Warning: SPOILERS ahead for Panic season 1!

Writer Lauren Oliver brought her YA novel to life in Amazon's Panic , but she made substantial changes to the accommodation while serving as the prove'south creator. Released in 2014, Panic followed a group of bored teenagers who accept part in a traditional game that tested the fears of its competitors past putting them through dangerous challenges. At the center of the story were Heather and Dodge, ii players who enter the game for very unlike reasons. Past the end of Panic, those involved learned key details about themselves while realizing how far they would go to fight for something they believed in.

It's rare for an author to accept the helm of a screen adaptation for their own work, but Oliver was up for the challenge. Panic only consisted of i book, but Oliver fabricated sure to expand on areas that could interpret into multiple seasons. The series was greenlit in 2018 in Amazon's endeavour to eternalize its slate of teen programming. Filming for the pilot took identify afterward that year, while the majority of the serial was shot in the fall of 2019. It took nearly 2 years for Panic to driblet on Amazon, but the streamer is hoping it grabs enough attention for an extended run.

In adapting her volume from folio to screen, Oliver took some liberties with the plot. While much of the premise involving the game remains the same, a few background details veer away from the novel. For one, the show takes identify in Bother, Texas, instead of Bother, New York, to play deeper into the secluded vibe surrounding the modest town. The winnings are also adjusted from $67,000 to $l,000 for the Amazon Original series to make for a more believable prize based on the collections from the senior class during the schoolhouse year. With that said, hither are some of the bigger deviations causing drastic differences between Panic's volume and show.

Heather's Motivation To Play Panic

In Amazon's accommodation of Panic, Heather Nill (Olivia Welch) has no interest in playing the unsafe contest. That changes when she learns her own mother stole the coin she intended to use for a higher programme. With no other options to earn money later on existence fired, Heather decides to join Panic at that terminal minute, believing it's her ticket out of Carp. She so joins as a player alongside her best friend, Natalie Williams (Jessica Sula). The book used a different motivator for Heather to join the game. Though she was as well reluctant to play, she joined as a fashion to win back her ex-boyfriend afterwards seeing him with another girl. In this example, Heather's money struggles were a more than meaningful motivator than jealousy.

Heather & Contrivance'south Roles

Throughout Panic, Heather serves as the central figure. Even though she was a prominent character in the novel, Dodge Mason (Mike Faist) also shared much of the spotlight. Granted, Faist'southward character is at the focus of a major subplot, but he's not the lead like Welch. Heather propels the story while linking together other events surrounding the game. She besides acts equally the show's narrator, explaining key aspects of Panic and the purpose of the game to Carp. Dodge nonetheless carries the aforementioned motivation of the book–avenging his sister's accident–but his story is likewise a conduit for Sheriff Cortez's (Enrique Murciano) threatening presence.

Sheriff Cortez Equally The Antagonist

Surprisingly, Sheriff Cortez wasn't in the book, seeing as Oliver created the character for the TV accommodation. Rather than secretive, hidden figures decision-making the game, the author wanted to invent a more prominent adversary. In the book, the players of Panic were threatened by the local police with severe punishment if anyone involved in the game was caught. The show takes that up a notch as the law vow to shut down the game because of the deaths of 2 players the previous year, including Cortez's son, Jimmy. It's later revealed that Cortez is manipulating the game to benefit from the gambling band surrounding Panic. Co-ordinate to Oliver (via Variety), her decision to make Sheriff Cortez the bad guy "did come out of topical events," explaining how she wanted to affect of police corruption.

Ray Hall's Transformation

When Ray Hall (Ray Nicholson) is introduced in Panic, he'due south a stereotypical "bad boy" in town with no qualms in intimidating his classmates. He plays the game, seeing it more of a rite of passage rather than a style out of town since he already came to terms with remaining in Carp for the long term. In the book, Ray (whose last name was Hanrahan) played to follow in the footsteps of his older brother, Luke, who previously won the game. Luke and Ray were troublemakers, and the latter didn't exercise much to modify his reputation. His arc is inverse profoundly for Tv set, seeing equally Oliver fabricated him a redeemable effigy who helps Dodge take down Cortez while opening up his heart to Heather, who he ends up with at the stop.

