Episode Guide
The New Order – | Review Score – 3.5/5 Five Seconds – | Review Score – 3/5 When Lies Dance – | Review Score – 3/5 I’m a… – | Review Score – 3.5/5 Reintegration – | Review Score – 3/5 I Love You All Wrong – | Review Score – 3/5 Before I Go Part 1 – | Review Score – 3.5/5 Before I Go Part 2 – | Review Score – 4/5 Season 3 of Elite felt like the end of an era. With Netflix’s Spanish soapy drama dropped back in 2018, it brought with it an addictive, soapy, melodramatic whodunit that absolutely captivated audiences. Marina’s death and the circumstances leading up to that captured yhe essence of the first 3 seasons, tying everything together with one final hoorah before the group subsequently split, ready for new adventures. Well, that new adventure begins here, with a new school year, a new set of students and and a new mystery to tuck into. This mystery begins with Guzman sitting with his head in his hands. Fireworks scream overhead, strobing the sky with a multicolored mosaic as the reality of this situation rings through. A body lies floating in the pool outside and someone is responsible. We then cut back in time for the entirety of this season as we follow the events leading up to this moment. New students Mencia, Ari and Patrick are the focal points here, and all three of them get stuck in to the thick of things with our main ensemble. First up you’ve got Patrick, who immediately drives a wedge between Omar and Ander’s relationship and threatens to upset everything they’ve built together. Mencia meanwhile, clings to Rebe, as the two wind up romantically linked together across the season – much to the displeasure of Reve’s Mother, Sandra. The final newcomer is Ari, who finds herself the focal point of a love triangle between Guzman and Samuel. As the season progresses this rivalry only intensifies further, leading to the very real possibility that one of them is responsible for what happened to Ari in the pool that fateful night. In true Elite fashion, expect plenty of scandalous affairs, drama, sex and misunderstandings to dominate this season. And boy does this one lean on the tropes. From amnesia and misread situations to love triangles and threesomes, Elite does feel guilty of recycling what we’ve seen before on more than one occasion. However, it does also bring in some new, darker ideas too. Mencia finds herself caught up in the dangerous world of prostitution. Drugs are touched on a little too, while the show echoes themes of class but never quite leans into that as much as it should. The problem with season 4 though is that Ari isn’t a particularly likable character. The more we get to know her across the season, the less likable she becomes. Whether that’s just me not vibing with her is debatable of course, but given the mystery is all about her, there’s a distinctly passive feel to finding out what happened. The show lacks the same urgency we’ve seen previous seasons adopt, although to be fair the final reveal in episode 8 is actually very intriguing and sets things up for season 5 nicely. Every show runs out of steam at some point and for all of Elite season 4’s strengths, it certainly does feel like it’s running on empty at times. The new characters are a welcome inclusion though and there are some stand-out moments – especially the final episode. However, this Spanish series doesn’t feel like it’s up to the same elite standard we’ve seen from seasons past either.
