Elite (TV series)

Elite (Spanish: Élite; stylized as E L I T Ǝ) is a Spanish teen drama series created by Carlos Montero and Darío Madrona for Netflix. The show is set in Las Encinas, a fictional elite high school which caters to privileged and wealthy teenagers. Elite initially focuses on three working-class students who win their enrollment at Las Encinas through a scholarship program, and on the social and romantic interactions that they have with several students there. The series ran for eight seasons from 5 October 2018 to 26 July 2024.
Though the series does have its share of light-hearted moments, Elite mainly centres around the trials and tribulations of its protagonists, exploring "hot-button", progressive issues like homosexuality, classism, parental neglect, and illicit activities including drug use, crime and murder.
The debut season, comprising eight episodes, premiered on Netflix on 5 October 2018, earning positive reviews from critics and viewers who described the series as a "guilty pleasure". The writing, acting, and portrayal of mature themes were particularly praised. Over the next six years, seven more eight-episode seasons have premiered on Netflix. The eighth and final season was released on 26 July 2024.
Three young friends – Samuel, Nádia, and Christian – receive scholarships from a construction company after a collapse suffered at their previous school due to poorly executed works. Their new school is Las Encinas, a prestigious institute in Spain where the country's elite send their children to study. In Las Encinas, the three meet wealthy siblings Marina and Guzmán, whose father controls the construction company blamed for the collapse of the roof of their old school. Guzmán's casual girlfriend, Lu , the director's son, Ander and the couple Pólo and Carla. Samuel's brother, recently released from prison, Nano and Nádia's brother, Omar soon also become involved in the clash of lifestyles, resentment, envy and sexual attraction. Through a series of flash-forward scenes, beginning with the opening of the first episode, it is shown that the unfolding stories of a clash of lifestyles somehow led to down in Marina's mysterious murder. The plot has two timelines, one showing of police interrogations and the other showing the stories of the characters' relationships that led to the girl's murder.
After the revelation of classmate Marina's death, and the subsequent disappearance of Samuel, the second season revolves around the students returning to school for their senior year, focusing primarily on their first semester. They are accompanied by three new classmates— Rebeka, Cayetana and Valerio who all harbour dark secrets of their own. The new characters befriend their classmates, as Samuel persists in his mission to vindicate his brother, Nano, who was falsely accused of Marina's murder. Polo contemplates suicide, in an effort to alleviate his guilt, but ultimately finds solace and happiness with the support of Cayetana. Anders' mental health declines under the weight of Polo's secret. Carla, misled into thinking Samuel is deceased, confesses knowledge of Polo's crime.
The students enter their last semester at Las Encinas. In a scene from the future, the students are being interrogated by police regarding Polo's death during a graduation party. Polo and Cayetana are shunned by their peers, with the exception of Valerio. Samuel and Guzman continue their plot to avenge Polo's crimes. Lu and Nadia compete for a scholarship to Columbia University, leading the two to form a mutual friendship. Ander is diagnosed with leukaemia and begins chemotherapy, causing friction between him and his loved ones. On the night of their graduation, in a drunken stupor, Lu accidentally stabs Polo, who stumbles and falls to his death. The group collectively agrees to cover-up the murder. Unable to find a suspect, Polo's death is ultimately ruled as a suicide, with his parents eventually telling police that he had confessed to Marina's murder.
As a new year begins at Las Encinas, a fresh mystery unfolds with the arrival of the new principal, Benjamin and his children – Ari, Mencía, and Patrick. The narrative takes a turn when Ari is found on the brink of death, and each plot thread, revealed through flash-forwards, sheds light on the circumstances leading to this incident. Benjamin's kids, along with the French prince Philippe who got caught up in a scandal, join the same class as Samuel, Guzmán, Rebeka and Ander, who have to repeat their final year, and Omar, who becomes a new student of Las Encinas. Cayetana becomes the new maid of the school and she forms a bond with Phillipe, a wealthy student with a dark past. The dynamics between the new and veteran students start to develop. Simultaneously, Mencía becomes involved in prostitution under the influence of Armando, a businessman associated with Benjamin. Eventually, it is unveiled that the attempted murder of Ari and Armando's death are intricately linked.
Following Armando's demise at the hands of Guzmán, both he and Ander decide to leave school and embark on a journey around the world. Samuel and Rebeka choose to keep the truth concealed from everyone, including Omar, Cayetana, Ari, Mencía, and Patrick. However, when Armando's body is discovered, it triggers a sequence of events that unravels their relationships, altering their lives irrevocably. Additionally, two new students – Isadora and Iván – enroll at Las Encinas, forming connections with current upperclassmen, particularly Phillipe and Patrick. Yet, some of these relationships prove to be perilous. In a flash-forward, Samuel's lifeless body is found floating in a pool, and each plot thread leads to the revelation of how he ended up there, uncovering the truth behind the events.
