Netflix ‘My Life with the Walter Boys’ Season 2 Review - Jackie's Choice

The first season of My Life with the Walter Boys premiered on Netflix on December 7, 2023. However, a few weeks ago, when I discovered that the second season of the series is set to release on August 28, 2025, I thought I had watched Season 1 during the 1990s. Compared to other shows on streaming services, Walter Boys Season 2 managed to arrive a little early. Yet, the series itself is so forgettable, so generic, that it doesn't matter whether the new episodes come late or early. The only thing I remember from Season 1, strangely, is a shower prank that the boys play on the girl from New York, Jackie (Nikki Rodriguez). Moreover, the 2-minute recap reminded me that Jackie is torn between two Walter boys - Cole, played by Noah LaLonde, and Alex, played by Ashby Gentry. I regret to inform you that this imbecilic dilemma still exists in the second season. Will Jackie choose Cole, an aspiring football coach, or Alex, an aspiring bronc rider? Walter Boys devilishly rubs its palms and whispers, "Why not both?" Adapted from Ali Novak's 2014 novel of the same name, the second season of Walter Boys sets up love triangles/squares/pentagons with the intention of producing both spice and suspense. So it's not just about Jackie, Cole, and Alex. Nathan (Corey Fogelmanis) falls for Skylar (Jaylan Evans), the editor of the school newspaper, and at the same time, gets seduced by Zach (Carson MacCormac), a photographer. Zach likes Nathan, but that doesn't mean he has no feelings for Skylar. Dylan (Kolton Stewart) develops a crush on Kiley (Mya Lowe), who's Alex's best friend since kindergarten. However, does a teeny tiny part of Alex think of Kiley as someone more than a friend? A girl helps Cole by teaching him a few subjects, but she also would very much like to have sex with him. Cole, though, is obviously in love with Jackie or, as he likes to call her, "New York." Blake (Natalie Sharp), a rodeo trainer, falls for Alex, and Alex likes...well, you know the answer. 

Not every character is developing a crush on more than one person. Take Danny (Connor Stanhope) and Erin (Alisha Newton), for instance. So what's the problem between them? It's stupid stuff, involving that age-old cliché about saying the wrong thing at the wrong moment. Then again, the s-word can be used to describe the whole season. There are too many issues in the romance department. There is some father-son trouble over a business venture. One of the Walter boys wants to prove himself as a capable football player, while another football player wants to be the perfect son for his father. Kiley and Grace (Ellie O'Brien) encounter some familial challenges, and Cole aspires to be a terrific coach, a goal he strives to achieve by leading the school football team to heights of excellence. I have not even mentioned Jackie's efforts to save the Fall Formal, win an election, and pass the driving test. Season 2 has too many things on its plate — it's overcrowded. Like its teen characters, the show flirts with the various threads instead of fully committing to a single aspect. This means that when some storylines or characters don't appear on the screen for a reasonably long time, you forget about them. It's only when you hit the pause button to take a break from the onslaught of tedium that you remember some of the threads. I checked my notes and found sentences like, "Where is Blake, and why is Alex not practicing for the rodeo competition?" and "Oh yeah, Jackie has to prepare herself for the driving test!" What Blake teaches Alex, and what he learns from her, is not clearly discussed. Walter Boys Season 2 has no room for details that don't move the story forward. Kiley and Dylan watch a movie together. Do they like it? The series doesn't say — which seems egregious, considering Kiley has read all the comics and would surely have a lot to say about the movie she watched with Dylan. Cole and Jackie make a bet before playing candy poker, but who wins? Walter Boys just cuts to the next scene, the next day.
 

The show has already been renewed for a third season, and one can see the reason: it's mediocre, brain-rot content that serves as bearable background noise. I am definitely not the target audience. When Danny took Erin out of the car to dance in the rain, I didn't find myself swooning over their romance. Rather, my eyes were fixed on the open car door as I wondered whether the rainwater would get into the vehicle. What's more, Fogelmanis, as Nathan, bears a slight resemblance to Elijah Wood's Frodo Baggins, which had me half-expecting him to carry a magical ring to Mount Doom as part of his character development. Perhaps that would have been better. We could have been saved from sitting through lame romantic confusions. Even the show itself gets tired of Jackie's indecision, which is why, through Grace, it vents its frustrations. Grace also reveals her personal problems to Jackie, and it feels as if Walter Boys is criticizing itself for relegating the best friend to the sidelines, but nothing significant arises from this occasion. The series doesn't change its direction. I think the teenagers should take a break, sit down, and do some self-examination. Why are they attracted to more than one person? Maybe they need to realize they're not falling in love — it's just the mischief of sex hormones. Walter Boys should drop its melodramatic facade and lean into its dirty, raunchy side. It should reinvent itself as erotica; at this point, it desperately needs a makeover.

Final Score- [2.5/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times