As a romance fanatic, I am the sort of person who has consumed every 90s and noughties rom-com, every terrible low-budget Hallmark-esque festive film on Netflix, and spent all of Boxing Day 2012 sobbing after Matthew Crawley died in Downton Abbey. I know all the tropes, every cliché, and all the classic narrative devices in every romantic comedy TV show and film, and yet every time I gobble them up. That said, my socks were blown clean off my feet when I watched Heated Rivalry this year.
I was so obsessed I indulged in three re-watches (lovingly coined 're-heated Rivalry' by fans) and even bought the books they were based on and speed-read those. But when I heard that Prime Video was launching a TV series with an ice hockey team playing a key role in the narrative, I wasn't particularly excited and anticipated a half-baked series that paled in comparison. I couldn't have been more wrong.
After binge-watching it all in one day, I can confirm that Off Campus is the series die-hard rom-com lovers have been waiting for. The series is about an ice hockey sports star Garrett (played by Belmont Cameli) and music student Hannah Wells (Ella Bright) who make a deal to strike up a fake relationship. For Hannah, she has tried and failed miserably to get the attention of Justin (Josh Heuston), a cool guitar-playing boy in a band who only seems interested in her when her classmate Garrett flirts with her in front of him. As Garrett needs help passing a Philosophy exam, and Hannah is the only person managing to get A+ grades in the class, the pair strike up an unlikely deal to help each other out, in a trope that has played out in countless rom-coms.
And while it may be easy to assume that a series crammed full of clichés might make for a boring watch, somehow this series manages to avoid predictable dialogue by bringing these tropes, along with real themes, fleshed-out characters, and quick wit to every single episode. This isn't a plot you have to stick with to get good; it shoves you right into the drama and holds you hostage for eight episodes.
The series refreshingly avoids misogyny that has become only too familiar in the genre. When one male character speaks to his jock best friend about his nerves at sleeping with a girl he likes for the first time, instead of being presented with chauvinistic, terrible, and overly explicit advice, I was pleasantly surprised to hear decent, sensitive comments that completely subverted my expectations. Rather than the characters being props that aid the storytelling of the two main characters without their own personalities, all of the characters feel multi-faceted, and every episode is narrative-heavy, relying on multiple characters and multiple stories taking place simultaneously. The multitude of plot twists keep you engaged, and ditch the one-dimensional comic relief characters so familiar in rom-coms.
Of course, while some things are subverted and brought into the modern day, some elements of the plot are very predictable and true to the genre—but in the best way. It's hardly a spoiler to say that a fake relationship ends up paving the path to real feelings, in a cliché that has played out in The Wedding Date, The Proposal, Anyone But You, and probably hundreds of other stories. But some plots really crept up on me, presenting properly surprising plot twists that only strengthened the series.
And not for nothing, but while the actors are obviously good looking, they can actually act. These gorgeous actors were clearly picked because they can deliver this story with the devotion required from the pre-existing fanbase who love the Elle Kennedy books. The series has already been compared to Heated Rivalry, and to be honest it's really nothing alike—aside from the fact it's a great love story with a lot of raunchy scenes, and also features ice hockey. Liking one does not necessarily mean you'll like the other, but if you love love, I can't recommend this series enough.
And nothing appears to have captured the cultural zeitgeist in the same way since Heated Rivalry. All eight episodes of Off Campus landed on Prime Video on May 13, and the show has already bagged a rare 93% Rotten Tomatoes score.
