ten favorite changes the off campus show made to the books? i am obsessed with the show
admittedly a lot of my favorite changes just come down to the show abandoning a lot of the books’ sexism and misogyny but ummm let’s see
the added depth and complexity to logan and garrett’s friendship. in the books we had to take it for granted due to the limited pov so it was nice to see more of the layers to their dynamic and why there might be more tension due to the class difference between them. in line with this i also like that they decided to make logan earnestly pursue a professional hockey career instead of write off the possibility from day one
the changes made to dean and allie’s first conversation and hookup.. i reread the books last year to refresh my memory because it had been a long time since i last read them and i actually came out of the score genuinely hating dean 😭 he basically sexually harassed allie into sleeping with him (repeatedly) so i’m glad that the show took a drastically different approach that was respectful and consensual and also offered insight into their characters
dean’s confession! i feel like parsing dean’s feelings for allie in the score was really difficult at times because of how deeply entangled they were with the sex and his sexual harassment of her in particular. so it was definitely the right move from the show to have him take explicit interest in her as a person in order for the development of his feelings to be believable. and in line with this i thought their sex scenes were very tender! like they were hot but they also were super sweet. the kisses on the couch were lovely
the expanded focus on tucker’s tendency to be a pushover. i know a lot of people were upset by the decision to make him the youngest but i think it was a really clever move in light of the fact that his one trademark quality is that he’s a pushover. the books really only honed in on this once sabrina was in the picture so it was nice to see how his relationship with the boys shaped that too. and i know the nods to it were super subtle! but they were great easter eggs for the time being
the change in hunter’s role in dean’s life. i think it’s soooo smart to initially position him as this rival who will then obv develop a deeper relationship with dean right in time for beau to die. i get that they’re best friends in the books but we’re not privy to why or how that really happens so i like the creative liberties being taken here personally. i am also wondering now if his hookup with allie and how it might fuck things up with dean for a while is a slight nod to the initial premise of the play. maybe we’ll see celibacy stretch hunter sooner than we think lol
beau in general. beau is obv barely a character in the books beyond being the feel good guy everyone likes but he also comes off as kind of sleazy imo.. 😭 i like that they made him into a bit of a softer character with more personality and then the fact that he’s dean’s childhood friend adds a great depth too! we haven’t seen anything yet but i hope the show does more to develop his friendship with sabrina because i really love dynamics like that where the sex and the friendship can be coexistent. and it would be interesting to see him vouching for tucker considering he’s a closer friend to tucker in the show
the show’s perspective on how hockey facilitates violence external to the sport itself. one of the things i was really eager for the show to do was to explore garrett’s domestic abuse with more depth, and the show definitely delivered on that front. the connections made between delaney-garrett-phil in episode seven were brilliant and i love that not only through his conversation with phil but also through his conversations with hannah and jensen, garrett had to consider what the cost was of accepting violence as an inherent part of hockey and also himself. i like that he was given all of these reasons to keep playing despite the violence, and that using those reasons to anchor him had to be how he would break free of that violence / anger
in line with the above, the breakup! while i don’t think what phil did in the deal was unrealistic or all that farfetched as far as hockey horrors go i do think the show breakup worked better for the story being told, where trauma recovery for both hannah and garrett was an important focus. i think belmont mentioned in an interview that it wouldn’t make sense for show!garrett to be so controlling, and i have to agree! it made sense that he was the one who initiated the break up and that he didn’t pass the campus wide law because his respect and love for hannah was so high
logan being into hannah before even garrett was. a gaaaaalaxy brained change. it ties so well into the tension between him and garrett and his frustrations at the latter’s privilege, but it also very subtly touches on logan’s hypocrisy and defeatism and low self-esteem. i do love in the books that he’s jealous of hannah and garrett as a collective because he wants to experience love like that but i think going about it this way adds so many more layers because it really digs into the problem grace has with him, where he prematurely denies things to himself without even trying and then resents other people for it
cindy! i like that she didn’t leave phil. because the books are so limited in perspective they obv have to wrap up their respective storylines very quickly but with the show now taking the approach of giving each couple their due focus regardless of whose season it actually is, i think there’s a great opportunity to explore how long it actually takes to break out of an abusive relationship. i would love to see garrett develop more of a relationship with her so that when the escape happens it’s because she finally, truly has the courage and support that she needs to make that decision
honestly surprised i managed to come up with all of those i thought i wouldn’t have enough 😭
