If nothing else, I’m a seasonal purist. Give me all things pumpkin spice and cozy spooky movies in the fall. When Harry Met Sally is mandatory viewing at my house, and so is every whodunnit I love. It’s Christmas on November first, and the first thing I’m doing is rewatching While You Were Sleeping and The Holiday. But with the way that Off Campus nestled its way deep into a corner of my heart and cemented the spot it’ll stay in, I now feel it’s perfect fall viewing on top of everything else.
Weirdly, I don’t rewatch Gilmore Girls as often as a lot of people do this time of year, because well… it’s a bit too long to get through fully. At the same time, I don’t have the patience younger me did where the romances are concerned. But Off Campus finally fills the fall TV void with the kind of college romance that scratches a specific and delicious itch.
Related Content: Off Campus Being an Ensemble Show Is Exactly What We’ve Been Missing on TV
It’s no surprise that all of us at Lady Geeks are fans of Off Campus, so we’ve written our fair share of articles to talk about it. But if you’ve yet to watch and you want to start, now really is the best time. The show’s timeline takes place near the season and gives off fall vibes with the school setting and costuming. Namely, it’s the start of the semester, which works to set the stage for how the rest of the arcs will pan out, even while they’ll take us through different seasons. More so, it’s also the overall coziness of a contained story told throughout the course of eight episodes that makes it so easy to put on and spend a weekend with.
Personally for me, when I think about fall, it’s not just the quintessential leaves and pumpkin spice and all things spooky, but it’s this coziness that makes the bad days a little bearable and the good even more exciting. Fall is the coziest season, and everything about the show feels like the warmest blanket. The love story that Off Campus delivers through Hannah Wells and Garrett Graham is such a comforting safe space that they touch on that coziness even without all the overt fall-themed set pieces.
The fact that Off Campus is also a true ensemble show brings back some of the nostalgia from the early aughts. That detail is crucial to making the story special because the friendships are the fortifying foundation. The school mornings and block party nights. The costume parties and every little detail. It feels so specific to what so many of us millennials grew up with, and it’s exactly why the show was such a pleasant surprise in its adaptation. The essence of Off Campus feels so similar to shows from the past, and while it has heavy material, it’s a show that promises everything will work out in the end. It’s a show that feels cozy because the certainty of romance novel adaptations gives us the trust that other genres unfortunately can’t.
If anyone needs me this fall, you’ll know what I have on replay. And all the music, too.
First Featured Image Credit: ©Liane Hentscher/Prime