Elle Episode 1 Explains The Origin Story Of An Important Legally Blonde Character

Contains spoilers for "Elle," Season 1, Episode 1

Who would Elle Woods (Lexi Minetree) be without her canine sidekick? "Elle" Episode 1 only gives her a few brief, Bruiser-free moments before delving into the puppy's origin story. In the show, Elle learns that her whole family is being uprooted from California to Washington State due to a scandal involving her father Wyatt's ("That Thing You Do!" cast member Tom Everett Scott) plastic surgery practice. Elle is depressed and miserable, so her mother gives her a late birthday present to cheer her up — a chihuahua puppy. 

When Elle asks her mom if she adopted the puppy or shopped for it, Eva Woods (June Diane Raphael) reveals that the dog is a rescue from a famous family. "The Spellings just redecorated, and earth tones don't match their color palette," Eva explains. So that's how Bruiser came into Elle's life — he didn't match the new decor at the Spelling residence, and their loss turned out to be Elle's gain. Reacting to the puppy's feistiness, Elle says that they need to give him a tough name — and then settles on calling him "Bruiser."

Bruiser will help shape Elle's personal journey and legal career far into her adult years. While he's mainly a fluffy mascot during "Legally Blonde" (one of the best lawyer movies of all time), he drives much of the plot in the sequel, "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde." In that film, Elle (once again played by Reese Witherspoon) is hoping to reunite Bruiser with his mother, but learns she's being held as a lab animal by the cosmetics company C'est Magnifique.

When her law firm refuses to drop C'est Magnifique as clients, Elle decides to put an end to product testing on animals once and for all with "Bruiser's Bill." She subsequently delves into politics in Washington, D.C. and runs into the same snobbery she did at Harvard. Along the way she works to free Bruiser's mother and discovers that Bruiser is gay after he falls in love with a dog he meets at the groomer's. In "Elle," those events lie in Elle and Bruiser's futures, though it's clear that they have a very strong foundation of trust, respect, and love right from the start. Click here to find out if Bruiser made Looper's list of the best movie doggos ever.