There’s a definite cultural trend at the moment for leaning in to nostalgia, which is hardly surprising when you take a look at the world we live in. I’m as guilty of it as anyone. Rather than face up to the current news, I’m more likely to be watching an old episode of Cheers or getting obsessed with Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. And I’m not sorry, because when you dig into the past, there’s some quality stuff there.

Old becomes new

Alongside revisiting old content, the trend has seen new productions on previous ideas, and they usually start with me being quite skeptical. Back to the Future musical? Sure. Oh, they’re bringing Gladiators back, are they? Bah. Both of these have been stone cold hits for me, and now I’ve got another one to add to the list.

Amazon Prime confirmed they would be streaming a new series called Elle, a prequel show based on the character from Legally Blonde. We follow Elle Woods in high school, having had to relocate from sunny California to rainy Seattle, and witness her adventures in trying to fit in whilst also keeping her own shiny pink personality intact.

Looking back, over my shoulder

This felt like one of those unnecessary shows to me but you know what? I loved it. It has levels upon levels of nostalgia. As a prequel show, we are firmly set in the 90s with all the joy that comes with that - incredible soundtrack work (the theme is Only Happy When It Rains by Garbage, I mean come on!), eye-opening attention to detail around the early computers, phones and technology, and lots of nods to stuff that no longer exists. One episodes sees a key character working in a Blockbuster, adorable.

The additional layer we get to enjoy is that the characters are referencing various things from the 90s but also, naturally, from the 80s because that would be their nostalgic view. So we get double the fun! An entire episode is dedicated to the enduring classic The Breakfast Club. Our intrepid gang of mismatched teens are deliberately recreating the detention premise of the movie to work through a school-related mission, and we even get a debate over who is which character, and of course that glorious fist pump into the air at the end.

The prequel problem

Teen drama is timeless, but this series is well written and funny, and you get those satisfying glimpses of what Elle is going to turn out to be. It’s definitely a difficult path to tread, the prequel, and I do wonder if we aren’t undoing some of those things that make the movie magical - Elle is already learning how to fit in and having those ‘valley girl’ edges rubbed off her here, so why are they back in force in the film? And she’s already getting all lawyer-like in various scenes but it’s not like she enters the movie knowing she’s going to be a lawyer since she was a kid.

Elle is played by Lexi Minetree, in her first significant acting role, and she’s reacted to some of the criticism:

A big criticism is like, if she already went to Seattle, how would she have gone through it [again] at Harvard? We all go through many different hardships in life, and I wish we only went through one, but we move, and we meet new people, and we have to learn, and we’re always growing. I respect how much people care about this character and the show, and it’s very precious to them, so that’s why people hold it to such a high standard. I hope that people can look past that, and I think if they give it a shot, they’ll enjoy it.

Quality casting

She does have a point, this is just a TV show, so we shouldn’t take it too seriously. Minetree does an incredible job as well. The character can be a bit twee at times, but her recreation of this iconic pink personality is amazing. Honestly, sometimes you’re watching and you forget that this isn’t actually a young Reese Witherspoon saving the world.

She’s got a good support cast too: a couple of adorable love interests, some sassy friends, and some dastardly enemies. The parents add another dimension - struggling with their own issues but also massively impacting how Elle gets on in her new town as well. Plus, a mention for the lovely James van der Beek in what I think was the last role he played before his untimely death earlier this year.

Overall, there’s a lot to love about this show. Quirky characters, great visuals, incredible music, nostalgic vibes, positive energy, and plenty to hope for for season two as well. A must watch.