Elle comes from the world of Legally Blonde. In season 1 of this series, Elle Woods, played by Lexi Minetree, is a junior in high school and dealing with some major life changes.

Elle had one huge hill to climb in terms of casting. Reese Witherspoon so owned Legally Blonde that everyone has vivid memories of her in that part. Could they find someone who would be equally compelling as a younger Elle Woods?

They found Lexi Minetree and she was fabulous. Lexi Minetree looks enough like Reese Witherspoon to work, but the real magic she brought was the ability to sound and move like Reese.

Finding the right Elle Woods wasn’t the only casting achievement. Her mom, Eva Woods, was perfectly done by June Diane Raphael. Elle’s relationship with her mom was the most important one in her life at 16. She still clung to that relationship and to her mom’s values as the season began.

The coming of age story begins in 1995 when Elle’s dad, Wyatt (Tom Everett Scott), a plastic surgeon, botched a nose job so badly the family had to leave LA and move to Seattle. Elle left behind her BFF since childhood, Madison (Jessica Belkin).

Moving from the high fashion world of sunshine, celebrity, and fame to the rainy, jeans and hoodies world of grunge and social causes was a big shock to Elle. She spent her junior year readjusting everything about her life.

Elle befriended Liz (Gabrielle Policano), Shannon (Danielle Chand), Dustin (Zac Looker) who had the locker next to hers, Miles (Jacob Moskovitz) who she crushed on immediately but he was dating Shannon, and the school secretary Donna (Amy Pietz) who turned out to be Liz’s mom. She also worked hard to win over popular senior Kimberly (Chandler Kinney). Kimberly was a challenge.

Elle was so Elle. She was smart, quick to come up with a creative argument, irrepressibly pink and cheerful, full of plans, and ready to change the dark flannel-infused world of Seattle into something perky and fun.

She changed the high school by creating a homecoming event, a dance, and other never before hosted events. She brought a smile to some faces. She got involved in Dustin’s campaign to get the school principal (Matt Oberg) arrested for embezzling from the school. She also made many mistakes, hurt people badly, and found herself apologizing over and over again.

Elle was an homage to 1995. Movies, TV shows, stars, music — it was a total Easter egg to the past. It laid the ground work for Elle changing her focus from fashion merchandising to the law. Season 2 is already approved, which I assume will be about her senior year and her decisions about college and her future.

This charmer of a coming of age story is streaming on Prime Video. Directors included the women directors Stacie Passon and Julia Brownell.