Cole Walter’s Real Competition in Season 3 Is Not Alex or even Eliot
Cole Walter finally hears the words he has spent two seasons trying to pull out of Jackie, and his first response in Season 3 is apparently no.
The trailer opens with Jackie telling him, “That night, I meant what I said.” Cole answers, “But we can’t.” Assuming the editing has not performed one of its usual little crimes, the dynamic between them has completely flipped. Jackie is now trying to hold on to the confession while Cole is the one creating distance.
It does not feel like Cole suddenly stopped loving her. The trailer contains far too many loaded looks for anyone to attempt that argument with a straight face. It feels more like he finally understands what being with Jackie could cost his brother.
Alex heard everything. He heard Cole confess his love to Jackie, then heard Jackie say it back while she was still secretly dating him. And this is not the first time Cole has carried guilt over hurting Alex. The Paige situation has followed both brothers since Season 1, and Cole once insisted he could never do that to Alex again. Then Jackie happened.
Netflix has now confirmed that this guilt will follow Cole into Season 3. Showrunner Melanie Halsall says he hates himself for what happened with both Paige and Jackie, is mortified that Alex heard the confession and does not want to make the situation worse. The same preview reveals that Cole and Alex are actually speaking again after their family crisis, suggesting Cole may value repairing that relationship more than immediately getting the girl.
That makes Alex the reason Cole pulls away, but not necessarily his romantic competition. Alex has his own life opening up through the professional rodeo team, while Cole begins racing. The brothers may finally be moving toward futures that do not revolve entirely around defeating each other over Jackie. Frankly, they have hobbies now. Progress.
Then Eliot arrives.
Netflix introduces him as Jackie’s childhood friend from New York who is interning for Uncle Richard. Cole calls him “Mr. Harvard,” which is such a carefully casual nickname for someone who is apparently not bothered at all. The trailer even tells us something has been off with Cole since Eliot appeared. Jealousy is clearly present. Still, Eliot’s most important scene is not romantic. It is about identity.
Jackie tells Eliot that having him there reminds her of her old life. His answer is simple: “It doesn’t have to be your old life.”
That line explains why Eliot is more useful as a symbol than as Boy Number Three. Netflix describes him as someone who reminds Jackie of her former self and the New York life she left behind. The official Season 3 storyline also says his arrival will make that life harder for her to forget.
Eliot represents everything familiar to Jackie: New York, ambition, order and a future she could have understood before her life changed. He does not need to become her serious boyfriend to threaten Cole. He only needs to offer her an exit that feels sensible.
Cole has already watched Jackie choose Alex, leave for New York after kissing him and spend most of Season 2 refusing to say what she felt. Even her eventual confession came after he forced the truth into the open. One emotional “I love you” may not be enough to convince him that she will stay when loving him becomes complicated again.
That is why the current fan theory that Eliot’s feelings may be one sided makes sense. Some viewers are already reading his arrival as a chance for Jackie to prove her confession, especially if Cole doubts her after learning that she also told Alex she loved him. After two seasons of Cole pursuing Jackie, fans suspect Season 3 could finally make her pursue him.
Eliot gives that reversal an actual test. Jackie can return to the kind of person she used to be, choose the future that looks clean on paper and avoid adding another fracture to the Walter family. Or she can remain honest about wanting Cole, even when he is no longer making the decision easy for her.
Netflix has said Jackie begins putting herself first this season. For her, that may mean learning the difference between making a responsible choice and making a choice entirely out of guilt:
→ Eliot offers familiarity.
→ Alex’s pain offers a reason to retreat.
→ Cole stepping back removes the chase.
Season 3 may have handed Jackie the chasing boots. Your move, Jackie. And this time, please do not solve the problem by booking another flight to New York.