My Life With the Walter Boys review: A dull and unexceptional teen drama

My Life With the Walter Boys follows Jackie, a girl who has to move to Colorado to live with the Walters after losing her family. While adjusting to small-town life, Jackie develops feelings for two of the Walter boys. The series is now streaming on Netflix.

Story 

When a freshman named Jackie loses her parents and older sister in a car accident, she has to move to a small town to live with her mother’s friend Katherine Walter and her family.

Katherine and her husband, George, have seven sons and one daughter. Furthermore, two teen boys from George’s side of the family also live with them. Jackie not only struggles with getting used to small-town life but also with living among a bunch of strangers.

Soon, two of the Walter boys, Cole and Alex, develop feelings for Jackie. While Cole is the charming ladies’ man, Alex is nicer and more dependable. The two brothers do not get along, and Jackie’s arrival makes matters worse.

Jackie learns to cope with the loss of her family, makes new friends at school, and grows close to the Walters. She also gets into a relationship, but Cole and Alex’s past complicates matters. Will Jackie find happiness again?

Performances

Nikki Rodriguez, who plays Jackie, plays her part with sincerity and dedication. She is the protagonist, but because the script lacks substance, she fails to leave an impact, even though her performance is satisfactory.

Noah LaLonde and Ashby Gentry do manage to make their characters seem like opposites. LaLonde’s Cole is mean and confident, but it is not hard to see that he can also be good. Gentry’s Alex, on the other hand, is nice but very insecure. 

The one actor who is able to impress the audience is Sarah Rafferty. As Katherine, she is kind, nurturing, and stern when she has to be. Her performance makes her stand out whenever she is on screen.

Positives

The show starts with Jackie losing her family, but her grief is not felt instantly. Later, it becomes evident when material things and seemingly inconsequential incidents remind her of the family and the home that she has lost. 

Apart from Jackie’s loss, the show also focuses on the loss of Cole’s dream and opportunities. His future seems bleak to him. His story highlights what happens when one bases their self-worth on one thing and loses it.

Some reconciliations in the show are quite pleasing. While it is satisfying to watch Jackie and Erin bonding, Cole and Alex talking out their differences and understanding how they have hurt each other makes for an emotional scene.  

Negatives

My Life With the Walter Boys is a teen drama with the same old love triangle that has already been explored in various shows and films. The plot does not offer anything unique to the audience.

On top of that, the clichéd characters also fail to make the story original. A perfect protagonist who has suffered a tragedy and a troubled philanderer, who can be nice sometimes, lack the depth needed to get the audience invested in their stories.

While the show depicts the characters’ grief, it never explores it in depth. Like all other emotions in this show, their grief and heartbreak are also surface-level. It feels like a wasted opportunity, as just the understanding of their situations evokes sympathy.

Apart from Jackie’s relationship with Cole and Alex, the show fails to explore her relationship with the rest of the Walters. Towards the end, she claims that she has found a new family, but there is not much to support that claim.

The show’s pacing makes it hard for the audience to stay interested in the plot. The characters keep attending different parties and events, and the love triangle is dragged out. The fact that there is no chemistry between the characters does not help.

Verdict

My Life With the Walter Boys does not have much to offer. As it lacks an original plot and interesting characters, the show fails to hold the audience’s attention. 

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Also Read: My Life With the Walter Boys summary and ending explained