When one of her classmates finds out that a new student, Jackie Howard, played by Nikki Rodriguez, has recently moved into the Walter home, she almost cries with joy. “You’re like the luckiest girl in this whole school,” she gushes, describing Jackie’s situation as “boy heaven.” The comment is ironic, considering that Jackie was adopted by the Walters only after her entire family was killed in a car crash. But it is also an accurate description of the dream that Netflix’s “My Life with the Walter Boys” aims to portray, where prim and beautiful Jackie lives among the hottest teenage boys in town.
Six months after the car accident, Jackie is forced to move to Colorado with her mom’s old best friend, Dr. Katherine Walter, and her family. Jackie has no idea about the Walters’ unruly group of seven boys, one girl, and two nephews. The hesitant teen is thrown into the chaotic world of the family’s sprawling ranch as soon as they arrive. When I just reached episode one I thought it was very hectic. I saw everyone in the family running around, yelling at each other, it was very hard to understand. I, as a viewer, was very confused with this. But if I had known that chaos would be staying the whole show I would’ve never watched it.
Jackie tries to fit in and hopes to achieve her dream of attending Princeton University, but that plan fails. Jackie gets caught in a whirlwind of gossip and drama with two Walter Brothers, Alex and Cole. Alex is quiet and smart while Cole is a bad-boy and was a star football quarterback before his huge leg injury.
According to Variety Magazine, Many viewers felt that the show was just another love triangle without any special aspects to it. Many fans are already familiar with the two-brothers-in-a-love-triangle scenario, thanks to popular TV shows such as “The Vampire Diaries.”
On top of its lack of originality, My Life With The Walter Boys lacks the thrilling energy of these shows. When I first started watching the show I thought it would be different from the other shows. The only way this show ended up different was that it was even more predictable. It was your normal nerd versus athlete. You could see around the corner without even peeking. I found the show overall disappointing. It was a country version of “The Summer I Turned Pretty.” “My Life With The Walter Boys” just felt stale.
