What makes a good romance story? You need characters you can root for. Circumstances that keep them apart, but eventually bring them together (and then maybe apart again, and so on). Some misunderstandings and grand gestures, perhaps. And for the television format, you also need some objectively attractive leads who can convince us their feelings for one another, from passion to heartbreak to vulnerability, are genuine.
Amazon’s latest romance series, “Off Campus,” manages all of that, with a decent soundtrack, to boot. But it also goes further to do two things that feel increasingly important at a time when it can feel like bullies are winning all around us: It calls out toxic masculinity and shows us the importance of consent in refreshing new ways.
Based mostly on “The Deal” (the first in Elle Kennedy’s bestselling “Off Campus” book series), this highly-anticipated adaptation by Louisa Levy centers around an unlikely pair who make a pact only to end up helping each other find the courage to be the best version of themselves. The pair are Hannah Wells (Ella Bright), a somewhat-reserved music student at Briar University hoping to hook up with a fellow musician who doesn’t really know she’s alive; and Garrett Graham (Belmont Cameli), a legacy college hockey player who needs to get his grades up in order to stay on the team.
Garrett seeks out Hannah for tutoring help and in exchange, offers to play the part of her faux beau in order to make her lead singer crush, Justin (Josh Heuston), finally notice her. It’s a bit “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before,” but stick with it. This is a different kind of story.
Because the other “Off Campus” series books revolve around romances between a number of the guys on the hockey team and other women at Briar U, this first season does a solid job of also introducing us to future stars. Some, like Dean Di Laurentis (Stephen Kalyn), the rich playboy, are a bit prickly at first, but grow on you. Others, like John Logan (Antonio Cipriano), offer clear underdog vibes, and feel a bit underutilized.
There’s also Allie Hayes (Mika Abdalla), Hannah’s best friend dealing with a new breakup of her own. And then there’s John Tucker (played by “The Pitt”’s Jalen Thomas Brooks), who doesn’t get quite as much screentime, but is delightful in his own way — particularly when he’s single-handedly orchestrating a Thanksgiving for all the campus “orphans,” with slightly disastrous results.
If this show does as well as it’s projected to, we’re likely to see all these characters come back with some of their own love stories — think “Bridgerton” but with hot college students.
While the pilot episode admittedly feels a bit stiff and formulaic, every episode and scene thereafter showcases the talent of these up-and-coming actors and the overall quality of the storytelling. We go from a simple unlikely pairing and ridiculous arrangement to getting to know what’s underneath the surface, especially for Garrett and Hannah. This is when the show really begins to grab its audience and never lets go.
Garrett, for one, is struggling with his complicated relationship with his famous hockey player father, Phil Graham (Steve Howey of “Shameless” fame). While everyone seems to love Phil, flashbacks show us he’s not just violent on the ice. Memories of bruises and bloody knuckles plague Garrett, but he struggles to call any of his father’s toxicity out. It isn’t until he begins to trust Hannah that he can finally begin to unpack what ultimately has kept him not only emotionally unavailable to women, but also to his sport.
Hannah, meanwhile, has been struggling to write song lyrics for years. She’s stuck in her own head and struggles to move forward until she begins to learn to trust Garrett. One reason for this is Garrett never once puts any pressure on her in any way. In one scene, he offers her a drink and she politely declines, explaining she doesn’t drink in public. He doesn’t scoff, belittle or push her to go against her boundaries. When she finally does decide she wants to drink, he continuously keeps her safe and never takes advantage. This is nothing like the rape culture-upholding, “Sixteen Candles”-esque romances of yore.
Speaking of consent, there are a number of other beautiful, sex-positive scenes that also offer wonderful depictions of keeping and respecting boundaries. Also worth calling out that while the show does discuss issues like assault, there is none depicted on screen. This is a huge win for the romance genre-loving survivors, who often have to call out or stop watching shows that gratuitously depict sexual violence.
Overall, “Off Campus” is a wonderful addition to the wildly popular YA romance genre — and a worthy successor to Prime Video megahit “The Summer I Turned Pretty.” And while fans of the OG books might not love the way in which certain scenes (or even characters) were re-written, when comparing the two, a lot of the rewritten beats flow more naturally for the characters.
One final note: Yes, this is a hockey romance. We see a lot of wonderful camaraderie among the players, and some good scenes on the ice. We also get to hear a lot of the game’s violence called out, which feels in line with the show. But don’t get it twisted — this is not “Heated Rivalry.” It was never meant to be that show, and they are two very different shows entirely, both excellent in their own right.
“Off Campus” premieres May 13 on Prime Video.
