It would be easy to write off Amazon Prime Video's Elle as yet another unnecessary spinoff of an already existing popular IP. After all, Legally Blonde, starring Reese Witherspoon as the iconic Elle Woods, remains a modern classic.
Yet, the prequel series still works its way into being a solid representation of Elle's charisma, joy for life, and a coming-of-age journey that shows how Elle became the person she was by the time Legally Blonde introduces her. Elle, for all the questions of whether it needs to exist, still creates a fun environment for a television show.
Elle follows the high school story of Elle Woods as she moves away from being a Los Angeles socialite to an average student in Seattle. Similar to Elle's arrival at Harvard, Elle is the only person around with a strong appreciation for pink, a bubbly personality, and a sense of unwavering optimism toward seeing that things will eventually work out.
Elle does not entirely rely on its titular character. The prequel surrounds Elle with a group of interesting characters who help build out Elle's worldview. Liz, Kimberly, Miles, and Dustin are significantly different from Elle's Los Angeles friends, and the series makes an important distinction between growing apart and developing as a person.Â
The show's narrative structure does mimic the movie in terms of character beats, as Elle struggles to feel like she is truly fitting in, only for her friends to turn against her after she has grown comfortable. Yet, while there is a similarity in Elle's instinctual desire to return to Los Angeles when things get hard, both in the show and the movie, she ultimately chooses to face the conflict head-on each time, portraying the consistency of her character. However, the show, by the nature of having more time, does commit to Elle escaping to the familiar, a choice that proves just how much Elle has grown, whether she realizes it or not.
Elle confronts various emotional plot lines, such as Elle dealing with how her changes in Seattle impact her relationships with her longtime friends, such as Madison, and the concept that the predictable choice may no longer be the exciting one. The series also confronts the aspect of grief and what it means to be faced with it for the first time.
Elle is also introduced to people who truly care for social justice issues, something that inspires her to take an interest in helping others as well. Elle Woods, at her core, is someone who wants to help others. While not all of Elle's attempts to step up always go her way, Elle's dedication to righting her own wrongs gives the character a motivated edge.
Elle confronts the titular character's inevitable transformation into a lawyer by using the approach that her abilities have always lain dormant within her, and they just do not truly awaken until the time calls for it. There are certainly elements to Elle's striving for justice that may feel a little too early in the character's timeline for such development.
Yet, these decisions toe the line of never quite going beyond what would have felt possible for the Elle Woods character. There are plenty of references and easter eggs to how Elle grows into her young adult self, including narrowing down an affair, the start of her relationship with her beloved dog Bruiser, and a habit of befriending the person she once viewed as an antagonist.
The cast and characters bring an excited energy to the show that helps everything from creating a pep rally out of nothing to its own take on The Breakfast Club feel light-hearted and easily digestible.
While Elle may face polarizing or controversial views for how the direction of the show may or may not have influenced the Elle Woods from the movies, the series on its own offers episodes that give the audience characters to root for and relationships to get excited about. The show's ability to further flesh out Elle's relationship with her parents also adds another layer to a dynamic that was never truly explored in the films.
Overall, while Elle's storylines and dialogue never quite reach the same level as the original film, it does offer its own something special to the world of Legally Blonde.
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