{"id":207471,"date":"2026-10-08T09:01:49","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T13:01:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=207471"},"modified":"2026-10-08T10:59:33","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T14:59:33","slug":"off-campus-episode-3-two-truths-hence-ergo-therefore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=207471","title":{"rendered":"Off Campus, episode 3: Two truths. Hence, ergo, therefore …"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Episode 3 \u201cThe Orgasm\u201d<\/h1>\n

Directed by Samantha Bailey<\/p>\n

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Episode 3’s title is attention-getting and I am here for it. Episode 4 could be called “The Orgasm, Part 2.” The two episodes are laid out like a thesis paper: episode 3 presents the thesis, episode 4 breaks it down and comes to conclusions. On my first watch, I obviously picked up on Hannah and Garrett’s respective traumas, even if I didn’t know precise details. The flashbacks are handled artfully and intelligently, and I never got the sense the show was using trauma to manipulate the audience or artificially raise the stakes. Even though I put the pieces together, I couldn’t have anticipated episodes 3 and 4 (or, episode 5, come to think of it). <\/p>\n

I started this recap and kept talking about episode 4, a sign of how interconnected the episodes are, more so than the rest of the season. <\/p>\n

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\nI was unfamiliar with the work of director Samantha Bailey, even though she’s been nominated for an Emmy for Brown Girls<\/i>. She’s been working semi-steadily since 2016. I say “semi” because she’s been a regular director on a couple of series, but hired for only a couple of episodes, and there are some years where she only has one or two credits. She’s only been in the business for 10 years. Based on her work in episodes 3 and 4, I would assume she was a veteran of many decades. Bailey is phenomenally talented and assured, and I am blown away. The most challenging episodes of the series, that require the most deft and delicate handling, are eps 3 and 4. She does not make one wrong move. These episodes address very heavy subjects, and episode 4 contains a 20-minute-long scene where Hannah, with Garrett, directly confronts her trauma from the rape. A 20-minute scene in one location between two people is so rare as to be almost unheard-of, particularly in television, particularly in our short-attention-span streaming universe. <\/p>\n

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\nEpisode 4 could have been handled so poorly. I’ll get to that in the next recap. But Bailey took charge, wrangled the team together, getting everyone on the same page. I’d say that the main job of a director is getting everyone on the same page. Team effort, yes, but Samantha Bailey was in charge. I think she should be nominated for an Emmy for her work on episode 4. She was open with the actors about her own trauma, and her experiences with dissociation, and this was very important. Hannah dissociating is addressed openly in episode 4, although we can already see it a little bit in the fantasies, where dissociation pulls her out of it. Whether or not the actors had first-hand experience in this area is irrelevant. Sensitive work was done so they both understood what it was, how it presents.<\/p>\n

Episodes 3 and 4 were the hook for me, mainly because I couldn’t even believe what I was watching. I couldn’t believe it worked so well. Episode 4 is very sexy, with a sex scene more intimate than most sex scenes ever are … and there’s no nudity. By the end of episode 4 we are in the clear. Radical. There are four episodes to go. What complications will arise to RUIN the Eden they discovered? <\/p>\n

Episode 3 has an overall air of whimsy and humor, placed over the obviously serious issues bubbling up. Allie is excited about her career, and her boyfriend Sean is the opposite of supportive. Allie, heartbroken, is torn about what to do. She’s so in love with Sean. (But is she? Really? Or does she just think she should be?) Allie falls apart, but in often amusing ways. Hannah and Garrett are busy working on their deal. Hannah is helping Garrett study, and it’s difficult, because 1. he hooks up with someone during a study appointment (oh Garrett) and 2. Kierkegaard is riding his last nerve, and he doesn’t understand the concepts. Simultaneously, Hannah and Justin have started to collaborate on Hannah’s pop song for the “pop showcase” (oh THIS old chestnut), and the collaboration is going well, even though Hannah is so awkward you don’t know how she even gets through a conversation. Justin is open to her suggestions, he provides some insight into his process (which will come up in the final episode, even though it’s never explicitly acknowledged. <\/p>\n

