'Elite' (2018): A Review

Imagine a group of Spanish kids wearing Glee's Warblers uniforms, acting like the wealthy teens of Gossip Girls, trying to Get Away With Murder. This is what you get.

Welcome to Las Encinas, one of the most exclusive high schools of the country.

When three middle/lower class kids get a scholarship to this prestigious school, things start to get messy.

This new Netflix series, that came out on digital platforms on October 5th 2018, tries to break through the international screen by reintroducing not one, but three of the main actors of the well known Spanish success "La casa de papel".

You may in fact recognize the faces of Miguel Herran (Rio), Jaime Lorente (Denver) and Maria Pedraza (Allison Parker).

But let's get to its core.

Like the famous Shonda Rymes's series, the story follows two parallel timelines.

We learn in the very beginning that someone's been murdered and, by the last episode, we are led to believe that all of the kids might have been involved in the crime.

Through an eight episode journey, the story tackles issues like drug addiction, homosexuality, clashes between social classes, religious differences, and much more.Each characters introduces us to a different topic.

But how to review this show without spoiling too much too soon?

At this point, I would suggest everyone who hasn't watched or finished the show to end reading this article and come back as soon as they catch up.If you are one of those who binged watched it in less than a week,well...off we go!

SPOILER ALERT

The first character we meet is Samuel, or better known as Samu. His previous school has suffered a severe structural damage and it was forced to close.Therefore, Samu and two of his fellow schoolmates,Nadia and Christian, are given a passport for the upper class world as a compensation to cover up the bad investments of the school constructor.

We then learn that this constructor is in fact Marina and Guzman's father, two other main characters of this story.

On a general note all the characters are well written and never unidimensional. This applies mostly to the kids, while the adults seem poorly developed.

Among them, I particularly appreciated Guzman and Christian's character development. The last minutes of the very last episodes show us two completely different faces of the characters we met at the beginning of the series.

Guzman is devastated by the death of his sister Marina and all the changes that happened in his life in the last weeks. In that moment of complete desperation, he then finds comfort in Lu, who he had pushed away because of his growing feelings for Nadia.

On the other hand, Christian is forced to choose a side and by the very end, we are not completely sure which one it is.Will he tell the thruth to save his friend Nano from prison or will he protect the murderer to become a part of the upper class?

It is also interesting how the show decided to represent Islam through the characters of Nadia and Omar. The latter being an important figure for another major issue of the show: sexuality in all its forms and shapes.

It is a huge issue especially for Marina.It is in fact her irresponsible sexual behaviour that forces her to confront major conseguences: HIV and a teenage pregnancy.

The general rythm of the show is pretty fast paced, every episode resulting to have a well structured formula that leaves the cliffhanger for the next chapter. In the, end there is only one question:

"¿Quien a matado a Marina?"

The series leaves plenty of room for a second season and ,according the the latest worldwide trending charts, we may hear about it sooner than we think.

On a personal note, I would suggest to watch the show in its original language, so that you can really appreciate the actors's work and personalities.

Raitings:

1. Plot: 7/10
2. Characters: 8/10
3. Rythm: 8/10

General rating: 7,5/10

Worth watching for a second season? Definitely.

INSTAGRAM : @elitenetflix

Cast:

• Marina: Maria Pedraza @mariapedraza_
• Nano: Jaime Lorente @jaimelorentelo
• Christian: Miguel Herran @miguel.g.herran
• Samuel: Itzan Escamilla @itzan.escamilla
• Omar: Omar Ayuso @omarayuso
• Nadia: Mina El Hammani @minaelhammani
• Guzman; Miguel Bernardeau @miguel_bernabeau
• Ander: Arón Piper @aron.piper
• Polo: Álvaro Rico @alvaroricoladera
• Carla: Ester Expósito @ester_exposito
• Lu: Danna Paola @dannapaola