Note: This story contains spoilers from “Off Campus” Season 1, Episode 8.
Like the first novel in Elle Kennedy’s bestselling book series, Prime Video’s “Off Campus” gives a happy ending to Hannah (Ella Bright) and Garrett (Belmont Cameli), but gets there in a slightly different way from Kennedy’s “The Deal.”
While the book sees Hannah break up with Garrett after his father threatens he’ll cut off Garrett financially, showrunners Louisa Levy and Gina Fattore shifted the events in the book for Episode 7 to see Garrett break up with Hannah out of fear that he’ll eventually hurt her like his father did his mother and new wife — a daunting possibility that strikes him after he erupted with violence on the ice when going head-to-head with Hannah’s attacker.
Part of that change from the book came from updated Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) policies for college sports that Levy explained would lower the stakes of the financial blackmail for Garrett, who, in the show, is seen participating in several flashy brand deals. “We struggled with understanding and justifying that in today’s climate, given that Garrett could very easily just — if we believe that he’s this star that we need him to be — go make his own money,” Levy said.
“We really liked the idea that the breakup is … stemming out of Garrett’s arc this season,” Levy added. “If Garrett’s deepest fear is that he’s going to become his father, then of course, he’s going to try to protect Hannah from that.”
“It’s more interesting in a love story if the two characters are playing off of each other, and the obstacles are coming from them trying to get to this place of understanding and love,” Fattore added. “We really wanted to make the conflict really strong between the two of them.”
Hannah and Garrett get their happy ending, but the Season 1 finale sets up some trouble ahead for the hockey team — and Dean (Stephen Kalyn) and Allie (Mika Abdalla) — when Allie’s mystery hookup is introduced as Hunter Davenport, the player recruited by the rest of the team to strengthen their chances in upcoming games and who out-skated Dean and shared a history with his sister.
While Fattore noted she respects the emphasis on the “happily ever after” that’s embraced by “new romance,” the showrunners — who’ve worked on series like “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Dawson’s Creek” — know they had to leave the audience wanting more, with Fattore joking “on ‘Dawson’s Creek,’ we just broke those kids up left and right.”
“We always felt like there had to be something at the end of that Season 1 that would make you really want to come back and see Season 2,” Fattore said.
Levy and Fattore declined to confirm if they are in fact moving up Dean and Allie’s love story, which takes place in Kennedy’s third book in the series, instead promising “more information” will be available soon.
But one thing is for sure about Season 2: Hannah and Garrett won’t get the happy couple “Bridgerton” treatment as they fade to the background.
“We want to see what it’s like for them to navigate coupledom, because … the true happily ever after doesn’t exist,” Levy said. “They have to then navigate what is it like to be a couple? What is it like to have opposing schedules or the real world challenges, and how does that pressure test their relationship?”
Below, Levy and Fattore answer all your burning questions about the Season 1 finale and what’s next. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
TheWrap: That change from the books alters how Garrett and Phil leave off. How did it open up space for Garrett’s own reckoning with his dad?
Levy: As we talked about Garrett’s arc, this season is really about being afraid of becoming his father and and I think that that is — even for those of us who didn’t have abusive fathers; I had a wonderful father for the record — I do think there’s still something about the college years where you are living in your parents’ shadow and you have to figure out your own sense of self and own identity. That is a big part of Garrett’s journey this season, is to figure out who he, himself, is, and he discovers that he can be his own man, and also he can access his love of hockey independently from his dad, because they’re all so tangled up together.
We also wanted to leave things a little unresolved, because in real life, you can’t just snap your fingers and the abusive man stops being abusive — it’s still messy and it’s still flawed, but Garrett goes on the arc that he needs to go on to come out the other side as a fully, more realized, confident version of himself.
There’s been speculation that Dean and Allie’s book is getting moved up as you introduce John Logan’s love interest next season. Can you confirm which one comes next?
