Mia Fileman (00:00.241)
by the way. Okay. Excellent. Yeah, really good. We got the same mics. All right, let's let's just do just a practice run of the intro.
Gerri Florence (00:01.218)
Really good. Me?
Gerri Florence (00:06.146)
Yes.
Mia Fileman (00:13.852)
Have you ever finished watching something and immediately thought, I just need someone to talk to about this? That's why we're here. I'm Mia.
Gerri Florence (00:23.916)
And I'm Gerri. We realized something recently. We spent hours watching incredible documentaries, TV series, movies, and books. And then we have nowhere to put all the thoughts afterwards. Our partners either haven't watched them or they definitely don't want a 40 minute chat about why a fictional breakup perfectly captured emotional safety or how a documentary completely changed the way we think about human behavior. So we decided to have those conversations here instead.
Mia Fileman (00:50.696)
This isn't a celebrity gossip podcast. We're not recapping every episode of the latest reality show. And just so we're clear, there will definitely be no maths. We're much more interested in what stories reveal about people.
Gerri Florence (01:06.456)
Why certain characters stay with us? Why healthy relationships on screen suddenly feel revolutionary? Why documentaries make us question ourselves? Or why a TV show can completely change the conversation around sex and parenting, friendship, or masculinity?
Mia Fileman (01:22.426)
We'll probably wander into philosophy.
Gerri Florence (01:25.058)
Definitely feminism.
Mia Fileman (01:26.787)
Human behavior.
Gerri Florence (01:28.472)
Culture.
Mia Fileman (01:29.797)
The occasional marketing tangent and a lot of wait, did you notice that too? For our first episode we're talking about off campus. Like thousands of women, we finished it, immediately watched it again, and still weren't done thinking about it.
Gerri Florence (01:45.763)
Why has this story resonated with women from their 20s to their 60s? Why does it get so right about emotional safety, relationships, and desire? And why are so many of us desperate for more stories like this? So, welcome to Offscript. The credits might have rolled, but the conversation is just getting started.
Mia Fileman (02:06.694)
It's so good. I love it.
Gerri Florence (02:08.334)
I'm just so excited about being here, Mia.
Mia Fileman (02:12.058)
Me too. We are finally turning our like messages and our like voice notes into a recorded episode.
Gerri Florence (02:21.992)
And women are just so keen to talk about this show.
Mia Fileman (02:26.669)
And especially mums in their forties like you and I, with perhaps a little bit too much time on our hands of an evening these days, and off campus has just completely set us all off. Why that show in particular?
Gerri Florence (02:45.674)
And I was told from a girlfriend also in her 40s to watch it. And I was like, okay, I will. And a few days later, she's like, have you watched it? No, not yet, but I will. Another message later, I'm like, okay, well, clearly I have to sit down and watch this. And it was absolutely hooked ever since. It is the only show that I've ever stopped watching. And the next night started it straight away again.
Mia Fileman (03:06.36)
Yeah, I did the exact same thing. Everyone was talking about it at this retreat that we went on, and it seemed like there were people at the retreat going home to watch it after dinner. And so as soon as I got home from the retreat, I turned it on. And yeah, I've seen the whole season twice and have gone back to watch specific bits. But full disclosure, I haven't read the books, and I'm considering that that might be my next step.
Gerri Florence (03:34.024)
I haven't read the books either, but I'm very much a girl that I have to read the books first before watching a show. I feel like I can't go the other way because Garrett is who he is.
Mia Fileman (03:40.526)
Same. Yeah, same.
Yeah, yeah, but there's like I w I think we can read the the a couple of the books and then we can get ahead before the next season. Right?
Gerri Florence (03:55.503)
Well, apparently the books are a little bit different from what happens in the series and out of order as well.
Mia Fileman (03:59.202)
Yeah.
Mia Fileman (04:02.603)
Yeah, okay. So this show is an absolute phenomenon at this point. people are buying merch, people are rereading the books, there's even a festival called Obsessed Fest. Why do you think this show in particular has set everyone off?
Gerri Florence (04:25.902)
think for women of our era, there's definitely an element of nostalgia there. I was a One Tree Hill girly, Dawson Creek, and there was a lot about this show that brought that back for me, but obviously with that 2026 lens over the top.
Mia Fileman (04:33.291)
Same.
Mia Fileman (04:46.688)
Yeah. For me, the big difference with off campus compared to everything else that I've seen recently is that it showed us for the first time in as long as I can remember that love doesn't need to be toxic in order for it to be incredibly steamy. And if we compare it to shows that I love, like One Tree Hill, Twilight, Fifty Shades of Grey, Tell Me Lies.
