Yes! I Liked Off Campus (Full Season 1 Review)

 

After The Summer I Turned Pretty ended, it seems Amazon Prime was banking on another romance hit for their streaming service, and they have found it. The Off Campus phenomenon is what everyone is talking about. Authored by Elle Kennedy, this first season adapts the first book, focusing on the fake-relationship trope between Hannah, an aspiring composer, and Garrett, the star hockey player on the college team. 

Personally, the idea of this show did not appeal to me. From the outside perspective, it was another scandalous, almost trashy romance show that seemed to make a relationship unnecessarily messy to make the plot interesting. Based on that sentiment, it seemed that Off Campus was also capitalizing on the more problematic aspects of romance outlets that have been exciting audiences today. 

However, I finally tuned in to the show a month after its release, and it does prove itself not only entertaining but also offering real, healthy ways of approaching several of the themes it was aiming for, especially with its lead couple. Although the performances were subpar and, for many of them, this was their first major television show, the writing of what was expected to be a cheesy romance show ended up having more depth than expected. 

I would like to consider actress Ella Bright the new Katherine Langford from 13 Reasons Why, not only because the two actresses are British, but also because the characters have somewhat similar arcs throughout the show, despite having a significantly more hopeful resolution. Though in conflicting ways. Hannah Wells, like Hannah Baker, goes through a significant, traumatic past that seems to hinder aspects of her creativity and intimacy throughout this first season. She is also tackling a real-world problem: a student who is doing whatever it takes to help her parents reclaim a lost scholarship. 

Money seems to be one of the main themes of the show, with several characters, surprisingly enough, portraying the stakes of college life and the tribulations these 20-year-olds face, despite the majority of the cast being white. Even so, the show manages to stay relatable, especially in how they approach Hannah, a young woman who is driven, knows what she wants, and does not stray from it because of some guy. But luckily, the guy she is paired with is just as driven but is challenged by the opportunities handed to him by privilege he might not appreciate, which becomes a seminal boundary between him and some of his teammates. 

Garrett Graham is the big surprise of this show. He does not fit the expectations and predictability of yet another broody, tortured man in need of being fixed. Although he is a little traumatized and has a dead mom, Garrett is not the stereotypical man you would find in most romance books. He is bubbly and funny, and he has great taste in music. Also, like Hannah, he has a past that is significant to his character, involving his abusive father and his relevant questioning in terms of whether he should play Hockey for himself or for his father's legacy. 

One of the well-portrayed aspects here, in the case of romance, is how Hannah and Garrett, to an extent, maturely approach the relationship. Despite keeping parts of themselves guarded at the beginning, when they do reveal them, it comes off as the lead to a cessation based on general fear in their relationship before it becomes toxic codependency. What they manage to understand, when that part of the scripted romance does make its way to a plateau before the happy ending, is that their insecurities shouldn't be a crutch for what keeps them together but rather what helps them understand each other better, and exploring nitty and gritty of both of their point of views of why that is which I think is a line that most romance TV shows tend to blur and have grown to make them less and less realistic and more of a fantasy. 

The other characters are very much just there to be lovable and are not as problematic as you might think. However, they all obviously have their own nuances, especially with the likes of Allie, Dean, and even Logan (all of which I am sure will be explored if the show keeps going). The real MVP for the show is Mika Abdalla, who seems to be living the very definition of scene stealer. From her undeniable beauty to her general portrayal of Allie, a girl who thinks that she is addicted to relationships and is now being fed that she should approach dating more casually despite her abhorrence towards hooking up, another nuance I thought would never be seen on a TV show. Which, of course, reflects on her pairing with Stephen Kalyn's Dean, who has only had casual sex and never been in a relationship but is now starting to open up to it when the two cross paths, clashing these two's dilemmas. 

The show is generally lighthearted, nowhere near its more queer counterpart, Heated Rivalry, but then again, the themes presented in that show are very different. I would consider it to be in the ballpark of what Netflix's Heartstopper attempts, maybe a bit more risque than the fluffy angles they explore. It does seem a little surprising that Off Campus barely explores queer characters, even when they are present as tertiary characters. However, that didn't seem like a problem, for the 8 episodes had a very specific aim, and I think they succeeded in their intention. 

Off Campus, although it feeds into the surface-level idea of BookTok interest, does not meet the criteria for what is now considered a popular exploration of genres. It is likely to fall back into that trap when it explores future seasons, and I have a sense it will, given how the first season leaves us teed up for the second, but I will hold out hope, given how they explore this show.