After some speculation, Prime Video has officially announced that Dean Di Laurentis (Stephen Kalyn) and Allie Hayes (Mika Abdalla) will be the leads of Off Campus Season 2. They take the hockey stick – in place of a baton – from Belmont Cameli and Ella Bright, who play Garrett Graham and Hannah Wells on the show. Garrett and Hannah’s romance, which puts a sports romance spin on the fake dating trope, takes center stage in the debut season. Now, it’s official that Dean and Allie’s romance will do the same in Season 2.
The show even released photos that give off the same vibes as photoshoots for shows in the early 2000s – in the best way – to celebrate the news. Fans of the show won’t be all that shocked by this news, as Season 1 practically gives Dean and Allie a backdoor pilot. Kalyn even described it as much to The Hollywood Reporter: “I consider [episode six] a pilot episode or a soft launch for season two and what you’re going to expect. I was so grateful to learn from Ella [Bright] and Belmont [Cameli] and watch those two great phenomenal actors lead season one.”
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Abdalla also shared a statement with The Hollywood Reporter. “I truly love working with Stephen so much. We didn’t get to do very many emotional scenes together [in season one], but when we did, we really fed off of each other in a really fulfilling way,” Abdalla said. “I’m excited that I get to do this with him because I trust him so much. I trust that he will be there for me, and I will be there for him on days that are more intense than anything we experienced season one.”
During that Season 1 episode, Off Campus reveals that they’ve been secretly seeing each other, but Dean and Allie’s no-strings arrangement quickly unravels by the end of the season. It doesn’t do them any favors that Off Campus’s season finale introduces Hunter Davenport (Charlie Evans), someone from Dean’s past. He also happens to be someone Allie slept with when she believed he was just a random guy named Carter St. James. It’s complicated, to say the least – for the characters.
For creator and showrunner, Louisa Levy, it’s all part of the plan. “I always wanted to introduce the next season’s love interests in the middle of the season in some way because it is important to me to be invested in the next season’s love interests so you don’t lose interest in the storylines,” she told Screen Rant earlier this month. “The benefit of Dean and Allie’s love story is that they start as a secret, so we got to play around with timelines when we introduce it to the audience,” Levy continued.
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Levy’s comments also inspire confidence for fans (myself included) of John Logan and Grace Ivers’ second-chance romance that occurs in Elle Kennedy’s second Off Campus book, The Mistake. (Dean and Allie’s story comes from the third book, The Score.) Since the show has already announced that India Fowler will play Grace, it seems like fans can anticipate some sort of development between Logan and Grace in Off Campus Season 2.
So, yes, Off Campus is switching the book order, but that doesn’t mean that certain stories won’t be told or that Hannah and Garrett are going anywhere. Levy told The Hollywood Reporter, “We are so excited to continue Allie and Dean’s story as our primary romance of season two after kickstarting their romance in season one. But if you fell in love with Hannah and Garrett, don’t worry — they will still be an integral part of our robust ensemble. We’re looking forward to telling the next chapter of everyone’s story.”
Needless to say, we’re already eager to see that next chapter. It’s wild to think that Off Campus Season 1 only premiered two weeks ago. At least there’s Obsessed Fest to look forward to in the very near future!
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