Those are super, super toxic. There's jealousy, there's controlling behavior, there's obsession, and it's all been framed as romantic. And watching those, I was like, this is actually a borderline creepy, but I'm also kind of into like the love story part. And I I've all often questioned whether you needed one, you know, with the other or whether they could exist separately. And they can.
Gerri Florence (05:43.535)
Yeah, like where are our red flags for some of the male characters in Off Campus? And I think the jealousy that exists in that show, like, kind of, makes sense. Like Justin and that relationship between him and Hannah, it is, there is a level of jealousy there for Garrett, but it's not this, he's not punching him out at parties, you know, like you would have seen, I guess, in the kind of early 2000 version.
Mia Fileman (06:09.118)
Yeah, I mean he's she's clearly into him. So then once they actually get together, of course he's gonna be jealous of him because she's already shown that she's interested in him. But then in the TV series, Hannah walks into the male locker room and sees a whole lot of penises. And Garrett doesn't seem to be phased at all because he's representing a a man who's like, look, I don't need to be jealous of
Every man on the planet. I only need to be jealous of the men that she has previously told me she's interested in.
Gerri Florence (06:42.338)
Yeah, and it's not even like when she kissed Logan in the gym, you know, that was an interesting moment for Garrett's character because he didn't really seem to react to that. So it's not this physical kind of she's mine, you can't have her type jealousy. It is more of that he wants that emotional attachment. He wants that relationship element and doesn't want to share that with Justin, I guess.
Mia Fileman (07:05.35)
Yeah, that was our first text about the show, Jerry. That was the first time I was like, why did she kiss Logan in the gym? Like I didn't quite understand that moment. Like I felt that it was a little bit clunky. There was something about blushing, but I never saw a blush. And I remember replying to you saying, I felt like this was a missed opportunity for the makeup artist to like show us her blushing.
Gerri Florence (07:10.541)
That's it.
Gerri Florence (07:32.559)
And it would have been great to see Logan blushing after, I think, the kiss with him as well. But I do think it was the first time we saw Hannah really exert her own sense of kind of sexual confidence in that relationship with Garrett. And I think that also kind of really helped to him in. So I think talking about these kind of idea of love and the romance part is really important. And obviously, guess, reawaken for us that the love is important.
Mia Fileman (07:50.406)
Yeah.
Gerri Florence (08:01.346)
but we also need to talk about just how damn sexy some of these characters are. So for me, for you, what was the sexiest moment of the show?
Mia Fileman (08:09.437)
My God, hands down, the sexiest moment of the show was not their lovemaking. It was when Garrett agrees to give Hannah an orgasm and he knows it's gonna cause him pain to do so because he's clearly quite into her, right? and but he takes it so seriously. He's like, hang on, I have got a task and I have to perform this task. Otherwise, if he screws this up, it could.
Fu continue to fuck her up forever. It could make things worse. And yeah, I just love the tenacity of the responsibility that he takes. And he doesn't treat it like a cheeky backdoor way of getting into her pants and getting what he wants. Anyway, I just thought that that was infuriatingly hot.
Gerri Florence (08:59.298)
He even asked Dean for advice.
Mia Fileman (09:02.049)
my god, how great was like going to Dean for advice and then Dean sort of dropping the facade of just being this Playboy and actually giving good advice.
Gerri Florence (09:13.302)
Yeah, because I mean, we would have thought that Dean would have just anatomically said the best way to give a girl orgasm is this way, right? Because he is the maverick, he is the roller coaster. So was so unexpected to then, it's not about that, it's about trust and consent. And then we were all swooning, you know, even more, I think.
Mia Fileman (09:20.39)
Yeah.
Mia Fileman (09:34.243)
He is so maverick. He gave me Top Gun vibes when I was watching him. I was like, they should have totally cast that guy in Top Gun 2. Like so good. Anyway, before we get talking about another show, what was your sexiest moment?
Gerri Florence (09:37.838)
Absolutely.
Gerri Florence (09:50.447)
Okay, so I don't think it's very fair, because I do think you picked the right answer, because there is only one. that kind of, when she had that orgasm with Gare, it was very sexy. But I am just such a sucker for the grand gestures, like in that really romantic style. And I love the flip that Hannah was the one that made that big gesture to Gare on the rink when she sings to him from the kind of sound box. That moment for me was...
Mia Fileman (09:54.339)
Ha ha.
Gerri Florence (10:17.72)
built such amazing tension. And then when he gets up there in the room with her, the way he grabs her by the front of the jeans and pulls her in for a kiss, I was like dying inside. And I think that really built that beautiful romance, but also that sexual tension was there as well, like really well mixed. So that is my, I think, sexiest moment. But I also really love how Dorky, he dances with her in the room to help her relax. Because again, I just think
Seeing that silly side of like that athletic jock character was really lovely.