Three months after the death of Samuel and Benjamin's arrest for his murder, a new year of school begins. Omar, Rebeka and Phillipe have since graduated and moved out of Madrid. Meanwhile Ari, Patrick and Mencía are forced to repeat their final year after dropping out the previous spring due to their father's arrest. Meanwhile, Iván and Isadora are entering their final year. They are greeted by some new students: Nico, Rocío , Dídac , Sonia and Sara along with Sara's abusive boyfriend, Raúl. Many situations occurred during the season, and the flash-forward event that characterises this season is Iván's accident after he has been hit by a car, and his subsequent coma.
Two weeks following the events of the previous season, Omar, now at the university, seizes the opportunity to participate in an internship at Las Encinas. Concurrently, he grapples with depression that began a year earlier with Samuel's death. Omar is in a relationship with Joel who also starts attending Las Encinas. Meanwhile, Patrick, Ari, and Mencía have relocated from Madrid, and Iván is recuperating from an accident. Isadora navigates the challenges in her relationship with Didàc, while Sara contends with her toxic connection to Raúl. Nico, Sonia, and Rocío face their own set of problems. A peculiar new student, Chloe and her enigmatic mother, Carmen make an entrance. Additionally, Nico's cousin, Eric enrolls at Las Encinas. This season marks the first to solely feature a flash-forward event in the final episode, centering around the eventual murder of Raúl.
A few weeks after the events of the previous season, the students are going to finish their last year and an association of old students of Las Encinas, the Alumni Club, led by the controversial Héctor and Emilia Krawietz is searching new recruits. Meanwhile Dídac and Rocío moved away from Madrid. Eric and Chloe start a turbulent relationship. Sara is trying to overcome Raúl's death, creating a new bond with Nico. Sonia and Dalmar start a relationship too. Isadora is facing with her problems with her family and the police, while Iván, who has returned from South Africa, tries to recreate a bond with Joel. The Alumni Club is becoming more and more treacherous, and Omar, who knows Las Encinas very well, tries to fight it, with the help of his sister Nadia. Much happens during this season, but the flash-forward event that characterises it is Joel's murder, the key event that will lead to the final closure of Las Encinas at the end of the season. In fact all the murders and events of past year related to Las Encinas (Marina's murder, Polo's death, Samuel's accidental murder, Iván's accident, Raúl's death and Joel's murder) were hidden to the public. Omar and Nadia with the help of principal Virginia give all the informations to the press, making Las Encinas to close for ever.
On 17 July 2017, it was announced that Netflix had given the production a series order for a first season; it is the second Netflix original series in Spain after Cable Girls. The series is created by Carlos Montero and Darío Madrona, who are both credited as executive producers of the series; as Netflix announced the order, The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the series' team "boasts one of the most successful writing teams in Spain's current TV landscape". Montero and Madrona developed the series after being told that Netflix was looking for a teenage show and were asked to produce an idea. Montero came up with the basic premise and the pair worked on it before presenting it to Netflix a month later.
At the time, Erik Barmack, Netflix's VP of original series, said that Elite would be "a very different kind of teen thriller that will cross borders and affect audiences globally". Still, the creators said that the series has a lot of Spanish themes and Spanish identity, to give it "a sense of place and time, that it is a series of this moment and of this country", and to prevent it from becoming a "series that could happen anywhere in the world [because if they try to make something] that can be understood everywhere, in the end, it is not understood anywhere". In September 2018, it was announced that the series would premiere on 5 October 2018. Producer Francisco Ramos spoke about some of the decisions in creating the show in an interview before it was released. He said that the choice to set the mystery drama in a high school was important because "it is the time of your life when things matter the most", allowing them to explore the pressures of fitting in as an elite alongside the other plot lines.
On 17 October 2018, Netflix renewed the series for a second season. During this period, it was increasing production in Spain after having constructed new production facilities in Madrid. As Netflix renewed the show, it announced that there were still discussions on which characters would appear. The second season was released on 6 September 2019; it began production after the viewership for the first season was known, in January 2019, though it had been written before season 1 had been released.
