Specifically, the first season, developed by Louisa Levy, adapts The Deal, the first novel published by Kennedy in 2015, which has been followed (so far) by four other books in the main series and eight more in the two Off Campus spin-off series. Meanwhile, season 2 of the TV series was already confirmed months before the release of the first.
Off Campus is about love, sex, and ice hockey. Given this premise, it’s easy to think of Heated Rivalry, the TV series that premiered in recent months on HBO and became a global phenomenon, also based on a series of books that tell of passionate romances in the world of ice hockey. The key difference, however, is that while Heated Rivalry focuses on gay love, Off Campus tells, at least in this first season, a heterosexual love story. If you want to learn more, here is the plot and analysis of Off Campus.
What Off Campus is About: College, Hockey, and Sex
In this first season, the main characters are Hannah Wells (Ella Bright) and Garrett Graham (Belmont Cameli): she is a music student at the fictional Briar University in the equally fictional town of Hastings, near Boston. She has to work two jobs to pay her way through college, and the scholarship for classical music students that helped her in previous years has been canceled, forcing her to switch to pop music to find financial support. Nevertheless, Hannah is a model student with friends who care deeply for her, starting with her roommate Allie (Mika Abdalla).
Garrett Graham, on the other hand, certainly has no money problems: he is the son of a former NHL (North American hockey league) champion who put skates on his feet when he took his first steps, and today he is the captain of the Hawks, the college team. On the other hand, he struggles with philosophy, a subject in which Hannah excels, and could use some tutoring from his college classmate—who, however, already has her own problems.
In theory, despite a first encounter as steamy as the water in the shower where Hannah happens to see Garrett naked, the two aren’t meant to be together: she has a crush on Justin (Josh Heuston), another student and the singer of a promising band, while he wants to focus solely on hockey and isn’t looking for a serious relationship, preferring to have fun with the girls who fall at his feet.
But since Justin doesn’t even notice Hannah, Garrett proposes a deal (the “deal” of the title, in fact): they’ll pretend to be together, trying to attract the attention of the local version of Gossip Girl, to make Justin jealous and push him to make the first move on Hannah. And it would be a plan that’s not exactly ethical but effective, were it not for the fact that Hannah and Garrett are clearly destined to fall in love with each other (and perhaps even the other with the one)
Why will everyone watch Off Campus? For the very reasons it’s restricted to adults
In an era when sex scenes on TV and in movies are often just vague hints and women doing acrobatics to cover their breasts with a sheet, the nudity and explicit physicality shown in Off Campus aren’t just enough to slap an “18+” label on the series—they’re almost a revolutionary choice. We’re confident it will pay off in terms of success, just as it did for Heated Rivalry.
By the way, it’s worth noting that, first of all, Prime Video greenlit the series way back in October 2024, well before the release of H.R.. Second, Elle Kennedy’s novel was published in 2015, three years before the release of the first book in Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series. So yes, Off Campus is, in a sense, Prime’s answer to the series made famous worldwide by HBO, but only from the audience’s perspective.
With the field (or the ice rink) cleared of possible accusations of plagiarism, Off Campus is a series that—in fact—doesn’t invent anything new; rather, it tells a story as old as the saying “opposites attract.” It does, however, have the undeniable merit of doing so well, drawing viewers in practically from the very first scene and fueling interest with hints of past traumas that will resurface throughout the season.
And yes, there’s no denying that the two leads are breathtakingly beautiful: Ella Bright, in particular, reminded us—in both physique and gaze—of Alexandra Daddario in her early days, while Cameli, with his dark curls and muscles, brought to mind Mario Lopez’s A.C. Slater in Saved by the Bell. And the stunning Mika Abdalla also deserves a mention.
Beyond the super-sexy bodies of practically every character in this series, Off Campus is a TV show with an exhilarating old-school soundtrack, witty and entertaining dialogue, and a fast-paced rhythm that slows down when needed. As mentioned, it’s not the most original story in the world, but a web of intertwined fates (and bodies) that entertains and captivates just as you’d expect from a story of love, sex, and sports.
