By Sarah Osman

The Legally Blonde prequel Elle spotlights a charming Lexi Minetree, but struggles to justify its place in the Blonde-verse.

Lexi Minetree as Elle Woods in Elle. Photograph: Jessica Brooks/Prime Video

The Legally Blonde universe, which consists of Legally Blonde, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, & Blonde, and the musical version of Legally Blonde (I object to the existence of Legally Blondes), has a new addition: Elle (Streaming on Prime Video). The prequel series follows our favorite blonde heroine in her high school years as she and her family leave the sunny skies of Los Angeles for the gloomy ones of Seattle.

Is Elle as iconic as the other entries in the Blonde -verse? No. Is it fun and charming? Yes. Is it unnecessary, and yet another example of why Hollywood desperately needs original programming? Also yes.

First, here’s what made me yell yes: Lexi Minetree is Elle Woods. She captures every mannerism, quirk, and move of the character. She’s charismatic, optimistic, and unapologetically herself. Interestingly, every actress (including the original Elle on Broadway) who’s portrayed the character is from the South, even though Elle is from Los Angeles. Southern gals have a knack for capturing Elle’s particular femininity as well as her feistiness. Minetree is a welcome addition to the hallowed hall of Elles.

The series’ soundtrack is also brilliant. Elle takes place in mid-’90s Seattle, and the music wallows in the era. There’s a great No Doubt karaoke scene, the title song is “I’m Only Happy When It Rains” by Garbage, and there’s an obligatory drop of “Black Hole Sun” at a party. Whoever put together the soundtrack had a blast and a deep love for ’90s music.

Now for the meh: the plot. Elle opens with a cute nod to the original film: a character emerges from a car with a pink envelope for Elle. We learn that it’s Elle’s sweet sixteen, and her birthday bash is being tossed at her Bel-Air mansion. Our protagonist has a three-point plan for conquering her junior year, her parents think she can do no wrong, and she has adoring friends. This is life as fairy tale. That is, until her parents have to move to Seattle.

Elle’s love of pink is not appreciated by her Seattle peers. They favor flannel, grunge, and a sullen attitude. Elle is immediately dismissed by the cool girls for not knowing who Bikini Kill is. Her only friend is the school secretary. But Elle slowly learns how to adapt to Seattle, and Seattle slowly learns to accept Elle.

If that plot sounds familiar, that’s because it’s a tedious retread of the original. In the first Legally Blonde Elle is dumped, studies her butt off to get into Harvard Law to order to land the love of her life back. She realizes he doesn’t take her seriously and decides to become the best lawyer she can be (which she does, all while wearing pink heels and utilizing facts from Cosmopolitan to win a trial). Besides being a pale imitation, the Seattle plot is nowhere near as fun or inspiring as trails and tribulations at Harvard.  There are no bends and snaps, no self-affirming declaration of how useful Elle Woods is to the world. Bruiser is there, but we need more of Elle’s adorable pup.

Elle generally feels like a retread teen drama, albeit with a more interesting heroine and a better soundtrack. Which, for me, begs the question: why in the world does Legally Blonde need a prequel? Wouldn’t a legacy sequel make more sense where we meet Elle’s daughter. Although we’ve seen how legacy sequels can be hit or misses—hello, And Just Like That!. Or how about a film adaptation of the musical version, which is as good as its source material? Or, better yet, why not make a brand-new show with no ties to any IP? The idea of a ’90s LA valley girl being dropped into grunge Seattle could easily work — without the crippling tie to Legally Blonde.

Enough of the awkward IP spin-offs, Hollywood. It’s time for you to get off your butts and enter your Elle-kicks-butt phase, instead of your cry-in-bed-with-chocolates phase.

Sarah Mina Osman is based in Los Angeles. In addition to The Arts Fuse, her writing can be found in The Huffington Post, Success Magazine, Matador Network, HelloGiggles, Business Insider, and WatchMojo. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina Wilmington and is working on her first novel. She has a deep appreciation for sloths and tacos. You can keep up with her on Instagram @SarahMinaOsman and at Bluesky @sarahminaosman.bsky.social.