I’m Not Convinced This Story Needs A Love Triangle (& Neither Is The Show)

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Following Jackie Howard’s clandestine departure to New York, My Life With the Walter Boys season 2 begins with a largely clear slate – for higher and for worse. Primarily based on the novel by Ali Novak, My Life With the Walter Boys season 2 takes audiences again to the wide-open plains of Colorado, as Jackie tries to search out her groove once more within the Walter household family.

Whereas the love triangle between Jackie (Nikki Rodriguez), Alex (Ashby Gentry), and Cole (Noah LaLonde) stays a central pillar of the present, Walter Boys season 2 makes an attempt to benefit from its ensemble solid, permitting different characters larger narrative arcs.

This has ensured that sure characters flourish whereas others falter, each by way of storytelling and display time. Some, like Katherine Walter (Sarah Rafferty) and Alex’s good friend, Kiley (Mya Lowe), are granted lives and relationships outdoors their proximity to the Walter boys. Katherine’s relationship with Jackie is important within the second season, with the Walter matriarch performing as a grounding emotional pressure within the present.

Others, akin to solely daughter Parker (Alix West Lefler) and steerage counselor Tara Jacobs (Ashley Holliday Tavares), are barely a footnote, whereas eldest brother Will (Johnny Hyperlink) remains to be on a quest to search out his objective, overwhelming a big a part of the season. Some storylines really feel a bit too far faraway from the present’s true central character: Jackie.

All in all, My Life With the Walter Boys season 2 struggles to search out the suitable stability between plot threads, however given the dimensions of the Walter household, it is a forgivable offense. There’s loads to juggle.

Historical past Repeats Itself In My Life With The Walter Boys Season 2

Courtesy of Netflix

There’s little the YA romance drama style loves greater than a love triangle, particularly a love triangle involving two brothers. To make issues worse for Jackie, she has to dwell underneath the identical roof as her respective love pursuits, creating a sophisticated net of secret conferences, heated arguments, and awkward kitchen encounters.

When Jackie returns to the Walter household ranch, the triangle reverts to its earlier state. Jackie remains to be drawn to Alex, however Cole haunts her, and she or he’s having hassle selecting between the 2. As a substitute, (for some time, no less than), she chooses neither.

Whereas a lot of the development of Jackie, Alex, and Cole’s interwoven story feels too much like their dynamic in Walter Boys season 1, I did recognize that the sequence took its time to reintroduce their points. Due to Alex’s comprehensible ire and Jackie’s dedication to keep away from Cole, Jackie will get an opportunity to develop into her life in Silver Falls with out the distraction of a will-they-won’t-they romance.

Our three main younger performers are given extra to do past the romantic facet of the present, and you’ll inform they’ve all grown extra snug of their roles. Inside a love triangle, nonetheless, audiences will at all times facet with one candidate over the opposite, and My Life With the Walter Boys is not any exception. I am not satisfied by the chemistry between Jackie and Alex, particularly when in comparison with Jackie’s relationship with Cole.

The dearth of spark between Jackie and Alex turns into much more obvious with the introduction of recent character Blake (Natalie Sharp), who shares an identical ardour for adrenaline with Alex. Then, after all, there’s Kiley, Alex’s finest good friend. Their potential relationship has been an intriguing prospect because the first season, and Kiley’s new and considerably shocking love curiosity hasn’t modified that.

Both of those two younger girls looks like a greater match for Alex, basically undermining the strain on the very coronary heart of the present’s central love triangle. In truth, in comparison with the present’s new secondary love triangle, which entails an impressionable Nathan (Corey Fogelmanis), the drama between Alex, Cole, and Jackie falls considerably flat.

And The Award For Finest Character Growth Goes To…

Noah LaLonde as Cole Walter in My Life With the Walter Boys season 2(1)

I used to be surprisingly moved by the best way the brand new season of My Life With the Walter Boys dealt with Cole Walter’s improvement. Whereas I used to be a bit frightened that they’d pressure Cole again into his previous habits after Jackie’s abrupt departure, it is clear that the ex-football participant has been genuinely modified by understanding Jackie.

Out of all of the younger characters, I used to be most invested in his storyline. The best way he handles his future, his new accountability at college, and even his twin brother’s relationship together with his ex (one of the crucial pleasing developments from season 1), feels relatable but inspiring. There’s one private selection he makes close to the tail finish of the season that actually exhibits how far he is come.

This give attention to Cole showcases one more downside with the present’s major romance, nonetheless. It is notoriously difficult to get the stability in a love triangle proper. If one romantic prospect is clearly the extra viable possibility, why ought to we care about what occurs on the opposite facet? Between Jackie and Cole’s extra instant chemistry and her private impact on him, the competitors is not all that aggressive.

Jackie’s Grief Is A Transferring Throughline In Walter Boys Season 2

Katherine Walter and Jackie Howard in My Life With the Walter Boys season 2

Whereas Jackie’s grief over the tragic lack of her household understandably overwhelmed her storyline final season, this season, it is superbly interwoven all through all of the transferring elements of Jackie’s life. Her relationship together with her mom makes up a giant a part of who Jackie is, and that is mirrored in her quieter moments of grief.

This time, Jackie’s grief is wholly hers. The romantic drama within the sequence does not encroach on it this season; she will get to reconnect together with her mom’s artwork and rejoice her household’s heritage together with her uncle. The writing has dealt with Jackie’s ongoing wrestle nicely, if a bit predictably. She’s transferring on, however grief will at all times be part of her.

Very similar to season 1, My Life with the Walter Boys season 2 is not precisely groundbreaking. It is a nice sufficient, straightforward, and escapist watch, with some attention-grabbing character work and some overly dramatic but intriguing turning factors. Maybe most significantly, My Life with the Walter Boys season 2 units up loads of drama for the already commissioned season 3.

My Life With the Walter Boys season 2 is out there on Netflix on August 28.