I’m Not Satisfied This Story Wants A Love Triangle (& Neither Is The Present)

Following Jackie Howard’s clandestine departure to New York, My Life With the Walter Boys season 2 begins with a principally clear slate – for higher and for worse. Based mostly 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 seek out her groove once more within the Walter household family.

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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 pal, Kiley (Mya Lowe), are granted lives and relationships exterior their proximity to the Walter boys. Katherine’s relationship with Jackie is significant within the second season, with the Walter matriarch performing as a grounding emotional pressure within the present.

Others, reminiscent of 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 seek out his goal, overwhelming a big a part of the season. Some storylines really feel somewhat too far faraway from the present’s true central character: Jackie.

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

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

Blake and Alex Walter in My Life With the Walter Boys season 2

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 reside below the identical roof as her respective love pursuits, creating an advanced internet 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 bother selecting between the 2. As an alternative, (for some time, a minimum of), she chooses neither.

Whereas a lot of the development of Jackie, Alex, and Cole’s interwoven story feels too just 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 side of the present, and you may inform they’ve all grown extra snug of their roles. Inside a love triangle, nevertheless, audiences will all the time aspect 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 shortage 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, in fact, there’s Kiley, Alex’s finest pal. 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 ladies 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 Greatest Character Improvement 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 somewhat anxious that they’d pressure Cole again into his outdated 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 way in which he handles his future, his new accountability in school, and even his twin brother’s relationship together with his ex (one of the vital pleasing developments from season 1), feels relatable but inspiring. There’s one private alternative he makes close to the tail finish of the season that actually exhibits how far he is come.

This concentrate on Cole showcases one more downside with the present’s major romance, nevertheless. It is notoriously tough to get the steadiness 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 aspect? Between Jackie and Cole’s extra rapid 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 shifting elements of Jackie’s life. Her relationship along with her mom makes up an enormous 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 would not encroach on it this season; she will get to reconnect along with her mom’s artwork and have a good time her household’s heritage along with her uncle. The writing has dealt with Jackie’s ongoing wrestle properly, if somewhat predictably. She’s shifting on, however grief will all the time be part of her.

Very like 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 fascinating 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 offered on Netflix on August 28.