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My two cents: I think Hannah interprets her nervousness around Justin for “chemistry”, when, in reality, it’s a mix of whatever the OPPOSITE of chemistry is, and a message from her trauma bubbling up from her unconscious: “Uhm, you have to deal with me sooner or later.” Nervousness like this isn’t necessarily a good sign. Maybe there’s someone safe and comforting nearby, Hannah. Not this anti-chemistry epic void filled with nervous laughter. Agonizing. <\/p>\n

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\nHannah has no experience with chemistry. This was robbed from her when she was raped in high school. She’s not just going to move on, have crushes on people, date them, hook up … or, she has done all these things, but has a hard time with the experience. Her trauma response (the fight-flight-freeze, the claw hands) is always ready to ambush her. (I think a weekly phone call with her therapist Carole would help her navigate all this.) So she can’t have a crush on Justin without immediately thinking about her “problem”. These two things are already collapsed into one. (I hate it when two separate things become one thing<\/a>.) She can’t enjoy crushing or flirting because … what happens if it goes further? Boom: trauma ambush. Even her sexual fantasies aren’t safe. Her sexual fantasies include Justin asking her, with some judgment, “Can you?” (meaning: Can you even have an orgasm? Because it doesn’t seem like you can.<\/em> Yeah, that’s not sexy.) Episode 3 establishes all of this, and we need all of it for episode 4. <\/p>\n

The subject matter is grim – Hannah basically coming to terms with the impact left on her by being raped – but the handling of the subject matter is NOT grim. I’ll get into why I think this is so successful when we get to those moments. In his three-part essay “The Crack-Up”, F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote that the problem for him as a writer began when he started viewing tragic events tragically, as opposed to viewing tragic events comedically, ironically, satirically. I have never forgotten this and always try to keep it in mind as a writer. Off Campus<\/em> handles grim subject matter but does so with warmth, intelligence, humor, creating a kind of hope that is quite touching and almost wholesome, while not being Pollyanna-lalaland. The characters’ attempts to face what scares them, to open up to someone, to let themselves be seen … is touching and human. The show leaves space for the messiness of these interactions. You can have tragic things happen TO you but you don’t have to view your life AS a tragedy. <\/p>\n

At the end of episode 2, Garrett and Hannah lay on the floor on both sides of the bed, and Garrett opened up about his childhood, he asked her about her music. Undeniable trust and friendship is growing. Garrett, at least, has fallen. He told her things he’s never told a soul. Hell, he told her things he’s never told anyone at the end of episode 1. He’s INTO her. <\/p>\n

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\nHaving Garrett “fall first” allows him to move with intention, even when he pulls back out of self-preservation or sheer confusion. He’s never been in this situation before. In stories like this, the lead characters often waste a lot of time questioning themselves, like “Why do I like THIS girl who’s not my status?” “What will my friends say?” “Can I accept his small-town life? Won’t I miss the Big City?” Whatever. Garrett wastes no time with this stuff. The interrupted hookup with Zoe (Sabrina Larsen) doesn’t have to do with feelings, because here we are, it’s only episode 3, and Garrett feels – at least inside, to himself – like he is Hannah’s boyfriend. He acts like her boyfriend. He’s not even trying to hide it, from her or from himself. He stands really close to her, leaning on a lamppost or whatever, enclosing her in his space. Like, come on. He’s hurt when she reschedules on him. He’s bothered by her interest in Justin. He has somehow created a situation where he – the sexpot whom every girl wants – has CHOSEN to Friendzone himSELF. <\/p>\n

Consider this: he asks her to join him and his boys for karaoke night. Great! This is an event Justin won’t be attending. Jules already put Hannah and Garrett on the stupid Fifth Line account. Jules no longer needs to be “convinced”. There’s nothing to prove at ALL at karaoke night. It’s a date, straight-up. Hannah isn’t aware she is on a date, but Garrett is. His behavior on the date – including the final moment when he tucks drunk Hannah in bed without touching her – is world-class. Hannah, unfortunately, despite what he feels, is not his girlfriend, hate to break it to you. But … things are getting a little confusing. <\/p>\n

Episode 3 is a swirl of confusion, where fantasy becomes indistinguishable from reality, where inner thoughts and outer voices are in conflict … where Hannah’s unconscious is telling her in no uncertain terms what is going on, and she’s trying to navigate reality while basically going in and out of a fugue state of fantasies. The fantasies are interesting though. She fantasizes about Justin. She fantasizes about Justin who then transforms into Garrett. Garrett strolls, uninvited, into Hannah’s fantasies. <\/p>\n

