It’s a bad sign when viewers cross their fingers that a show they follow will get canceled so they aren’t forced to watch it anymore.
“Elite” viewers hoping for a merciful end to the sputtering series did not get lucky this time. Instead they were given a torturous sixth season of Netflix’s Spanish teen murder mystery show, which debuted Nov. 18. With new characters and rushed storylines, the drama’s sixth season desperately tries to breathe some life into its overdone murder mystery formula — but fails miserably.
The latest season picks up where the last season left off, as siblings Patrick (Manu Ríos), Ari (Carla Díaz) and Mencía Blanco Commenford (Martina Cariddi) handle the aftermath of yet another student’s death at their elite international school Las Encinas.
Seasons 4 and 5 already felt ridiculous and unbelievable — how many murders could occur at one high school? But they cannot compare with the disaster that is season 6. The storytelling is so poor this season that it’s hard to even decipher the main plotlines.
Some of the season’s struggles stem from poor execution, but viewers will want to tune out mainly because they have no reason to care about the new characters.
Since the original cast’s departure, the series has struggled to find its ground as it introduces new characters.
While audiences may feel connected to more recent additions from seasons 4 and 5, such as the Blanco Commenford siblings and Patrick’s love interest Iván (André Lamoglia), they are not enough to be a driving force in the show. It also does not help that every single character introduced this season was unextraordinary.
Las Encinas’ newest additions are given limited context or explanation, like Sara (Carmen Arrufat) and Raúl (Alex Pastrana) or Nico (Ander Puig), Dídac (Álvaro de Juana) and Rocío (Ana Cristina Bokesa). Viewers don’t care about them because they are poorly introduced and lack any memorable traits or details.
The show’s two-dimensional treatment extends beyond its characters to its handling of topics such as transgender rights, intimate partner violence and racism.
“Elite” earned a reputation for portraying lavish parties, explicit sex scenes and, above all, messy drama. In this season, we barely get any of that. While we get some parties and scandalous hook-ups, it never feels as engaging as in the early seasons because viewers have no reason to care. Most of the screentime is spent with underdevoloped characters immersed in cliché plotlines that are better suited for a telenovela than a teen murder mystery.
The worst part is not that the season is boring to watch, but that it represents yet another show that once had so much to offer going entirely off the rails.
Unfortunately, “Elite” has been renewed for yet another season. While there is some hope the show could recover with Omar Ayuso slated to return as Omar — an original main character from season 1 — it feels hard to believe that its next season will do anything new. The hard truth is that “Elite” has run its course, and maybe it's time for Las Encinas to shut down.
