Lol, close, but not quite. Here we go:
The turbo manifold collects the exhaust gasses from each cylinder and "funnels" them into the turbine housing. This forces the gasses to pick up velocity, and then "throws" them into the turbine itself. The turbine is essentially like a fan blade, (think a pinwheel of sorts) that is designed to derive energy from the passing exhaust gasses by spinning.
The turbine is connected to a shaft, the other end is connected to a compressor. It's also like a fan blade, and when the turbine spins it super fast it moves a hell of a lot of air, cramming it into the engine and building boost.
The wastegate doesn't come into play until you reach your desired boost level. It's a valve - a controlled "leak" around the turbine. When you achieve max boost, the wastegate diaphragm pushes open a little door that lets the gas flow around the turbine, instead of through it. This keeps the speed down, controlling boost. The diaphragm works off the boost pressure, so you have a feedback loop that self-regulates the boost. Installing a boost controller affects the boost level at which the wastegate opens, essentially fooling it, so you can run higher boost. (the wastegate will open later, allowing more gasses to enter the turbine than stock)
The BOV/BPV is critical to the turbo system, it's not just for sounding cool. When the turbo is boosting it's spinning thousands and thousands of RPM - I think the VJ14 hits 80-100k RPM. If you suddenly let off the gas - the turbo doesn't just stop due to inertia. It's still pushing air, and now that the throttle is closed, it doesn't have anywhere to go. Without a blowoff or bypass valve, this would cause the turbo to rapidly slow down or "stall", and would cause massive pressure spikes in the intake piping, blowing hoses apart. Stalling the turbo is very, very hard on the turbo bearings and turbine shaft, it can snap it clear in half. So the BOV or BPV opens and vents or re-routes the air that's still moving, without putting any undue stress on the turbo or intake pipes.
Whoever told you an intercooler causes more "strain" on the engine is dead wrong. It makes the turbo system more efficient. When you compress air, it heats up. Hot air is bad for the engine - so an intercooler is an air-to-air radiator of sorts, to cool off the air once it's been compressed. The XR2 is equipped with an intercooler, but it's small and prone to heat-soak, so upgrading it will help out tremendously.
Ball-spring boost controllers are more effective than the bleeder types. They allow you to spool faster. In reality, the wastegate door (valve) gradually opens as more boost is built- allowing some gasses to go around the turbine. This slows the spool time a bit. When using a ball-spring valve, the valve doesn't let the wastegate to see any pressure until it reaches the desired setting - so the wastegate stays closed until just about max boost, where it will much more suddenly pop open. This lets the max amount of gasses enter the turbine before the wastegate opens, resulting in a faster spool time (there is no gradual "leak") A bleed-valve is just a controlled leak in the line, it does not allow the wastegate to open suddenly.
Some of this is a bit over-simplified but I hope it conveys the point. I also suggest finding some more reliable sources of information, if they're recommending against a FMIC or ball-spring MBC because of extra "strain" lol, those are pretty ridiculous statements. Squeezing more power out of your engine stresses it more yes, but these engines are built to take it. And when everything's done properly you will have a fast yet super reliable ride.
