Why Does Elle Move to Seattle?

Elle Woods and her venture into Harvard is at the center of the plot in the 2001 film ‘Legally Blonde.’ In ‘Elle,’ the prequel series, set in 1997, the story follows the titular protagonist’s foray into a different, but equally challenging social environment: Seattle. Even at 16, Elle is the epitome of a Californian IT girl. Garden parties, poolside hangs, and shopping sprees are her unequivocal bread and butter. Furthermore, she has her group of tight-knit friends, including her long-time best friend Madison, in LA, with whom she is about to embark on one of the most important milestones in her teenage years: junior year of high school. Therefore, her sudden and abrupt move to Seattle, which seems to be the premise of the series, comes as a jarring surprise. SPOILERS AHEAD!

A Botched Nose Job Becomes the Catalyst for Elle’s Move to Seattle

Elle has been an LA girl her entire life, a fact that remains highly evident in her lifestyle and personality. She’s a fashionista who is well-versed in high school hierarchies where jocks and cheerleaders tend to be at the top of the proverbial pyramid. Her happy-go-lucky attitude, paired with perfect manicures and a bright wardrobe, is a surefire way to earn people’s interest and friendship. More importantly, her entire life, from favorite hangout spots to all her friends, is entirely contained in LA.

For the same reason, even Elle receives the news of her upcoming move to Seattle as a perceived death sentence for her teenage years. Nonetheless, as it turns out, the decision is one enforced upon her family by forces outside of their control. Elle’s father, Wyatt, is a renowned plastic surgeon who is known for his skill with the knife all over Los Angeles. However, everything changes when he messes up the nose job of an up-and-coming starlet. In LA, the city of stars, where appearances are everything, a botched nose job is just about one of the worst things that can happen to a person. Therefore, Wyatt is directly responsible for the ruin of a promising young actress’ future.

This ends up putting him on a kind of social blacklist that requires him and his family to lay low in order to escape public backlash and scrutiny. Furthermore, it essentially ensures that the Woods cannot make their rounds in the city’s social scene without inviting criticism or worse. As such, the family has only one course of action left: to pack up their lives and skip town for a year or two. Although the professional blunder costs Wyatt his job in Los Angeles and basically all of California, he is still able to find employment all the way out in Seattle, Washington State. Thus, Elle’s father’s professional relocation ends up costing the teenager her idealized junior year. However, even though it’s the last thing she imagined for herself, Seattle promises to surprise her in unexpectedly significant ways. In fact, by the end of the season, when Elle has the chance to stay in LA or return to Seattle, at least for a few years, she ends up choosing the latter.

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