If bubbly brainiac Elle Woods taught us anything within the 2001 megahit Legally Blonde, it’s that you would be able to’t judge a book by its sparkly pink cover. Viewers should keep in mind that once they tune in to Elle (premiering Wednesday, July 1), Prime Video’s candy-coated eight-episode spinoff about Woods (winning newcomer Lexi Minetree) as a highschool student in 1995.
On this reimagining of the Harvard heroine’s origin story, the central fish-out-of-water tension bubbles over when the Woods family relocates from sunny SoCal to grunge-obsessed Seattle. Ms. Woods, meet Nirvana. And rain. And a definite lack of pink.
Created by Laura Kittrell (Insecure, Black Monday) and executive produced by original Elle, Reese Witherspoon, the dramedy finds ways to nod to the films — yes, Bruiser the dog is here! — while making a latest world for Elle to brighten along with her signature optimism.
It helps that Minetree channels Witherspoon’s indelible creation in all the correct ways. She’s not doing an imitation, but one needn’t squint hard to see how this glass-half-full teen will eventually wind up shining within the courtroom due to her gumption and formidable beauty care knowledge.
Elle’s latest world includes her supportive parents, played by Tom Everett Scott and a characteristically wonderful June Diane Raphael (the confessional scenes between mother and daughter are a few of the show’s strongest). There are highschool friends and frenemies and duh, even a love interest or two. To maintain things moving, the season also introduces a central mystery for Elle and her friends to unravel — a fitting nod to our protagonist’s future legal profession.
It’s surprising that producers resisted the urge to show this thing right into a cameofest — not even Witherspoon appears — but their restraint is a model for all studios in our IP-driven era. Take away the film inspiration, and Elle would still be a warm coming-of-age TV show concerning the importance of getting faith in yourself. Elle Woods is known for proving doubters fallacious, and here, she does it again.
What, prefer it’s hard?