Why My Life with the Walter Boys does its heroine dirty
Nikki Rodriguez's Jackie is dealt a rough hand in Netflix's drama.
The latest Netflix drama to court the young adult crowd, My Life with the Walter Boys is adapted from the same-named novel Ali Novak wrote when she was just 15. While you can therefore forgive the source material for its shallow characterisation, immature attitudes to relationships and mindless cliches, you'd expect such problems to be ironed out by a team who've long since left their high school years behind. If anything, though, creator Melanie Halsall appears to have treated the lightweight teen romance with the utmost reverence. And as a result, its leading lady is once again done dirty.
Best-known for playing Cesar's girlfriend Vero in the far superior coming-of-age On My Block, Nikki Rodriguez is supposed to take centre stage as Jackie Howard, a teenage socialite whose glamorous New York life is upended in the most tragic of circumstances. Indeed, following the death of her parents and older sister in a car crash, the 15-year-old is sent to fictional Colorado small town Silver Falls to live with her mother's kindly BFF Katherine (Suits' Sarah Rafferty), her All-American husband George (Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Marc Blucas) and their 10-strong mix of sons, tomboys and nephews.
Dealing with the trauma of losing her nearest and dearest while adjusting to a completely alien environment, Jackie undoubtedly has a story to tell. Unfortunately, this soapy Hallmark Channel-esque series isn't particularly interested in telling it, instead dedicating most of its overlong 10 episodes to the tiresome, and occasionally problematic, antics of her hormonal housemates.
Noah LaLonde gets the lion's share of screen time as Cole, the blond-haired, bad boy jock with an aversion to both shirts (he's even introduced emerging slow-motion from a swimming pool Daniel Craig-style) and discussing anything other than his career-threatening football injury. Along with the picturesque rural setting, the latter is the only time that the producers' Friday Night Lights-meets-Dawson's Creek comparisons make any sense.
Like most of his bratty siblings who should know far better, Cole treats Jackie, a girl who's just lost her entire family, let's not forget, terribly. He derogatorily refers to her as 'New York' throughout, coerces her into drinking games (albeit one which satisfyingly causes her to throw up on him) and belittles her dreams of attending Princeton University before inevitably revealing a softer side that leaves her in eyelash-fluttering mode. "Treat them mean, keep them keen" is just one of the dubious life lessons the show imparts. "Stay in your lane," another.
When she's not falling under the spell of what's dubbed "The Cole Effect", Jackie spends her time flirting with Alex (Ashby Gentry), one of the more sensitive Walters, but one who still appears to treat girls like possessions to be fought over. No one comes off especially well in the melodramatic love triangle that ensues.
Jackie's interactions with Danny (Connor Stanhope) and Nathan (Corey Fogelmanis) are a little more encouraging. But even they adhere to the siblings' toxic 'no snitch' code which somehow tries to paint Jackie as the villain for being upset they swapped her shampoo for hair bleach.
Throw in the video camera-wielding Jordan (Dean Petriw), essentially channelling Wes Bentley's creep in American Beauty, along with the moody tantrum-throwing Isaac (Isaac Arellanes), and despite their Good Samaritan status, Katherine and George seem to have raised a bunch of sociopaths.
Even when the spotlight does shine on its apparent heroine, Jackie is given about as much depth as a puddle. Grief works in mysterious ways, obviously, but apart from the odd tearful glance at a family photo and a solitary bonding session with fatherless mean girl Erin (Alisha Newton), the teen appears to treat her new-found orphaned status as a mild inconvenience rather than a seismic development that will forever shape her emotional being.
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Furthermore, her only personality trait appears to be Monica Geller-style organiser – by the final episode, drippy eldest boy Will (Johnny Link) is trusting her to arrange the spontaneous home wedding he and bride Haley (Zoe Soul) spend most of the season moping over. Even when she's with friends Grace (Ellie O'Brien) and Skylar (Jaylan Evans), talk very rarely strays beyond planning the latest school event.
Having been completely sidelined in her own story, Jackie is finally allowed some agency in the final scene when, having kissed her second Walter brother, she's seen flying back to Manhattan with her uncle Richard (Alex Quijano). "What have you done?" Alex shouts at Cole after finding her apologetic goodbye note. Inspired her to carve out a new life far, far away from the awful Walter Boys is the hope.
All 10 episodes of My Life with the Walter Boys are now available to stream on Netflix – check out our Drama hub for all the latest news.
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