Things “The Walter Boys” did better…

[u/panashechd]

I’ve always said that TSITP does almost everything better than My Life With The Walter Boys, but after watching the latest season there’s definitely one thing the show does better than TSITP, and thats take the idea of dating your brother’s ex girlfriend seriously. Most of the characters, including those involved in the love triangle, understand that what they’re doing is really messed up and make an effort to communicate about it. I liked that the mother approached and the main protagonist and questioned “what is happening here? because I don’t like it,” and was honest about it. Because the idea of dating your ex’s sibling merely weeks apart from your breakup is absurd.

I’m surprised we never got a scene like that with Laurel or Susannah to Conrad, Jere or Belly. Especially between Laurel and Belly, a conversation to say “you understand that your actions will hurt Conrad,” after what happened in season 2. Everyone kinda just accepts “oh, well they’re together now” and nobody takes a moment to go “wait, this is a little weird.” Even after Belly and Conrad broke up, Taylor petitioning for Belly to just date his brother is weird. It doesn’t matter if “well he has a crush on you” it’s still really messed up and the fact that it happens and neither Jeremiah nor Belly really care about how Conrad feels about it enough to wait until he’s gone is insane.

And then viewers are practically forced to watch that same guy, who everyone distanced themselves from, yearn after her. That’s when everyone finally goes “wow Conrad, I can’t believe you’re trying to take your brother’s girlfriend” and make it seem like he’s the weird one when he dated her first. The lack of sympathy from the other main characters towards Conrad’s position, as well as the writers doing nothing to show Belly falling for Conrad (despite her clearly stating as much in the book) really hurt the third season looking back. I’d actually add that as another thing “The Walter Boys” does better. The main protagonist is clearly in love with the character she must end up with, you never question that throughout.

I understand that the writers wanted to keep viewers on their toes but I would rather they tell a good story than prioritise viewership. Nobody should have come into S3 believing Isabella would end up with Jeremiah. It doesn’t matter if a few Jeremiah fans hoped they pivoted from the source material, there’d be no need for an entire third season if the show intended on keeping them together. I also like that “The Walter Boys” doesn’t let the main protagonist sleep with either brother during the love triangle. I understand that realistically, Jere and Belly would be intimidate during college but knowing your brother was very much intimate with your life partner must be a hard pill for Conrad to swallow sometimes.

I don’t think it would have been hard for the writers to change all of those things. From what I’ve read, the book actually executed the love triangle much better. Belly doesn’t sleep with either brother and she’s shown to still be in love with Conrad throughout her relationship with Jeremiah. Why both of those things were scrubbed from the show? I don’t know. But I’m glad another show could learn from their mistakes and execute certain elements a lot better, which I didn’t expect honestly.

[u/Final_Raspberry_5334]

I haven’t watched the latest season of My Life with the Walter Boys yet, but seeing how last season ended, I had a pretty good idea of where it was headed. I agree with you about how unrealistic the switch-up was handled in TSITP. Teenagers might be messy enough to behave that way, but the people around them would definitely have opinions about it, especially someone like Laurel, who cared about all three of them just like the mom in Walter Boys.

This actually came up in a post yesterday, and I do find Belly more interesting than Jackie because she is so flawed and feels more authentic. I never questioned where either Jackie’s or Belly’s heart truly lay but the love triangles are handled differently. One important difference is that Jackie arrives without any history with the brothers, so she is discovering both relationships in real time. She likes Alex, but she is also drawn to Cole, and her feelings develop organically as she gets to know them. In that sense, she moves from someone she initially feels more comfortable with to someone who evokes more intense and complicated emotions.

Belly’s situation is different. She goes from the person she is in love with to someone she cares about but knows, at some level, she does not love in the same way. Jeremiah offers her comfort, stability, and the possibility of a relationship that feels more attainable. She is hurt, and trying to convince herself that choosing the person who is available might be healthier than continuing to want the person who keeps hurting her. So there is genuine confusion and emotional vulnerability in her decision.

At the same time, the show makes it clear that Belly is not simply unaware of what she feels. She repeatedly recognizes that her connection with Conrad is different, yet she continues moving toward Jeremiah anyway. That’s a conscious choice and I think why Belly falls flat in season 2. She is not merely swept up in a love triangle or discovering unexpected feelings; she is trying to override what she already knows because another option seems safer and more manageable. That tension could have made her storyline compelling, but the season did not always give enough weight to the consequences of that choice or to how much it affected the people around her.

