After a summer back at “home,” Jackie Howard, with the influence of Katherine Walter, realizes her heart isn’t in the concrete jungle of New York City anymore, but rather, it belongs in a small town: Silver Falls, Colorado. Though she had tragically lost her biological family, she comes to the realization that she isn’t alone–she still has, and will always have, the Walters.
Similar to the beginning of season one, season two of My Life with the Walter Boys begins with Jackie moving back into the Walter home and back into the chaos. Immediately, she is hit by something she could have only expected in her nightmares. The Walter boys, who are practically her family, ignore her. Aside from Katherine, the mother of the family, and George, the father, she faces this frightening reality: she has lost all her “family” in Silver Falls. To make matters worse, the oldest Walter brother, Will, is on a mission to transform his family farm into a rural vacation getaway, which devastates the traditional farmers of the town.
While assimilating into her life on the farm, she tries to regain her old friendships. Jackie makes a quick leave at the end of her freshman year when complications in her love triangle arise at Will Walter’s wedding, however she is able to pick up where she leaves off with Skylar and Grace. With others, she has a hard time apologizing for the reason she leaves in the first place. Even with Parker, the only daughter of the family, Jackie struggles to reconnect. At the end of season one, she kisses Cole even though she is dating Alex. Rather than confronting anyone, she leaves, back to New York, with no explanation at all. The dynamic between Alex and Jackie is one of the most difficult of them all. There is no doubt that there will be hardship between the two of them, but it is much more than many imagine. Alex sets the tone early on by not letting Jackie help out in his beloved barn and ignoring her. From this, Jackie chooses her other love interest, Cole.
As a person, Jackie is great, as she helps the town grow and her high school thrive; however, her relationship skills are somewhat messy, as she is caught in a love triangle with two brothers. The entire plot of Jackie trying to decide between Cole and Alex is very similar to the dynamic in The Summer I Turned Pretty, but with a significantly different setting. After Jackie’s conflict of who to choose, she finally decides on Alex. Unfortunately for Alex, the second Jackie chooses him, she realizes she wants Cole.
Jackie’s conflicting love life isn’t the only confusing one in the season. Nathan Walter’s love conflict is just as terrible. Nathan starts off the season with his boyfriend, Skylar. They share some interests together, including the school newspaper that Nathan joins to be closer to Sky. The mood shifts when Skylar doesn’t give Nathan any special treatment for the paper. However, the paper’s photographer, Zach, does. Zach begins to talk to Nathan, helping Nathan realize that he is interested in other people more than Zach. Unlike Skylar, Zach doesn’t encourage Nathan to do the things he loves. He encourages Nathan to do the opposite, to skip band practices and join him in activities like video games that Zach likes. At the very end of the season, Zach and Nathan break up because of Zach’s mysterious history with Skylar, and then Zach attempts to get back with Skylar again. In all, the relationships between the three boys are messy and unnecessary to the storyline of the season.
The third major part of the season is football, mostly involving Cole and Dylan Newsome. Unlike the other messy romances in the season, Dylan Newsome shares arguably the most genuine relationship of them all. He begins talking to Kiley, a friend of Alex’s. Kiley helps Dylan find himself and ultimately become a better person. To become the best version of himself, he has to start out less than that, which is how the season begins. At the start of the season, Dylan plays football for one reason and one reason only: to impress his father. Cole Walter, a former quarterback and star player, is hurt and can’t play at all, which is why he decides he will become the assistant coach. The team has their fair share of tough moments, including when Dylan and Cole have to do community service to make up for their actions. Overall, football is a great part of the story for season two. It adds a new perspective for both Cole and Dylan, showing how greatly the sport impacts their lives.
In conclusion, season two of My Life with the Walter Boys brings just as much emotion, drama, and growth as the first. Jackie’s return to Silver Falls is anything but easy, but through heartbreak, miscommunication, and reconnection, she slowly finds her place again–in the town, and the Walter family. The Walter house is never short of chaos, but somehow, that chaos always leads to the best entertainment.
