An Off Campus Theory Predicts Dean’s Devastating Season 2 Twist

Allie and Dean’s chemistry is going to make for a very steamy Off Campus Season 2. But as fans of Elle Kennedy’s novels know, there are also some heavy moments in store — and one theory predicts a particularly heartbreaking twist. Book spoilers ahead.

If you’ve read Allie and Dean’s love story in The Score (which Season 2 adapts), you know that the Briar University community is rocked by a sudden tragedy. Toward the end of the book, Dean’s best friend, Beau, dies in a car accident while visiting family in Wisconsin. In his grief, Dean turns to alcohol and drugs, stops coaching youth hockey, and misses the opening night of Allie’s play. She ultimately ends things in a third-act breakup, refusing to put up with his unhealthy coping mechanisms any longer.

While Allie and Dean do ultimately get back together, it’s clear that Beau’s death plays a role in their journey. But what if it happens a little differently on screen? Several fans have speculated that Dean could be a survivor of the accident that kills Beau — unlike in the book, where he learns the sad news from Garrett. As one fan commented on Reddit, “It was always so tragic in the book that Beau’s dad came out of the crash without a scratch on him and I can really see them putting Dean in that place instead.”

“This never even occurred to me, but it makes so much sense!” another Reddit user commented, while several fans noted that survivor’s guilt could compound his grief even further. As one put it, Dean being in the accident could “add even more depth” to the spiral that follows, which, in the book, includes him skipping Beau’s funeral.

Creator and co-showrunner Louisa Levy hasn’t shared exactly how Season 2 might handle this element of Dean and Allie’s book but did tease at Prime Video’s Obsessed Fest that fans should prepare for “lots of tears” in the next installment.

If the show does include Dean in Beau’s tragic accident, it wouldn’t be the first time Off Campus tweaked a book storyline for screen. For example, in The Deal, Garrett enacts a “hands-off” rule after Hannah breaks up with him to prevent other guys from pursuing her, but in the show, he doesn’t attempt to control things in that way.

Off Campus also changed Tucker’s age, making him the youngest character. And even though Allie and Dean’s book is third in Kennedy’s series, their love story comes second in the show.