Over the past few weeks, edits of the new Netflix series “My Life With the Walter Boys” have overtaken my Instagram feed. The best way to describe the show is “The Summer I Turned Pretty” but set on a Colorado ranch. Both stories involve a love triangle with two brothers and the daughter of their mom’s best friend. As I binged “My Life with the Walter Boys” over winter break, I couldn’t help but constantly compare the plot and characters to those of “The Summer I Turned Pretty.”
In “My Life with the Walter Boys,” the Conrad vs. Jeremiah rivalry from “The Summer I Turned Pretty” comes back in the form of Team Cole vs. Team Alex. Cole is the older brother, popular football star, and school golden boy while Alex is a shy, quiet gamer and bookworm.
I was initially rooting for Alex and Jackie (the girl caught in the middle) to end up together because Alex reads for fun, he’s more emotionally stable than Cole, and he’s seems like a sweet, dependable person, which Jackie would appreciate since she loves organization. However, once I read the book, I immediately converted to Team Cole for the following reasons:
1. Jackie makes Cole a better person—he decides to improve his grades and go to college—and in the book, he makes Jackie safely get out of her comfort zone to have fun, which is something she needs since her family tragically passes away. Alex and Jackie are cute together, but I didn’t see much growth in either of them over the course of their relationship.
2. Jackie humbles Cole multiple times in the novel; he’s not used to being told “no” since he’s so well-liked at school.
3. Cole acts very gentlemanly toward Jackie, whereas Alex parades her in front of Cole to antagonize his brother. Addison Patz ‘25 stated, “I’m convinced they both just want Jackie so the other one can’t have her.”
That’s definitely true for Alex—he wants to beat his older brother at something since everyone always falls for what the show calls the “Cole Effect.” However, in the “My Life with the Walter Boys” book, Cole likes Jackie because he doesn’t feel alone when he’s with her; both he and Jackie have lost important parts of their lives—for Jackie, it’s her family, and for Cole, it’s his football career and sense of direction.
4. Cole quietly does thoughtful things for Jackie; he painstakingly pieces her late sister’s teapot back together after it breaks in the show.
5. Cole lends Jackie his prized football jersey in the novel, which no one has seen since his career-ending leg injury.
Alex is more of a side character in the book than he is in the show. I feel like the directors wanted to include him more in the Netflix series to emulate the success of the viral brother vs. brother rivalry that started with “The Summer I Turned Pretty.”
Speaking of which, sophomore Molly Betance shared, “I think Cole and Conrad are the same in that they both know what they want but they wouldn’t want to hurt their younger sibling for it. I also think Alex and Jeremiah are the same because both want to make their older brother jealous.”
I agree with Molly, but Alex reminds me more of Cam than Jeremiah from “The Summer I Turned Pretty” since both Alex and Cam are very sweet, shy, and smart.
My only issue with the show is how the script just glosses over Jackie’s family’s deaths; she seems to be fine immediately afterward. I also was sad some of the dialogue from the book got cut from the show, but I still absolutely loved the TV series and am eagerly awaiting season two.
