Off Campus Season 1, Episode 6 Review: The Breakaway

What makes Off Campus Season 1, Episode 6 so effective is that we’ve stopped pretending it’s about casual hookups and started investigating the emotional detachment, revenge, or dishonesty behind them. Especially when it comes to Dean and Allie. Now, if they hadn’t announced that season two would revolve around Logan and Grace, I would have assumed by this episode that it was going to be all about Allie and Dean. Because it sets them up perfectly.

Nearly every storyline in the show (and the books) revolves around different characters attempting to minimize what they feel. You weather the storm with them – if they are dealing with it or not dealing with it. It means we’re going to see the characters weathering the roads of fear and vulnerability, of letting people in or pushing people away. The result is an episode that feels significantly deeper than a standard college sports romance because the sports are secondary. What is important is the emotional conflict that has become just as important as the romantic one.

And there are characters in this show that need to have that emotional support.

That saving.

ALLIE & DEAN

At the center of the episode is Allie’s unraveling following her breakup with Shawn, and everyone around her wisely refuses to frame that unraveling as simple indecision. Because it isn’t that way. What Allie actually struggles with is the fear that choosing one version of her future means sacrificing another. That’s a lot to deal with, but unfortunately, it is a right of passage – coming face to face with the person that you used to be and the person you want to be.

Allie deserves what she wants. What she wants is love, ambition, independence, family, stability, freedom — all simultaneously. But don’t we always want this? The dream of having everything at once? The show repeatedly returns to this tension, particularly during her earliest emotionally honest conversation with Dean.

Dean immediately understands her in a way that catches both Allie and me off guard. Dean isn’t that man – not this early. Their dynamic initially appears built on flirtation and loathing, especially during the flashback sequence, where Dean drunkenly crashes onto the couch with two girls while Allie is half-conscious, drunkenly passed out nearby. Their first exchanges are witty, sharp, and combative. It seems to be both their kink. Allie accuses him of sleeping with everyone, and Dean accuses her of following him. But underneath the sarcasm, I understand something quickly: Dean consistently sees through her defenses almost immediately and vice versa.

That becomes especially clear during the puff puff give give scene that follows. While the moment begins casually, it quickly shifts into something far more emotionally intimate. It doesn’t matter that they don’t know each other. I am a little afraid of what this means – taking things from book three and showing them now. But what I have realized that this far into the season is that I can expect the unexpected. Dean pushes Allie on Shawn, Vermont, and the future she claims she wants, and more importantly, the one she basically told everyone at karaoke that she didn’t want. Allie’s explanation about her parents becomes one of the strongest emotional insights in this conversation. She talks about how much her father sacrificed for her mother and how badly she wants a love that is as meaningful as hers. She wants everything, even if she fears that means she’ll fail at all of it.

DEAN IS…

Importantly, Dean, who mocks everyone, never mocks her for any of her fears. Instead, he validates them and tells her that it is going to be okay. He gives her support, even when he knows that it is support that she doesn’t know how to take. His insistence that wanting love and ambition simultaneously is not selfish makes me change my initial opinion of Dean. He’s not just the f-boy hockey player. He’s also a man who just wants to feel something, even if he doesn’t realize that yet. This conversation between the two is important – because it’s the first time someone besides Hannah reframes her desires as understandable instead of unrealistic. Dean’s characterization beyond the typical charming player sports star is challenged. Now, what we can see is that he’s got a lot of levels.

That complexity continues through the recurring “roller coaster” metaphor that defines their relationship. Dean compares himself to Six Flags — a good time, not a long time — insisting he doesn’t do relationships or emotional permanence. I think that he means well as he tries to hit on Allie and reframe her thoughts on herself. He adds his number to her phone and tells her to call when she’s ready for that good time. Allie responds by putting his number in her phone as “DO NOT CALL,” effectively turning the metaphor into a joke. But what we are challenged with almost immediately is the thought process of the two, as the show cleverly weaponizes that joke against both of them.

By the time Allie drunkenly calls him after drunken Shakespeare and admits she “fucking loves roller coasters,” and hey, we learn quickly that there are a lot of lines that are foreshadowing. Yes, I know that happens a lot but a lot of times you don’t get that unless you’re paying attention to every detail.

And we’re paying attention.

The show doesn’t hinge any relationship on one singular turning point. Instead, the intimacy and attraction between Allie and Dean builds through repetition. Secret hookups, lingering conversations, near discoveries, etc. They try to cleverly disguise their feelings (and yes, they have them), but what we are served is jealousy, coded flirting, and emotional vulnerability disguised as physical attraction. Every time Allie insists it’s “just sex,” the scenes themselves contradict their words.

