Warning: This list contains mild spoilers from the first season of Prime Video’s “Elle.” Haven’t watched yet? Get to streaming!
The new Prime Video series “Elle” may take place years before the events of “Legally Blonde,” but that doesn’t stop the show’s creative team from working in a surprising number of references to the original 2001 movie.
In fact, “Elle” is basically one big “Legally Blonde” reference by design. Just as the movie chronicles Elle’s journey as a hot pink fish out of water at Harvard, the show also follows Elle (now a 16-year-old) as she leaves Bel-Air and is forced to navigate a dramatically different social environment (this time Seattle). She finds herself torn between a total Warner type (easygoing athlete Miles) and more of an Emmett type (charming activist Dustin), and she even gets her own Vivian in the form of a similarly mean-but-misunderstood girl named Kimberly.
Still, the show finds meaningful ways to incorporate what we know about Elle into the prequel, from her obsession with “Days of Our Lives” to her belief that pink scented paper is just the way to go.
“We never wanted it to just feel like pure fan service,” creator Laura Kittrell tells TVLine of working in nods to the movie. “We wanted [the references] to feel baked into the story and like it was tied to something emotional.”
Below, we gathered a list of the major “Legally Blonde” references throughout the first eight episodes of “Elle Woods”:
Elle’s episode titles are all Legally Blonde quotes
“Elle” wastes no time honoring “Legally Blonde,” making its first reference before the show even begins. Not including the pilot, every episode title from Season 1 is a direct quote from a character in the movie.
Episode 2 is titled “No Silly, I Go Here,” which Elle says to Warner when he first bumps into her at Harvard; Episode 3 is titled “You’re Not the Girl I Thought You Were,” which Professor Stromwell tells Elle during her pep talk at the salon; and Episode 4 is titled “I’m Not Afraid of a Challenge,” which Elle tells Professor Callahan (but really Vivian) during an early seminar.
Episode 5 is titled “Trust Me, I Can Handle Anything,” which Elle tells her skeptical academic advisor at CULA when she first applies to Harvard; Episode 6 is titled “Whoever Said Orange Is The New Pink Was Seriously Disturbed,” which Elle tells her fellow law students during orientation; and Episode 7 is titled “You Picked the Wrong Girl,” which Elle says to a snooty saleswoman who tries to upsell her a dress from — gasp! — last season.
And Episode 8, the season finale, also pulls its title (“What, Like It’s Hard?”) from Elle’s first conversation with Warner at Harvard.
Elle’s sweet sixteen is a parade of Legally Blonde references
The first 10 minutes of the “Elle” premiere is a blink-and-you-missed-one onslaught of nods to “Legally Blonde,” beginning with the bright pink envelopes arriving at Elle’s sweet sixteen — a callback to the congratulatory letter her sorority sisters give her at the beginning of the movie.
As Elle is getting ready for the big day, the audience is treated to close-ups of her flowing locks, her platform shoes, and her makeup routine, which is exactly how we meet Reese Witherspoon’s character in “Legally Blonde.”
We even see that Elle has always cried the same way. When Elle’s parents inform her that they’re moving to Seattle, her mouth-covering, dog-whimpering reaction is eerily similar to Elle’s reaction when Warner breaks up with her in “Legally Blonde.” And speaking of Elle throwing a fit, her in-bed meltdown over having to move in “Elle” is clearly a nod to how she bed-rots after Warner’s dumping in “Legally Blonde.”
Bruiser’s origin story checks out
There’s a scene in “Legally Blonde” where Elle introduces her new Harvard classmates to Bruiser, her beloved rescue chihuahua, but it isn’t until the first episode of “Elle” that we learn the specifics of his rescue. Bruiser was apparently “rescued” by Elle’s mom from their neighbor, Aaron Spelling, because Bruiser’s natural earth tones no longer match the Spellings’ new furniture aesthetic. Elle famously mentions growing up next to the TV pioneer in “Legally Blonde,” so this actually works as a two-for-one reference.
