Off Campus Showrunners Reveal Key Changes to Season 1 Finale and Season 2 Plans

Prime Video’s adaptation of Elle Kennedy’s bestselling Off Campus series delivers a happy ending for Hannah (Ella Bright) and Garrett (Belmont Cameli) in its Season 1 finale, though not without key deviations from Kennedy’s original novel, The Deal.

In the book, Hannah breaks up with Garrett after his father threatens to cut off his financial support. However, showrunners Louisa Levy and Gina Fattore reworked this plot point for Episode 7 of the series. Garrett initiates the breakup out of fear he will repeat his father’s abusive behavior—particularly after a violent on-ice confrontation with Hannah’s attacker. This change was partly influenced by updated Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) policies in college sports, which Levy noted would diminish the impact of financial blackmail in Garrett’s storyline.

“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 explained.

Levy emphasized the thematic depth of Garrett’s decision: “We really liked the idea that the breakup is stemming out of Garrett’s arc this season. 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.”

While Hannah and Garrett find their happy ending, the Season 1 finale introduces new challenges for the hockey team and the central romance between Dean (Stephen Kalyn) and Allie (Mika Abdalla). A mysterious new player, Hunter Davenport, is revealed as Allie’s former hookup and a recruit brought in to bolster the team’s performance. Davenport’s arrival also carries personal history with Dean’s sister, adding further tension to the group dynamic.

Fattore acknowledged the show’s commitment to “happily ever after” endings, a hallmark of the “new romance” genre, but stressed the need to leave audiences eager for Season 2. “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,” she said. Joking about past work on Dawson’s Creek, she added, “On ‘Dawson’s Creek,’ we just broke those kids up left and right.”

Levy and Fattore remained tight-lipped about whether Dean and Allie’s romance—originally explored in Kennedy’s third book—will be accelerated in Season 2, promising only that “more information” will be revealed.