But Allie – well, Allie is trying to suppress all of the emotions that are coming with sex. She associates sex with relationships, even though the only relationships she’s had are with Shawn and, well, Dean – he’s not had a one.

THE DRIVE

When we see what had happened at Thanksgiving break, it functions as the relationship’s emotional turning point because it strips Dean’s persona down almost entirely. The car ride with Beau initially plays as comedic relief, particularly once Beau and Allie bond over theater and showtunes while Dean suffers through the experience like he’s being tortured. But even these scenes deepen Dean’s characterization and made me question what we knew about him.

Dean is a persona.

Dean is a brand.

Beau’s revelation that Dean secretly dances immediately complicates the image that he’s put forth as part of his brand. He doesn’t want his friends to see it, but he shows while watching Beau and Allie connect further reinforces that he’s already emotionally invested in whatever is happening with Allie, long before he’s willing to fully admit it.

This has happened with Hannah and Garrett, and well, I have to say I am looking forward to seeing how this plays out with Dean and Allie.

When Allie goes to Deans in Manhattan, the sequence that follows is arguably one of the strongest moments, because it operates like a romantic date while both characters stubbornly refuse to call it one.

We all see it.

I trust it and believe in it.

CHESS MATCHES

Every detail in their night together reinforces intimacy rather than lust. The wine waiting for her when she arrives, the apartment tour, the chess game, and the quieter conversation about his family are all signs of the walls coming down and the two realizing that this is more to them.

They’ve got strings.

And they are attached.

The most revealing line in the chess scene is also one of the simplest. Dean delivers by telling Allie that he is okay with not being in Saint Barts because: “I get to be here with you.” It completely reframes Dean. Up until this point, he has aggressively positioned himself as someone incapable of attachment, but that is well… that is a persona he’s put up because he’s afraid of connection. Beneath the confidence and flirtation is someone who very clearly wants to be loved.

And to give love.

What makes the scene effective, however, is the aftermath of these moments. The moment his friends call from outside, the possibility of being seen, the reality of mutual friendships — Allie immediately questions everything that she feels and is doing. She catastrophes everything: the who, what, when, where, and why.

Dean looks hurt by everything that Allie leaves. Dean increasingly moves toward honesty while Allie retreats deeper into denial. Whatever these truths are trying not to admit to is one of those things you just want them to admit to.

MALONES

That denial reaches its peak during the Malones’ fundraiser for the Hurricanes, which acts as the emotional center of the show – giving us insight not only to Dean and Allie, but to all of the events that are happening within so. many relationships. Publicly, Dean performs his usual role effortlessly. As the event’s MC, he’s charismatic, confident, funny, and completely in control of everything happening. He’s got the girls drooling and the guys wishing they were him. Privately, however, he’s entirely focused on Allie

Allie and Dean’s interactions are hot and somewhat lustful. She’s diving deeper into denial, and he’s not allowing that to be the answer for anything. Denying it won’t make his feelings go away.

His feelings are getting stronger. Maybe it’s her turning him down. Maybe it’s that he really likes the way she makes him feel. The way that their sexual encounters happen – for him, it feels different.

Allie tells him he’s delulu.

Dean’s most revealing lines: “I’m not delusional. I know what I want.”

That’s the Dean that we know. He has stopped pretending this relationship is meaningless– at least in his own head. Allie insists on emotional distance while Dean increasingly abandons the performance of detachment.

He wants to be attached.

FLING

Hannah flawlessly provides emotional support and unintentional irony. Her advice to Allie is absolutely solid — find someone emotionally unavailable, someone who only wants sex, the complete opposite of Shawn — would describe Dean perfectly. I doubt that Hannah is thinking at all about Dean when she says this, but Allie is.

The problem is that Dean, well, he’s no longer the person we’ve known. I have been asking myself if I think that Dean can change. Dean fits the role that Hannah is telling Allie to fill, but let’s be honest – Hannah would kill him if she thought he was sleeping with Allie.

Though maybe Dean is changing. The more Allie tries to reduce him to a rebound, the more emotionally sincere he becomes.

Dean and Allie trying to stay away from each other is funny. The cat and mouse game is interesting to watch because they are full-grown adults and can make their own choices. However, I do get the urge not to hurt Hannah or make her mad. But ultimately, I do think that Hannah would always understand Allie and support her.

Allie’s song request made me LOL, but also made me reevaluate Dean. Why she has him in her phone as Maverick, I do not understand, and yes, I know who Maverick is. When the song is requested, and Justin starts singing, I couldn’t help but laugh and wanted to tell Allie she is my idol. Allie weaponizes (yes, I know it’s a strong term, but honestly, it’s not meant in a bad context) flirtation with her song and dancing with Hannah across the room. Dean watches her, completely transfixed and amused at the same time. Their phone call across the crowded fundraiser further confirms the emotions that they are both experiencing and even their denial of those feelings, though feelings continue to be obvious to everyone.