The internal structure of the show uses flash-forwards to advance the plot and the mystery, which Variety compared to that of Big Little Lies. When speaking of the innovation in the second season, co-creator Darío Madrona said that they "wanted to keep the fast-forward formula as a staple of the series, but at the same time be different". Madrona said: "In the first season, we were conscious that we were making a series for Netflix, and tried to put everything into it [...] For season 2, we thought that we had the opportunity to explore the characters and the new ones as well. But it was an instinctive decision." Variety wrote that the second season, therefore, may be similar to Stranger Things season 3 in the way it compares to its more plot-driven predecessor seasons and how it "drives deeper into [the characters'] interaction, in continued coming of age narratives which are deeply inflected by class and economics". The production values and costs were also raised for season 2 to allow the creators more freedom.
The character Cayetana (Georgina Amorós), introduced in season 2, is said to tackle the topic of appearances being everything–a theme of the series–from a different angle. She is a social media influencer and, according to Amorós, "isn't at all what she seems". Social media is another theme examined in season 2, with Darío Madrona and actress Mina El Hammani commenting on how it gives a perception of someone being good if people like who they are on the Internet, which can be dangerous.
On 29 August 2019, it was reported that the series was renewed for a third season, before the second season had aired. The third season's logo was stylized as "ELIT3". The third season premiered on 13 March 2020.
On 20 January 2020, it was announced that the series had been renewed for a fourth and fifth season.
On 22 May 2020, Netflix officially announced the show's renewal for the fourth season, which was already in development. The fifth season was confirmed on 25 February 2021, before the release of the fourth season. The fourth season premiered on 18 June 2021.
On 28 October 2021, Netflix officially announced the renewal for the sixth season of the show.
On 24 October 2022, it was announced that Netflix renewed the series for a seventh season, with Omar Ayuso returning.
On 19 July 2023, the series was renewed for an eighth season, which was later confirmed by Netflix to be the final season of the show on October 18.
Variety writes that the show's characters all "border stereotypes" but "escape total buttonholing"; director Silvia Quer said she was attracted to the show because of the well-constructed characters. The production was involved in casting for the show.
The initial main cast was confirmed before the series debut, featuring several actors from other Netflix series and films either created or distributed by Netflix España y Latinoamerica, including Itzan Escamilla of Cable Girls, Danna Paola of Lo más sencillo es complicarlo todo, and María Pedraza, Jaime Lorente, and Miguel Herrán of Money Heist. However, acting newcomer Omar Ayuso was also cast as a character (Omar Shanaa) bearing his own given name. For season two, another actress from a Netflix series, Georgina Amorós of the Catalan Welcome to the Family, was added to the cast. Announced shortly before its release, she was joined by Claudia Salas and Jorge López. Two new members of the cast for season 3, and their characters, were introduced in a short Netflix video shared by actress Ester Expósito, on 4 October 2019. They are also actors from other Netflix series: Leïti Sène of Welcome to the Family and Sergio Momo of The Neighbor.
Paola has said in interviews that she almost lost the chance to audition for the show, as the message was sent over email but landed in her spam messages folder. However, she retrieved it and sent in a video audition; the sides for this involved an early scene where her character (Lu) is having a tense conversation with the character Nadia. In the scene, Paola says that she ad-libbed using the sarcastic term of endearment "darling" ("querida" in Spanish), which the creators liked and has since become a catchphrase on the series. On 28 January 2020, it was announced that the series would consist of a new main cast for the fourth season. On 19 May 2020, it was confirmed via Elite's Instagram account that Mina El Hammani, Danna Paola, Ester Expósito, Álvaro Rico, and Jorge López would not return for season 4. Sergio Momo and Leiti Sène, who appeared in a main role in season 3, also would not return for season 4. On 22 May 2020, Itzan Escamilla, Miguel Bernardeau, Arón Piper, Omar Ayuso, Claudia Salas and Georgina Amorós were confirmed to reprise their roles in season 4. On 19 July 2020, Carla Díaz, Manu Ríos, Martina Cariddi, Pol Granch, Diego Martín and Andrés Velencoso were announced to have joined the fourth season's new main cast. On 23 and 28 December 2020, Ester Expósito and Danna Paola have been reported to return for season 5. However, during an interview at El Hormiguero, Paola stated that she left the series to focus entirely on her music career and that there is no possibility for her to return as Lu. Expósito also confirmed that she would not be returning as well, but instead that she would briefly reprise her role in the short stories. On 25 February 2021, along with the fifth season's renewal, Argentine actress Valentina Zenere and Brazilian actor André Lamoglia were officially confirmed to have joined the cast, which was initially rumours of the fans. On 25 March 2021, French actor Adam Nourou announced, via his Instagram account, that he would be joining the main cast of the fifth season. During the shooting of season 5, it was confirmed that Itzan Escamilla, Omar Ayuso, Claudia Salas, Georgina Amorós, Carla Díaz, Martina Cariddi, Manu Rìos and Pol Granch would come back in season 5.. However, Miguel Bernardeau and Aron Piper announced in July 2021 that they would not return for season 5, making Escamilla and Ayuso the only original actors in the series since the first season. On 20 August 2021, it was confirmed that Isabela Garrido, who had previously starred in The Mess You Leave Behind, had joined season 5 on a recurring role.