Obviously, this shows Hannah is more attracted to Garrett, has more natural chemistry with Garrett, and now we just have to suffer patiently until she comes to this realization.<\/p>\n

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I can see the obvious interpretation of these fantasies. She’s into Garrett, not Justin. The fantasies are interesting: they express desire but she can’t release. The energy is stopped-up. This moves us into episode 4. We may think this is all about Justin, and how she’s torn between Justin and<\/em> Garrett. I don’t think so.<\/p>\n

I feel it’s even more obvious that these fantasies show something deeper – and darker. Remember the title of episode 3 is “The Orgasm”. She can’t “get there”. Is it only because she wants Garrett and not Justin? No. The problem exists with or without Garrett OR Justin. She says to Garrett in episode 4, “I haven’t been able to orgasm with a guy.” She also says she can do it on her own, no problem. (I have my doubts on that score, actually. She’s having trouble throughout the episode.) I think she is ready to finally face this problem with another human, a man in the room with her. Maybe she thinks it will be Justin, but I don’t think so. I think she knows: Garrett’s gotta help me with this. Look how much he helped me yesterday. <\/p>\n

Her frustrated sexual fantasies end in one of two ways: Garrett asks, sexily, “What do you want, Wellsy?” Justin asks, doubtfully, “Can you?” Her choice is obvious. <\/p>\n

(There’s a moment I like in the book. The morning after karaoke, Hannah wakes him up, asks if he is “100% awake” and then asks him to have sex with her. She doesn’t say “give me an orgasm”. He is confused, and thinks it’s a prank. lol She is mortified and almost in tears, he’s not taking her seriously – and this pushes her down the shame spiral: only she would proposition a man for sex – SEX – and be turned down. She can’t do anything right, etc. Garrett notices her emotions but he cannot for the life of him figure out what’s going on. He says, “What’s wrong. Let me try to help.” She says, “I asked<\/em> you for help and you turned me down.” This doesn’t clear anything up for Garrett, who says, totally at sea, “You didn’t ask me for help. You asked me to fuck you.” Hannah you are going to need to lay this out very specifically for him.)<\/p>\n

To some, it might be unbelievable that at this point Hannah doesn’t realize it’s Garrett she likes. But to me, it makes perfect sense, and to understand this you need to understand trauma. I ended up writing a massive tome about episode 4, and my feelings of connection to it, not required reading, I’ll put it at the bottom of the episode 4 re-cap. I want to make it clear I do not think my feeling of connection is unique. So many people feel “seen” by episode 4. Figured I’d just add my voice to the chorus. I think Garrett feels safe to Hannah because she is NOT “into” him – or doesn’t think she is – and does NOT think of him as a boyfriend. The thought of hooking up with Justin puts her into a panic spiral (she can’t even leave the panic out of her fantasies), and she is interpreting this as lust and anticipation because, remember, she has never had an authentic and free experience of lust, desire, arousal, anything. She doesn’t know it when it’s right in front of her. She’s like: Whatever. Garrett is safe. He’ll walk through me it. Everything will be fine. <\/p>\n

Being trustworthy, part 1<\/h1>\n

Garrett has never had a girlfriend. Hannah has never had a boyfriend. (She did in the book, but he’s not referenced in the series, so we’re just going to focus on what’s in the series). Garrett has made a big point of saying he doesn’t “do” girlfriends. He tells Kendall in episode 1 that he’s too busy, he can only “offer casual”. Okay. Well. That’s fine. But literally three days later you’re swooning over Hannah’s Instagram. I’m just saying. He never says out loud WHY he doesn’t “do” girlfriends, but it’s deeper than his busy schedule (it usually is. As a good friend said to me years ago, when I mentioned how the guy I was into was “busy”, “Nope. He’s not into you. If he was into you, he’d make time.” It hurt but she was right and I never forgot it.) There were clues in that scene with Kendall – the way he was honestly confused she would want him as a boyfriend – “Why?” He doesn’t get it, and not just because they really don’t know each other. Why would she want to date him<\/em>? What on earth does he bring to the table for anyone? His cocky persona is designed to hide everything else, including his deepest rooted fear that he will be like his dad.<\/p>\n