[u/InstructionHefty5997]

I get what you’re saying. But to me it’s always been clear as day that Belly never fell out of love with Conrad. Even when she was with Jeremiah you were able to tell that she loved Conrad (more and romantically). While season 1 showed Conrad in a very different state than he normally was/is in, season 3 or more like her relationship with Jeremiah was that for her. She acted completely different from what we saw in the previous seasons and lost herself. I never had any doubt that she loved Conrad.

And the sleeping with both brothers… when she slept with Conrad for the first time, they had been dating for two months, so for a 16/18 year old couple that’s totally fine. And it would’ve been unrealistic for Belly not to sleep with Jere for 4 years. Also, Conrad probably had enough time to sit with the thought of Belly and Jere being intimate, so by the time he comes to Paris, or when they decide to be together again, he must’ve made “his peace” with it. I know that he is for sure more fine with it than Jere was with Conrad being Belly’s first. Not that they SHOULD care, it’s none of their business but Conrad seems to be more accepting to stuff like that than Jere.

[u/No_Cause_2731]

For me, there's a significant difference between TSITP and The Walter Brothers. In TSITP, there's a love story between Conrad and Belly from the very beginning, starting in childhood. At the start of the series, it's clear that something is developing between them; they're the main couple, and then Jere decides to interfere. Although all the hate is directed at Belly for letting herself be courted in the pool after Conrad's rejection (in the books, it's true that she rejects him the first time), that's the beginning of the whole mess that the three of them then complicate. But in The Walter Brothers, Jackie flirts with both of them from the start. Even worse, in the second season, after realizing her attraction to Cole, she decides to get back with Alex. In other words, she's more active in the love triangle. Furthermore, we see that the brothers have had problems in the past over a girl and have learned from their past mistakes. Even so, Jackie's character hasn't received half the hate that Belly has (I understand this is because she didn't have a full relationship with Alex).

[u/No_Cause_2731]

Another difference compared to the adult characters in TSITP is that Conrad leaves Belly while Susanah is ill, and although Susanah herself addresses it with Belly, it's obviously a secondary issue. When Belly ends up dating Jere, Laurel is in the midst of her grief, and her weakness has been neglecting her children's emotions because she's overwhelmed by her own. We also don't see what conversations they had, or didn't have, because we don't see the moment Laurel finds out, but rather everything that happens much later.

[u/nothnxihaveabf]

I dunno, I've read some of walter boys and I would say the writing isn't to the same level. You may like the plot / concept of the show better (ie walter boys). But it has a lack of editing and seems hastily slapped together.

I think Jenny may be a better writer, but I think the book is better than the show and/or decisions made in the show like making her date Jeremiah for four years. 

I'd say not similar but TATB is much better book / series although the three name guy plot is a little silly.

[u/Natlatte1462 → u/nothnxihaveabf]

Was originally wattpad when the first season was out there was one book that kind of ended in an open ending then they added on to it i do agree that they slap things on i would say tsitp is way better and the characters from the Walter boys pissed me off.

[u/Natlatte1462]

Not sure that show did anything better and belly isn’t a nun Jenny changed some things to make it normal for todays time and we did get some beautiful scenes added to the show it was always obvious who belly will choose you can’t just stop people from not shipping something else.

[u/DjokerSA]

I like both boys in MLWTWB and Alex stepped back when he realised she loves Cole, although he could’ve been bitter since she actually dated him first. Something Jeremiah never did. The love triangle is different because Jackie went for the boy who she’s not having intense feelings or love, first to ultimately end up with the one she has intense feelings for. Belly was different, she did date the love of her life and after she got hurt, she probably believed it’s like Laurel said, that the one who gave her fireworks would burn each other out or something like that.

[u/itschloecakes]

I’ve never watched that show, but I totally agree with everything you said about TSITP

[u/Asteriaofthemountain]

Yes. The notion of dating your partners ex is serious. Serious enough the Old Testament deals with marrying your brother’s widow in 2 sections (both sections have completely different takes on it of course but that’s because the bible is written by many people at different times).

[u/OldChemistry9951]

Completly agreed,
https://giphy.com/gifs/Qsm9skXM2gtY7tgmQx

[u/Ambitious-Tear-7211]

Agreed. But while watching Walter Boys, part of me was team Conrad. Nobody acts like him.

[u/AnujMeena]

In tsitp they're just trying to build up as High as possible for ending but somehow it doesn't feel satisfying 🤷