What Is the Story About?
The brother-sister duo Héctor and Emilia Krawietz announce their plans to set up an elite alumni club at Las Encinas. Joel, who still has feelings for Ivan, finds a new sugar daddy in Héctor. Meanwhile, Chloe’s mom Carmen is blackmailed for her connection with Raul’s death. Isadora drowned in debt, is harassed by her manipulative ex. A gruesome murder compounds their problems further.
Performances?
Marking their entry into the franchise, Ane Rot and Nuno Gallego pack a punch as the Krawietz brother-sister duo, unflinching in their misuse of authority. In addition to their good looks, they succeed in mirroring their character’s truest intentions and the conflicts they experience in their journeys. Fernando Líndez’s irresistible screen presence as Joel – who’s beautiful outside and crumbling inside – works wonders for the show yet again.
Iván Mendes (as Dalmar) gets a meaty role with a strong conflict and is fabulous in expressing the trauma of an outsider in an alien country. André Lamoglia, in the shoes of Iván, is incredibly effective in portraying the many contours of love and dealing with heartbreak. Valentina Zenere’s gritty performance as Isa, a woman with terrific survival skills, is another major highlight.
The scope of Omar Ayuso’s character (as Omar) is restrictive but adds value to the proceedings. Another delectably deceptive portrayal comes in through Alejandro Albarracín, cast as Luis. Several performances hold the show together – by Maribel Verdu (Carmen), Gleb Abrosimov (Eric), Mirela Balić (Chloe), Nadia Al Saidi (Sonia), Ander Puig (Nico) and Carmen Arrufat (Sara), to name a few.
Analysis
‘I hate you, like I love you’ is precisely the aftertaste that Elite leaves behind over eight seasons. Like it, love it, hate it, but you can’t ignore it. It is a messy yet intoxicating concoction – from the unabashed display of white privilege to the power dynamics in relationships, the carnal pleasures to the self-destructive streaks of its characters and the exposure of the system through a crime scene.
The narrative structure of Elite has been similar across seasons – a murder mystery is a tool to uncover many layers beneath the toxic interpersonal relationships at an elite school. The characters allow themselves to be sexually and emotionally exploited while the elites do everything to retain the power centre among themselves.
Héctor and Emilia Krawietz are largely responsible for the mess in Elite’s final season. The duo puts forward strange conditions to recruit new members into an exclusive alumni club – forcing vulnerable students to turn back on their pals and partners and bite more than what they can chew. The show tries to examine the motives of its flawed characters behind their questionable choices.
Desperation and lust – for power, wealth, sex and identity – remain the core emotions that drive the actions of its protagonists. Joel and Héctor are aware of what they seek from one another. Isa is helpless while yielding to Luis’s demands, given there’s a lot at stake. Chloe is caught between climbing up the ladder in the club, her love for Eric and a problematic mother.
Omar is the show’s emotional anchor – he has already suffered a lot and cautions his pals about staying within their limits. Yet, they never learn their lessons, choose instant gratification and pay a heavy price. Joel, Chloe, Dalmar and Isa fall into a trap and it’s too late for them to recover. The campus drama – in the garb of a police procedural – makes for riveting viewing.
But, what makes Elite tick time and again? Beneath its flashy, trippy exterior – unfolding amidst a lavish canvas with a dose of drugs, violence and sex that helps it garner eyeballs – the show truly cares for its characters regardless of where they come from. Though their conflicts are bathed in familiarity, the treatment is rooted in reality.
Beyond the white man/woman problems, Elite is equally sincere in its empathy for the marginalised. Dalmar is never made to feel secure. He’s always living on the edge, is constantly reminded of his place, battling daily racism and fearing deportation. His choice isn’t between right and wrong but doing whatever it takes to survive. He does his best to not be a scapegoat within a biased system.
On the other front, it’s also relieving that the show doesn’t bother to be politically correct and permits a free exchange of thought. It allows the characters to breathe easily and embraces them with all their contradictions and complexities. It understands that the path towards transformation is far from easy. Yet for all the good it does, the ending is more or less a cop-out.
Instead of chasing the larger problem (as Omar’s sister Nadia rightly points out), the simplistic culmination chooses a convenient painkiller to treat a terminal disease. Even with all its problems and its exaggerated (sometimes diluted) representation of white privilege, modern-day relationships Elite is delicious pulp fiction and one couldn’t have asked for a more fitting closure.
Elite Season 8, may not offer anything drastically new, but is the wild, enthralling ride it promised to be, giving a viewer a bang for his buck and rightly realising that it’s time to move on.
Music and Other Departments?
Ricardo Curto’s dreamy, freaky background score – voicing the anxieties of its characters musically – complements the ambience of Elite perfectly. Carlos Greces’s cinematography, in collaboration with production designer Federico G Cambero and costume designer Cristina Rodriguez, ensures a vivid burst of colours, enhancing the thematic depth of the material.
Elite wouldn’t be what it is, without its unconventional editing choices and Joe Tornos keeps the mysterious tone in the show alive with his innovative transitions and jumps. The runtime spanning a little over six hours is utilised well to drive the plot forward and sustain its undercurrent theme without compromising on character development.
Highlights?
Sharp, intoxicating screenplay
Trippy ambience
Delivers what it promises
Impressive performances
Drawbacks?
Remains quite predictable in its treatment
Highly exaggerated at times
Unsatisfying, convenient ending
Did I Enjoy It?
Mostly, yes
Will You Recommend It?
Only those who are game for a wild, sensual campus tale
Elite Season 8 Series Review by Binged Bureau
We’re hiring!
We are hiring two full-time junior to mid-level writers with the option to work remotely. You need to work a 5-hour shift and be available to write. Interested candidates should email their sample articles to [email protected]. Applications without a sample article will not be considered.
