If you have not tuned into Off Campus yet, what exactly are you waiting for? Pause here, watch the episodes, and then come back so we can talk.
I’d like to also note that this review is solely based on the show and will not be making book comparisons (we’ll save that for another review down the line). Let’s be honest with ourselves for a moment here; we knew things would change for the show; let’s enjoy it for what it is. Now, let’s get into these episodes, shall we?
As soon as I hit play on the first episode, I was instantly drawn in. No words needed, good music and two people in the same place on different vibes. The episode starts and we meet our two mains: Hannah Wells and Garrett Graham. These two have the most awkward introduction you could possibly think of - as Hannah is cleaning up the men’s locker room, she runs into Garrett who is in the middle of a shower. Yes, this man is full on naked and Hannah just stands there frozen and you’d think Garrett would turn away, right? Wrong. He doubles down on the awkward moment and turns, giving Hannah a better view. Hannah, maybe this would be the time to not make it obvious you’re staring. She suddenly snaps out of it and runs away and you can judge me if you want, but I couldn’t help but smile so hard at this scene. This is the introduction we get to these two? A win.
“The Practice” - OFF CAMPUS - Pictured: Ella Bright as Hannah Wells and Josh Heuston as Justin Kohl. Photo: Liane Hentscher/ Prime © AMAZON CONTENT SERVICES LLC.
Shortly after we meet the rest of the main four: John Logan (or Logan), Dean Di Laurentis, and John Tucker (or Tucker). Their dynamic is exactly what you’d expect teammates and roommates to be. There’s the one who tries to have everything in order (poor Tucker), one who pretends to have everything in order (looking at you, Logan), the one who is a chaotic mess and owns it (none other than Dean, for now), and then there’s the one who appears calm externally but is battling demons internally - that’s our Garrett.
The show doesn’t take long to show us Garrett’s struggles when it comes to his relationship with his father. Phil Graham, the former NHL hockey player, whose footsteps Garrett is following, but doesn’t want to be like in the slightest. I hate that this strained relationship weighs so heavily on Graham that at times he pushes the people who care about him away.
Before we get too deep into that, let’s get to the deal. Hannah has a big crush on Justin Kohl, an indie musician at her school, but whenever she tries to talk to him, she suddenly loses the ability to string together a coherent sentence. Garrett isn’t doing too great in his philosophy class that he has with Hannah and he wants her to help him pass. His plan? Hannah helps him pass the class and in return he will play her fake boyfriend to get Justin’s attention. To him, boys like Justin only want what they can’t have. This is a solid plan right? There’s no way that they’d actually fall for each other…right?
“The Practice” - OFF CAMPUS - Pictured: Belmont Cameli as Garrett Graham and Ella Bright as Hannah Wells. Photo: Liane Hentscher/ Prime © AMAZON CONTENT SERVICES LLC.
What was most interesting to watch with these two was how much they worked to convince each other that they weren’t falling for each other the moment they made this deal. Let’s start with the fact that Garrett calls Hannah “Wellsy”. In the second episode, there’s this moment they share in the locker room where Garrett warns Hannah not to blush around him to convince people they’re really together. Hannah denies this and Garrett quickly proves her wrong; moving in close to her and endangering her equilibrium. Now, my girl Hannah thought she had this thing between them handled when she pulled Garrett in for a kiss and there goes the incoherent sentences again. To obviously convince herself that it meant nothing, she walks over to Logan, who has since walked into the locker room interrupting them, and kisses him too. See Garrett? You don’t affect her in the way that you think you do, because you see how easily she kissed someone else? Oh, Hannah, you’re not fooling anyone…except for maybe Garrett? What was that look, Graham? This is supposed to be fake, remember? Great - now I’m blushing.
At Dean and Beau’s joint birthday party, I noticed something and I’d be remiss if I didn’t speak on this. The way Logan is watching Hannah, I was picking up on some jealous vibes from him. That kiss must’ve done something to him, but he wouldn’t try to put himself between Garrett and Hannah, right?
