Prime Video‘s new hockey romance Off Campus got my attention when the show’s cold open ends with sweet music major (and part-time hockey rink janitor) Hannah Wells (Ella Bright) stumbling upon star player Garrett Graham (Belmont Cameli) showering in the men’s locker room. Off Campus kept my interest by quickly proving to be an absolutely delightful bit of escapist fare.
Is Off Campus corny? Yes. Is it a realistic exploration of college life? No. Will Off Campus have you squealing in joy and cheesing like doofus? Absolutely!
Off Campus is a happy, horny hockey romance that just might fill that Heated Rivalry hole in your heart.
Based on the Off-Campus series by Canadian romance writer Elle Kennedy, Off Campus follows the love lives of four star hockey players and best friends who all live — get this! — off campus together. Garrett Graham is the group’s de facto alpha. Already made Captain in his junior year and awaiting a spot on the Boston Bruins after graduation, Garrett takes his hockey career extraordinarily seriously. So much so, he tries to gently rebuff a consistent hookup by explaining he can’t be a good boyfriend. Part of what drives Garrett’s determination is a deep desire to not coast on his abusive hockey star father’s coattails. So when he realizes that Hannah, the girl who stumbled in on him showering, is the only student in his philosophy class who’s acing every assignment, he begs her to be his tutor so he doesn’t fail out of the class and the hockey team.
Hannah’s not having it, though. The music major’s got enough on her own plate since losing her scholarship and wants nothing to do with the hockey player. Besides, Hannah already has a mad crush on Justin Khol (Josh Heuston), a roguish musician who doesn’t know she exists. By the end of Off Campus‘s first episode, Garrett comes up with a mutually beneficial plan: if Hannah tutors him in philosophy, he’ll pretend to be her new beau to make the “pretentious douche” Justin finally interested. Of course, what Garrett has not shared is that the ’80s rock fanboy is kind of already quite smitten with Hannah after catching her singing and dancing along to Elton John in the bowels of the hockey rink.
Anyone who’s seen To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before or the first season of Bridgerton knows already how this “fake romance” will play out. Garrett and Hannah, whom he adorably nicknames “Wellsy,” are going to fall hard for each other. What’s great about Off Campus is that it doesn’t prolong this inevitability. Much like its steamy cold open, this is a show that doesn’t tease its audience. It gets right into the action. Yes, there’s yearning, but it feels more like foreplay than a tortuous state of limbo.
What really makes Off Campus so charming, though, is the incandescent chemistry of its leads. Ella Bright and Belmont Cameli make their character’s playful banter feel natural and effortless. When they lock eyes or squeeze hands, you feel it. Which means that when they finally fall into each other’s arms, it feels absolutely ebullient.
Another reason why it’s worth getting obsessed with Off Campus? Prime Video has already ordered a second season. Every book in Kennedy’s series tells a different love story starring one of Briar’s hockey stars. Season 1 is already setting up a romance between Hannah’s bestie Allie Hayes (Mika Abdalla) and the team’s playboy Dean Di Laurentis (Stephen Kalyn) and we know that India Fowler will be joining the cast as John Logan’s (Antonio Cipriano) love interest, Grace Ivers, in Season 2.
Off Campus might not be high art, but it is incredible entertainment: hot, horny, and full of heart.
Off Campus Season 1 is now streaming on Prime Video.