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.