Let’s talk about the elephant in the room, shall we? Elle Kennedy didn’t prepare us for the changes creator Louisa Levy and Prime Video made to Off Campus’ The Deal. Nor did she warn us how much we’d fall in love with the changes.
I’m only four episodes in, and I'm already head over heels for the direction the show took versus the book. Yes, I still love the original, but the show kept the heart of the story while elevating and adding to our favorite moments, including easter eggs, and so much more. Every little tweak added to the beauty of Hannah and Garrett’s romance.
Although some things stayed the same with a little bit of tweaking, we were also graced with new spins on scenes. New spins on characters and big moments that we’ve come to love. It is hard to be mad when the show is so good. If this hadn’t been a binge drop, I think there would have been a lot of heated fans. Instead, we got the entire season on a platter with easter eggs for more storylines to boot. As I said, it’s hard to be upset about the direction the show took compared to the book.
Here are three changes that elevated Hannah and Garrett’s love story. Stay tuned; some changes bothered me a bit. But I also can’t bring myself to hate this story. For now, here are the changes I loved in the first four episodes of Off Campus season 1.
The Deal
We’ve already talked about Hannah and Garrett’s unexpected and embarrassing steamy meet-cute. I will say, from the trailer, I never expected that scene to be the first time they met. Garrett standing there in all his glory while Hannah was left speechless was pure gold. Although he was nice to look at, she kept telling herself she wasn’t attracted to him. She helped him study for the midterm, and he helped her seem unavailable to Justin. In the middle of those promises, somehow they started to become friends. Once they were friends, trust was built between them.
Little by little, we watched Garrett grapple with the fact that he was falling for Hannah. He doesn’t do girlfriends, but Hannah changes those feelings. She breathes life into Garrett. It’s beautiful to see the subtle changes to the storyline to bring them to the moment when she chooses him over Justin. I wanted to see her sing to Garrett in his bedroom, but moving it to the arena and seemingly confessing her feelings was even better. The moment hit me right in the gut, and they hit me in the chest with the 90s romcom feels.
Easter Eggs
I love the subtle changes to Allie’s character. Not only does she know about Hannah and Garrett’s deal, but she also meets Dean and flirts with him on the dance floor. Her breakup with Sean solidifies the fact that Off Campus is bringing us some Dean and Allie scenes, and I am stoked. I love their book so much. The fact that Dean sought her out at his and Beau’s birthday party and then commented on her Shakespeare acting was a boost in his character for me. Did I mention there was a Shakespeare scene? It was a nice addition to get the feelings rolling between all the characters.
Tuck having a fruit baby reminds me of a later storyline from the Briar U books. The egg that Coach Jensen gives the team is to prove to him that they can handle a pet pig. That’s all I could think of as I watched Tuck struggle with the fruit baby concept. Dean eating the fruit, replacing it with another larger fruit, and then eating the banana at practice had me laughing my head off. Elle Kennedy, I hope you are doing what I think you’re doing.
Briar Gossip Page
Briar U has a gossip page, which was a nice and interesting change to the story. That wasn’t the change that shocked me the most. The account is run by Logan’s sibling, Jules. In the books, he has a brother and works at the family shop with his dad. It sounds like he works at the family shop, but with his mom. The gossip page brought more than just Hannah and Garrett’s hard launch, but a different home life for Logan. I’m eager to see how that plays out this season as he meets his person down the road and maybe lets go of his crush on Hannah.
This Instagram account does help boost Hannah and Garrett’s fake relationship in ways the book didn’t. Word of mouth and public appearances are great, but everyone is online. I love how the show is playing into the modern view of relationship goals. It may be different, but it is also a bonus to keep people talking.
All episodes of Prime Video’s Off Campus season 1 are now streaming.
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