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\nThis is laid out very clearly in episode 5, but the issues are evident from the start, even if we aren’t sure how to interpret them. He watched his mother be abused. He then lost her. He himself was violently abused. He would take beatings himself so dad wouldn’t go after mom. This is dark stuff (and described with much more detail in the book. Garrett’s dad didn’t just hit him. He beat the hell out of him. Broke his nose multiple times. I do wish the show had been more definite on this point). Garrett has carried guilt about not being able to protect his mother. There’s a reason Hannah’s vulnerability touches him, brings out a protector in him. Why he glows when she kisses him on the cheek at the party, after he hands her the can of beer. He felt like a failure as a protector because he couldn’t protect his mom. He’s avoiding ever being in that situation again. He’s not protecting anyone. But suddenly he wants to be there for Hannah in that way. I don’t think any of this is happening on a conscious level, but Belmont is playing these undercurrents. <\/p>\n

One of the big moments in episode 3 is Garrett asking Hannah at karaoke, “Do you trust me?” This will come up again in episode 4, when he tells Dean he is not sure he’s the guy who should be trusted with this big “thing”. Garrett does not think he is trustworthy. In episode 7, when he says to Hannah, “Do you not trust me?” he is devastated. Garrett is emotionally regulated – to some degree and in some circumstances – but he pays a price for it. (In the book, Garrett says something about knowing he has a temper but working all the time to never give in to it. Good job! But suppression comes with its own problems.) He avoids getting involved, keeps everyone at arms’ length. He has no idea IF he will be able to protect Hannah. After all, he wasn’t able to protect his mom. Incidentally, his experience with Hannah shows the limits of “protection” as well. Sometimes you feel protective towards someone who doesn’t want that from you.<\/p>\n

He puts himself through a couple of little tests in the second half of episode 3. Initially, it SEEMS like they’re tests for Hannah “Do you trust me to watch your drinks for you and look out for you?” But really … he’s testing himself. He tells her it will be okay for her to drink, he’ll make sure she’s safe. Later, when she’s drunk and he’s not, he puts her to bed, even though she wants to have sex with him. Not an easy thing to resist, but he does without hesitation. You know he’s tempted but it’s obvious he never considers giving into it. So these are tests, for himself. If he fucked her, he would know he could never be trusted. He’s trying to be better. <\/p>\n

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\nA week ago he couldn’t believe Kendall would want him as a boyfriend. Now he’s trying to be a good version of himself … for Hannah. He passes the tests with flying green-flag colors. He gets it now. He understands the responsibility of “being there” for someone, but also … it feels GOOD to be trusted. (This is explicit in the book. In the book, at karaoke night, Garrett stands outside the bathroom while Hannah goes in. He told her he would. Before Hannah opens the door, a little drunk, she says to him, “You won’t let anything bad happen to me, will you?” Out of nowhere, Garrett almost starts to cry. He failed to protect his mother. He didn’t know he’d be good at this. He also didn’t know how good it would feel to protect someone. How could he?)<\/p>\n

Garrett grew up loving a woman who was being abused. He’s sensitive to this stuff. It makes him sensitive to Hannah, too. If you think about it, if his mother died when he was a baby, instead of when he was 12 or 13, and he had never had that time with her … imagine how worse off he would have been. The goodness in him comes from his mother, who loved him, whose strength he remembers, who kept her love of music and movies intact, and passed on that love to her son, and etc. and etc. Whatever good memories he has in his childhood is because of her. He lost his only protector, and now here he is positioning himself as a protector. He “failed” to protect his mother (according to him. Of course he couldn’t have protected her. He was a child.) He carries guilt. Deciding to be a trustworthy person for Hannah is a big big deal, and potentially triggering for Garrett. <\/p>\n

These are good things to keep in mind as we watch him navigate NOT being her boyfriend even though he clearly IS (in his own mind). <\/p>\n