In December 2021, FormulaTV reported Carmen Arrufat to be an addition to 6th season's cast. In January 2022, Arrufat was confirmed to join the sixth season with Álex Pastrana, Alvaro de Juana, Ander Puig and Ana Bokesa. Guillermo Campra, Marc Bonnin and Ignacio Carrascal were promoted to series regulars. In October 2022, Maribel Verdú, Alejandro Albarracín, Iván Mendes, Gleb Abrosimov, Fernando Líndez and Mirela Balic were included in the cast for the seventh season, while Nadia Al Saidi, who recurred in the sixth season, was promoted to a series regular.
In February 2023, Leonardo Sbaraglia was included in the cast for the seventh season. In March 2023, Anitta was cast in the seventh season.
In July 2023, Ane Rot and Nuno Gallego were cast for the eighth season, while Mina El Hammani was confirmed to reprise her role. Mario Ermito and Alexandra Pino were also cast.
The series is filmed in the Madrid region, including parts filmed in San Lorenzo de El Escorial. The mountains to the north of the Spanish capital often feature in the background.
The first two seasons were shot entirely in 4K. In a tweet shared by Expósito in October 2019, the actress revealed that the third season had already completed filming.
The fourth season started filming on 3 August 2020 but suspended a day after. Filming resumed a week after when they reported that the test was fake. It was also revealed that the fifth season is being shot back-to-back with the fourth season. By 22 December 2020, filming for the season had already wrapped.
Filming for the fifth season began in February 2021 and concluded on 15 June in the same year.
Filming for the sixth season began in February 2022 and concluded on 3 June in the same year.
Filming for the seventh season began in November 2022 and concluded on 23 March 2023.
Filming for the eighth season began on 7 August 2023 and concluded on 20 December in the same year.
Lynn Fainchtein served as the music supervisor of the series. Ricardo Curto scored the series' soundtrack from season six onwards.
In May 2021, Netflix announced #EliteWeek, a week-long special of short episodes that act as a prelude to the fourth season titled Elite: Short Stories. The stories are set to "expand the Elite universe". They are not a spin-off show, but more like vignettes to bridge content that lead up to the fourth season; there are four stories, each consisting of three short episodes. The stories take place during the summer before the start of the new year in Las Encinas. In the four stories, different plots of some of the most veteran students of Las Encinas and newer ones will be explored, revealing what they have been up to in the last summer before starting their new school year. The stories are set between the events of the third and the fourth season.
In October 2021, Netflix announced three new stories, set during the holiday season, will be released in December of that year. These three episodes are set between the events of the fourth and the fifth season.
On 24 September 2022, during the fourth TUDUM Fan Event, Netflix announced an official Indian adaptation of Elite titled Class.
The story is based in New Delhi's upscale school, Hampton International, where three new students from starkly different backgrounds challenge the existing dynamics at the elite enclave and their lives are immeasurably changed by the events that occur there. The Indian adaptation of the show follows the same premise as Elite, but the screenplay has incorporated many changes to keep in mind an Indian audience. Produced by Bodhitree Multimedia Limited, and directed by Ashim Ahluwalia, Class will star Gurfateh Pirzada, Ayesha Kanga, Chayan Chopra, Anjali Sivaraman, Chintan Rach, Madhyama Segal, Cyaawal Singh, Naina Bhan, Moses Koul, Piyush Khati and Zeyn Shaw.
Netflix released Class on 3 February 2023.
The first season of Elite was met with critical acclaim. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has a 100% approval rating, based on reviews from 14 critics, with an average rating of 8.40/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Elite is highly digestible, technically strong trash TV for anyone with a guilty pleasure palate." Other reviewers also refer to the show as a guilty pleasure. Natalie Winkelman from The Daily Beast gave the first season a positive review, saying that "with Euro-cool style and compelling characters, Elite is trashy, diverting fun". John Doyle from The Globe and Mail likewise complimented the first season in his review, adding that "Elite is no masterpiece but is one of those oddly satisfying, binge-worthy curiosities." Taylor Antrim of Vogue also said that is worth a binge-watch and "goes down like a cold glass of verdejo". Antrim wrote that the series is an example of Netflix "airing global TV shows that slavishly borrow television tropes", saying that "If it were a CW show I'd hardly give it a second look. But a Spanish prep school is seductive terra incognita" in the positive review.
