Mystery, parties and ambition. A new school year has just started in Las Encinas. To keep you updated about the most popular high school in Spain, we will tell you all the news you need to know in this article.
But before we talk about Elite season four, let’s take a look at Netflix’s little gift to the fans: Elite Short Stories.
Spoiler Alert!
- Elite Short Stories
-
Elite Short Stories is a project that includes four little episodes in order to show transition narratives between the third and the fourth season. Each story has three little episodes of approximately ten minutes.
The story of Guzmán, Caye and Rebe opened the Elite Week, and it couldn’t have been a better choice. The three characters have starred in a little party where they ingested hallucinogenic mushrooms, it’s impossible not to laugh in this short story. Furthermore, it’s interesting to see the characters in their truest versions, completely unfiltered. Georgina Amorós, Claudia Salas e Miguel Bernardeau deserve a lot of recognition for their performance.
Nadia and Guzmán’s short story, the second one, was a portrait of honest feelings. While we understood Nadia’s confused emotions about her new life, we also felt empathy for Guzmán, who felt insecure and missed the girl. It’s emotional and already serves as a preview of their relationship in the fourth season.
In the third story, starring Ander, Omar and Alexis, we are deeply touched by such sensitivity. The conversations and moments are simple but strong and emotive. The story brings an important reflection about life and toxic positivity, as well as it shows the individual maturing of each of the characters.
The short story period closes with Carla and Samuel, the episodes are similar to a typical romantic movie, with happy and sad moments. It’s a deserved closure to a couple that won many fans, but that recalls why their relationship faces so many difficulties.
The four stories served as a warm-up for all the changes that were to come in the new season, which we will talk about now.
- A Show Of Technical Quality
-
Before talking about the storyline, it’s more than necessary to praise the technical quality that Elite has achieved over the seasons. In the new group of episodes, it is possible to notice new recording angles, such as takes from the school’s security cameras or even underwater. In addition, many scenes have intense use of neon colors, not to mention the fireworks on New Year’s Eve, which were spectacular.
All of it is complemented by breathtaking outfits and a soundtrack that complements everything that is portrayed in the scenes, making the viewers feel everything in greater intensity. One of the greatest distinguishing features of Elite is that the series tells its story not only through the plot but also through all the aesthetic elements that are part of the scenes.
- New Characters
-
Without a doubt, the biggest news of Elite was the six new characters included in the plot, considering that the third season was a farewell to much-loved characters in the series. The new year at Las Encinas begins with the arrival of the new director, Benjamin, and his three children, Ari, Patrick, and Mencía.
The three characters already arrive emotionally charged in the series, since they lost their mother in a car accident. With this situation, Ari has become a kind of mother figure within the family, a complicated challenge for a teenager. Despite this differential, in many moments she looks like an imitation of Lucrecia, but in a less iconic way than Danna Paola’s character.
Mencía, on the other hand, is an extremely positive addition to the season, even if in many moments she reminds us of Marina, she brings with her a great plot to the list of polemics that Elite includes in its storylines (we’ll talk about it later!). And Patrick is the personification of what Elite represents, he is audacious, explosive and without limits.
Benjamin deserves a positive highlight as well, it was extremely interesting to see the duality of the actor’s interpretation, which was divided between an arrogant and meritocratic director, but also a father of three intense children.
One of the most brilliant moves for the season was the character Phillipe, prince of French-Spanish royalty. He is an extremely controversial teenager and one of the great elements that renew Elite.
To round out the new cast, we have Armando, a powerful man who is an alumnus of Las Encinas, making annual donations to the school. He is one of the major keys to the season.The good thing about the new characters is that they all make a difference in the story, unlike the third season where Yeray and Malick just hung around the plot.
- The Storyline
-
Let’s start with Phillipe’s story. It was very interesting to see the royalty within Elite, the character plot was responsible not only for bringing amazing scenarios but also for including interesting reflections in the episodes. The prince and Cayetana start to get involved early in the season, which is a big challenge for the girl who finally started to accept who she was after two seasons. Phillipe’s treatment of her is abusive, and Cayetana was put in the difficult situation of maintaining loyalty to gain privileges or choosing herself and living her truth. Without a doubt, her attitudes were some of the best parts of the season, enshrining an evolution that fills fans with pride.