None of this is said out loud in a monologue. It’s just the unspoken resonance beneath his character, all of which is in Belmont’s sensitive un-pushed performance. Garrett doesn’t even really know what’s happening – not really – he’s just going with Hannah by instinct, by feel. Once he starts doing something that is HIS alone, doing it because he wants to … he literally can’t make a wrong move. He didn’t know this about life. He had no idea. <\/p>\n

If Hannah resists getting involved because it will dredge up all this stuff from the rape, then Garrett resists getting involved because … what the hell kind of male role model did he have? Later, we’ll learn how scared he is of becoming his father. He has never told anyone. It is his worst most hidden secret. <\/p>\n

Episode 2 some observations, the \u201chow\u201d of it all<\/h1>\n

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  • I might have “bought” Hannah and Justin’s steamy makeout sesh was actually happening if they weren’t in the music room where there is an entire glass wall looking out onto a courtyard. She’s taking her shirt off? There? I like how the fantasies show where Hannah is at: it starts with her playing the piano, a Janelle Monae song she turns to “when I’m stuck.” When you’re “stuck” … creatively. I got it. Then there’s a dreamy moment where they play the piano together, the ultimate turn-on for Hannah. But … somewhere … she can’t really “go” with that, and instead – in her mind – makes her mess up slightly, confessing “You make me nervous.” Being nervous has to be incorporated into the fantasy, because Hannah is realistic enough to know she will be nervous IF and WHEN … It might be a fantasy but it has to be REAL. Interestingly, she grabs onto Justin’s belt buckle, pulling him towards her. the way she pulled on Garrett’s shirt in the weight room, the way Garrett pulled on her waistband in episode 1. She liked Garrett doing it, so she tried it herself with Garrett. Now she’s trying it again with Justin in her fantasy. Garrett’s in the fantasy even if he’s not actually present. And of course, once they start kissing, the clothes must come off immediately, because … well, she has class in half an hour and we have to cut to the chase. But then, reality seeps in, she sees through the matrix, and … the worst … she’s assuring Justin she “can do this” and he asks, filled with doubt: “Can you?” Haunting. <\/li>\n

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  • It’s kind of amazing that even with this opening scene, even with the episode title, people respond to her request closing out the episode with: “Where did THAT come from??!” I am speaking of some YouTube reactors. Like, guys, the episode is called The Orgasm. Where do you THINK we’re going?<\/li>\n

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  • I love the filmmaking choices because they clue you in that this isn’t real. The double reflection of them in the grand piano has a dreamy quality. (Speaking of which: episode 3 has a LOT of creative mirror moments. (Mirror moments in cinema is a pet interest of mine<\/a>, I even created an entire Instagram account<\/a> for mirror moments in cinema.) Mirrors are used to add visual interest to rooms, but on a psychological level – mirrors are often used to give us access to a character’s inner thoughts, OR to show the character trying\/failing to put on a public mask. Mirrors are also used for moments when a character, alone, grapples with themselves. Episode 3 is about a character looking directly into her soul and seeing what’s there while also avoiding the same thing because she’s afraid. Mirror moments were made for storylines like this! The struggle is within. I don’t think, actually, the struggle is really about Justin vs. Garrett. I think it’s with herself, and whether or not she is ready to face the orgasm problem and actually do something about it.
    \nThe opening camera move starts with a closeup of her hands playing the keys, before slowing moving up to her face. She seems to be alone, but then Justin moves forward, coming into view. He’s been beside her the whole time. Another dreamy effect, cluing us in this might not be real. Notice they’re wearing shirts almost the same color. These are beautiful subtle details, helping to present what is (supposedly) a straight-forward creative session as something “other” than what it is. <\/li>\n

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  • The music cues, looping together the masturbation\/sexual-fantasy scenes, are perfectly placed and chosen. This is a serious issue, humorously presented, not a tragic event presented tragically. We don’t even know what’s going ON until episode 4, but we can make a pretty good guess. In these sequences, the music sounds on the verge of exploding or coalescing, but instead the tune hovers, mischievously, in the same spot, with little variations up and down. When she goes into the second fantasy, it’s actually funny! Here we go again … There’s more sexual frankness in this episode than you normally get. The sequence’s title should be “she keeps masturbating but can’t have an orgasm”. How do you turn this situation into a mischievous humorous sequence, without belittling the actress, objectifying her, making it weird? Samantha Bailey, et al, manages the approach with perfect tonal control.<\/li>\n

