'My Life With the Walter Boys' is Netflix's latest hit. Why TikTok is obsessed with its love triangle.

More than 20 million people have watched the young adult romance series My Life With the Walter Boys on Netflix since it premiered on Dec. 7. It has already been renewed for a second season and the love triangle at its center has generated more than 1 billion views on TikTok.

The series is based on a 2014 novel by Ali Novak, and follows an orphaned teenager named Jackie who leaves her life in Manhattan behind to move to rural Colorado with her godmother and her 10 children, the titular “Walter Boys.” Jackie is drawn to both the bookish Alex and the charming but angst-ridden Cole — both of whom she now lives with on a farm.

Whether they’re Team Alex or Team Cole, TikTokers have been making video tributes to the characters, also known as fan edits. Most of the posts show clips (or a series of clips) from the show in which their favorite love interest portrayed favorably. Sometimes, they're doing something kind, or gazing longingly at the protagonist. In others, they're just being attractive in compilations set to moody music.

In the comments sections of these tributes, users discuss why they're siding with a love interest over another. One post that has 12.3 million views on TikTok shows Alex making coffee for Jackie after hearing that she decided to sleep late. When he arrives at her bedroom door to deliver it, she's nowhere to be found. The clip ends there, but fans recognize that at that point in the show, Jackie left Alex at home to be with Cole. To Alex's fans, this is a betrayal — the song "Traitor" by Olivia Rodrigo even plays in the background of the edit — but to Cole's fans, this is a huge win.

In the comments, some users praised Alex for his act of kindness. "Ok but the fact that he had a hangover BUT STILL GOT UP AND MADE HER BREAKFAST IN BED is why one of the reasons why I am team Alex he is so good to her," one wrote. 

"I just can't believe they did that to Alex. He didn't deserve any of it," another said.

Cole's fans also turned up. One wrote, "Yes I'm team Cole but I feel bad for Alex," while another simply declared that Alex gives them "the ick," or an inexplicable bad feeling.

Though the TikTok video itself is what initially garners views, it's more of a prompt than a statement. The comments are a hub for discussion. As viewers pledge their allegiance via social media to a certain love interest, they’re also doing free advertising for the show, drawing in even more viewers.

Walter Boys is sometimes jokingly referred to as the “yeehaw version” of The Summer I Turned Pretty, another series adapted from a novel with a prominent love triangle. Walter Boys features scenes in barns and on horseback in national parks, whereas The Summer I Turned Pretty leans heavily into its small-town beach setting with views of the ocean and ritzy country clubs. While Walter Boys lead Jackie adjusts to life as a former city girl among cowboys, The Summer I Turned Pretty protagonist Belly adjusts to newfound male attention after making it through her awkward years.

The settings may be different, but the love interests are similar — they're also brothers now in close proximity to the protagonist.

In The Summer I Turned Pretty, brothers Jeremiah and Conrad vie for Belly's affections. Jeremiah is defined by his friendliness and warmth, like Alex in Walter Boys, whereas Conrad is similar to Cole in his moodiness. 

The similarities are so profound that TikTokers are editing scenes from both shows together to draw parallels. Jeremiah and Alex are quick to make friends with the protagonist, whereas Conrad and Cole remain mysterious and distant.

The standard love triangle formula — a protagonist forced to choose between the romantic advances from two very different suitors — is as old as storytelling itself. From Greek mythology to the Bible to Twilight, humans have consistently been drawn to the trope.

Monica Vermani, a clinical psychologist, told Yahoo Entertainment that love triangles offer people a way to experience the “messiest situations imaginable” — jealousy, betrayal, competition, forbidden love and risk — without real-life consequences.

“[A protagonist] might agonize over the difficult choice of a safe, sensible and reliable love interest, versus the bad-boy rock star they are wildly attracted to,” she explained. “In real life, many of us would never make the choices or carry out the behaviors that would put us in such precarious positions.”

The reason so many love triangles are prevalent in shows aimed specifically at young adults, like The Summer I Turned Pretty, Never Have I Ever or The Vampire Diaries, might have something to do with the fact that it’s the demographic most likely to create content about their fandoms online.

Vermani said that this kind of expression is actually a good thing. Rooting for a certain person in the relationship helps us develop empathy, and sharing that devotion online can build friendships with other community members we might not otherwise have had a chance to meet, she said.

My Life With the Walter Boys is now streaming on Netflix