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Spoilers for Off Campus Season 1 and the book The Deal are ahead! If you haven’t watched it, you can stream it with an Amazon Prime subscription.
Before Off Campus took over the 2026 TV schedule, I witnessed a lot of talk about what should be kept the same in this book-to-screen adaptation of The Deal (Elle Kennedy’s first book in her Off Campus series). On multiple occasions, I saw fans mention the hands-off law. However, it's revealed in the finale that the show totally changed the way this situation plays out. So, I had to ask Belmont Cameli, who plays Garrett Graham, about this difference, and I loved how he defended it.
How The Hands-Off Law Changed Between The Deal And Off Campus
In both the spicy hockey romance book and the sexually explicit Amazon Prime show, it’s revealed that there’s a hands-off law on campus that stops any man from getting near Hannah. So, understandably, she storms into the boys' locker room to confront Garrett about it.
When Hannah confronts Garrett in the book, he proudly says, “Of course I did,” when she asks if he invoked the hands-off law. He then explains that he did it because he was “afraid” Hannah was so stubborn she would sleep with someone else to prove a point while they were broken up and then regret it.
Meanwhile, in the show, Garrett literally did the exact opposite of that. In fact, he told Hannah in the finale that he “never said any of that” and would never say anything like that. Instead of him enacting this law on campus, it was a misunderstanding, as his teammates spread a rumor that Garrett would “beat anyone up who hit on Hannah.”
That’s a pretty dramatic change to make, and fans really debated it in the comments section of CinemaBlend’s TikTok about Cameli’s comments that we’re about to discuss. However, I loved that they did it, and so did the Garrett Graham actor.
Belmont Cameli Defended The Hands-Off Law Change So Well
Along with changes like Logan kissing Hannah instead of Dean and the fact that a lot of Dean and Allie’s book was moved into Season 1, the hands-off law was an update made as this story moved from book to screen that I loved. So, during my interview with the Off Campus cast, I asked Belmont Cameli how he felt about it. Here’s what he had to say:
Fans love the fucking hands-off law. Like, oh, my God. And I think it's because, like, ‘Oh, I want a guy to say that nobody else can touch me.’ Like that is hot, that's cool. But for this version of Garrett, I think that would have felt a little out of character, and specifically controlling.
I also feel like it would have felt out of character and controlling. Plus, considering Garrett’s journey in the season surrounding his dad and being scared of being like him, I think the last thing he’d do is a possessive and toxic move like this.
Further explaining his feelings about this change and why Garrett wouldn’t do something like this, Cameli said:
And control is, for me and for [creator Louisa Levy] and the writers' room, a big theme. It's kind of the crux of Garrett that he's just white-knuckling life and trying to maintain control over everything. And to bleed that control over to Hannah's life as an individual after the breakup felt wrong. So I really liked that change, too.
So, yes, while fans love the hands-off law in the book, it felt like a fitting and important change to make in the show.
Now, as we move into Season 2 of Off Campus, which will center around Dean and Allie, I’m looking forward to seeing how the series continues to adapt its source material. That’s because, while a lot stayed the same, the Prime Video show also made deliberate and bold changes that really worked, like this one involving the hands-off law.