THE OTHER COUPLE

Allie and Dean aren’t the only ones who are experiencing a lot of emotions. Hannah and Garrett provide a counterweight to Allie and Dean’s game. And yes, I said game, because it is a cat and mouse game to me at this point.

Hannah and Garrett’s relationship is progressing because we see them learning to be even more open and direct with each other. While Allie and Dean constantly hide behind sarcasm, avoidance, and denial, Hannah and Garrett are overcoming avoidance of situations, as well as emotions, with each other, but not the rest of the world.

Garrett coming over to Hannah and their conversation about Justin is another moment where we can realize that she means everything to him and vice versa. This moment between the two and the vulnerability that Garrett shows somehow reinforces this beautifully. I say somehow, because to be honest, it made me feel a little uncomfortable, because Garrett looks uncomfortable with the conversation.

WTF IS A YELLOW HAZE

Garrett’s support of Hannah’s song and her conversation with Justin showcase his desire to be attentive and honest with Hannah. At this moment, it felt as though he was trying to make sure that his actions were nothing like his father’s. He wants to be attentive to Hannah and love her, and yet this scene somehow reinforces Hannah’s creative insecurity and her fear of vulnerability.

Justin wants poetic and abstract lyrics with the song, and he felt that others got it as performing the song felt positive to him. However, to Hannah, it was not, and she felt strongly that revisiting the music and lyrics was essential. Justin’s criticism during their working breakup argument lands painfully to me, because instead of accepting criticism or his collaborators’ thoughts, he unleashes on Hannah. When he tells Hannah she never fully puts herself into anything and should try writing her own lyrics, he unintentionally, or in my opinion, intentionally triggers Hannah to have to journey within herself.

This is an example of a moment that the show excels at – subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) moments that force the characters to face themselves.

EFF PHIL GRAHAM

Garrett’s relationship with his father further grounds the story in a way that makes it more emotionally realistic. The conflict with Logan works because neither side is entirely wrong, but Logan did something without considering his best friend’s feelings. Logan sees the reality for these kids that they are raising money for, as he needed this when he was younger. He knows that youth hockey needs money, and Phil Graham’s donations matter, regardless of Garrett’s feelings. Garrett, however, sees something deeply personal and hypocritical about his father’s donation. Their argument is valid, even though it could have easily not happened with communication and truth, in contrast to the anger these two exhibit at this moment.

Again, Dean is on the microphone and speaks to Allie, even though no one else knows he is. Everything between the two converges in the photo booth: guilt, desire, fear, attraction, vulnerability, to name a few of the emotions that these two are feeling. The two obviously have caught feelings and are in denial. Allie verbalizes this before inviting him over: no relationship, no feelings, no strings, just sex. Little do these two know that those rules are impossible.

Dean’s attempt to simplify his emotions (it’s called denial) while Allie overthinks hers, as well as others’ emotions — makes them more complicated (it is called chaos). The two are attempting to survive their vulnerability without recognizing it or minimizing it. Short explanation – they are both delulu.

FINAL MOMENTS

The final minutes of this episode made me emotionally sick. As a survivor of sexual assault, and knowing what this is foreshadowing made me anxious and genuinely wanting to give up on the show. Why? Because what Hannah is about to go through is a lot to face, and the trauma I experienced in my own life bubbled ot the surface. The name Aaron Delaney dramatically changes Hannah, and prevents the story from remaining a romantic escape that captivates. Instead, it suddenly became painful.

Hannah overhears Delaney’s name casually in a hockey conversation, and the immediate sense of dread because the danger arrives not only for her, but also for the viewer. The last five minutes should come with a trigger warning, because it definitely is triggering.

Her panic attack sequence is effective to showcase her fear and anxiety, which is something all too familiar.

I AM GONNA BE SICK

The final image — Garrett unknowingly knowing who he is, faces Delaney at center ice — made me wonder if the writers and showrunners knew the emotional impact of the cliffhanger that they were leaving us with. This viewer (me) knew that this episode somehow made everything that these characters experienced and will experience make lines blur. In one episode, Hannah’s trauma, Garrett’s hockey world, Allies breakup, Dean catching feelings, Logans crush combined made the emotional stakes that the viewer (ME) feels for the characters all combine into emotional stakes that leave you on the edge of your seat.

Ultimately, this episode made the viewer invest in the characters while screaming for them to all learn to communicate, prioritize, and be honest with each other. Attraction is easy. It is a testament to wanting characters to stop lying to themselves, communicate in honesty, and admit what they actually want.

And that makes it more complicated.