Throughout the first season, and especially after episode five, we are privy to the beginning of Dean and Allie’s “no-strings-attached” relationship, which explodes in a massive twist during the finale after Dean finds out that Allie has had sex with Hunter, who has a murky history with Dean that we still don’t fully know about and who has, unbeknownst to Dean or Garrett, joined the Hawks for next season. (Also, no, Hunter and Allie don’t hook up in the books, so we are fully in uncharted waters here!)
Speaking about the introduction of Hunter and the changes from the book, Levy told SR: “The biggest thing about that is what does it do for Dean and how does it complicate things for him? A big reason [why] we needed to drop in a turning point is because we get Dean and Allie pretty close to being together at the end of season one, and we need to give ourselves a little bit of room to grow. It’s teeing up a mystery for what Dean has going on in his backstory.”
Speaking to Variety, Levy already said that including Dean and Allie’s relationship from season one was always her idea, even when the show was just a pitch. “I find it very difficult to invest in a couple and grow them entirely from scratch. I wanted viewers to know who they were going to be tuning in for next. Allie felt so organic, because she’s Hannah’s best friend and Dean is already there, and their love story in the book is a secret — so why not let it be a surprise, even to book fans, when we’re going to launch it? Some things had to work a little differently because of the timing and the way we platform them, but I promise all the fan-favourite things are still intended and planned. There’s still a lot of road with those two.”
According to the book order, the next story would have been The Mistake, which focuses on John Logan. During season one, we see Logan grappling with his forbidden crush on Hannah, and we do know that Grace has been cast for season two, so it’s safe to assume we will at least see their relationship start to blossom in season two, even if they won’t be the main focus.
And seeing as Levy likes to introduce the next love leads in the middle of a season, we are likely again getting a bit of a mix for season two, centring on Dean and Allie, but also setting the base for Logan and Grace — and even more. “I am genuinely so excited to dive into Allie and Dean’s season, obviously,” Levy teased, “but also, we get to build out some more of even Tucker and Logan, and we get to learn more about their lives. Because there’s only so much we could get through season one, [so] season two will give us more time.” And, of course, again, Garrett and Hannah are not going anywhere.