Dayna'due south Accident

For near of Dodge's arc in the book, he was hell-aptitude on playing Panic to avenge Dayna, his sister, who was paralyzed in an blow. Unlike the testify, nevertheless, Dayna was paralyzed competing in Joust, so Dodge viewed the brothers equally enemies. Dodge learned Luke tampered with her car so she would crash, leading to his win. The show alludes to Luke's (Walker Babington) involvement in the blow earlier revealing his innocence. Still, the Joust challenge isn't involved, and neither is the truth about who caused the accident. Though Dodge is still fighting for answers for Dayna (Madison Ferris), he'south focused on helping Cortez prosecute Luke, whereas, in the book, the character is playing to kill Luke's brother, Ray.

The Tiger

Anne's tiger (Bonnie Bedelia) is one of the most random aspects in Panic. The show depicts the tiger as an animate being existence cared for on Anne's farm before Cortez uses it to get Heather out of the game. He also purposely lets it loose to cause a lark ahead of Joust. Coincidentally, the tiger gets in between the game of chicken, assuasive Heather to win over Cortez, who crashes before being shot and killed past his wife. The book really featured 2 tigers at Anne's sanctuary. At one point, Natalie was forced to go into the tiger cage as part of an private challenge. The two animals escaped, and constabulary killed i earlier the other affected the Joust in a similar manner to the evidence. In both instances, the tiger is used as a surprising payoff in connection to Heather.

Bishop & Natalie'south Jobs In Panic

While both Bishop Moore (Camron Jones) and Natalie are hinted at being judges in the show, merely the latter is directly confirmed. Instead, Bishop is revealed to be the bagman, insinuating he can't be a estimate and the keeper of the prize money. The book featured partially switched roles with Bishop existence a approximate and Nat existence an ordinary thespian. Though Dodge constitute out near Bishop'due south office, he didn't confess publicly until the guilt of the dead tiger forced him to come make clean. Seeing as he created the tiger cage claiming, he couldn't live with the hurting he was causing others.

The Joust Winner

As mentioned, Joust serves equally the concluding challenge in Panic, just like in Oliver's book. Instead of Cortez driving up against Heather, who steals Ray's truck to compete, the concluding claiming originally featured Heather against Ray. Since Contrivance had plans to kill Ray, the others restrained him so he couldn't compete, allowing Heather to use his car. She didn't know that Dodge planted the car with napalm, so the car caught on fire during the game of chicken. She jumped out in time, but Ray subsequently swerved, meaning Heather was the true winner. Later receiving the prize money, she dissever it with Dodge and Natalie. In Amazon's Panic , the judges (or someone else) solely reward Heather the money, but the show teases how the game isn't over.

More: Amazon's Panic Flavour 2: What To Expect

Mission: Incommunicable 7 Tin can Pay Off A Cut Ethan & Ilsa Scene & Plot Signal

Well-nigh The Author

Kara Hedash (1739 Manufactures Published)

Kara Hedash is a features editor and writer for Screen Rant. From time to time, she dives into the world's virtually popular franchises but Kara primarily focuses on evergreen topics. The fact that she gets to write about The Part regularly is similar a dream come up true. Before joining Screen Rant, Kara served as a correspondent for Movie Pilot and had work published on The Mary Sue and Reel Love. Afterward graduating college, writing began equally a part-time hobby for Kara just it quickly turned into a career. She loves binging a new series and watching movies ranging from Hollywood blockbusters to hidden indie gems. She also has a soft spot for horror ever since she started watching information technology at besides young of an age. Her favorite Avenger is Thor and her favorite Disney princess is Leia Organa. When Kara's not busy writing, you lot can observe her doing yoga or hanging out with Gritty.

More From Kara Hedash