Mia Fileman (10:52.843)
Yeah, and how he makes her not makes her asks her if she wants to take off the dress. Cause she's clearly not comfortable. She's yanking at it. She's pulling it down and he's like, hey, hey, we need to like take the temperature way down here.
Gerri Florence (11:07.074)
Yeah, he notices things, And I think we notice that the male character notices things. And it's just, it's nice to be noticed and for someone to notice when you are feeling a bit uncomfortable or unsure or unhappy and then kind of making that effort to make it better for you. I thought that was really lovely.
Mia Fileman (11:09.496)
Yeah.
Mia Fileman (11:28.599)
Yeah, I mean he's not perfect. He's got his flaws, but he's so emotionally safe. And that is really hot. We don't we don't need the dangerous bad boy who ghosts us. We emotionally safe is hot. So hot.
Gerri Florence (11:43.631)
So hot. Agreed. So should we talk about emotional safety then?
Mia Fileman (11:49.164)
Yeah, yeah.
Gerri Florence (11:51.343)
It's not something I think we've seen a lot of in the shows and things that we have watched. And I don't think it's just Hannah and Garrett that really exhibit that emotional safety. So do have other characters in the show that really exhibit that for you?
Mia Fileman (12:09.143)
I feel like Ally and Dean much more than Allie and Sean. Sean, I know was problematic for you.
Gerri Florence (12:14.264)
Sean.
Can we play a boo soundtrack over this part of the podcast, please? Sean boo. Allie and Dean, emotional safety. Do you think the emotional safety was more there for Dean to let his guard down with Allie somehow?
Mia Fileman (12:19.723)
We sure can. We sure can. Yeah.
Mia Fileman (12:36.885)
Yeah, I think so. Yeah. I mean, we're gonna see so much more of their relationship in season two, which I'm really excited for. But I just thought that compared to Sean, Dean was very much about l letting Allie be Ally. and absolutely Allie was able to make Dean feel comfortable to explore his own feelings. Whereas the what were they called?
The puck bunnies. yeah, they were there wasn't much conversation going on there between the puck bunnies.
Gerri Florence (13:07.736)
buddies.
Gerri Florence (13:17.142)
No, I loved the New York scene when she went to New York to spend the night with Dean. Just felt very grown up, I think, for the age and stage of those characters. And I think for Dean's character, he kind of matures a lot in that experience with Ali, which I quite liked. Where Sean, on the other hand, like there was no adventure. There was no sense of fun or roller coaster rides with him. He was...
Boring, he was uninspiring, and he didn't appreciate Allie for that kind of spunky, sparky, full-of-life character that she was. think he was just dragging her down.
Mia Fileman (14:00.915)
Yeah, I found him to be a really cliche character in amongst all these other really emotionally nuanced and layered and interesting and deep and complicated characters. Then we had Sean who was seemed to be reminiscent of a different book, of a different movie. He was so typical, but are you really gonna go on and have a big acting career? Like what about what about what was the town, Wisconsin?
Gerri Florence (14:27.212)
Yeah. Vermont.
Mia Fileman (14:29.904)
Vermont, what about Vermont and my parents' insurance company? Like it really stood out like a sore thumb in amongst all these other incredible characters, Sean. And if there's ever a time to believe that you're going to make it on Broadway, it's when you're in college. It's not now when we're 44. It's when you're in college. So like I really didn't love that.
Gerri Florence (14:48.723)
Absolutely.
Mia Fileman (14:56.318)
He was the one to try to yank her dreams away as opposed to like the parents who are thinking about what's best for her and all that sort of thing. It was him. I was like, get out of our screens.
Gerri Florence (15:07.234)
Yes. And do you think that Allie should have felt bad for sleeping with Dean so soon after, Sean? Because that was a big pull for her. She was really struggling with that. It was only 48 hours or whatever. If she was your girlfriend, you would have been like, yeah, girl, go for it. You're single.
Mia Fileman (15:25.585)
Yeah, absolutely. I think the only reason she felt bad was because Sean made her feel bad and was going to make her feel bad. But they had broken up like four times. As far as I'm concerned, that relationship was not existent. Yeah. Yeah.
Gerri Florence (15:31.597)
Yes.
Gerri Florence (15:38.509)
Yeah. And Ali, I think really showed a sub theme from off campus overall, which is this idea that it's okay for women's pleasure to be the forefront and that to be okay. Because remember at the start, she wanted to try that calendar, all those different positions with Sean. And he was like, no, no, I'm not doing that. There was just no sense of fun where normally I think it'd be portrayed that the male characters would be wanting to do things maybe a little bit more.
or risque, and the females aren't shown as being characters who can enjoy passionate sex and whatever it may be. And women's pleasure takes a central theme in this show.
