Here’s Why Off Campus Changed This Pivotal Garrett & Hannah Scene

Spoiler alert: This post discusses events from Off Campus Season 1, Episode 7.

The first season of Off Campus made several key changes when adapting Elle Kennedy’s 2015 book The Deal, but the most pivotal arrived at the end of the penultimate episode. After Garrett lost control during a hockey game and beat up Hannah’s abuser, his girlfriend voiced her concerns about the violent outburst. Fueled by his fears of becoming like his father, Garrett broke up with Hannah.

This is completely different from The Deal, in which Garrett’s controlling father Phil blackmails Hannah into ending her relationship with his son by threatening to cut off all financial support. The show still portrays Phil as a cruel and domineering presence in Garrett’s life, but it removes any involvement in the breakup. It’s a change that actor Belmont Cameli feels “makes sense” for this new version of the story.

“The way that we have the breakup happen feels really organic in that episode. We wanted it to come from the characters,” Cameli, who plays Garrett, tells Elite Daily. “It’s a great way for them to break up, because in that moment, Garrett’s fear is becoming his father, and the information he’s gotten over the last couple episodes tells him that’s exactly what he’s destined for. He thinks he’s only going to hurt Hannah, and she doesn’t deserve to be in this relationship with him.”

Ella Bright, who plays Hannah, adds that the change works because it shows both Garrett and Hannah at their lowest points, which prevents them from resolving their issues in the moment.

“I remember discussing that with [showrunner] Louisa [Levy]. Those two characters are having their worst day at the exact same time,” Bright says. “If one of them was having a bad day and the other one wasn't, they would be able to comfort each other, but there is no other way that that could have ended. And that's what makes it so tough.”

While the breakup scene is the most notable change to Garrett’s story, Cameli describes how he made some subtler alterations to his character’s personality from the books to help bring him into the real world a little more.

“My Garrett is different from the book Garrett,” Cameli says. “In my opinion, Garrett Graham in the books is the most perfect man ever built. He's just flawless. He's so easy to love and idolize because Garrett Graham is a king across the board in that book. So it was important for me to make sure that Garrett was a flawed individual the same way that anybody else is. I wanted to bake in those complexities that exist in the book, but aren’t always at the forefront.”