Do you enjoy shows like The Summer I Turned Pretty or movies like To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before? Well, Netflix just made another one. This show made its way into my life one December day while my boyfriend and I were trying to find a new show to watch. My Life with the Walter Boys follows Jackie in her journey, adjusting to her new life living with a house full of boys after losing her family in an accident. After watching the show, I have a few opinions that’ll help you decide whether to waste your time with annoyance or enjoyment.
Storyline
The plot of the show revolves around Jackie’s life after losing her mother, father, and sister in a car accident in New York. She then falls into the custody of her mother’s best friend, making her move to the state of Colorado. Jackie struggles to adjust to her new environment and is lost in a house full of boys. Later in the show, we can see as Jackie begins to adjust, she falls into a love triangle with two of the brothers, Alex and Cole. Watching this show, I found the whole storyline quite cliche. This makes sense considering the show originated from a Wattpad book back in 2014. These types of books were popular for Wattpad and each book was a different variation of another. There was nothing that set the show apart from other similar shows. To add on, I feel like the show lacked a lot of dimension when it came to certain topics such as the passing of her family or the context of the friendship between Jackie’s mother and her best friend. Not to say these weren’t mentioned enough in the show, but it could have been much more deeply rooted.
Filler Storylines
There were quite a lot of filler storylines in this show including the crumbling marriage of the older brother, Will, and the deployment of Isaac’s and Lee’s father. These storylines give us context on who these characters are and why they are the way they are which can answer a lot of questions. However this show does one of two things, it’s irrelevant, and/or it’s a waste of time. The show following Will’s marriage was a waste of time for multiple reasons. Will’s importance in the family was not emphasized enough, making his storyline feel like a different show. Not to mention, the rough patch in their marriage had no relevance towards the show or the main characters, the wedding at the end would and could have happened either way. This can compare to Isaac’s and Lee’s storyline which is said and dropped within one episode. It’s meant to give dimension to these characters, but heavy topics like these can not be dropped as easily.
Characters
Watching this show, I did not appeal well to most of the characters. Most characters were side and background with storylines of a main character, while the main characters were flat. Jackie was the basic cliche girl character. She was the average smart nice girl who was changed by boys. There’s not much we can say about her. Although she does open up throughout the show, we can’t say much about her development seeing as we have only known her for a couple of episodes and nothing beforehand. As for the two main male leads, they are also cliches. Alex plays the role of the nice guy, while Cole is the ‘bad boy.’ We don’t know much about Cole socially since much is not revealed as Alex is pretty much only known for being Cole’s shadow. I loved Alex throughout the show, but for the love of god cannot tell you anything about him. We don’t get a chance to really know the characters on a deeper level.
Overall, I’ve given the show an overall rating of 6/10. Although the show’s potential was not executed to the fullest, I still enjoyed it. It was a fun watch with my boyfriend, who also has quite a few opinions, but that’s for another time. Give the show a watch when you have nothing better to do and let me know your opinion! Let’s debate!