Writing for Variety, Caroline Framke also comments on the series' use of tropes. She notes that being introduced to the show as a combination of many other teen dramas, she was concerned that taking on so many tropes would make it "an overstuffed Frankenstein of a show", but that she was quickly proven wrong when watching it.
Framke compares many of the characters' individual plots to other high school series and films. Of these, she finds the "love triangle between Marina, Samuel, and his brother Nano [to be] one of the show's only duller features". She concludes by saying that "Even given a million other options on Netflix alone, this tantalizing and whipsmart entry to the teen show pantheon proves itself worthy of the spotlight." David Griffin of IGN also identifies the series in the same way. He gave the first season an 8.8/10, highlighting that it sets a "new standard for how a high school drama series should be done" and "may be the best high school drama on TV".
In a similar take, Lena Finkel of Femestella looked at how the series was different to many of its counterparts by how it tackled contentious issues. Finkel lists explicitly examples, including that when Elite has sex scenes, they are often about the woman's pleasure; that a character who believes abortion is murder is still pro-choice; that when a male character is come onto by a drunk girl that he likes, he sends her home; that it explores social and class differences when young people come out; that the gay male sex scene is sensual as well as explicit; and that it features characters including a young man unashamedly nervous to lose his virginity and a straight, white, wealthy, woman who is HIV-positive. She writes that the series "absolutely lives up to the height", congratulating it both on including these features and for "a great job depicting each issue, no matter how complex". However, she does note that the trailers "made it seem like yet another cheesy, over-acted teen drama".
Also looking at how the series addresses diverse issues and modern society, Grazia Middle East wrote about the representation of Nadia. Writer Olivia Adams says that the show explores some of the more everyday struggles of racial discrimination towards Muslims by having Nadia be forced to remove her headscarf in school, something that has been considered at some real schools in Europe. She also notes how the home life of the Muslim family is explored, not just the teenagers' interrelations, giving a fuller view.
Genevieve van Voorhis of Bustle notes that the series can feel aesthetically more like a horror than a teen drama as it pairs "wide shots of the school [that] are almost Wes Anderson-like in their color coordination and perfect 90 degree angles" with eerie music.
Kathryn VanArendonk of Vulture stated in a positive review of the series that though "Elite is not pushing new boundaries in television, it's not a self-serious reboot of an old property" and that "in spite of that—or more likely because of it!—its commitment to breakneck melodrama is undeniably enjoyable." Kemi Alemoru of Dazed recommends watching the show because it is "extra", relishing in showing the excessive world of the elite students with extravagant parties and the means to escalate small fights to high-expense drama, and also for its positive representation of topics. Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya from Thrillist recommended the first season in their review of the series by stating that "Elite might be the only show that could give Riverdale a run for its money when it comes to excessive slow-motion shots." Decider's Joel Keller also compares the show to Riverdale, saying that it is "trashy and scandalous, but no moreso than anything you might see coming from American producers" and the latest of the "dark high school dramas" that became popular; Keller recommends to stream it.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season has an approval rating of 92% based on reviews from 12 reviews, with an average rating of 6.00/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Elite is back for another entertaining, edge-of-your-seat mystery that succeeds thanks to charismatic characters and a bloody plot that doesn't take itself too seriously."
Framke also notes that Netflix in the United States automatically defaults to the show with an English dub, and suggests changing the audio back to its original European Spanish for the best experience.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the third season has an approval rating of 100% based on reviews from 10 critics, with an average rating of 7.40/10.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the fourth season has three critic reviews.The three reviews are all "Fresh".
On Rotten Tomatoes, the fifth season has an overall rating of 80% based on reviews from 5 critics, with an average rating of 5.60/10.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the sixth season has an overall rating of 0% based on reviews from 5 critics, with an average rating of 3.25/10.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the seventh season has three critic reviews. Two out of the three reviews are "Fresh".
On 17 January 2019, Netflix announced that the series (the first season) had been streamed by over 20 million accounts within its first month of release. The series is the second most followed Spanish-language TV show on TV Time's top 50 most followed shows ever, ranking at number 25 globally.
After Netflix posted an image of gay characters Omar and Ander to Instagram, it received homophobic comments. The streaming service responded to one with rainbow emojis.