Between The Lines
The “Hands-Off Law” Change In Off Campus Makes For A Better Show
The series makes a polarizing but meaningful departure from Elle Kennedy’s 2015 novel.
In the years between a novel’s release and its screen adaptation, beloved scenes take on IYKYK significance for book-loving communities across social media. So it’s certainly understandable that fans of Elle Kennedy’s Off Campus novels (many of whom first read The Deal when it came out in 2015) were rocked by key book changes when Prime Video’s series adaptation dropped on May 13. Specifically, many viewers take issue with the omission of Garrett’s “hands-off law” from the book — but ultimately, the new version only makes Hannah and Garrett stronger.
ICYMI: In Kennedy’s first Off Campus novel, the pair’s third-act breakup happens under false pretenses. Hannah tells Garrett she wants to see other people, when in reality, his dad forced her to walk away, or else he’d cut off his son financially. Garrett (correctly) intuits that Hannah is not being truthful about wanting to end things. So he spreads word that no one else is to date her — explaining, once Hannah finds out, that he knew she’d regret being with anyone else and wanted to “spare [her] all that pain and suffering.”
On screen, Garrett ends things for real — he fears that he’s like his dad, and thus all wrong for Hannah — and doesn’t make up any kind of hands-off rule, even though a rumor that he’ll beat up potential suitors spreads anyway. “I never said any of that ... I would never tell anyone to stay away from you,” he says. “You should be with whoever you want to be with.”
It’s a big departure, but a worthwhile one.
In both the book and the series, Hannah is upset when Garrett attacks a hockey opponent connected to the trauma she’s been working through since high school. Seeing Garrett lash out and put his hockey career on the line — even for a valiant reason — reminds her of the way her family was impacted by standing by her side as a teen. For Garrett to use brute force (or the threat of it) a second time by enacting the hands-off law would undermine Hannah’s request that he not meddle on her behalf, no matter how well-intentioned said meddling may be.
After all, Hannah’s storyline is all about reclaiming a sense of control over her own life. So a secret, hands-off law that makes her feel like a social pariah — when, in high school, she very much was one due to circumstances beyond her control — isn’t exactly a swoony resolution.
None of this is to knock Kennedy’s work! There’s a reason readers have so fervently responded to The Deal, drumming up enough buzz to bring Off Campus to life on screen. And the conviction behind Garrett’s rule — the fact that he knows Hannah well(sy) enough to sense something’s amiss about the breakup — is certainly attractive.
But the kind of possessiveness that can thrill on the page doesn’t necessarily translate to the verisimilitude of living, breathing characters we’re meant to fall in love with. In the case of Off Campus, removing Garrett’s hands-off storyline makes him even easier to root for, reinforcing the foundation of trust and care that makes their relationship so meaningful in the first place.
