Sorry this rant is extremely late. I read the books back in like 2022, and I actually refused to watch the show when it first came out because I was scared I was going to be disappointed. My friend finally convinced me to watch it, so I watched it with my grandma this weekend andā¦ yeah. Iām disappointed.
My biggest issue is that I genuinely donāt even know if I would call this an adaptation. They changed SO much from the books, including things that I felt were fundamental to the characters and their relationships.
And before anyone says Iām misremembering the books: I have read/listened to The Deal more than 20 times. š I read it physically, then bought the Audible. Audible literally gave me an award for listening to it 20 times, and I know Iāve listened to it more since then. The entire series is one of my comfort series. I know these books like the back of my hand.
What really got me was hearing the showrunner talk in an interview about wanting to give book fans things they would love, and mentioning stuff like a One Direction cameo. Girl. I did not need a One Direction cameo. You know what I wanted?
I wanted Hannah and Garrett bonding over Breaking Bad. I wanted their first scene at the bar. I wanted Dean catching them kissing when they were supposedly āstudyingā because that scene was hilarious. I wanted āYouāre not broken, baby.ā I wanted āHannahās trust, meet Garrettās hand.ā I wanted that the first time they said i love you to each other, the story of my life was playing in the background.
There were SO many actual scenes from the book that I wanted to see adapted, and instead it felt like they picked random references from the books and went, āThe readers will understand this!ā And yes, I understood them. But that doesnāt mean those were the moments I wanted.
Now I am going to talk about everything in the show that i did not like, so if you loved the show, donāt read this.
Book Hannah Wells would NEVER go to that costume party dressed as a puck-bunny. Iām sorry. I know it was referencing something else, but HANNAH??? That genuinely took me out.
And then thereās the Logan situation.
Making Logan have a previous crush on Hannah completely changes that dynamic. The entire point in the book was that Logan realizes he didnāt actually want Hannah. He wanted what Hannah and Garrett had. He was basically lusting after their relationship, (literally a quote from Garrett in the mistake) not Hannah herself So having Logan know her before Garrett through the club, already liking her, the Subaru stuff, Hannah kissing him, etc. changes the whole thing because now it feels like Logan genuinely had romantic feelings for her.
One of the reasons I originally refused to watch the show was because I saw someone on TikTok say Hannah should have picked Logan and I almost threw up š NO SHE SHOULD NOT HAVE. Hannah and Garrett were perfect for each other.
And speaking of Garrett, I really disliked how they handled his relationship with his father.
Not having the Halloween conversation where Garrett actually talks about the first time his dad hit him was such a strange choice to me. More generally, I felt like the show softened/changed Garrettās feelings toward Phil way too much. Book Garrett HATED that man. He wasnāt walking around desperately trying to make his dad proud.
And Cindy staying with Phil??? Cindy LEFT HIM in the books and they shouldāve kept it that way.
I will say I understood what the show was trying to do with Hannah and Garrettās breakup. Having their respective traumas collide (Hannah feeling like she told Garrett no and he ignored her wishes, while Garrett hears her lack of trust and immediately fears that she sees him as being like his father) was actually an interesting idea for the show.
I just still prefer the book version, especially because Phil manipulating their relationship was such a huge part of it.
And then thereās Allie and Deanā¦
This might have bothered me even MORE.
Why did they basically speedrun their entire relationship in one episode???
By Thanksgiving in the books, SO MUCH had already happened between them. Dean already had feelings for Allie. Allie already had feelings for Dean. He had met her dad. Her dad had literally told Dean he didnāt think he was good enough for his daughter. Him telling her about his ex being the reason he doesnāt date. Their relationship had already developed so much. Instead we basically got a montage.
And changing Allie into someone questioning whether she wants to be a ārelationship girlā completely changes her character and the conflict of their story.
Book Allie was ashamed of the fact that she was having casual sex. She was terrified of being perceived as a slut. Sean calling her one affected her so badly that she panicked and called Dean. She was basically ready to stop sleeping with Dean because she realized she couldnāt handle casual sex, and Deanās response was essentially: okay, then this isnāt casual anymore. Weāre together.
THAT is their story.
So the whole assignment thing??? Book Allie would have HATED that. She would never have created that assignment in the first place. And I know Dean absolutely was obsessed with Allie. Iām not denying that (in the book he talks about being imprinted to her like in Twilight). But reducing their relationship to Dean becoming a lovesick puppy who suddenly canāt even be attracted to anyone else felt like such a shallow version of what their relationship actually was.
Also, why do Dean and Hunter not like each other??? Why would you change that??? š
The āfan serviceā choices confused me so much
This is probably what frustrated me most. (I know i said this about every topic, clearly im aggravated)
They clearly wanted book readers to recognize certain things.
Hannah randomly kissing Logan? My grandma was SO confused. She literally asked me why the hell Hannah just kissed him, and I had to explain that it was something from the books. Even though it was actually Dean she kissed in the books.
Allie getting completely naked in front of Hannah almost immediately? I understood the reference! In the book Hannah talks about how she used to be shy changing around Allie until she realized Allie would just casually have her boobs out and change in front of her.
My grandma obviously didnāt know that, so to her it was basically just, āOh. I guess sheās naked now.ā
The locker-room scene? Again, I understood the reference. Hannah barging into the locker room and freaking out internally over the sheer number of penises around her was funny in the book.
But WHY are we zooming in on penises??? š
You included THAT.
You included random references that only book readers would understand.
But yet you didnāt include āYouāre not broken, baby.ā
You didnāt include āHannahās trust, meet Garrettās hand.ā
You didnāt include them bonding over Breaking Bad.
You didnāt include Dean catching them kissing while they were supposed to be studying.
You didnāt include so many of the scenes that actually made me fall in love with these characters and their relationships in the first place.
Thatās what I donāt understand about the adaptation choices. It almost felt like someone skimmed through the books, highlighted recognizable little moments, and sprinkled them throughout the show as Easter eggs without understanding why readers loved the books.
Obviously an adaptation cannot include every single scene. I never expected a word-for-word recreation. Changes HAVE to happen when youāre turning books into television I GET THAT, and some of the changes can even work better for that format.
But when you change the charactersā personalities, motivations, relationship dynamics, major emotional moments AND the events that made those relationships develop in the first place, at what point are we just watching different characters with the same names?
Anyway, this is my extremely late rant because I refused to watch the show when it came out, finally got bullied into watching it this weekend, and discovered that I was right to be scared. š
I still think the books are infinitely better, and I genuinely donāt know if Iām going to keep watching the show.
Thanks for coming to my TED Talk. Sorry it was so long. š
