“It’s been incredible. Phenomenal, actually. I think the audience response has just been so overwhelming and enthusiastic and positive. We couldn’t have hoped for better audience reaction really,” showrunner Melanie Halsall revealed.
The first season of My Life with the Walter Boys is based on the book of the same name by Ali Novak. Season one follows fifteen-year-old Manhattanite Jackie Howard (Nikki Rodriguez) after she loses her family in a tragic accident. Jackie leaves her privileged and tidy life in New York and moves to rural Colorado to live with her mother's best friend's family. The Walters welcome her with open arms, but Jackie must soon confront her growing feelings for two very different Walter brothers.
The events of the book are wrapped up at the end of the season and, without giving too much away, the final episode deviates from the ending of the book in a way that makes the story ripe for a second season.
Halsall remained mum about ideas for Season 2, admitting that she hasn’t sorted out all the details, including what’s in store for Jackie since she jetted off to New York at the end of Episode 10. “I mean, the story is set in Silver Falls,” she said, adding the she fully intends to head back for Season 2. “Beyond that, I genuinely don’t know.”
Rodriguez is also at a loss for where her character’s story should go in the forthcoming season, telling she “can’t even imagine where where Season 2 would start.”
“Jackie’s going through a lot and she has really big dreams and goals, and so I really hope for Jackie that she doesn’t get too off track and doesn’t get too distracted and just remember what she really wants,” she said. “Ultimately, no one’s gonna look out for you the way that you would. So I think… her choosing herself is really important for people to see, and I kind of applaud Jackie for it to be honest.”
Unlike Season 1, there is no blueprint for the forthcoming season, which Halsall said will give the writing team the opportunity to “spread our wings and fine little bit while still being true to Ali’s original story,” adding that she’d been thinking about the possibility of multiple seasons since before she pitched the show to Netflix.
“I was always thinking that could be a long-running, returning series. That’s one of the reasons I love the book so much…as well as that core love triangle that we saw, which is so rich and fantastic and wonderful, we’ve also got a town full and school full of fantastic ensemble characters that I think have incredibly rich storytelling opportunities.”
