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My Life With the Walter Boys
In the wonderful world of tropes, the longevity and recurrent success of the love triangle is truly remarkable. From films like Twilight — which still splits society into Team Edward and Team Jacob today — to popular series like Gilmore Girls, Younger, Never Have I Ever, Hart of Dixie, Jane The Virgin, and so many more, fans repeatedly relish at the sight of two characters romantically pursuing a third. But add two brothers into the mix, and that delicious competition morphs into a full-out family war with higher stakes, deeper destruction, and an undeniable level of ick.
Netflix’s new coming-of-age drama, My Life With the Walter Boys, brings yet another brotherly love triangle to television. But as I watched these siblings brawl, sulk, and betray each other in the name of their shared love interest, my mind went beyond the typical “this is really effed up” thoughts to the conclusion that TV is overdoing this particular type of toxic love story.
Based on Ali Novak’s book of the same name, My Life With the Walter Boys follows 15-year-old Manhattan teen Jackie (Nikki Rodriguez) who moves in with her mom’s best friend (and her eight kids) after a life-altering tragedy. With Walter boys everywhere she turns, it doesn’t take long for Jackie to develop a crush on one of her new teen housemates. But in today’s TV landscape, one crush on a Walter boy just isn’t enough! Two crushes, however? On brothers? Now that will really spice things up!
In Ashby Gentry’s Alex, Jackie admires a shy, nerdy nice guy with a love of books, video games, and rodeo. But Noah LaLonde’s popular jock Cole has an effortless edge and intriguing air of mystery she just can’t quit. As usual, watching Alex and Cole put their fraternal bond in jeopardy to try and win Jackie’s love didn’t feel great, but what really sent me over the edge was the big reveal that this wasn’t their first time fighting over a girl. Get these boys some therapy! I’m not having fun anymore!
Undoubtedly playing into my sibling love triangle fatigue is the fact that one of 2023’s most popular series, Prime Video’s The Summer I Turned Pretty, shines a spotlight on protagonist Belly’s (Lola Tung) love for biological brothers Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah Fisher (Gavin Casalegno). Belly’s been pining for Connie Baby — the eldest Fisher boy; a brooding introvert — her entire life, but one monumental summer she finds herself drawn to her bubbly bestie Jere in ways she’d never been before. The first two seasons of the series, based on Jenny Han’s bestselling book series, show Belly flirting with, kissing, dating, and emotionally devastating both brothers. (Did we mention this all plays out while Conrad and Jere’s mother is dying of cancer and everyone involved is incredibly vulnerable? Help!) Though Belly ends Season 2 pledging exclusivity to one Fisher, you know the messy emotions within the trio remain — as do all the cringey incestuous vibes, extra intense emotions, and questionable ethics associated with sibling love triangles.
Those two series (plus others like The Vampire Diaries) prove brotherly love is a popular trope in YA books, so as more book-to-screen adaptations are developed there’s a chance we could continue seeing an increase in sibling romance drama. It’s also worth noting that these complex sibling storylines are nothing new. This year, Apple TV+’s The Big Door Prize took another dark approach to a love triangle involving two (twin!) brothers, and we’ve seen other messy brother crushes play out in past series including One Tree Hill and Baby Daddy. The list goes on and on.
Like classic love triangles, having a character choose between two brothers can be incredibly beneficial for storytelling and helps keep viewers invested by encouraging them to pick a team. When a shared romantic pursuit places strain on an entire family, erodes a formerly strong sibling dynamic, and isolates the losing brother from loved ones in his time of need, however, a love triangle feels less enduring, more painful, and especially twisted than one involving two strangers leading separate lives, like a Dean/Jess situation. Even the popular love triangle between best friends so close they’re practically brothers (as seen in Dawson’s Creek, Friday Night Lights, and more recently Apple TV+’s The Buccaneers) cuts deep, but doesn’t cross the line as far as swapping spit with actual siblings.
Long live the love triangle, but do we really need multiple major series in a single year featuring lead characters with crushes on brothers? Even if sibling love triangles do occasionally happen in real life, the overuse in teen TV shows is making the subtrope feel stale. With each brother’s betrayal, the love triangles lose a little of their shock value, but they remain as toxic as ever each time around.
My Life With the Walter Boys is now streaming on Netflix.