Mia Fileman (16:19.152)
Yeah, so good. Love that, you know? and also women's pleasure because men can read subtext and nonverbal cues. Whereas Sean was not picking up on any nonverbal cues where she's like, he's like, do you want me to put a pillow under your butt? And she's like, You liked that last time. She's like, Yeah, let's just do that. And it's like, read between the lines, mate.
Gerri Florence (16:31.978)
Mmm. Not-
Gerri Florence (16:39.714)
Yeah. Yeah.
Gerri Florence (16:45.23)
Yeah. And then gets out of the shower with her. It doesn't want to continue that conversation when the discussion does become more emotional. It's like, Ali is so hot. Sean, you are punching above your weight, mate. You should be calling.
Mia Fileman (16:59.066)
Totally, but like I again, if there's ever a time to sexually explore in a safe way, like by using contraception, having contraception, having multiple partners, doing the one night stand thing, like you wanna do it in college. You don't wanna marry your high school sweetheart and then get to 40 and decide you need to cheat because you never had those experiences. Like I'm I'm very grateful that I
Gerri Florence (17:24.258)
Yes.
Mia Fileman (17:27.971)
had a life and I had a career before I met my husband. Yeah, ex like really, I really feel like I did. Yeah. Yeah.
Gerri Florence (17:30.766)
Yeah, soldier wild oats, so to speak. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So we've talked about Sean and Ali. We've talked about, Ali and Dean as well. How do you feel about Logan and his crush on Hannah? Like, why did they include this in the show?
Mia Fileman (17:45.326)
Mm-hmm.
Mia Fileman (17:53.455)
I don't know, I don't know that it was required, hey. What what do you think?
Gerri Florence (17:56.783)
I I don't want to say bad things about off-campus because we love it, but I think that Logan's character in the show was just problematic for me. He never really found his space and his vibe. And I don't think it's because he didn't have a romantic partner, but I just felt a bit bad for Logan. I feel like he was always second best to Garrett on the ice. Financially, he was the poor kid that relied on.
Mia Fileman (18:19.327)
Gerri Florence (18:22.998)
know Garrett for the media attention and now he's second best in you know landing the girl as well. So I just felt like at the end he didn't tell anybody how he felt about Hannah. There was no action there it's just and that unless it's an open thread for a later season is the only kind of reason I can think about they would have included that in there.
Mia Fileman (18:43.843)
Well, he is the star of I think season three. He gets yeah, yeah, he gets a no, yeah, no, no, no, I've well, my sleuthhing, yeah. I did see a really cute Instagram reel where the actor who plays Logan called up the actress that was gonna play the female lead and he gives her the part, which I thought was really clever.
Gerri Florence (18:50.604)
You haven't told me this Mia! Where's the message?
Mia Fileman (19:10.572)
Behind the scenes. We'll link it in the show notes, but really clever, like keeping our momentum up for future seasons. I loved Logan's character. Loved Logan's character because it explored the relationship with his sister. And I am I love love and I love romantic love, but I also love non-romantic love. And as we're gonna talk about in a future off script.
Gerri Florence (19:13.742)
Yeah.
Gerri Florence (19:34.403)
Bye.
Mia Fileman (19:38.905)
Brother-sister love is also a or sister-sister love is a such a great theme for me. Like, you know, that is the whole premise of Frozen. It's not about the male characters. It is about two sisters. And like that was like a whole revolution for Disney films to bring that into Frozen. Anyway, stay on task, Mia. Stay on task.
Gerri Florence (19:42.839)
Yeah
Gerri Florence (19:58.943)
Yeah, yes. No, well, I mean, think the sibling discussion is an interesting one because his sister, Jules, is again, she features a lot in the show, maybe a little bit more than things needed. Yes. sorry. They Jules, they feature a lot in the show.
Mia Fileman (20:11.884)
So it's they them. They them. Yeah, they them. Yeah. Yeah.
Which I loved and I I loved that representation of of Jules and of you know, those pronouns and normalizing that and showcasing such a lovable character and making them the hero, making them one of the heroes of the show.
Gerri Florence (20:40.32)
And again, I love that they don't bring it up as a thing. Like the show doesn't talk about Jules and their, they, them, and their struggle with identity. Like it's, it's not a thing because their identity is clear. Jules are who they are. And that's just normalized in the show. And then again, supported by her gorgeous brother who is, you know, going to be there for her. They can argue and fight like siblings do, but in the end he supports them to the.
like through and through, and their role is really interesting in that. So I think, yeah, as you said, sibling stuff we'll talk about more later and maybe we can talk a little bit more about Jules and Logan then. Did you know that Logan is actually an amazing Broadway singer as well? Have you been getting that in your algorithm?