Elle has always been a Cosmo Girl
No one would accuse Elle Woods of being religious, but she does mention her love of the Bible in “Legally Blonde.” That holy text is, of course, Cosmopolitan, so it’s only fitting that Elle is also an avid reader of the magazine in her younger years. In fact, Cosmo plays a large role in “Elle,” ultimately causing a rift in several of her closest friendships. (That’s right, Cosmo is the villain in this one.)
Elle never misses an episode of Days of Our Lives
When Elle submits her video application to Harvard in “Legally Blonde,” she mentions that she’s able to recall important details at the drop of a hat, proving this by succinctly recapping the latest developments on “Days of Our Lives.” It’s a fan-favorite moment in the movie, and “Elle” takes it one step further by making the soap opera a through-line in the lives of Elle and her mother — as it would be if they were watching it every day!
But here’s the best part: Because “Elle” is set in 1995, Elle and her mom are watching the iconic Marlena Evans possession storyline in real time. If you’re not familiar with “Days,” it really is exactly what it sounds like: In 1995, small-town psychiatrist Marlena Evans (played by daytime legend Deidre Hall) was briefly possessed by Satan. (And again in 2021, but that’s another story.)
In fact, it’s rare for an episode of “Elle” to go by without at least one mention of “Days,” including a moment in the premiere when Eva accidentally spoils a pivotal episode that her daughter hasn’t watched yet. It’s an honest mistake, but true soap fans will sympathize.
Elle falls victim to another party prank
Another iconic scene in “Legally Blonde” involves Elle’s nemesis Vivian inviting her to a casual mixer under the guise of a “costume party.” Elle takes the theme very seriously, showing up in a full Playboy Bunny outfit, only to discover that she’s been pranked. Rather than allow herself to be humiliated, however, Elle goes right up to Vivian and tells her off. We believe the word “constipated” is used at one point?
Anyway, “Elle” does its version of the costume party prank in Episode 3, in which Elle excitedly attends her first pool party in Seattle… only to discover that it’s nothing like the pool parties she’s used to back home. For starters, she’s the only person there in a bikini (which is bright pink, of course). In fact, there doesn’t seem to be any swimming on the agenda, as the pool has been drained for skateboarding.
Series creator Laura Kittrell tells TVLine that the writers spent a lot of time discussing this particular homage to the movie. Specifically, what is she going to learn from this experience? How is it going to help her grow into the confident woman who will one day be unfazed by this sort of thing?
“We talked a lot about how you get to that place when you’re her age, and we thought, well, you have to kind of fall flat on your face one time and feel bad before you can get to be that confident person,” Kittrell explains.
Elle’s stationary is still pink… and scented!
In “Legally Blonde,” Elle hands in a résumé that’s not only printed on pink paper but also scented, the latter of which she believes “gives it a little something extra.”
“Elle” reveals that she developed this little trick long before her college years. In Episode 6, Elle and her friends carry out a heist during Saturday detention, and in true Elle fashion, she prints their itinerary on pink paper. “Is that… lavender-scented?” Liz asks, to which Elle replies, “Great nose, Liz! Lavender is a naturally calming fragrance, and heists are known to be quite nervy.”
All roads lead to CULA for Elle
“Elle” also does quite a bit of dramatic foreshadowing in regards to its leading lady’s future. In Episode 2, Elle mentions that scoring an internship with Cosmopolitan would make her “a shoo-in at CULA,” which is the college she attends for undergrad in “Legally Blonde.” The show takes it one step further in Episode 7 by having Elle mention her desire to major in fashion merchandising, which is exactly what she does at CULA.
Beyond her undergraduate studies, there are also nods to Elle’s future at Harvard Law School. In Episode 6, Elle is asked point-blank: “Have you ever thought about becoming a lawyer?” (Not yet she hasn’t!)
What’s your favorite major “Legally Blonde” references in the first season of “Elle”? Are there any smaller nods you would add to our list? And how do you feel about the prequel series in general? Grade it in our poll below, then drop a comment with your thoughts.