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  • “WELLSY. I’ve got my flashcards and everything”. Oh God, Garrett. You’re way too far along in this. When she tells him she asked Justin to write lyrics for her song – she turns the knife with “like you said…” Alarmingly, Garrett goes mute. He seems to not be able to say anything, even when she’s prodding him. He can’t speak because what he wants to say is, “Shit. I was so looking forward to seeing you and I am really really sad.” <\/li>\n

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  • Garrett, still wordless, languishes on the window seat. He does not try to fill the silence with sound. I love that he doesn’t pretend. His silence is honest. This conversation takes place in split screen. The camera slowly pushes in on both of them, almost imperceptibly, the same pace, the same framing. The effect is beautiful. When Garrett does decide to speak, there’s a jokey edge to his voice, he’s happy Hannah is “on the way to getting laid.” Purposefully crude, which Hannah, of course, balks at. Hannah feels so comfortable with Garrett. Think of her at the costume party, whispering, “Oh God, Justin’s here …” Her comfort with Garrett is genuine, manifesting in giggly confessional behavior: she doesn’t try to play it cool with him. She gushes and frets, right AT Garrett. The worst moment of this phone call is when Hannah exclaims, “Oh my God, I’m so nervous!!”
    \nWhen Garrett says, practically, “You’re overthinking” he doesn’t know he’s echoing Allie at the block party in episode 1. It makes sense because in this moment Hannah is treating Garrett like he’s Allie.
    \nAfter being silent for most of the conversation, he comes out with the goods: “You’re the real catch.”
    \nGarrett is in hell.
    \nHe hangs up, goes downstairs, and meets Zoe.
    \nProblem solved.<\/li>\n

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  • Jules: “Dean Di Laurentis everyone. Losing to a girl.”
    \nDean: “Sexist.”
    \nDean is correct. The show removes lazy sexist stereotypes from the friendgroup, and here’s Jules – a character invented for the series – saying stupid bro shit akin to “you throw like a girl”, the implication being “It’s more embarrassing if you lose to a girl.” Dean’s response to Jules’ comment? “Okay, Zoe. Two out of three.” Atta boy. Ignore that bullshit.
    \nGarrett tries to study in the middle of the pandemonium. He’s in a mood. His flashcards are adorably tragic.<\/li>\n

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  • Tucker is making a very involved lunch for Garrett, calling out to everyone in the living room, “Garrett needs to study.” (Maybe Garrett can go back to his room?) Tucker’s even got the salad spinner going. These boys keep a nice house, even with all the stolen street signs everywhere. The kitchen is practically suburban. <\/li>\n

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  • A box of Liquid IV is delivered to the house. Amazon has connected Liquid IV to the narrative: Liquid IV want Garrett to do a campaign with his dad and Garrett turned them down. Fine. But the Liquid IV product placement gets more and more obvious as the series goes on. Someone should have said “No” to Liquid IV or at least put their foot down about some of it. The most egregious example comes later in the episode. Jules becomes the Liquid IV spokesperson multiple times, which makes me think Jules was invented to sing the praises of Liquid IV. The vibe in the room is “off” and Garrett is getting twitchy on the couch when talking about his dad. He’s so blunt and clear: “No amount of money is worth” doing an ad campaign with his father. Jules’ response is to ask him how much money was offered, before calling Garrett a “nepo”. You spend all your time in the house, Jules, where the nepo probably pays the majority of the rent. Jules and John bicker over Garrett’s head, and John tries to rein Jules in. Someone needs to rein them both in. I get it, Garrett is rich, Jules and John are poor, but if you can’t hide your resentment while the man is just sitting there reading flashcards on the couch, then … you all are not good friends. Why is no one picking up on Garrett’s twitchy behavior? Allie would have noticed. <\/li>\n

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  • Dean, pointing at Garrett’s salad: “Think he’s coming back for that?”<\/li>\n

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  • I wonder what George Harrison song Hannah is talking about. Hannah’s outfit is so pretty. She’s so nervous it gets a little annoying. She did not follow Garrett’s instruction to act like she’s “the real catch”. Justin tries to work with her, to his credit. Hannah makes everything awkward. The show does not villainize Justin. He’s crazy beautiful but he’s believably interested in Hannah’s project. She tells him the song is about being in love with someone “who doesn’t see you” and then she wants the cello part to say I see you. Justin will ix-nay this intriguing idea in the final version, immortally titled “Yellow Haze”.<\/li>\n

