(Spoiler Warning!!)
Tell me why teenage love triangle lore is just so addicting. This summer I found myself impatiently waiting for the end of each week just to hear that iconic jingle as water glistened on my living room TV. For those of you that have no idea what I’m talking about, I am a strong survivor of The Summer I turned Pretty (TSITP) addiction. For the months of July and August, the Fisher brothers had me wrapped around their fingers. You can imagine how ecstatic I was this December when Netflix released My Life With The Walter Boys (MLWTWB). I was able to get my winter fix of teen love with a western twist.
The Summer I Turned Pretty
Author Jenny Han has created this perfect summer world for us to vicariously live through. Cousins Beach is the ideal summer spot that everyone dreams of. Just add some perfectly correlated Taylor Swift songs (I could write a whole separate article on the music choices in this show) and boom you have an Amazon Prime Video hit. The show follows Isabel (Belly) in the summer…the summer she turned pretty. All her life she had the biggest crush on family friend Conrad Fisher, but this summer she starts to gain feelings for his younger brother Jeremiah. Throughout seasons one and two, Belly is playing pickleball with these boy’s heart’s. From kissing Jeremiah in the pool, to telling Conrad it will only ever be him, Belly has been around the block and back with the Fisher boys.
When it comes to which team, I will always say Conrad. While Jeremiah is the definition of golden retriever, he will simply never be Conrad. Jeremiah even said to Belly in the second season that he knows there will always be something between her and Conrad. Even after saying that, Jeremiah then continues to pursue Belly. It seems to me like Jeremiah just wants what his big brother has. How can I be team Jeremiah when Belly and Conrad are obviously endgame? Even Jeremiah knows that!
Now, with all of that being said, I honestly don’t think Belly should be with either of them. The boy’s mother, Susannah, said (before passing away) that she knew Belly was destined for one of her boys. I think that this causes Belly to be closed minded. She is so set on ending up with one of them that she ends up falling for both of them, and in doing so causes family turmoil. I don’t understand why they keep fighting for her when she is causing so much tension between them!
I think her teenage essence is what makes her so entertaining. Jenny Han does an excellent job of marketing both boys. At times I feel myself on both team Jeremiah and team Conrad. They both have what the other doesn’t. These qualities on top of the aesthetic and drama of it all is what creates such an excellent series.
My Life With The Walter Boys
MLWTWB is about Jackie, who, after the sudden death of her family, moves in with her mom’s best friend’s family: The Walters. Isn’t that lowkey really dark? The Walters live on a farm in Colorado. This is a major adjustment from Jackie’s high class city life. The family consists of eighth sons and one daughter. Two of the boys (Cole and Alex) find themselves falling for Jackie.
There are many correlations between TSITP and MLWTWB. Cole and Alex come from the same equation as Conrad and Jeremiah. Cole and Conrad are the older brothers who have a mysterious side. Cole is a player who internally struggles with giving up his dreams after a football injury. In a similar fashion, Conrad is the (for lack of better terms) “cool one ” who is dealing with the loss of his mom. Both complex and mysterious in different ways. On the other hand, Alex and Jeremiah are the golden retrievers. They are sweet and somewhat innocent. They are (in my opinion) annoying at times and both seem to want what the older brother has.
Now let’s be very clear, while these brothers are cut from the same cloth, Jackie and Belly are nothing alike. Jackie is a driven young woman who at least tries to not get involved with the brothers. Jackie is intelligent and aspires for greatness. At the end of the first season (after falling for both boys), Jackie hops on a plane and gets out of the situation. This is honestly a questionable decision. Belly is sloppy. She does not make smart decisions and is the epitome of a dimwitted teenage girl.
When it comes to these two series, I definitely think they follow the same formula. The use of contrasting ingenues is what causes fans to love both in different ways. I will always be a TSITP girl at heart, but I am eagerly waiting for season two of MLWTWB.