Mia Fileman (21:24.702)
Did get that in my algorithm, yes. Wasn't he in Hamilton? Was that the one?
Gerri Florence (21:26.574)
because he was already so gorgeous.
Gerri Florence (21:31.918)
I don't know. I'm a huge Hamilton fan, so I feel like I would have seen that coming. I can't remember the one that I saw them in the other day when I was watching, but I just know that he does have an incredible voice. So I'm sad that he wasn't in the karaoke episode. Like, why didn't they use him for that?
Mia Fileman (21:36.776)
Maybe I've got
Mia Fileman (21:48.54)
Yeah, true, true. what you said about them not making a big deal about Jules being transsexual was I think a recurring theme in th theme in the show. They didn't over explain things. They didn't explain and this is why this is happening. It was it it just was, which I feel is so refreshing because there are so many shows and movies that they're trying to include.
include more themes that are inclusive and diverse and equitable, but it feels really put on and it feels really tokenistic. This wasn't. This was just it is. It is what it is. Yeah.
Gerri Florence (22:21.838)
Mmm.
Gerri Florence (22:30.958)
Absolutely. Absolutely. There's a great kids film called Strange New World that does that really well. If you ever want your kids to watch something that equally does that.
Mia Fileman (22:39.494)
Yeah. Whereas whereas Toy Story Four was a train wreck for me. Absolute. my god, so much virtue signaling. We'll do a whole episode on that. But like they already had Buzz and Woody, which is just like three incredible movies about this friendship between Buzz and Woody. And then they decided in season four that they would make Bo Peep a like character that had not a single line.
Gerri Florence (22:45.816)
for virtue signaling.
Mia Fileman (23:09.466)
In three previous movies, the protagonist and literally separated Buzz and Woody. Someone needs to murder the script writers of Toy Story Four. Actually no. Don't do that. Don't don't murder anyone. Yeah.
Gerri Florence (23:19.342)
Absolutely.
positive male friendships. We need just more depictions of all of that. Back to off campus.
Mia Fileman (23:30.797)
The breakup. We need to talk about the break up.
Gerri Florence (23:35.374)
All right, so not uncommon in a romance. Like they need a breakup, right?
Mia Fileman (23:42.637)
Well, yeah, no, not uncommon. You could see it coming a million miles away. So this particular breakup, it's a it's a style. It's called the third act breakup. And it is like a very typical style in romance, and it it has become quite predictable. And it's often near the end of the story. So the third act.
when a couple separates because of a misunderstanding, a secret, a betrayal, a fear, or an external conflict. And the breakup creates the final emotional obstacle before they eventually reunite. And so, like, if you think about really common examples: how to lose a guy in 10 days, 10 things I hate about you, the truth comes out.
And they split just before the end of the film. and what I don't love about a third act breakup, like I don't know about you, is that often it's so silly, it's like, that could have been solved if you guys had just communicated better.
Gerri Florence (24:48.214)
Yes, a small misunderstanding has led to a.
Mia Fileman (24:51.244)
Yeah, yeah. And also that you see it coming a million miles away. but I thought that the breakup in off campus was excellent.
Gerri Florence (25:05.71)
Excellent, no notes from you Mia.
Mia Fileman (25:08.865)
I have notes, but it was to me, it was earned. It was like there was it was an inevitability after the day that they were having where she realized that her abuser was going to be playing Garrett at the hockey match. Garrett was having the worst day of his life because he's just run into his dad and
Hannah's not returning his texts and he's genuinely worried about her. And so like there was just that pressure, pressure, pressure building. And to me, it was an inevitability that this was gonna end pretty badly that day. What about you?
Gerri Florence (25:36.812)
Right.
Gerri Florence (25:47.215)
Yeah, in the parking lot. I would definitely agree. think the characters are both really emotionally raw going into that moment. And Hannah was genuinely scared before the hockey game. She was already in that kind of fight or flight moment. And then to see Garrett be so violent on the ice did scare her, thus making Garrett's, know, biggest nightmare come true. But the strength
in Garrett's character of therefore feeling like he needs to be the one to walk away because Hannah wouldn't is really, I guess, echoed back to his own mother who wouldn't walk away and his father's new wife. Her name's escaping me. But same, she stayed because it was complicated. So in that moment, he knew that Hannah wasn't going to leave him despite the fear. And so he made that call for her, which I thought was such a
big hero gesture. And I think accept it. We could accept it because of that third act breakup, knowing the back of our minds, it'll be okay. They'll get back together.
