Elle

What’s it about?

Elle Wood has just turned 16 and her comfortable world is about to be up-ended when she moves to ’90s Seattle.

Starring

Lexi Minetree, June Diane Raphael, Tom Everett Scott, Jacob Moskovitz, Gabrielle Policano, Chandler Kinney, Zac Looker, Amy Pietz

An Introduction to Elle

It’s the 1990s and we meet Elle Woods – a charming, teen socialite hailing from Bel Air, Los Angeles, California. Hers is a world of sun-drenched days, moneyed privilege and shallow pursuits – not an apparent care in the world beyond designer clothes and high school dances.

This isn’t to say she’s in any way an awful person – far from it. Elle is an unstoppable optimist (see also, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), a glass-half-full gal who sprinkles positivity wherever she goes with a cheery smile and a flick of her hair. When Elle expresses concern at someone who may be having a bad day, it’s not a vacuous gesture of faux compassion – she genuinely cares and will do her best to spiritually lift that person up, then and there. It seems that Elle couldn’t do insincerity if she tried.

All well and good you say, but isn’t a sunny disposition easy if your world is predictably secure and the weather is literally sunny all day, every day? Well, it’s time to put that to the test!

Circumstances lead Elle’s father to find new work, but it’s not in L.A. – Elle’s world is transplanted to Seattle, famous as the birthplace of Grunge music and fashion, soon-to-be-huge startups such as Starbucks and Amazon, and rain… lots of rain.

At Elle’s new high school, all the students wear loose-fitting muted/grey-toned clothing and copious quantities of plaid – in stark contrast to Elle’s perma-pink wardobe of designer outfits. Not only does she visibly stand out, but she seems to embody everything the students dislike, instantly becoming a target for mean comments and ridicule.

This is Elle Woods we’re talking about, though – does she get emotionally crushed by the snarkiness or tone down her wardrobe to fit in with the desaturated majority? No way! Elle does the one thing she knows how to do consistently – just carry on being herself, maintaining her standards and values, and of course, the pink outfits. Not being brave or contrary, just being Elle. If people come around, fine – if they don’t, that’s also fine.

Summary

Elle is based on the main character in the 2001 book and film, Legally Blonde. The series is set six years before Legally Blonde, so we get insights into key events and learnings that helped form the Elle Woods we have come to know and enjoy.

Lexi Minetree plays Elle to perfection, perfectly channelling Reese Witherspoon’s quirky enthusiasm and heart displayed in the original film, along with doing justice to the less flamboyent, more thoughtful aspects of the character.

Far from being a one-dimensional caricature, Elle Woods works as a character when you notice the subtle beats alongside the perkiness: momentary flickers of self-doubt that are quickly absorbed by her dominant optimism; switching to no-nonsense leadership behavior when her peers are flailing; acknowledging moments of sadness when it may take a bit longer than usual to bounce back from a knock-back.

Set in mid-1990s Seattle, the ubiquitous plaid shirts are faithfully on display everywhere, and the equally-important alternative music scene is also represented in the soundtrack. Welcome snippets of Soundgarden, Radiohead, Bikini Kill, and Tori Amos (among others) are peppered throughout the show, while the show’s theme is Garbage’s gloriously darkness-embracing ‘Only Happy When It Rains’.

Comparisons to 1995’s Clueless (starring Alice Silverstone) are inevitable owing to the subject matter – ditzy rich girl has to navigate the high school cliques of mean girls, band geeks, math nerds, etc. – but there’s certainly room for more if done well. Overall, Elle is a feel-good teen drama with a great cast and a likable lead. Well worth your time, especially if you like the pre-smartphone, pre-always online ’90s vibe.

Check out the Season 1 Trailer here: