face her conflicting feelings. 

Overall, I enjoyed the series and I am excited to see the next season. Yes, it’s cringeworthy and makes you want to scream at your TV at times, but it’s entertaining. “My Life With the Walter Boys” delivered what it was marketed as; a cheesy love triangle on a ranch.

“My Life With the Walter Boys” season three has already been announced and is currently in production. 

Seasons 1 and 2 of “My Life With the Walter Boys” are currently streaming on Netflix.

Amelia Morris is a freshman journalism major and writer for Cedars A&E. She loves reading, writing, being in nature and being with her dogs.

Pictures courtesy of Sony Pictures Television, iGeneration Studios and Nomadic Pictures