If it wasn’t obvious then, it was certainly obvious at karaoke that Logan was definitely feeling something for Hannah. Just look at his face when she walks off the stage and walks to Garrett and not him. Even when his sibling Jules points out how nice it is that Garrett is serious about someone, he responds with “you think he’s serious?” What’s that about, Logan?
Let me just say, I believe there was a moment when he thought he wanted to be with Hannah, but the reality of it is, he wanted what he saw Hannah and Garrett had. Though at the time, it wasn’t real, there was a real connection between them and Logan craved that connection. We can agree on that, right? And it isn’t even with just Hannah, we see this when he talks about Garrett’s father, Phil. He doesn’t understand why Garrett doesn’t want a relationship with him, when it's something he’s always wanted for himself.
“The Breakup” - OFF CAMPUS - Pictured: Belmont Cameli as Garrett Graham and Ella Bright as Hannah Wells. Photo: Liane Hentscher/ Prime © AMAZON CONTENT SERVICES LLC.
Let’s get back to Hannah and Garrett. At the start of episode four, Hannah confides in Garrett that she was sexually assaulted at a high school party and this is the reason why she doesn’t drink at parties. Hannah wants to breeze past this, but the look on Garrett’s face read “I want to destroy anyone who has ever hurt you”. We love him for this. The reason she shares this with him is because she hasn’t been able to have an orgasm since it’s happened and enlists Garrett’s help to get her through this rough time for her. We’re going to sit with this for a minute. I can’t believe that Hannah really believes she’s doing this to be with Justin. The intimate moment Hannah and Garrett share in this episode only tells me Hannah needs to leave Justin alone and quite literally focus on what’s in front of her. As I’m watching the scene shortly after where she’s debriefing with Allie, the only thing I’m wondering is “does she not hear what she’s saying”? The night was perfect and Garrett makes her feel safe, and tell me if I’m wrong, but it felt more like she was trying to convince herself that Garrett couldn’t be an option.
Unlike Hannah, Garrett has no problem saying he’s catching feelings. Hannah, I need you to lock in and focus; you’re catching feelings for him too. Thankfully they didn’t drag this longer than they needed to, because by the end of episode four, there was no denying it. Hannah moves on from Justin and shows up at the ice where she figured out Garrett would be and does this grand gesture of performing for him. No more deals, no more Justin, no more snapchats from random girls; it was just Garrett and Hannah now. You know what I appreciated from this too? The fact that they didn’t make Garrett and Justin enemies after Hannah made the decision to be with Garrett. That would’ve been exhausting to watch.
“The Cold Turkey” - OFF CAMPUS - Pictured: Jalen Thomas Brooks as John Tucker, Belmont Cameli as Garrett Graham, Ella Bright as Hannah Wells, Stephen Thomas Kalyn as Dean Di Laurentis and Antonio Cipriano as John Logan.
The Thanksgiving episode was tough to get through. Tucker tries to recreate his mother’s Thanksgiving meal and that becomes a disaster when he completely burns the turkey. Logan is struggling on what the right thing to do is when Jules wants to visit their mom who is in rehab. He clearly wants nothing to do with her, but in the end, he does end up showing up because it meant something to Jules. Garrett goes back home to spend the day with his father and Cindy but that quickly makes a turn for the worse. It’s a good thing he brought Hannah with him. While sitting in his childhood bedroom, Garrett tells Hannah that growing up, his father was intense. At dinner, we see just how intense he is when during prayer, Garrett notices the bruising on Cindy’s wrist and is immediately triggered. It’s the situation with his mother all over again. Nothing has changed. Garrett was young when Phil was abusing his mother and he couldn’t protect her; he could at least try with Cindy, but she wasn’t ready to accept what was happening just yet. What broke me about Garrett in this episode was that the way he was fighting his anger, he truly believed that he was going to become like his father. The transition of seeing Phil in the mirror to then seeing Garrett, we were seeing how Garrett viewed himself and again, I’m glad Hannah was there with him to be his beacon.
As tough as that episode was, we have to talk about the ending of episode five and how perfectly it tied into the next episode. DEAN AND ALLIE?!
Yeah, we're going to need a part two to discuss...