Mia Fileman (26:55.895)
Yeah, exactly. That's exactly how I felt. I was like this was bound to happen, but it's also really opened the door for them to reconcile pretty easily. Yeah, what I thought was interesting, and I haven't read the books, but in my preparation for this, is that the breakup was completely different in the book. Like 100% different. So yeah, Hannah is the one that breaks up with Garrett in the books.
Gerri Florence (27:06.282)
Yes.
Gerri Florence (27:18.83)
Tell me more!
Mia Fileman (27:24.254)
And it's not because she wants to, it's because of Phil, Garrett's father, who approaches yeah. who approaches Hannah and threatens to stop paying for Garrett's university tuition unless she leaves him. Hannah believes that Garrett has no way of staying at Briyu without his father's financial support, so she sacrifices the relationship to protect his future.
Gerri Florence (27:29.548)
More bootrack.
Mia Fileman (27:52.659)
She lies and she tells Garrett that she wants to see other people. Later, Garrett discovers his father's manipulation and reveals he has access to his late grandfather's trust fund. So he never actually needed Phil's money and they reconcile. But the book's breakup is very much external. It's some sort of what's that term, Jerry? Like Deus Ex Machina, where
It's like a plot twist that you don't see coming. you know, and you're just like, hang on, this was never talked about before. Like, we never for a million years thought that Garrett's financial, you know, problems were, you know, for that that Garrett had financial problems that would see him being role reversed. so it was kind of like a really left center,
Gerri Florence (28:24.258)
Right, yeah.
Gerri Florence (28:29.198)
Yeah.
Gerri Florence (28:48.878)
you
Mia Fileman (28:50.538)
Thing. Whereas, and like that external obstacle, somebody else has forced their separation. Someone's meddled in their relationship, which makes it that predictable third act breakup. Whereas the breakup that they wrote in the TV show came from the characters, which I really liked. It came from what had happened before on the ice, which I thought was so much more powerful. That's why I think it's almost perfect, right? Because it was character driven.
Gerri Florence (29:18.402)
Yes, yes.
Mia Fileman (29:20.938)
Garrett's greatest fear isn't losing Hockey or Hannah, it's becoming Phil. And that's who he was thinking he was becoming when he hit that that abuser on the ice. so the breakup grows directly out of everything that we've seen from him in the previous eight episodes, which I thought was really, really well done and even more heartbreaking, right? Because it's not a misunderstanding.
Gerri Florence (29:30.167)
Mm.
Gerri Florence (29:47.47)
off
Mia Fileman (29:49.553)
It is a fundamental, like you said, I have to make the hard right decision here.
Gerri Florence (29:56.699)
how he drove away from her in that parking lot with the tears rolling down her face. It absolutely felt gutted. I didn't know that about, that's how the breakup happened in the book, Mia. That's really interesting. And they kept maybe that storyline, but flipped it with Hannah with the showcase and losing the scholarship. Maybe that's kind of what inspired that storyline for her. But that moment in the parking lot, I think it's a good opportunity to maybe jump over and talk about your love of Kierkegaard.
Mia Fileman (30:17.716)
Yeah.
Gerri Florence (30:26.732)
the two truths and how the show did such a good job of, I guess, playing homage to that without naming it. Again, they trust their audience to make that connection, which I think brings this from like a really predictable rom-com feel-good thing to something actually at more high level.
Mia Fileman (30:48.541)
Totally. There were Easter eggs that they wanted the audience to find to keep the conversation going. I found this threads quote from star s.exo. I'll link it in the show notes. The breakup scene perfectly captured Kierkegaard's idea of two truths because both of them were right to feel the way they did, which made it all the more heartbreaking. In the breakup scene, they're both right.
They each have a legitimate emotional response. Hannah was afraid, like she never expected to see Garrett behave that way. She didn't want that. That's why she didn't go to the game. and Garrett was also right to say, hang on, I I'm not right within myself. I c you can't possibly be with me until I work out that I am not Phil. I feel like in stories.
Gerri Florence (31:21.39)
I'm
Mia Fileman (31:45.178)
We want heroes and we want villains, but real relationships don't have heroes and villains. They have two people who like both Yeah exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Gerri Florence (31:53.624)
Complex humans.