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  • This painful scene between Allie and Sean in the shower seals Sean’s fate. Not everyone wants to experiment with sex positions, but his response to Allie’s news that she got an agent is unforgivable. “I thought you’d join me in Vermont after graduation, my family’s insurance business …” I think the show lays it on a bit thick, and this muddies the waters. Sean is so irredeemable here that her later worry about “hurting”, which impacts her relationship with Dean, does not make sense. If Sean were a little less openly assholic, there might be more nuance in the presentation. If he had been open like, “Can we talk about how this will work because I am not sure I want to do long distance …” it would have humanized him. Because these things do happen with couples, especially in the hermetically sealed world of college. You grow apart. You’re about to go out in the world. I remember telling my first boyfriend I was headed to New York to do the big regional auditions for summer stock theatres. He went very still, his jaw got a little tight (I learned to dread the tight jaw), and he said, “So you’d go away for the whole summer?” “Yeah. It’s summer<\/i> stock.” I’m a theatre major. I am not sure who you THOUGHT you were dating.
    \nAt least my boyfriend didn’t say to me, “What are the odds of you actually making it?” as Sean does, following it up with the even worse, “I thought you’d outgrow all this.”
    \nA terrible stricken look comes into Allie’s face. She looks hurt, but she also looks afraid. This is the worst thing anyone can ever say to anyone who has a dream.<\/li>\n

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  • One more thought: Later in the episode, Garrett does his oral exam, pontificating on Kierkegaard’s possible view of “ghosting”. After a shaky start, Garrett locks in, saying that when you ghost someone you dehumanize them. “It is an absolute abdication of selfhood.” When Sean says “I thought you’d outgrow all this”, he dehumanizes Allie, her deepest goals and desires, he abdicates her SELF. <\/li>\n

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  • The Logan-crushing-on-Hannah arc continues. The arc is strangely disconnected from the main narrative. The drama exists solely in Logan’s mind, and only Jules notices. As of now, Logan is suspicious of what is going on between Hannah and Garrett… and he’s not wrong. The relationship is not “real”, not yet. But if Garrett is his best friend, why does he think Garrett is up to no good? Isn’t he your friend? If you think he’s a sketchy asshole, then why are you his friend?
    \nHannah shows up, in her pink bike helmet, and then follows a perfectly friendly conversation where we learn Logan fixed Hannah’s car freshman year. This is when Logan first “noticed” her, so we’re talking three years ago. Logan, you never made a move!
    \nHannah is perfectly friendly, and the two of them have a nice dynamic, although Logan ruins it with a dig at Garrett. “We can’t all be Garrett Graham.”
    \nTo be clear: I actually like that Logan is complicated, that he’s being messy. It’s real, and true to the book. I feel like Off Campus<\/em> didn’t develop it fully, didn’t give us Logan’s perspective, didn’t give us a scene where he shared with a friend (not Jules, who mocks him for his crush). We could have benefited from Logan Introspection. Saying “it’ll be in season 2” is not good enough. Set it up now. For those who hadn’t read the book, we don’t care what’s in the book. We have to read the information we are given, and Logan crushing endlessly and only talking to his sibling about it goes on for far too long.<\/li>\n

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  • Logan knows what Garrett is doing in his room and doesn’t warn Hannah. (In the book, all the guys in the house call out to her, “Don’t go up there right now!”)<\/li>\n

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  • Let’s talk about Anthony Cipriano a little bit. Cipriano’s voice is soft and soothing. You can tell he is a singer. Let’s celebrate the beauty of his voice. He’s been successful in musicals. He participates in group shows at 54 Below. I’m hoping the fame brought by Off Campus<\/em> could kick it to another level. Like … a solo Christmas album? An album of show tunes or duets? He and his partner Justine Verheul created a production company. Verheul choreographs high school theatre productions. So cool! Cipriano plays on the Broadway softball league. I looked around for clips of him singing, and found a couple. His instrument is extraordinary.<\/li>\n

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