[This story contains spoilers from the season two finale of Netflix’s My Life with the Walter Boys.]
Netflix My life with Walter boys is ready to understand the past and embrace the present – but not without a drama along the way.
Last season, Jackie Howard of Nikki Rodriguez moved to Silver Falls in Rural Colorado after being collected by the Walters, a family of seven sons and a daughter, after having tragically lost her family in an accident in New York. Smoothed to find his place, Jackie found himself developing feelings for Alex Walter (Ashby Gentry), a nice bookboy, and Cole Walter (Noah Lalonde), the former quarter-arre of Silver Falls High School who suffered an injury at the end of his career.
After spending this first season with feelings for the two brothers, the final saw Jackie and Cole kissing for the first time despite Jackie who was already going out with Alex, who had also confessed to love him. Jackie returned to New York to escape, but season two, which started broadcast on August 28, saw Jackie return to Silver Falls and the Walter family determined to do things correctly.
But now she has another dilemma, explains the showrunner Melanie Halsall.
The second season of Netflix ended on a cliffhanger with Jackie finally admitting his feelings to Cole, but Alex hearing the confession. “Jackie’s dilemma is that she really likes the two brothers,” said Halsall The Hollywood Reporter By email during the production of season three. With Alex, Jackie has a “safe space”, but with Cole, there is an attraction given their understanding of each other after the two “huge upheavals and losses that have changed the course of their life”.
As for the place where the love triangle goes from here, Halsall has teased that sorrow has necessarily arrived. “At the heart of our show is a love triangle and I don’t know if they can really be really resolved, because someone will always break their hearts,” added Halsall. Below, the showrunner discusses the whole of My life with Walter boys Season three on Alex’s “Glow up”, why Jackie and Alex have rekindled, and Jackie’s dilemma with Alex and Cole in the future.
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Jackie may have returned to Silver Falls, but she is now trying to know who she is and her place in the family, Alex / Cole and the school. What do you hope to explore when it will return to Silver Falls?
This season, Jackie is struggling with his identity. She decided to cement her place in the world of Silver Falls and the Walter family, but to maintain who she is as Howard. In the first season, she was trying to avoid and jump over this difficult phase of her life by focusing on her future: getting out of money and Princeton as a way to overcome her grief. But her stay in New York and the conversations with Katherine made her realize that this is where she must be, so her goal is to be part of this family and this community. We explore what it means in terms of seizure with his past and kiss his gift.
We also see Jackie and Cole trying to confront and heal their past tragedies, Jackie always crying her family and has been his football career. Can you talk about the parallels of their stories where they both try to let go of their past to settle their future?
Part of the attraction between the two is that they understand each other because they both had huge upheavals and losses that have changed the course of their lives – and they are unique to help each other with what happened to them and how they will move forward.
Then with Alex, this season, he said he had changed. What did you want to explore with this Alex 2.0 that we see in season two?
Alex had a “shine”. He went to the Rodeo school and returned both physically and emotionally changed, and more mature. Yes, he hides his injury, and at the beginning, it manifested by him seeming to have also become a different person. But of course, he did not do it; Inside, he is always the same sweet and sensitive Alex as we know and love. I wanted to explore what it was to be a teenager who changed physically and tries a different personality, but who is always the same person inside and who ends up realizing who they really are.
We also see Alex and Kiley (Mya Lowe) apparently not as close as they were, and Alex always seems unconscious of his feelings towards him. Do you see that Alex has ever seen Kiley as something other than friends as she did once? Or have you ever seen him explore a link with his Rodeo Blake mentor (Natalie Sharp)?
Alex and Kiley have been friends forever and Kiley has been in love with Alex for almost as long as that. I think that Alex grew up before he could see this. As for Blake, they have great chemistry and they share a love of horses, so who knows what could happen there?
This season has also followed the ups and downs of relations between Nathan (Corey Fogelmanis) and Skylar (Jaylan Evans), Danny (Connor Stanhope) and Erin (Alisha Newton) and Kiley and Nathan. How was it to explore these love stories?
I loved being able to dive deeper into the life of these characters and I hope that the public will like to see different types of romance and different aspects of relationships in the show.
As in the first season, the love triangle between Jackie, Cole and Alex continues. It is clear that Jackie is always dealing with feelings for Alex and Cole. Why do Jackie and Alex have another blow?
Alex is a safe space for Jackie. She knows that on paper, he should be the perfect boyfriend for her. He forgives her and is kind to her when she is the most vulnerable, which makes her – and we – love her even more. Of course, it is undeniable that they are really attracted to each other, especially this season after Alex’s shine.
When Jackie tells Alex what happened with Cole, that still doesn’t prevent him from wanting to continue things with Jackie. Why was he forgiving if this time?
Because, as he says, he cannot overcome her. I think many of us have been in a relationship, or have had a crush, where we forgive someone for something, or try another relationship (even if the intelligent thing to do would be to move away) because we really like this person and we want it to work.
Alex and Cole seem cordial despite the fact that there is the elephant in the play of their feelings towards Jackie. Can you think about their dynamics this season? Will there be a link there if one of them is necessarily broken the heart?
Yes, we wanted to recognize that, although they buried the ax at the end of the first season and are again (in theory) of friends, Alex has always suspected that something could have happened between Cole and Jackie. But also, he doesn’t really want to know, so there is discomfort in the air between them. In the end, they are brothers and although they are often in recording or have trouble with each other, they have an unbreakable link and love for each other even when they fight.
We also see Jackie revealing his love for Cole, only for Alex to also hear this confession. What can you tease where we see the three of here?
Jackie’s dilemma is that she really likes the two brothers. Regarding the place where they go from here, I think they all have work to do emotionally to come back from the repercussions of this night.
For season three, will Jackie decide where her heart is really or are you considering that it continues to be a fight for her?
At the heart of our show is a love triangle and I don’t know if they can really be really resolved, because someone will always break their hearts!
The season has also ended with a medical fear which will certainly have a strong impact on the family. What can you tease what is in store for the Walter family in season three?
Obviously, this is a huge thing for our characters, and the benefits will continue to affect the whole family for a while.
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My life with the Walter Boys is now broadcasting on Netflix. Read the previous interviews with THR in season two.
