Alright bestie, prepare yourself for a hot take: My Life With The Walter Boys is a dupe for The Summer I Turned Pretty…there I said it! With Netflix’s new coming-of-age drama having just been released on Dec 7 and already being a topic of discussion on social media, I couldn’t have been the only one who noticed the similarities between these two shows.
I’m sure you’ve rewatched the show and seen so many different edits of the Walter Boys on TikTok, but a little recap never hurt anybody. My Life With The Walter Boys follows fifteen-year-old New Yorker Jackie as she navigates life in Colorado after her parents and sister are tragically killed in a car accident. While trying to get back on track with her life, Jackie finds herself developing feelings for two of the brothers in the family she now lives with and must decide which one to be with.
Let’s be real, we’ve heard this story before and it really is the same show as The Summer I Turned Pretty, just the mountain horsegirl version, but let’s compare the similarities just to be sure.
I’m in love with both brothers’ dilemma.
The main conflict of both My Life With The Walter Boys and TSITP are the female characters’ inability to pick a brother and stick with him – in their defense the brothers definitely don’t make it easy. However, if we compare Season 1 of The Summer I Turned Pretty to My Life With The Walter Boys, both shows follow the main character’s initial attraction to the older brother, then settling but eventually falling for the younger brother, only to be overcome with the emotions for the older brother that never left during the season finale. While it’s the exact same cookie-cutter pattern, I still ate it up. However, I must say I prefer Cole and Jackie’s first kiss over Conrad and Belly’s.
Both shows deal with grief and “chosen family.”
In addition to love and relationships, both shows deal with deeper topics like grief and death. In The Summer I Turned Pretty, it’s the boy’s mother Susannah’s battle with cancer and her ultimate death in Season 2. In My Life With The Walter Boys, it’s the tragic death of Jackie’s immediate family. Both of these shows deal with the idea of a “chosen family” over a blood family. Laurel and Susannah acted as second mothers to each other’s kids, while Katherine stepped up and acted like a mother-figure to Jackie when she needed it most.
Both series show the importance of family relationships and working through things together despite disagreements and betrayals of trust.
Both sets of mothers were best friends.
Okay important question…do you think all 4 moms would have been friends if they went to the same college?
Cole & Conrad could be twins and Alex & Jeremiah are cut from the same cloth.
Not only do Cole and Conrad have a very similar look, they both play popular, moody, and misunderstood, ex-football stars who are flunking out of school. While Alex and Jeremiah don’t sport the same look, they’re both in the shadows of their older brothers but are very likable, a little goofy, and take on the BFF to lover path with Jackie and Belly respectively. TBH it’s the same character, just different names and hobbies. The thing that surprised me is while I’m #teamjerimiah I found myself cheering for #teamcole…someone unpack that for me.
Both Cole & Conrad held onto something that was important.
Remember the infinity necklace Conrad got Belly for her birthday but forgot to give her. Well the teapot is Cole’s infinity necklace.
If these shows weren’t similar enough, both Belly and Jackie find the necklace and teapot respectively sending them into a spiral of emotions. Oh, how we love teenage boys who are too scared to show that they care…oop just found another similarity!
Both Jackie & Belly needed to be rescued.
In Season 1 episode 7 of My Life With The Walter Boys, Jackie gets lost in the woods and Cole comes to her rescue, similar to Season 1 episode 6 of The Summer I Turned Pretty when Belly and Taylor get their clothes stolen after going skinny dipping and call Conrad and Jeremiah to bail them out. While I don’t love the damsel in distress trope, I do love the tension each rescue created.
The writers hit us with predictable moments they knew we would eat up.
In Season 2 of The Summer I Turned Pretty, Conrad and Belly share the iconic fireplace moment, and have a heated argument in the middle of a rainstorm that ultimately leads to their break up. While less steamy but still intimate, Cole and Jackie share a fireplace moment, as well as a heated argument in the pouring rain. Almost like writers said, “copy and paste,” but again I did eat it up so I can’t complain. Also can talk about the importance and recurrence of hot cocoa in these respective couples’ relationships???
Both sets of brothers end up fighting over the girl.
While Conrad and Jeremiah never get into a physical fight over Belly, they do have some serious verbal arguments about the love triangle.. This also occurs with Cole and Alex except their arguments often turned physical.
Both Cole & Conrad stifle their feelings to protect their younger brothers.
There are many moments Cole restrains himself from kissing Jackie and while he comes across a little selfish, he did say he would never do anything deliberate to hurt his brother in Season 1 episode 9. Similarly to Cole, Conrad stifles his feelings for Belly at the end of Season 2 so Jeremiah can be happy. Now this is a similarity I’m more than happy to have reoccur.
Okay now before I get any hate, just because I said dupe doesn’t mean both these show’s aren’t good. In fact, I’m actively googling if there’s going to be a second season of My Life With The Walter Boys because I may have watched it once, or twice…okay three times. While I was watching,, I couldn’t help but compare the similarities it shares with The Summer I Turned Pretty. I guess there’s is truth to the saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” because I ate and continue to eat both of these shows up. So whether you’re a country gal looking for a new show to tide you over until a new season of My Life With The Walter Boys hopefully comes out, or a coastal granddaughter trying to keep warm this winter waiting for season 3 of The Summer I Turned Pretty, both these shows stand on their own and can supplement your entertainment lineup.