Spoilers for Elite Season 1
Another week, another season of Elite. And another season of Elite means another eight-hour mystery, another excuse to simultaneously revel in and abhor the lives of the absurdly rich. But a second season also means another opportunity to spoil what was once special, transform uniqueness into a tired echo. Any second season is inherently at a disadvantage to the first. Now there is expectation, both for the show to retain a consistent identity as well as for it to find new territory to explore. Satisfying both of these demands simultaneously have led many a sophomore attempt to crumble. Crumbling, though, is Elite’s specialty. It is a show that delights in the breaking of facades, the slow reveal of true appearances. In this new season, things have already broken, seemingly irretrievably so. Marina is dead. An entire summer has passed, changing many things but not the emptiness and guilt. Most are still searching for their way out, a way to feel normal again. But moving on is easier said than done when there is so much left unresolved. Samuel cannot just ignore the fact that his brother is still in prison for a crime he did not commit. A new haircut, a new home is not enough to assuage Guzmán’s anger and frustration. And Polo, how can he really escape his culpability when he has to face his best friend every day?
In order to examine these questions of guilt, responsibility, and recovery, Elite chooses Samuel as its vessel. Again. It is a choice that I find unnecessarily limiting. The show wants to ‘corrupt’ Samuel, wants to demonstrate how his righteous desire to solve Marina’s murder can so easily lead down dark paths. It is a journey that we’ve seen countless times. It is a murder-mystery cliché to have the good investigator become as sullied as those he investigates. Unfortunately, that means Samuel’s journey this season is mostly predictable and only sometimes enjoyable. It is also duller for the audience, as we already know how Marina died, with what weapon, by whose hand. The tension of whether Samuel will find out is much less than what it was last season when we and Samuel were in the dark. By hinging its suspense on whether Samuel will truly ‘break bad’ in his quest, Elite risks losing our attention entirely.
But, of course, who was really watching for Samuel? It is telling that Guzmán’s similar journey is much more interesting simply for the fact that his temptations seem to arise more naturally. The drugs, the pursuit of Lucrecia, the fights, all toxic behaviors to ignore his anger. It is believable because this is always how he’s been. And we root for Guzmán because we have seen how he can be, the potential to be gentle, to be a force for good if only he could overcome his prejudices. Whereas Samuel always feel like a character half-drawn in, Guzmán has only become more fully realized. Another character that benefits from another season of attention is Carla. In the finale of the first season, Elite had seemingly cemented her personality. She was a person willing to sacrifice anyone, including her former best friend, to preserve her family’s reputation. But a split-second decision to protect Polo is much easier than maintaining those lies forever. Disregarding one life to save another is different than having to destroy more lives to keep a secret intact. Carla made a choice, but the second season makes it clear that it will not be the last difficult decision she’ll have to live with.
Which decisions are damning, and which can be forgiven, understood? For all of its outsized drama and extravagance, Elite has always cared for its characters, never condemned them for their bad judgement. Their bad judgment doesn’t make them bad people, just as a few good acts can’t fully redeem all the hurtful ones. The characters are all various shades of grey. Most of the time, the worst acts are done for the best reason. How then, can anyone truly be hero or villain? The second season of Elite is more interested than ever in examining how characters construct their own morality. Who believes themselves always good? Who thinks they are beyond redemption? And how will that self-perception be forced to change? In the wake of the irreversible, characters must make the unthinkable choice to forgive, either themselves or others. Whether forgiveness is really possible, well, Elite leaves that last choice for you.
Off-Script:
- Beep, beep! Spoiler bus incoming! Beep, beep!
- I wonder what it says about the show and the review format in general, that I was not able to squeeze in a single word about any of the new students. Generally, I liked their stories this season but increasing their screen time meant less for others. Some of that extra attention would have certainly improved Omar’s journey for the season. As Ander himself noted, Omar changes a lot, becoming more openly gay, embracing a new self. Delving more deeply into the rift between might have actually led to a better understanding of why they are together.
- Almost nine hundred words in and I’m finally ready to talk about Cayetana, Valerio, and Rebeca. Out of the three, I ended up appreciating Valerio the most. He may be unpredictable, but he has a heart. His confession and apology to Nadia was a welcome surprise. In a show where everyone is lying, Valerio ends up being the most honest, demonstrated especially when he finally admits his love for Lucrecia is wrong.
- Cayetana’s romantic interest in Polo seemingly came out of nowhere but makes sense for the plot in the end. Polo certainly needed someone in his corner and Cayetana was more than ready to believe and forgive. I think what hindered their story the most was that I was always unsure of whether she was faking her interest or not. The show depicts Cayetana lying so often, with such ease, that it is hard to take her at face value.
- Finally, Rebeca. She and Cayetana make interesting foils for each other. Cayetana justifies her ‘borrowing’ of dresses and houses because she wants to be accepted. Rebeca, on the other hand, has access to wealth but would rather not fit in. Her confrontation with her mother is the most direct grappling with how wealth is often earned through unsavory means.
- Wow, Nano really appeared just to disappear again.
- Favorite party of the season: Definitely Halloween.
- Least favorite thing (ever): Samuel and Carla’s relationship. Looks like we’ll get more of the Samuel, Rebeca, Carla love triangle in season 3. Yay?