Thrifty Treasure

My Life Destroying the Walter Boys is a more fitting title. The series starts out strong but turns into a preachy, unrealistic teen drama more fitting for a talk show with a fist fight between its guests. Was not fun watching what could have been an endearing, funny story be destroyed by horrible plot lines and shallow characters. The main character Jackie relocates from New York to rural Colorado after her entire family is killed in an accident. Jackie barely sheds a tear and quickly moves on from grief. The conflicting love interest with 2 of the Walter brothers could have been explained by Jackie's loss and grief, but instead she just comes off not knowing what she wants and preaching to everyone on what they should do. All the while Jackie is not dealing with her own issues. Jackie also appears to be mixed race (?) - moving from New York to Colorado would be a huge culture shock, and present a variety of issues that were not mentioned. Totally unrealistic. One of the boys puts bleach in Jackie's shampoo, lightening her hair. It's quickly redyed and not mentioned again. First of all, bleach could cause serious burns to the skin and eyes and second, Jackie's hair would be completely destroyed. It would be a traumatic experience. And no one in town would have the knowledge or ability to style Black hair. It was appalling that adding bleach to shampoo was treated as a joke and not taken seriously. Also irritating that Jackie's character is so white washed. The brother Cole Walter has a reputation for having sex with a lot of teen girls, including his brother's girlfriend. Cole sneaks girls into his room (he lives on a farm in the middle of nowhere!) to have sex and doesn't seem to care that his younger siblings are sleeping in a room next door. Cole comes off as manipulative and creepy. The code of silence Cole expects from brother Alex to keep silent about sneaking girls in is to have sex is just wrong and offensive. I really felt the girls were being used and taken advantage of. Yet Cole's mistreatment of girls is brushed aside because he is a handsome football player, which is called the "Cole effect". The Walter parents seem to have lost all control of their children. Apparently the Walters live on a cattle ranch but no one is expected to do chores. The Walters are dealing with a financial crisis and may lose everything they own but somehow can afford an elaborate wedding on their property. When confronted with Cole's behavior (which includes sexually taking advantage of peers, drinking alcohol to the point of being drunk in public and physically fighting his brother) the Walters don't take any steps to get Cole the professional help he needs, and don't even take away the car keys. Apparently Cole is supposed to be grounded for a month but punishment is not enforced and Cole continues to self destruct. The series overly focused on teen dating and sex, which results in bullying and fighting because feelings are hurt. The Walter parents are oblivious (the mom is a vet and understands animal breeding better than human!). Luckily no one gets pregnant and no one gets an STD. The series missed the mark in so many ways... the speech Cole gave at his brother's wedding about fond family memories were all scenes I would have liked to see play out. Instead I had to listen to a boring speech and wonder "what if?". Thankfully Jackie escapes back to New York, where the show ends. We see Jackie wearing designer clothing taking off a jet heading towards the skyscrapers while 2 lovesick brothers mourn her loss. Surprise ending: Jackie is a player!