Off Campus Season 1 Review: Did The Deal Work as a TV Show?

I went into watching the Off Campus show with one very important advantage: I had not reread The Deal by Elle Kennedy first.

I’ve been reading the Off Campus series since 2015, and I actually read The Deal as an ARC when it first came out. But because I hadn’t reread it in years, the details weren’t fresh enough for me to watch the show like a book adaptation police officer. And honestly, I think that was the best thing.

Season 1 of Off Campus is mostly based on The Deal, Garrett and Hannah’s book, though it also pulls in some some of The Score. After watching all eight episodes, I think the show captured the most important thing: the vibe. The hockey house, the friendships, the campus setting, the found family, the emotional baggage. All of that felt very Off Campus.

If you want the full chatty version of my thoughts, watch the video below. But here’s my Off Campus Season 1 review, including what worked, what didn’t, and why Dean and Allie may have walked away with the whole season.

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Should You Reread The Deal Before Watching Off Campus Season 1?

Personally, I would not reread The Deal right before watching Off Campus Season 1 on Prime. At least, not the first time.

If the book is too fresh, I think it becomes way too easy to nitpick every change instead of letting the show work as its own thing. I liked watching with a general memory of the story, then going back later to compare what changed. That gave me enough context as a reader without turning the whole thing into a scene by scene checklist.

If you do want the full book to show breakdown, I have a separate post on the biggest changes here: Off Campus TV show changes from The Deal.

And if you want to go all the way back to the beginning, you can also read my original 2015 ARC review of The Deal by Elle Kennedy.

Did Off Campus Season 1 Capture the Vibe of the Books?

For me, yes. This is where Season 1 worked best.

The Off Campus books are not just about one couple. They’re about the friend group, the hockey house, the team, the girls, the banter, and the way every side character feels like they are waiting for their turn to ruin your life emotionally. The show does that so well.

The boys’ house felt right. Malone’s worked. The arena worked. The campus setting worked. I can’t say everything was exactly how I pictured it, but it certainly brought everything to life and felt cohesive. It truly gave us that sense of being dropped into a tight knit group where everyone already has history, inside jokes, unresolved issues.

That is very much the Off Campus experience and that’s what we got. Oh, and it’s messy.

Off Campus vs Heated Rivalry: They Are Not the Same Thing

I keep seeing Off Campus compared to Heated Rivalry, and I understand why people are making the connection on the surface. They are both hockey romance book adaptations. But that is pretty much where the comparison ends.

Not all hockey romance is the same. Please put that on a mug.

Heated Rivalry is professional hockey, rivalry, secrecy, longing, and years of tension and forbidden romance. Off Campus is college hockey, fake dating, friendship, found family, and yes also some emotional damage. They are doing completely different things.

So if you go into Off Campus expecting another Heated Rivalry, I think you’re setting yourself up for the wrong show. The better question is not “which hockey romance adaptation is better?” It’s “did this adaptation understand its own source material?”

And for the most part, I think Off Campus did.

The Off Campus Season 1 Casting Mostly Worked for Me

Overall, I think the casting was strong. Most characters didn’t look exactly how I pictured them when I first read the books, but that doesn’t bother me if the actor captures the vibe of the character.

Belmont Cameli wasn’t necessarily my mental image of Garrett Graham, but wow did he embody Garrett well. He had the charm, the confidence, and enough emotional damage under the surface to make the character work onscreen.

Ella Bright looked right for Hannah, and I liked a lot of what the show did with her arc, especially connecting her music and writing struggles to her trauma. But Hannah was more of an “okay” for me than instant favorite. I liked her. I just did not always feel the vibe was there.

John Logan surprisingly worked really well for me, and I say surprisingly because he’s nothing like how I pictured John Logan. I’m curious to see how the show handles him in Season 2 with all the changes around his character. Dean took me a second, I’m not gonna lie. But by the end, he won me over. Tucker is adorable, although show Tucker and book Tucker feel like two different people to me not just in looks but the character’s personality too. And Allie? I loved show Allie. She felt a little different from my memory of book Allie, but the actress brought so much personality and vulnerability to her I couldn’t be happier.

For the supporting characters, Beau worked really well, especially because the show makes him more important. Hunter is one I’m still undecided on. Not at all who I would’ve pictured for the character. Justin is completely different from the book, and while the actor fit the character the show created, the storyline itself didn’t fully work for me.

