Warning: My Life with the Walter Boys season 1 spoilers forward!
My Life With the Walter Boys is lassoing up extra love triangle drama for season 2.
It is one of many newest book-to-screen variations to take the web by storm, as a love triangle between brothers brews amidst a home of practically a dozen boys. My Life With the Walter Boys relies on the 2014 guide of the identical identify by Ali Novak, however like different works, the present took on a lifetime of its personal.
The story facilities round 15-year-old Jackie Howard (Nikki Rodriguez), who turns into an orphan and strikes from New York to Colorado to reside on a ranch along with her mom’s finest pal, Katherine Walter (Sarah Rafferty), and her large household.
My Life With the Walter Boys explores Jackie’s life after great loss — within the sequence’ first episode, she receives information that her mom, father and older sister, Lucy, have been killed in an accident — as she establishes herself in a brand new small city and navigates a difficult dynamic with two of the Walter boys, former soccer star and resident dangerous boy Cole (Noah LaLonde) and candy, earnest Alex (Ashby Gentry), neither of whom she will be able to steer clear of.
Some main modifications have been made to the present, together with the addition of recent characters and the possibility to develop on established storylines.
Now that My Life With the Walter Boys season 2 is streaming, here is all the pieces to find out about the important thing variations in Jackie and the Walter household’s written story mirrored within the Netflix present.
There are much less Walter boys
Within the present, the Walter household is comprised of Katherine (Rafferty) and George (Marc Blucas) and their 10 children: Will (Johnny Hyperlink), twins Cole and Danny (Connor Stanhope), Nathan (Corey Fogelmanis), Alex (Gentry), Isaac (Isaac Arellanes), Lee (Myles Vincent Perez), Jordan (Dean Petriw), Parker (Alix West Lefler) and Benny (Lennix James).
Nevertheless, within the guide, there are 11 Walter children — 10 boys and one younger lady, Parker — as Jordan can be a twin. In December 2023, showrunner Melanie Halsall instructed Leisure Weekly that it was a deliberate determination to chop one of many units of twins when adapting the guide for the display, although she didn’t elaborate on why one of many boys received lower.
“The TV sequence takes off a bit bit from the guide — there are fewer boys within the household, for a begin. Two of the dual units grew to become only one, and that is fairly an enormous change I believe individuals will discover,” she instructed the outlet.
New characters, new drama
A bunch of recent characters are launched within the present to assist develop the Silver Falls neighborhood.
Highschool steerage counselor Tara (Ashley Tavares), one in every of Will’s fiancée Haley’s shut buddies, is a newly launched character. She’s a supply of fixed help for Haley as her relationship with Will faces some ups and downs.
She additionally finds love with new trainer Nikil (Mobeh Jindran). Nevertheless, issues finish with the standing of their relationship nonetheless up within the air in episode 10, as she appears to be crushing on Jackie’s Uncle Richard (Alex Quijano).
Jackie and Cole’s first kiss
Within the guide, Jackie and Cole kiss lengthy earlier than the ending scene. Throughout a recreation of fact or dare, which was recreated within the present, Cole is dared to kiss Jackie, and he does.
Within the present, although, on the actual second Cole begins to lean into her in the course of the recreation, the alcohol she’s had hits her unexpectedly, and he or she pukes on him and runs off. Viewers as an alternative have to attend till the finale episode to see a kiss between Jackie and the older Walter brother.
Cole and Alex’s battle
In each the guide and the present, tensions between Cole and Alex are as excessive as ever as soon as Jackie involves city. The brothers have beforehand been concerned with the identical lady, Paige, and the expertise left Cole with a goal on his again. Nevertheless, he insists that he did not intend for the overlap to occur, as he was away all summer time and did not find out about Alex’s relationship with Paige.
Within the present, although, as Alex begins courting Jackie, and rumors start to fly across the college in regards to the Walter brothers, their rigidity involves a head, and so they brawl in the midst of the college day. Danny, Nathan, Isaac and Lee all rush to separate the battle, however all six of the Walters find yourself with suspensions because of this — and the discharge of the pent-up rigidity does nothing to ease the pressure on Cole and Alex’s relationship.
