Diksha Sundriyal
Prime Video’s ‘Off Campus‘ begins with a deal between Hannah Wells and Garrett Graham. She will help him with his grades, while he will help her get the attention of Justin, a musician she has a crush on. As the story unfolds, Hannah and Garrett get to know each other better and develop an unlikely friendship with an even more unexpected romance. At the same time, Hannah still has a crush on Justin, and getting him is what it had been all about anyway. Garrett’s plan helps her take the steps that she wouldn’t have dreamed of otherwise. However, the closer she gets to Justin, the more she realizes that he was better in her imagination. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Hannah and Garrett’s Fake Relationship Pulls Her Away from Justin
Before she met Garrett, Hannah saw Justin as an unachievable dream. Her feelings for him were restricted to watching him play in Malone’s afar. Despite Allie repeatedly trying to poke her into talking to Justin and doing something about her crush, Hannah didn’t dare cross that bridge. At one point, when she does get to talk to Justin, she fumbles and references a quote from a movie he hasn’t watched. Later, she does try to approach him at a party, but someone spills a drink on her, and the whole thing turns sideways. This would likely have been the end of her trying to get Justin’s attention had Garrett not swooped in and claimed Hannah as his girlfriend.
The effect is immediate. From a regular girl, Hannah goes on to being the girlfriend of the star athlete of the university, and as Garrett predicted, it catches Justin’s attention. It turns out that when Hannah stops pursuing Justin (or at least, makes it look like she isn’t interested in him), he becomes interested in her. The Garrett-effect works, and eventually Justin and Hannah become friends with each other. When she struggles to write a song for the Pop Showcase, which she needs to win to get a scholarship to stay in Briar, Garrett suggests that she seek out Justin. This will not only help her with her song, but it will also bring the two of them closer. The plan works. Hannah gets her song, and Justin’s interest in her could not have been more evident.
Then comes a point when Justin asks Hannah to come to his place while his roommate is not around. She knows this means that he wants to turn their collaboration into something more. While Hannah has been mentally ready for this for a long time, she is not physically and emotionally ready. It leads her to talk to Garrett about her past trauma and how it has impeded her ability to have orgasms when she is with someone else. Her motive is to get past this impediment before being with Justin, but like everything else about her fake relationship, it turns into a deeply intimate moment with Garrett, which brings them closer together. Meanwhile, Justin’s magic starts to fade, and even he realizes that Hannah isn’t really interested in him anymore.
Hannah’s Feelings for Justin Never Move Past Infatuation
It is one thing to have a crush on someone and dream about being with them, and it is entirely different to get to know them and open yourself up to them. Hannah never reaches this stage with Justin, but she does find it with Garrett. In an effort to impress Justin, Hannah ends up spending more time with Garrett and seeing a side of him that is hidden from the rest of the world. Their friendship also gives her a safe space to express her concerns and insecurities, which strengthens their bond. On the other hand, no such bonding happens with Justin. If anything, making music with him leads Hannah to realize that they are very different people, especially when it comes to music.
Due to her writer’s block, Hannah lets Justin write the song, but due to this, the song is not able to reflect who she is. Her teacher points this out, encouraging her to let herself be vulnerable and speak her truth through her song. Instead, she channels this frustration towards Justin, especially after he performs the otherwise finished song in Malone’s. She says they need to do a complete rewrite because it doesn’t feel like her, which is when he points out that it will only feel like her when she writes the song. By this time, the dynamic has already shifted considerably between them, but it goes to show that Hannah never really had a true connection with Justin.
Hannah was most likely fascinated by Justin because he represented the life that she wanted for herself as a musician. From afar, Justin looked like something she wanted for herself, but once she got closer, she realized that it was his ability to be a musician, free of any baggage and capable of expressing himself through his songs, that she wanted for herself. By this time, she has already started to fall for Garrett, so even when the deal works out and Justin is ready to date Hannah, she refuses to do it. In the end, she chooses to be with Garrett, and whatever feelings she may have had for Justin are no longer in the picture.
Read More: Is Briar University a Real Place? Is Malone’s a Real Bar?
You must be logged in to post a comment.