Even before the new season premiered, a possible three-way relationship between Omar, Ander, and Patrick was one of the most talked-about topics by the public. The three boys perform hot scenes during the new batch of episodes. However, Patrick is an extremely spoiled boy and doesn’t take “no” for an answer, his role in this season is limited to putting Ander and Omar’s relationship at stake.
In this part of the plot, it is possible to see two mistakes: the first of them is the new obstacle in the relationship between Ander and Omar, who has already faced difficulties such as cancer. It was disheartening to see the stability of this couple again at risk just for a sexual fantasy.
The other mistake is to limit Patrick’s plot exclusively to getting in the middle of the couple. As previously stated, the character is the personification of all of Elite’s audacity and deserved a more complex and personal plot. It is more than necessary to see his story deepened in season five.But the winner of the worst season plot award goes to the love triangle between Ari, Guzmán and Samuel. It was hard to see the two boys, who until then were affected by the romantic difficulties dealt with in the short stories, quickly forget everything with the arrival of Ari.
The worst of it all was to see both of them put aside the friendship that took years to build. In many moments, Samuel was just boring and incapable of taking his own actions, and Guzmán went back to his classist behavior, extremely similar to the one he had in the first season. We all know that Elite characters make mistakes, that’s what makes them interesting and realistic, but to make the same mistakes of the past seasons was something unnecessary.
The relationship that saved the season was Rebe and Mencía. It was about time that Rebeka had a corresponding love, the scenes she starred in with Mencía were wonderful, showing the harmony that the two have. But the challenges were not left aside for the couple, Rebe showed how much she cares for those she likes when she saw that Mencía was in danger by getting into a prostitution scheme with Armando.
Yes, prostitution. Elite is extremely well known for dealing with controversies that society is still afraid to talk about, the series has already had in its history plots involving incest and polyamory. Prostitution was another subject that Elite included in its list of polemics.
This topic is being much commented on by the public, but this polemic plot matches with the new series profile, now more adult and mature. At times, the plot resembles the Italian Netflix show Baby, which also treats the subject in an extremely realistic way.
The plot involving Armando and Mencía was the key to the crime of the season. Where Ari revealed the love and concern she feels for her sister, putting her life at stake. Elite deserves another positive point for the mystery of this season, as it opted for a near-death story. It was a smart choice, considering that the series already carries Marina and Polo’s death in its baggage.
- Elite’s Future
-
At the end of the season, we know that only Guzmán, Samuel and Rebeka know what happened with Armando. The attitude of throwing the body into the lake was similar to what happened with the trophy used to kill Marina in the first season. The trophy was found later, and considering that Armando is an important man, people will not take long to notice his disappearance.
Another important point is that Mancía told her father about her involvement with Armando. But Armando is a frequent donor to Las Encinas, and it may be a great challenge for Benjamin to protect his daughter from this situation.
Besides, Phillipe can now be denounced for the mistakes he made with other girls who got involved. The decision to create evidence that would incriminate him may be proof that we have that he is trying to change.
But there is something in this ending that can make Guzmán and Ander fans upset. This choice of traveling in the middle of the school year may indicate the departure of actors Miguel Bernardeau and Aron Piper from the series. So far, there is no official statement indicating this, but it would be a great loss considering that several other fans’ dear artists left the series last season.
Analyzing the season as a whole, the impression conveyed was that we returned to the first year of Elite, with a lot of new people to meet and get acquainted with. Just as the first cast of the series consecrated its success in the second season, the trend is that the fifth (already in production!) will do the same with the new characters.
The fourth season was a major test for the series and had both successes and mistakes. The key to the permanence of Elite success is the deepening of the new characters next season, so that more and more complex layers can be created for them, just as they did with the cast of the last three seasons.
——————————————————————–
The article above was edited by Anna Bastos.
Liked this type of content? Check out Her Campus at Cásper Libero’s homepage for more!