Gerri Florence (31:58.095)
Absolutely. think, and I did love that lesson that they learned together, I guess, through that philosophy class around the different philosophies with Kierkegaard and how proud Hannah was of Garrett when he nailed that, because he wasn't just your typical dumb jock, you know, and he didn't, he wanted to pass the class on his own merit and show that he was an intelligent guy, which I absolutely loved. doesn't want to kind of, he realizes he has privilege, but he doesn't want.
to kind of ride anyone's coattails as well. And then that breakup scene when he says to her, and I would do it again, like as in bash up the guy in the ice, I would do it again. I think that was a big moment for him to be like, maybe I really am like my dad. Like he was quite concerned because he did that such a violent act and he believes he would do it again because of the guy who, not because he was a good hockey player, but because he was an abusive piece of crap.
Mia Fileman (32:35.163)
Mm.
Mia Fileman (32:55.705)
Yeah, totally.
Gerri Florence (32:56.354)
Yeah, and I was down for it.
Mia Fileman (32:59.598)
So I loved the story. I loved the characters. But how they made off campus, and you know, full kudos to the showrunner. It was incredible. So, you know, it's a modern show, but there was so much nostalgia. And this is this is why millennial women like you and I are okay with obsessing over college students because
Gerri Florence (33:18.766)
so much.
Mia Fileman (33:28.364)
All the dirty dancing references, the Elton Johns, the iconic scenes that they recreated.
Gerri Florence (33:36.269)
Yes. And that moment, the first episode, when she said, carried a watermelon, like that moment, I giggled, I die hard, dirty dancing fan. I've watched it over a hundred times, not exaggerating. But at the end, when he comes back and makes that line about, don't come into your dance space and you don't come into my dance space, which I think is a lesser known dirty dancing reference than the watermelon one. It was just, it was absolute. That's I talked. I absolutely hooked from that moment on.
And the Durydancing references didn't even end there. And then, sorry, go ahead. Well, I was just saying, I think that was the millennial hook, all those nostalgic references to Durydancing and Elton John and those kind of famous scenes, Heath Ledger singing. But they actually had the Gen Z more on the soundtrack.
Mia Fileman (34:12.196)
Go on, go on.
Mia Fileman (34:28.458)
Mm, yes, interesting. So our friends at Reddit were able to go back and identify all the scenes that the showrunner recreated. So far on my list, I have 16 Candles, which is a John Hughes film. I'm a massive John Hughes fan. I've seen every John Hughes film ever made. Twilight, where they're playing chess and Ellie and Dean are playing chess.
Gerri Florence (34:41.912)
Right.
Mia Fileman (34:57.898)
at the New York apartment. legally blonde. What else? Yeah. L L is the bunny. Ten things I heard about you, yeah.
Gerri Florence (35:02.926)
10 Things I Hate About You for sure. So that scene, yeah, that scene where he's singing on the steps, absolutely. I don't know if you'd agree, but is the bathtub scene in Friends where Chandler and Monica are the bath together and then Joey walks in so Monica goes under the water and Chandler's left holding the boat. Again, you don't think the show's made for millennial women, but it absolutely is.
Mia Fileman (35:22.836)
One hundred percent. One hundred percent. Yes. Yes. Yes.
Mia Fileman (35:33.001)
One hundred percent is. and then she's all that, Hannah coming down the stairs. Yes.
Gerri Florence (35:40.44)
Yes, and that re like, you know, all of a sudden a different outfit and your hair done like transforms her into absolutely good.
Mia Fileman (35:48.316)
So good. What I loved about the show was the positive ripple effects. So, you know, emotional safety, positive relationships, but also yes, totally recreating, you know, iconic scenes and nostalgia, but then also the musicians that have been.
Gerri Florence (35:59.981)
Mm-hmm. Toxic masculinity not being a thing.
Mia Fileman (36:15.964)
Absolutely catapulted as a result of off campus.
Gerri Florence (36:20.594)
actors. I would say that the actors and the musicians were pretty unknown for this. If I hear G-Flip's Bet on Fire songs, full body goosebumps still every time. It is excellent.
Mia Fileman (36:32.649)
Yeah. Yeah. But my favorite Instagram reels are at the moment are these, you know, indie artists, some from Australia, like George Alice, who is like, holy smokes, my career has absolutely just blown up because of off campus, and it gives me goosebumps because it's like this show has has brought
Gerri Florence (36:43.192)
Mm-hmm.
Mia Fileman (36:58.7)
So many people up with it as opposed to bringing people down, and as opposed to, you know, the music industry, the only people that make money are in the top five percent. Right? Like in all the all the money to be made in the music industry is 5% of the artists. The rest of the 95% make fuck all, right? And then a show like off campus comes along and they're not playing, you know, the big hits, the
Gerri Florence (37:09.132)
Right.
