Navigating the younger years is a very difficult aspect that young people have to face from time to time. In Netflix’s new YA series “My Life With the Walter Boys,” based on Ali Novak’s 2014 novel of the same name, 15-year-old Jackie Howard’s (Niki Rodriguez) entire world suddenly turns upside down. Unfortunately, the generic story lines, a large cast and the incomprehensible choice between adult and teen make for an average story.
Adapted for television by Melanie Halsall and the crew of the “Kissing Booth” film trilogy, “My Life With the Walter Boys” opens with a lively evening in Manhattan. Jackie is on her high school’s event committee and is excitedly awaiting the arrival of her parents and older sister Lucy. Later, Jackie’s uncle Richard (Alex Quijano) arrives at the scene to deliver some terrible news. Jackie’s parents and sister have died in an accident. Due to which his life suddenly deteriorates and he is left without any support. Six months after that fateful night, Jackie has been forced to move to Balders, pushing a luggage cart through an airport in Colorado. She’s fabulously dressed in preppy trousers and a suave sweater, but she’s far from the Upper West Side.At baggage claim, she is met by a kindly-looking Campling couple, Dr. Katherine and George are welcomed by Walter (Sarah Rafferty and Mark Blucas). Dr. Katherine, the veterinarian in the town of Silver Falls, is Jackie’s best friend, Dilip Mata. However, Jackie knows almost nothing about the Walters’ family of seven boys, one girl, and two nephews. Arriving at the family’s expansive ranch, the frightened teen is immediately thrown into their chaotic life.With a mountain backdrop, horses and all the fireworks of a small town, Jackie tries to belong with the goal of settling down and earning a place at Princeton University. Instead, she finds herself at the center of her high school’s gossip mill and torn between two of Walter’s boys, quiet and assuming Alex (Ashby Gentry) and former quarterback Cole (Noah Lalonde), who has just finished a career.
Has adopted a bed-boy persona since.Netflix is no stranger to sugary sweet stories. From “Virgin River” to “Sweet Magnolias”, there’s definitely an audience that’s comfortable with predictability. But a lot of “My Life With the Walter Boys” just feels bland. The chemistry is lacking to make the lead trio exciting. And the surrounding stories, including the long-term tension between Cole and Alex, are unhelpful. Due to shows like ‘The Vampire Diaries’ and ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’, audiences are familiar with the trope of a love triangle between two brothers in the genre. Still, ‘My Life With the Walter Boys’ lacks the fire of excellence that characterized those series. While Alex is a good boy who wants to get out of his big brother’s trap, he can be relatively desperate and pathetic.
Netflix’s Disappointing ‘My Life with the Walter Boys’ Complicates a Weak YA Love Triangle: TV Review
My Life with the Walter Boys