Monetary troubles on the ranch
A serious stressor for Katherine and George within the latter half of the sequence is their monetary troubles, as a illness spreads via the bushes on their expansive Colorado ranch. George fails to safe a mortgage from the financial institution to assist tide them over, after which finally ends up assembly with a developer as he and Katherine take into account promoting the land fully.
At one level, Jackie overhears the couple’s dialog about how tight cash is with so many mouths to feed and considers shifting again to New York Metropolis along with her Uncle Richard, although she would not find yourself doing so — not less than not at that time.
In the course of the season finale, although, along with his wedding ceremony looming, the oldest Walter boy, Will, appears to have some tips up his sleeve. He meets with Richard, and so they focus on the opportunity of opening a resort on a few of the ranch’s land, seemingly a option to clear up his dad and mom’ monetary downside and provides him and Haley a brand new enterprise enterprise to deal with.
Katherine’s award — and the following second of reckoning for Cole
One of many perks of adapting a guide right into a tv sequence is that there’s much more time to spend diving into the characters’ storylines. In Walter Boys, extra of the Walter dad and mom’ lives are explored, and Katherine’s profession as a vet is without doubt one of the arcs that will get extra airtime.
In episode 8, Katherine’s work as a vet is highlighted as she’s given a state award, and the award ceremony brings Cole’s dangerous conduct in mild of Jackie and Alex’s budding relationship to a climax. He arrives late to the ceremony and walks in drunk, making a scene with the waiters nearly instantly as he asks for extra alcohol. Then, in the midst of his mother’s acceptance speech for the award, he stumbles to his toes, knocks right into a server and causes a scene, interrupting Katherine’s speech and prompting boos from the gang.
Jackie and Will drag Cole outdoors to permit Katherine her second on stage, and tensions pique as Cole admits, “I do not know what I am doing or who I even am anymore.”
When Jackie gives to assist Cole, he drunkenly tells her (and later claims to not keep in mind it) that he needs she had by no means come to Silver Falls, to which she replies: “Effectively, I would like my household to not have died, so I assume we each need the identical factor.”
The dialog leaves Jackie’s frustration at an all-time excessive and creates issues with each brothers. Alex says she selected Cole over him, and he or she resorts to avoiding Cole after he claims to not keep in mind the hurtful remark.
The destiny of Jackie’s love triangle
Maybe essentially the most consequential change made to Jackie and the Walter boys’ story comes within the finale episode, the place, after a worrying few days planning Will and Haley’s wedding ceremony, Jackie finds out that Cole glued her sister’s teapot again collectively after it broke a number of months earlier than.
When Alex tells Jackie he loves her after which passes out from an excessive amount of champagne on the wedding ceremony, she heads out to the shed to confront Cole in regards to the teapot, and the 2 lastly kiss.
Within the guide, Jackie admits her emotions to Cole, and Alex overhears the dialog. With no preventing concerned, Jackie and Alex speak and determine they’re higher off as buddies, leaving the door open for love between her and the older Walter brother.
She then decides to spend the summer time in N.Y.C., and as she’s on her option to the airport with Danny, Cole stops them and confesses his love for her on the aspect of the highway — and within the pouring rain.
The guide ends with the promise of chance between Jackie and Cole and seemingly no dangerous blood with Alex, however the present leaves issues off ripe for chaos and battle, as Jackie as an alternative flees Silver Falls for N.Y.C. after her kiss with Cole, leaving solely an “I am sorry” be aware on her mattress.
Episode 10’s ending leaves most questions unanswered. Halsall confirmed to Tudum that Jackie and Alex “do not cut up up,” however famous that “they might find yourself splitting up due to what occurs with Cole on the very finish.”
She instructed EW that she hoped the present’s conclusion would shock followers of the guide. “What occurs on the finish will shock individuals as a result of that’s totally different than the guide, however I am hoping that offers the viewers, each the viewers that loves the guide and the brand new viewers, a little bit of a shock.”
As for what Jackie herself thinks, Rodriguez instructed Tudum, “I perceive Jackie’s dilemma.”
“Alex is extra that pet love, that friendship, that protected [relationship], however you simply love them a lot,” she mentioned of the love triangle. “However the Cole one is extra the passionate one, the one you shouldn’t love.”
