Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘My Life With the Walter Boys’ explores the complicated love triangle between Jackie Howard and the Walter brothers, Cole and Alex. Things are difficult as is for Jackie when she arrives in the Walter household. She has recently lost her parents and has been forced to leave her life behind in New York to move to the rural setting of Colorado to live with a family of around twelve people, most of whom she’d never even known about before.
On top of that, she lands in between Cole and Alex, who already have a sibling rivalry going on, and this only makes things trickier for Jackie. Even when she tries not to get into the middle of all that drama, she lands herself in murkier waters by the end of the season. SPOILERS AHEAD
Jackie and Cole Kiss But Aren’t Together Just Yet
Jackie had been attracted to Cole from the beginning, no matter how much she tried to deny that “the Cole effect” didn’t work on her. He caught her eye the first time she saw him, but she was also confused by his aloofness, which equaled his attention towards her. As she spends more time with him and he showers her with attention and consideration, she starts to develop feelings for him. But then, he also does things to tease and annoy her, which irritates her to no end.
In stark contrast to Cole is Alex, who is kinder and more considerate of Jackie’s feelings. He backs her when she feels helpless on the first day in class and makes her feel at home when she feels entirely unwelcome by the rest of the Walter boys. It’s also clear to her that Alex likes her, and the fact that he keeps his feelings clear about her gravitates her towards him. As opposed to this, Cole keeps up the charade of being distant while also dating other girls, much to the distress of Erin, his on-and-off girlfriend.
Despite his flaws, Jackie feels more connected to Cole, and this feeling only gets stronger with time. They have a moment where they talk about their grief and fears. She talks about the loss of her family, and he speaks about losing football to his leg injury. This moment of vulnerability further builds upon their relationship when Cole makes himself perpetually present for Jackie. She keeps him at a distance for a while when she starts dating Alex and discovers that Cole stole Alex’s girlfriend, but then the air clears, and there is barely anything holding her back from Cole.
In the final episode, Jackie’s emotions get the better of her when she discovers that Cole fixed her sister’s broken teapot because he knows how important it is for Jackie. When she confronts him about it, they both end up confessing their feelings and passionately kiss each other. But then, instead of taking this further, the next day, Jackie is on a flight to New York.
The fact that Jackie kissed Cole while she was in a relationship with Alex makes things worse. She knows she has cheated on Alex, and her betrayal is worse because she knew about the whole Paige thing that had broken Alex’s heart once before. Jackie knows the storm this will cause between Cole and Alex and how she’ll get caught up in the middle. It’s not the place she wants to be, so she decides to skip town for a while and regroup and give things a thought before deciding what her next step is going to be.
Considering everything, it is fair to say that Jackie is not getting together with Cole anytime soon. Even when she gets back from New York, if she does at all, she’d still be wary of immediately jumping into a relationship with him. It wouldn’t be good for her to jump from one Walter brother to another, and perhaps she’ll take some time off from both of them and focus on getting into Princeton. Still, with everything that has happened and where the story is clearly heading, we can say that she and Cole are bound to get together at some point. They might even get a happy ending, but before that happens, both of them need to figure out some things individually.
Read More: Do Alex and Jackie Break Up in My Life With the Walter Boys?
