How 'My Life With the Walter Boys' Season 2 failed Grace (and what Season 3 needs to do better)

My Life With the Walter Boys has quickly become a favorite among Netflix fans, with its mix of teen romance, small-town drama, and a dysfunctional family in a Colorado ranch setting. Season 2 of the series, released in August 2025, raised the stakes of the love triangle at the core of the story, which involves Jackie and brothers Cole and Alex. The new season has also brought in its wake new domestic issues for the extended Walter clan.

However, through the tumult of emotional climaxes and soap-opera twists so far, there has been one character curiously subdued: Grace. She was present all along, but her own struggles have been relegated to the margins as other characters took the spotlight. With the expectation of Season 3 releasing in 2026, many fans and critics alike are demanding that the story of Grace finally be taken seriously.

Grace, portrayed by Ellie O’Brien, is the most reliable companion of Jackie. However, in Season 2 of My Life With the Walter Boys, the growth of the character virtually came to a halt. The imminent threat of her parents' divorce has been looming on the edges of the plot, yet the particular track has never fully developed.

With the main love triangle occupying more of the screen time, the silent dissatisfaction of Grace, her inner desires, and her wish to be independent, were left unattended. To a character who has appeared in each episode, the omission has meant a missed chance to make the show more emotionally meaningful and texturally rich.

How My Life With the Walter Boys has failed Grace in Season 2

My Life With the Walter Boys Season 2 was focused on the tug of war between Cole and Alex over Jackie, and that plot point drove much of the show. The ensuing imbalance enabled certain supporting characters such as Skylar and Kiley to have their own story arcs, but Grace, to a great extent, ended up in Jackie’s shadow.

The separation of Grace’s parents, a situation that was dramatic and full of emotion, was never truly given the attention that it deserved, as it was revealed only in small bites and late-season teasers.

The only exception was in the seventh episode of the second season. Titled Saddle Up, the episode shows how Grace accidentally meets her mother, Joanne, at a rodeo. Dressed in a shirt her mother does not like, Grace retreats after a tense confrontation they have. It is a minor scene that lays bare the push-pull of tension the mother and daughter share.

Joanne promises to ease her grip, foreshadowing a future when Grace would have more freedom. However, the fallout of the particular scene would seem to focus more on the development of Joanne rather than Grace, and the subsequent episodes waste the opportunity to pursue the implied rebellion on the part of the latter.

A second fracture of the façade occurs at a local festival, when a conflict with Jackie makes Grace disclose that her parents are on the verge of divorcing. The disclosure briefly takes away the limelight from Jackie, and shifts the focus on Grace. However, even this momentous revelation is not closely investigated.

To the audience, Grace is emotionally strong. She is a reliable friend who is willing to share the pain of others but hides her own. The season finale of My Life With the Walter Boys gives a slight hint that she also desires support, but that weak strand in the storyline is never given a chance to bloom.

Even romance eluded Grace in Season 2. Season 1 teased the possibility of a relationship between Grace and Isaac, including flirtatious dialogue and her direct comment about desiring romance, but that plot just disappeared from the show's overall storyline. The writers never refer to the pairing, and leave Grace without a romantic arc, something that other characters fully go through.

To the fandom, this absence has heightened the anticipation of Season 3 finally providing Grace with a love interest of her own, one that does not involve ongoing maneuvering around the romantic liaisons of Jackie in any way.

What My Life With the Walter Boys Season 3 needs to do better

As My Life With the Walter Boys Season 3 is already in progress, it represents a key chance to redefine the role of Grace and provide her with a fulfilling arc. The initial and most urgent thing to do is to uncover her family drama.

The divorce of her parents is not background noise: It is a potential emotional tsunami, for it has shaped her vision of the world and her decisions. Finding out more about her difficult relationship with Joanne, particularly now that her mother seems to be open to easing her grip, may give Grace the sort of complex conflict that drives character development.

Romance is also important. Going back to Grace flirting with Isaac, or forging a different direction, would diversify the relationships of the show and provide her with a narrative that doesn’t rely on the Jackie-Cole-Alex trio. A plot where Grace makes her own wishes clear and where she challenges the restrictions of her family would, at last, turn her into more than a helpful accomplice.

It might also provide the series with a new lifeline that appeals to the audience who want greater representation of teen identity and agency.

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My Life With the Walter Boys must also not ignore the emerging rebellious nature of Grace. Season 2 had been foreshadowing a girl willing to push limits, and season 3 ought to allow her to do so. Through risk-taking, facing repercussions, and making her own mark within the circle of the Walter family, Grace would have the opportunities to represent the broader themes of the series about resilience and self-discovery.

Also: My Life With the Walter Boys Season 3: Renewal status, potential release date, and everything we know about the next chapter of the Netflix series

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