September 5, 2025 | by ltcinsuranceshopper
[Editor’s note: The following contains major spoilers for Season 2 of My Life with the Walter Boys.]
In the Season 2 finale of the Netflix series My Life with the Walter Boys, Jackie Howard (Nikki Rodriguez) finally voiced her feelings for Cole Walter (Noah LaLonde), but that didn’t come without consequence, as her current boyfriend and Cole’s younger brother, Alex Walter (Ashby Gentry), overheard. But before anything further could be said, an ambulance showed up over something happening with Walter family patriarch George (Marc Blucas). And now, fans of the series will have to wait until Season 3 to find out what it all means and what will happen next.
During this interview with Collider, co-stars Rodriguez, LaLone, and Gentry discussed how the Season 2 cliffhangers will leave fans eager with anticipation for what comes next, their shock over what could be happening with George, how hard it is for Jackie to voice her true feelings, what it’s like for Cole to let his heart lead the way, the way Alex might have reacted if they hadn’t been interrupted by an ambulance, how they all feel about cliffhangers, Cole’s journey as a coach, Alex becoming a bull rider, and Jackie’s friendship with Grace (Ellie O’Brien).
Collider: First of all, congratulations on getting to do a Season 3 because the way this season ends with things out in the open between the three of you guys, it would have absolutely sucked not to see what comes next for everybody. There’s really no other way to put that. Knowing where you leave fans at the end of the season and how they’ll be feeling with the way things are left, what are you each most excited about when it comes to Season 3? What sort of emotions do you think fans will get when the series comes back for Season 3?
NOAH LaLONDE: I feel like the anticipation will be even more immediate because while there was a cliffhanger with Season 1, there was a bit of a chapter that closes. You know that Jackie goes back to New York. Now what happens after that, of course you didn’t know. But, in terms of the Season 2 cliffhanger, there were ambulance lights and an even more emotional cliffhanger mixed with the other cliffhanger. There’s even some other stuff brewing outside of that. I think it will be even more eager anticipation. That’s my hope, at least.
How did you guys feel about the Season 2 cliffhanger? Did you know where you’d be leaving your characters? Did you not find out until you read the script? I can’t imagine knowing that that’s where you’re going to leave things.
ASHBY GENTRY: It was with the script. The only person, I think, from the cast that really knew was Marc Blucas, who plays George, because it’s him, it’s dad. The rest of us were shocked when we read it. I remember reading it. I remember all of us reading it and being like, “What?!” It was crazy.
What was it like to read the moment in the script when you have Cole telling Jackie he loves her, and she tells him that she returns his feelings, and Alex overhears it? Does that feel like a moment that was inevitable? When you have feelings like that, is it just a matter of time before it’s just all going to come out anyway?
GENTRY: I think the audience member in me says yes. The Alex Walter in me really believed it was in the past and can’t believe that this is happening again. It’s one of those twisted forms of irony where you’re shocked and yet once it happens, you’re completely unsurprised.
Nikki, what was that like for you? You’ve been caught up in this more than once now. How is she feeling about actually having to voice that?
NIKKI RODRIGUEZ: I think voicing it is really hard. It’s really, really hard for her. It’s the emotions of the moment, but I think Jackie truly does feel the way that she says she does for both Cole and Alex, in totally different ways. I think it’s a really complicated, layered moment for her, and she’s just dealing with her emotions in that moment.
Noah, I went from occasionally wanting to punch Cole in the face in the first season to actually wanting to hug him in the second season, which is a very interesting emotional journey as a viewer. What was that like for you, as the actor, to play? What was it like to get him to that point where he actually does emotionally mature in a lot of ways?
LaLONDE: In Season 1, obviously there’s a lot of there’s a lot to be said about Cole’s behavior, and I understand the critiques and some of the more harsh criticism, whether it be involvement in the hair dye or maybe the rough-and-tumble line, which is one that sometimes I see and I think, “Wow, that was harsh.” I think his heart, deep down, starts to come out and is consistently there through both seasons. I just think there’s a lot of that harshness spliced between in the beginning because he’s because he’s going through something and he doesn’t really know how to process it. I think he’s trying to uphold who he was as a star football player, and it ends up just being his outer shell. When that’s all you have, you have to sometimes resort to the most extreme version of that behavior. What we find in Season 2 is that he sheds the shell a bit and you see his heart lead the way. As that happens, it doesn’t get much easier for him. At every turn, Jackie’s turning him down or showing him away or reminding him that they’re just friends. But I think his heart keeps him on a straighter path. There are some things that happen that are Season 1-esque, but for the most part, I think his heart just shines through. I think he’s a good person. He’s going to chase after what he loves, ultimately. He doesn’t have much choice there. Do any of us?
Ashby, the ambulance pulling up postpones whatever might have happened after that initial reaction for Alex. What do you think would have happened if it hadn’t shown up? How do you think he would have reacted if he had just been able to react in that moment?
GENTRY: Gosh, I can only imagine. I feel like it would have been like Monday night WWE Raw in the front yard of the Walter Ranch again because round three of this, with [Cole], I think he’s probably over it. But fortunately for Cole, there’s bigger problems at hand. Unfortunately for George, he had to take one for the team. We’ll see how that all plays out very soon.