Garrett and Hannah’s Chemistry Was Fine, But I Wanted More

Garrett and Hannah had chemistry, but I wanted more from them. Their emotional moments worked better for me than their romantic spark. I believed the trust building parts of their relationship, especially when the show dealt with Hannah’s trauma and Garrett’s fear of becoming like his father. But the fire between them, that spice, wasn’t always there for me.

And maybe part of the problem is that the show gave us Dean and Allie in the same season. Because once Dean and Allie started sharing scenes, the chemistry comparison well had no comparison.

Dean and Allie Stole the Show

Dean and Allie had some explosive chemistry immediately. From the first time Dean sees Allie at the block party, there’s something there. But the dance floor scene with the J.Lo dress? That was THE moment. That scene will be living rent free in my head forever and yes I’ve re-watched it so many times I’ve lost count. As a Dean girlie, I never skip an edit.

My only concern is what this means for future seasons. Season 1 already gives us some Dean and Allie material from The Score. But I still need a full Dean and Allie season. I do not want them squeezed into half a season because we already got some of their setup. I need the whole thing.

The Justin Storyline Needed More Stakes

One of the weaker parts of Off Campus Season 1 for me was Justin. The show changes him from a football player to a musician and connects him to Hannah through songwriting. In theory, that could have worked. In practice, I never felt enough chemistry or compatibility between Justin and Hannah for that storyline to have real stakes.

If the fake dating setup is partly about getting Justin’s attention, I need to believe Hannah and Justin make sense on some level. Instead, every interaction made it obvious they were wrong for each other. Even the Dirty Dancing reference tells us immediately: Garrett gets her, Justin doesn’t.

So the tension never really landed. A love triangle, or even a fake love triangle, needs some kind of maybe energy. This one felt more like a straight line.

The Show Handles Heavy Topics Without Losing the Fun

One thing I think Season 1 did well was balancing heavier emotional material with the bingeable romance vibe of the books.

The Deal has serious trauma at the center of both Hannah and Garrett’s stories, and the show gives that emotional weight space without turning the entire season into misery. That balance matters because the Off Campus books have always mixed heavy subjects with banter, friendship and romance.

The show translated that well. Each episode gave enough emotional stakes or relationship momentum to keep me watching, which feels perfect for this series. These books have always had that addictive quality, and Season 1 captured that better than I expected.

Let’s Talk About the Sex Scenes in Off Campus Season 1

Since the Heated Rivalry comparison keeps coming up, the sex scenes are part of the conversation too.

I wasn’t expecting Off Campus to have Heated Rivalry-style intimacy scenes, and I don’t think it needed to. But I did find the show’s approach uneven. There is a random men’s locker room full frontal moment that felt like it was there just to be there. It was extremely weird.

With Garrett and Hannah, their first time together does matter emotionally. That scene is important because it deepens the trust between them, which is exactly what an intimacy scene in romance should do. But after that, a lot of their sex scenes become more like a montage. We see that they’re having sex, but we don’t always feel the relationship deepening through those moments.

That’s something I think it’s important about sex in romance and I think that is something Heated Rivalry did well. Off Campus missed the mark for me on that.

What I Want from Off Campus Season 2

Season 2 should give us some Logan and Grace, but I’m sure also plenty of Dean and Allie. I did find that there were a lot of changes around Logan’s character so I wonder what we will get from The Mistake, or if this is one of the storylines they may be digging a bit more with changes.

I also hope future seasons keep building the ensemble without taking too much away from the central couple of each season. The friend group is a huge part of the appeal, but each romance still needs to shine.

And yes, there is one future book event I desperately hope the show changes. If you know you know, but I’m sure it won’t because it’s so pivotal. No spoilers. I am not emotionally available to relive that.

Final Thoughts on Off Campus Season 1

So, did Off Campus Season 1 work as a book adaptation? For me, yes.

It wasn’t perfect. But the show captured the spirit of the books: the friendships, the campus drama and past traumas, the hockey world, the found family, and the addictive quality that makes you want more.

That’s usually my adaptation test. I don’t need every scene to be exactly the same. I need the essence and vibe of the story to survive the jump to screen. For Season 1, I think it did.

If you want more Off Campus, if you’re in the mood reading check out books like Off Campus, or to binge watch something else, what to watch after Off Campus. And if you still didn’t read the series, head straight to how to read the Off Campus series in order.

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