Comedy
Elle
Prime Video’s ‘Elle’, a prequel to ‘Legally Blonde’, gives us a peek at squeaky-clean Elle Woods when she attended a less than squeaky-clean high school.
Hollis Shaw—wife of heart surgeon Matthew Shaw, proud mother of a college-age daughter named Caroline and creator of her successful cooking blog “Hungry With Hollis”—seemed to live a life that anyone would savor.
But Hollis’ well-balanced existence gets stirred up when her husband dies in a tragic car accident.
Before Matthew died, the Shaw’s marriage was strained—and that complicates Hollis’ grieving. So after six painful months, Hollis takes the advice of a colleague and embarks on what she characterizes as a special five-star weekend in Nantucket.
What is this five-star weekend?
Hollis invites best friends from each phase of her life to spend the weekend catching up and hanging out at her Nantucket vacation home. The friends are eager to support Hollis, but they also have challenges of their own simmering under the surface.
First, there’s Tatum, Hollis’ childhood friend. Though the women were like sisters when they were young, Hollis rarely reaches out to Tatum anymore. And during the weekend, Tatum anxiously awaits test results from a breast biopsy.
Hollis’ college bestie is Dru-Ann. Dru-Ann is happy to help Hollis rediscover her younger, fun-er (and drunk-er) college self, but she’s dealing with work drama after getting canceled online for making a controversial comment about mental health.
Brooke is Hollis’ mom friend, who’s ecstatic to escape on this exclusive weekend getaway—especially since Brooke’s husband is facing a lawsuit for sexual harassment. As Brooke tries to put her marital struggles aside for the weekend, she begins to wonder about her own sexual preferences.
And though their relationship has been strained since the tragedy, Hollis’ daughter, Caroline, joins in for the weekend, too.
When these women and their challenges get mixed together, tensions at the five-star weekend might just boil over.
Especially when another woman—the mysterious Gigi—shows up, too.
Unlike the other three invitees, Gigi hasn’t known Hollis for very long. In fact, they’ve never even met in person. Gigi is one of Hollis’ food blog followers who Hollis leaned on for support immediately after her husband died.
She seems nice, but as the weekend progresses, Hollis’ other friends suspect there might be something more to Gigi’s connection with Hollis.
Between the mystery guest, personal challenges and the fact that Hollis’ first-ever boyfriend named Jack happens to be on Nantucket this same weekend, it seems all the necessary ingredients are present to make Hollis’ five-star weekend one she’ll never forget.
Based on Elin Hilderbrand’s novel of the same name, Peacock’s The Five-Star Weekend treats its viewers to a dash of drama, a sprinkle of humor and a generous helping of high emotions, healing and heart.
Baked into the eight-episode series about the beauty of female friendship are a few less-than-appetizing content concerns.
Characters occasionally use profanity including the f-word, the s-word and misuses of God’s name. Additionally, the five friends drink alcohol—sometimes in excess. There are also a few scenes in which Tatum smokes cigarettes, and in Episode 4, the women take marijuana mints together.
Throughout the series, characters discuss sexual topics and make sexual innuendos. For example, there’s a scene where the women talk about the intimate details of the type of pornography they enjoy. There are also brief sensual scenes in which people kiss or caress one another—though nothing critical is seen. In one sensual scene, someone has an affair with a married person. In another scene, it’s implied that two people who aren’t married sleep together. And as Brooke explores her sexuality, she meets a woman with whom she flirts and eventually kisses.
The Five-Star Weekend’s profanity, depiction of substance use, sexual references and LGBT content might have some families leaving it on the back burner. But for those willing to navigate those concerns, The Five-Star Weekend offers a sweet story that serves up spicy twists that leave viewers with something to chew on.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at letters@pluggedin.com, or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
Food blogger Hollis Shaw invites her closest friends Tatum, Dru-Ann and Brooke to Nantucket for a girl’s weekend. Though the friends are eager to support Hollis as she grieves her late husband, each woman stews in her own challenges, fears and insecurities. And the friends wonder why Hollis invited a fourth woman named Gigi—someone who Hollis has only met online—to their weekend getaway.
People describe sexual details or make sexual innuendos at brief points throughout the episode. Someone jokingly mentions an orgy. A woman sits on her husband’s lap, and their daughter tells them to stop being so “sex positive.” The friends discuss the type of pornography they like to watch, and they mention some sexual details about their preferences.
As a woman tries on clothes, she’s seen in her underwear. A husband tells his wife that one of her dresses is “way too sexy” to go outside in. A woman compliments another woman’s breast augmentation surgery, and they discuss how it makes her body look. A mom tells a woman that she’s proud of her daughter who does “OnlyFans” as a side hustle.
Characters use profanity including three uses of the f-word, 11 uses of the s-word, and single uses of “d–n” and “h—.” A character says, “Jesus kill me.”
Sports agent Dru-Ann somewhat callously dismisses the mental-health concerns of an athlete she represents. Tatum gets a breast biopsy at a doctor’s office, and they briefly discuss medical details and fears about her potential condition.
Hollis buys a large amount of alcohol for the weekend; later, the women drink alcohol together. Tatum smokes a cigarette. When reminiscing about college, Dru-Ann tells Hollis that she loves “drunk Hollis.” Later, women talk about wanting to get drunk.
Prime Video’s ‘Elle’, a prequel to ‘Legally Blonde’, gives us a peek at squeaky-clean Elle Woods when she attended a less than squeaky-clean high school.
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Netflix’s ‘Little House on the Prairie’ is a wholesome watch that tastefully hints at its content concerns rather than show them onscreen.
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