Do you guys enjoy a good cliffhanger? When you’re watching your favorite shows, do you enjoy a good cliffhanger, especially when it’s an emotional cliffhanger like this one is?
LaLONDE: No.
GENTRY: I think experiencing a cliffhanger is like removing a splinter. It’s a painful thing, but at the same time, it’s so enjoyable. So, I love a good cliffhanger.
RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, I love a good cliffhanger. It makes me want to keep watching.
GENTRY: Yeah, absolutely.
LaLONDE: Yeah, I found that I don’t like them.
It helps take a little bit of the sting out of it when you know the show is coming back.
LaLONDE: I don’t like watching them. I like being a part of them, though.
GENTRY: You like to know.
LaLONDE: I know. That’s the thing.
Nikki, we get to see Jackie really dealing with the loss of her mother this season, from deciding to let go of her dresses to driving her car. Because she’s so good at really staying focused and compartmentalizing, it seems easier for her to just not even acknowledge it. How important do you think it is for to actually really embrace those feelings this season and really acknowledge that it is hard to deal with?
RODRIGUEZ: I think it’s super important. I like that you see Jackie deal with her grief in a different way this season, that you didn’t get to see in Season 1, because she’s in a different stage of her life. Just the way that she is healing is important to see. It was nice, as an actor, to be able to go through that journey with Jackie.
Ashby, when Jackie first returns, Alex gives her the cold shoulder and he’s a bit rude to her. It takes some time for him to process his own feelings. Do you think that he really just wanted her to stay away, or do you think he was hoping that she would come back, even though he doesn’t actually voice that?
GENTRY: I think Alex had too much time by himself over summer, so he was jumping to a lot of conclusions without really consulting or talking to Jackie about what happened. He’s living in his own psychotic fantasy about everything. That’s not necessarily fair to Jackie, but I think it’s certainly understandable as a response. I don’t think he really knows what he wants. I think he’s trying to soldier up and move past it, but I just don’t think that’s in the cards for him.
A lot is made of Alex’s outward transformation this season, but watching it, it felt more like an inward transformation. It felt more like a change in his confidence that made him more appealing to people. Do you feel like that change in confidence really changed all of his relationships for him? Do you think he even realized he was treating some of the people in his life differently?
GENTRY: My showrunner will be happy to hear that, so good for you. Yeah, absolutely. I think whenever anybody changes, it can be really jarring for the people that hold others as a source of stability in their life. I think that we see ourselves reflected off of others, and so when someone in my life undergoes a drastic transformation, it forces me to call into question, what about my reality is true to my understanding of it and what isn’t? I think especially with Kylie, that’s what you see with regard to Alex in Season 2.
It’s interesting because, at the same time that’s hurtful in their relationship, it also does push her to grow in a lot of different ways that she might not have grown if she still had that crutch of that relationship there.
GENTRY: Yeah, she gets herself a man.
Noah, a lot of Cole’s growth really comes from him stepping into this role of coach this season. It forces him to deal with not being out on the field himself while also taking on a position of authority. What was it like to take that journey with him and to really find all of that?
LaLONDE: It was a journey that I felt very familiar with. I played hockey growing up, and then when I stopped playing, I remember not really being able to participate as a bystander because there was really nothing like actually doing it. When I first was cast as Cole, that was a really great jumping off point for me to understand him. And in this season, I had a moment like that in my own life where I tried to get back involved and it just wasn’t the same, so I really was familiar with that feeling. It was therapeutic in some ways, and it was equally difficult in other ways. I understand what he’s going through and it felt very familiar.
Ashby, did you ever think you’d find yourself on a TV show being a bull rider?
GENTRY: No. No, I did not. I didn’t think I’d find myself in a TV show where I was in a love triangle, let alone also riding horses. I feel like I snuck in through the back door and got really lucky, so no complaints here.
Nikki, I really love that Jackie and Parker have their own special relationship. What have you enjoyed about the bond that they have? I love them, and I would love more moments with them together.
RODRIGUEZ: Me too. I really would. I think their bond is so unique. It’s a really, really sweet bond that they have, and I would also love to see more of their relationship.
Jackie also has a moment with Grace this season, when Grace tells her that she’s caught up in her own feelings and ignoring what Grace is going through. Was that also a journey that you enjoyed really getting to explore and find between the two of them?
RODRIGUEZ: Yeah. That scene when Jackie realizes that she’s been not the greatest friend to Grace, when I read that, it made me really emotional. I love their friendship. And she was so right. Jackie was wrapped up in herself a little bit. I really love that scene. I think Jackie and Grace’s friendship really grows from that.
My Life with the Walter Boys
December 7, 2023
Netflix
Jerry Ciccoritti, Winnifred Jong, Nimisha Mukerji
Melanie Halsall, Ali Novak
Nikki Rodriguez
Jackie Howard
My Life with the Walter Boys is available to stream on Netflix. Check out the Season 2 trailer:
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