Levy: We can’t. We can tell you that we have lots of really great moments in Season 2 that book fans will love, and more information on your question will come soon, but we can’t confirm either way.
By the end of the season, is Logan over Hannah? Will next season explore that?
Levy: I think we’ll have to see. We want to leave some things for the fans to discover. I do think that Logan and Garrett’s friendship really ends in a solid place this season.
What will Garrett and Hannah’s role be next season?
Levy: We certainly want to see them be a happy couple, but we also want the story to continue. We want to see what it’s like for them to navigate coupledom, because … the true happily ever after doesn’t exist. They have to then navigate what is it like to be a couple? What is it like to have opposing schedules, or the real world challenges, and how does that pressure test their relationship?
This is a little uncharted territory, because the book doesn’t continue past that. They still exist in the other books, but we’re not really focused on them in the same way. So we, in the writers’ room, built some things out in order to keep them in the show, because that’s really important to us … Season 2 really does feel like an ensemble show.
Fattore: That was the big challenge, just having this big group of people, but a really fun challenge. Another show I worked on was “Parenthood,” which is a famously really large cast, but that’s how you create a family on screen — you have to have that many people. And a college friend group can really be a family.
With the characters already upperclassmen, how are you approaching the timeline? Will each love story be a year and see them out of college or will you condense it into semesters?
Levy: Every season is a semester, so it slows down the time. It also allows us to have them be a little more mature, a little older when we meet them, since we are dealing with some spicier, sexier things — the older we can get them in the college bracket helps those of us who are out of college not feel like we’re watching teenagers.
We know production on Season 2 kicks off next month. Are you hoping for an annual release cycle?
Levy: I have no idea what the release schedule will be, to be honest. I do you know we have certain production restrictions for when we are able to shoot, so we raced into a Season 2 and and we’re going to do our best to turn it around. And whenever Amazon is ready to launch it, that’s when it’ll happen.
This franchise has so much room to grow. What conversations have you had with Prime Video about how far this could go?
Levy: We’ll make as many as Amazon pays us to make. We can keep going for multiple generations. For now, we’re going to focus on the first four books. “The Legacy,” of course, is the fifth book, but it’s kind of like novellas … I don’t know that book by itself can sustain a full season, but that doesn’t mean that pieces of it can’t be in the show.
But the first four books, absolutely, I have plans for. Beyond that, we’ll see what Amazon pays us to do.
There’s already been good reception for Justin, especially the changes to his character. Would you ever weave in a love story for him?
Levy: Listen, I would love to. I don’t know if we’ll have access to him, because Josh Heuston is a hot commodity, but we love him so much and never say never.
The addition of Jules as an almost Gossip Girl was also new. What went into that addition?
Fattore: “Gossip Girl” is another great reference to one of these shows that is super fun and also, I guess there’s sort of a “One Tree Hill” reference that I didn’t get because I missed out on “One Tree Hill.”
Levy: Mouth is the commentator in “One Tree Hill.”
Fattore: Yeah, you need this character who’s a little bit outside of everything — especially with the hockey to help us …. we are really proud of how hockey turned out, but primarily, we know a huge part of the audience isn’t going to know a ton about hockey when they arrive at the show. So this was a way of having a lot of fun with that, and making sure that everything was still completely comprehensible to people who didn’t know a ton about hockey.
Levy: We wanted it to be a character that had a foot inside the world … We just added Jules. We didn’t replace anyone in the book — John Logan has an older brother, Jeff Logan, and so Jeff still exists in our world. We just don’t meet him, but we hear about him. Jules is just an added character because we really felt like having someone that Logan can talk to who has a different perspective than maybe his housemates was useful for us this season.
Fattore: And a sibling dynamic also really great in these ensemble shows … it’s a slightly different than a friend dynamic, but really rich and interesting to write about.
Levy: They can get under your skin in ways that only siblings can.
“Off Campus” Season 1 is now streaming on Prime Video.
