'Elle' Ending Explained: Dustin Or Miles, Who Did Elle Choose?

There’s an inherent obsession with new teen TV to add a dose of mystery into literally everything. Don’t get me wrong, I know that Elle is trying to take notes from the original Legally Blonde to make it look like this girl was always going to become a lawyer, but it’s kind of going against the point of the films. Let me explain, see, Elle was completely full of herself before she got into college. She believed she was always destined for fashion, and she probably never cared to fix problems that were not her own back in high school. While I get that the show is trying to tell us that Elle was always kind to everybody, I feel like it could’ve been presented in some other way. In the films, Elle herself didn’t know she was smart enough to get into Harvard. But if she’s already showing signs of being a lawyer, even getting asked that by a pivotal character in the show, then the film doesn’t come across as impactful. Especially if you’re young and watch the show before the film. I’m not going to lie, a big fear I had about the show was that it might come across as tone-deaf, considering the current political climate of the world, but it does a good job of making the characters feel grounded despite being slightly caricaturish because it’s set in 1995, and while the aesthetic is there, something felt missing. But anyway, let’s get into the ending of season 1.

Spoiler Alert

What Happens With Anna St. George? 

In the final episode, our lead returns to LA, thanks to her Cosmo internship and her mum making that wrong turn and ending up in her video despite the fact that Elle didn’t want her to. But lucky for her, winning the competition allows her to escape from cloudy Seattle and get back to sunny LA, where everything is waiting for her, and she can enjoy her privileged life again. However, even before Elle has a life-changing conversation with Anna St. George, the big stylist whom she’s a massive fan of, Elle is already feeling completely out of her depth. Seattle taught Elle to be different; it taught her how to handle problems, grow up a little, and remember that the world doesn’t revolve around her. Though she hurt everyone’s feelings, her heart is still there, even though she’s literally at her dream internship, with her dream magazine. But it is when Elle decides to stop being the same as everyone, make a change, and step up for herself bravely that everything changes for her. See, fashion is the kind of industry that thrives on gatekeeping. If you’re different, you’re an outsider. Everyone is cut from the same cloth and looks and presents the same. As Elle mentions, everyone in the room is anxious. Afraid of judgment, scared to say the wrong thing, it’s an endless cycle that locks you out of your creativity, ironically, considering it’s meant to be one of the most creative professions in the world. When Elle rips the dress meant for Heather in front of Anna St. George, I couldn’t help but think that there are other ways of making your point before ripping a dress that’s likely worth more than 1000 dollars, but I guess this is TV, so it’s all good. A normal person would’ve obviously been sued immediately. 

Elle rips the dress and inserts a bit of Seattle in it by making it edgier with massive safety pins and suggesting a sheer panel under the slit for something different. This impresses Anna St. George enough to take her on as the intern who will assist her at the Golden Globes, but does Elle actually want this role? When Elle’s at the pre-party with her mum and friends, she feels so out of place that she runs away from “hot Josh” to end up hiding in the same corner as St. George herself. In the ending of episode 8, Anna St. George tells Elle that she can see potential in her and knew she was different when she ripped the dress. However, by this point, Elle is feeling less giddy, more “I don’t feel like this anymore” when Anna tells her the good news about the Globes. Turns out Elle doesn’t want to do anything “expected” of her anymore. She wants to live on the edge and tackle problems head-on, rather than running away from them. Anna tells her the story about a designer who decided to do something out of the box and send Doc Martens down the runway. He was ruined by critics, but when Elle asks who the designer was, she says, Marc Jacobs. We all know how that turned out, so I guess this is just for us to know that Elle will do perfectly fine as her most authentic self. 

Does Elle Go Back To Seattle? 

This makes Elle realize she wants to go back to Seattle, where she’ll apologize to everyone and face her problems head-on. Her mother, too, needs to get away from LA, because her husband did mess things up for them. Elle’s first order of business after going back is to attend the winter formal, or rather (in)formal, as the kids have called it. It’s now essentially a fundraiser for the support staff of the school, an idea that Elle had come up with herself. When Elle gets there, Shannon is on her way out of the city, and she apologizes for basically ruining her life. Elle accepts the apology, but she also gets Shannon’s blessings to see Miles for real now. On the way to the informal, the car gets stuck in traffic, and Elle can’t miss Liz’s debut performance, so she takes off by jumping out of the car and running to school, but not before her mum gives her the plaid shirt that Liz bought her. Elle makes it to the event, and for the moment, it looks like everything will be okay. Liz seems to have forgiven Elle too, but it’s Dustin that Elle feels most bummed about. She clearly likes him, but when she slides up to him, he doesn’t even look at her, making her feel like he genuinely hates her. She decided to give up and walk away when Dustin asks her where the Elle he knew, who would never give up, went. She tells him that she didn’t want to hurt him anymore. He asks why she invited him to the formal, to which she asks why he said yes. Caught in the moment, they end up kissing, hardly Elle’s ideal set-up. Oh, but also Liz and Kimberly are now officially together. 

Are Elle’s Parents Okay? 

But while the teens are enjoying their delightful romances, the skies are looking much greyer for the Woods. It appears Eva and Wyatt have never actually spoken about their problems with each other, which is the one thing that they need to do now. She finally admits that she’s let his job dictate her life this whole time, and she can’t live like that anymore. It did feel occasionally that there could’ve been something between her and Dean, but maybe I’m overthinking it, and it was just a work thing. Something that gave her a high. I guess really Eva’s always been the kind of person who needed to work and socialize. While she’s back in Seattle now, thanks to Elle, she will likely go back home soon. But first, she must talk to Wyatt and solve their problems. 

Who Does Elle Choose? 

In Elle’s ending, Dustin and Elle kiss before Miles shows up, looking all disappointed. When Dustin sees him and notices Elle looking at him, he realizes that she’s not chosen him. This may not be true, because Elle is just confused in that situation, but both boys walk away from her, leaving her looking left and right, all by herself, in the middle of a formal. This is the big cliff-hanger the show leaves us on, making us wonder if the next season will focus more on Elle’s romantic endeavours or continue to give us a mix of many things like this one. In my opinion, in this case, Miles is the “expected” choice while Dustin is the unexpected one, so I wonder if that already gives us an answer as to where her heart truly lies. On the other hand, I guess we’ll be getting another semester of Elle in Seattle, but does that mean she won’t be doing her iconic Fashion Merchandising major? Does this change the trajectory of her whole life? I’m not sure; I really hope it doesn’t, though. 

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