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Why Prime Video’s Elle Is the Feel-Good Series I Needed
- Dara Clariza Evangelista
- Jul 10
- 6 min read
Spoiler warning: This review contains light spoilers for Elle Season 1.
One of my favorite genres of shows and movies is—and I say this with zero shame—happy things.
I love watching stories that make me smile. I love pretty clothes, silly situations, cute romances, characters I can root for, and problems that do not make me feel like I need to emotionally recover for three business days after every episode.
That is exactly why Elle made me so, so happy.
The Prime Video series takes us back to 1995, following a teenage Elle Woods long before Harvard Law, courtroom victories, and the bend and snap. Lexi Minetree leads the eight-episode first season, alongside Jacob Moskovitz as Miles, Zac Looker as Dustin, Gabrielle Policano as Liz, Chandler Kinney as Kimberly, June Diane Raphael as Elle’s mother Eva, and Tom Everett Scott as her father Wyatt.
Is the show complicated? Not really. Is it trying to traumatize its audience every ten minutes? Thankfully, no.
It is simply a cute show filled with fun colors, fun fashion, sprinkles of comedy, sweet life lessons, and a love triangle that feels like such a welcome break from the darker themes found in many series aimed at younger audiences today. And that is more than enough.
The Kind of Love Triangle I Actually Enjoy Watching
The love triangle was one of my favorite parts of the series because it never felt painfully heavy or emotionally exhausting.
It gave us just enough tension to make me wonder who Elle would choose, while still keeping the overall story playful and easy to watch. There are crushes, mixed signals, awkward encounters, and romantic confusion that feels appropriate for a teenage coming-of-age story. It is messy, but cute messy.
The main cast also works so well together. Everyone brings something different to Elle’s new life, and the actors lift one another up in their shared scenes. Of course, some shine a little brighter than others.
And yes, I am talking about Miles.
Jacob Moskovitz plays him with such an effortless, understated charm. The way Miles acts, reacts, and carries himself gives the character a natural presence without making it seem like he is trying too hard to be the mysterious love interest. Even when he is not doing much, you still notice him.
That is a skill.
Lexi Minetree Does Not Just Copy Elle Woods
But we can't talk about the cast, without talking about Lexi Minetree's performance.
Playing a younger version of such an iconic character could have easily turned into an exaggerated Reese Witherspoon impression. Instead, Minetree finds a balance between honoring the Elle Woods we already know and creating a teenager who is still figuring out who she wants to become.
She captures Elle’s sweetness, confidence, optimism, dramatic reactions, and ability to see the best in people. Most importantly, she understands that Elle is never supposed to be unintelligent. She may love fashion, beauty, romance, and the color pink, but those interests have never made her shallow.
And, oh girl, sometimes when you are deep into an episode, Minetree looks so much like Reese Witherspoon’s Elle that it is honestly uncanny.
There were moments when she would make a particular facial expression, tilt her head, or deliver a line in a certain way, and I had to pause mentally because the resemblance was suddenly that strong.
It makes sense that the performance feels so detailed. Minetree reportedly watched the original Legally Blonde more than 150 times while studying Witherspoon’s mannerisms, physicality, and energy. The show’s creators also noticed what they described as an uncanny similarity between the two actresses during casting.
But Minetree still makes this version of Elle feel like her own person—and that is what makes the performance work.
The ’90s Details Make the Show Even More Fun
I loved the soundtrack and how it elevated the entire ’90s feeling of the series.
The songs do not simply play in the background. They help create the show’s personality, adding energy to Elle’s entrances, romantic moments, awkward situations, and emotional scenes.
Then there is the technology.
I loved seeing the phones, computers, answering machines, pagers, televisions, and all the wonderfully outdated ways people had to communicate. There is something so entertaining about watching a teenage problem unfold without anyone being able to send a quick message, check someone’s location, or investigate an entire person through social media.
The technology is not just decoration. It helps remind us that this is a very different teenage world.
Add the clothes, hair, makeup, colorful interiors, grunge influences, and Elle’s determination to remain unapologetically pink, and the series becomes such a visual treat.
Seattle is gray. Elle is not. That contrast gives the show so much of its charm.
The ‘Legally Blonde’ Callbacks Made Me Smile
Of course, a Legally Blonde prequel needs callbacks—and Elle gives longtime fans several moments to recognize.
One of my favorites was the familiar setup involving Elle arriving in the wrong outfit for the occasion. It immediately brought me back to the original movie, when Elle is tricked into attending a supposedly themed party dressed as a bunny while everyone else is wearing normal clothes.
It is such an iconic Legally Blonde moment because it shows Elle being embarrassed without allowing that embarrassment to completely destroy her confidence. The series revisits that feeling in a way that is recognizable without simply copying the movie scene by scene.
These little connections made the show feel like it genuinely belonged in the same world. They are not always loud or obvious. Sometimes, they appear in an outfit, a reaction, a relationship, or a small detail that longtime fans will catch.
Elle’s Parents Are More Interesting Than I Expected
I also did not expect to become so invested in Elle’s parents.
Eva and Wyatt could have remained simple background characters whose only purpose was to explain Elle’s privileged upbringing. Instead, the show gives them their own personalities, talents, conflicts, romantic history, and individual struggles.
Their backstory? Crazy. Their relationship? Also crazy. But it makes the Woods family feel more complete.
June Diane Raphael is especially entertaining as Eva, bringing glamour, humor, confidence, and vulnerability to a character who helps us understand where Elle gets so much of her personality. Tom Everett Scott also gives Wyatt more depth than I expected, especially as the consequences of his professional choices begin affecting the entire family.
The creators intentionally expanded Elle’s parents beyond the small roles they had in the original movie, particularly developing Eva as a character older Legally Blonde fans might now understand from a different stage of life.
Their storyline shows that adults do not automatically have everything figured out. Parents make mistakes. Marriages go through difficult seasons. People can be talented and still make terrible decisions. It is one of the more mature parts of the series, but the show still handles it without losing its lighter spirit.
I understand that Elle might not be for everyone.
Some viewers may want higher stakes. Others may compare every detail to the original movie or question whether Elle Woods needed a prequel at all. But I think there is space for stories that are simply warm, colorful, funny, romantic, and hopeful.
Why does every coming-of-age series have to be devastating? Why can a teenage girl not worry about friendships, clothes, crushes, family problems, and finding her place in the world without the story becoming relentlessly dark?
Joy can still have meaning.
A cute love triangle can still reveal something about growing up. A fashion disaster can still teach confidence. A family conflict can still explore forgiveness. A girl dressed in pink can still be smart, capable, kind, and worth taking seriously.
That has always been the magic of Elle Woods.
Elle is not trying to reinvent television. It does not need to. Sometimes, I just want to watch a girl in a fabulous outfit navigate high school, fall in love, make mistakes, learn something about herself, and remain hopeful through all of it.
What, like being happy is hard?