Mia Fileman (37:27.944)
You know, U2 Coldplay, they're G Flip, Emay, The Beaches, George Ellis, and we are living for it. And they are documenting it. They're like, so off campus contacted me like two years ago and asked me if I I if I could they could use my song and they explained the scene and I said yes and who the fuck was gonna know that this is like the number one show?
Gerri Florence (37:54.691)
Yeah. And they resurfaced some old music as well and remade it and remixed it and like, and cherry pie being in there a couple of times. I thought that that did a really good job with the music soundtrack and a lot of the, only noticed the second time I watched it. feel like the first time I watched it, I was so entranced by the characters in the storyline. The music amplified the experience for me, but when I watched it the second time, I was able to see a lot more of the clever ways that they kind of use music.
to drive the storyline as well and the feel-good stories that come from people like G Flip and or other more indie artists and how it's impacted them is just feeling my algorithm at the moment. I don't know you, but I'm just being served off-campus content after off-campus content and I'm totally okay with that.
Mia Fileman (38:43.856)
Me too. D flip asked the cast to write off to tattoo off campus on her thigh. And they all took it in turns to write a different letter. So like Belmont Camelli wrote like an O and Ella Bright, is it Bright or Night? wrote like an F until it's spelt out off campus. I thought that was so cool. So cool. all right, rapid fire.
Gerri Florence (39:02.766)
don't
Mia Fileman (39:12.37)
'Cause we are running way over time. I knew this was gonna happen with her. Yeah. We knew, we knew. rapid fire round, things I'm still thinking about. Personally, I can't watch any Belmont Camelli interviews because he's not Garrett and he needs to stay Garrett. I I don't want to see him wearing jewelry and like stylish clothes. He's a hockey player in my mind and he needs to stay a hockey player.
Gerri Florence (39:14.232)
Sorry. Like we didn't expect. Yeah, we know. We know. 100%.
Gerri Florence (39:40.227)
Yeah, thanks. Stop ruining it Belmont. Just be Garrett forever and always. Can't stop thinking about the jocks attending drunk Shakespeare. I think the show so good at blending in communities together and that everyone could just be who they are and be like as a drama girl myself, I would have loved to have jocks coming to my kind of theater production. And I think it just, again, is showing the maturity of
Mia Fileman (39:42.78)
Yeah. Forever. Yeah.
Mia Fileman (39:49.991)
Yes.
Gerri Florence (40:06.732)
that kind of younger generation, the Gen Zs and younger ones now where people are just, you can be who you want to be, it doesn't matter.
Mia Fileman (40:13.646)
Yeah. Yeah.
Gerri Florence (40:14.798)
And I can't stop thinking about the friendships. Just the female friendships were so important to me. You know, I love women and I love men, but I love that the female friendships in here and how well those characters support each other. And there wasn't any nasty girl competition or cattiness. were just, they were there for each other all the time.
Mia Fileman (40:36.046)
Honestly, it was so intentional. I saw a clip where Hannah's Hannah or Ella, who plays Hannah, was talking about the chemistry reads. So after they had done their original audition, it came down to chemistry reads, which is like, all right, well, we like you, but how are you going to interact with the other characters? And what I thought was brilliant was for the chemistry reads, Ella had to read with Ellie, not just with Garrett.
Because that relationship was just as important. And I think that that's really telling in the making of the show that they do a chemistry read between the friendships, not just the romances.
Gerri Florence (41:13.143)
Yeah.
Gerri Florence (41:17.132)
are not so rapid, rapid fire. Anything else for you?
Mia Fileman (41:20.007)
last thing, Andrea.bookstar has just created an awesome reading order. So if anyone wants to go and read the books, she does a breakdown. I'm gonna link it in the show notes. But there's so many books in that Elle Kennedy has written, and there's so many series, and there's a few like novels that are kind of related but different, and she tells you exactly which order to read them in.
Gerri Florence (41:49.474)
Very helpful, thank you.
Mia Fileman (41:52.802)
So what are we watching next, Jerry?
Gerri Florence (41:55.17)
Well, I think for anybody who has watched off campus, which is quite mainstream, your next stop has to be heated rivalry. Have you watched it Mia? Yes, and we love it.
Mia Fileman (42:03.542)
One hundred percent. Yes, I've watched it. I'm ready. Loved it. I'm ready to go. Ready to talk.
Gerri Florence (42:10.936)
Yeah, all right, so tune in for episode two, everybody. Make sure you have your Heat at Rivalry watched before you hit play on that because we can't promise there will be spoiler alerts in there.
Mia Fileman (42:21.56)
Totally. And also watch voicemails for Isabel as well.
Alright, that's a wrap on off script. It was fun.
Gerri Florence (42:28.718)
That's a wrap. Thanks Mia. That was fun.