A contest to my heart
Most of the times there is a tv show that I'm binge watching from the start to the end. This didn't start when I had Netflix though, no this was the case long before Netflix arrived in our household! Back then we used Kodi and as long as I can remember, we had movies and tv shows available that were just airing on tv.
I have to admit, I love a good movie as well, but the past years there were just a few movies that I really found awesome and worth mentioning, compared to the many many tv shows I've seen and kept me in excitement until the end. So many, that I really have to think hard which one I should write about. Some I have seen years ago, and still left an impression, others are more recent.
Elite is a Spanish TV Show about a group of teens that go to a private school
I personally love watching Spanish TV shows as they are often incredibly exciting and it's safe to say that by now the number of Spanish TV shows I've watched probably comes close to the number of shows I've seen in English. That's an accomplishment, I guess. Today, it's harder to find a TV show in English OR Spanish that I haven't seen or tried watching (but was not to my liking) so whenever one of the series that caught my full attention announces a new season, I'm happy!
So far, Elite has 4 seasons, the first one aired in 2018 and the last one, just recently aired on Netflix, June 2021. The name of the show already reveals what type of characters you will find in the show, but don't let yourself be fooled by the status of these high school teens. The show will reveal that even with an elite status, their life isn't without worries or can even fall apart completely.
The story lines (no spoilers)
In short, without any spoilers added, all four seasons revolve around a murder (one exception: a disappearance) that has taken place at the Las Encinas international school where generally upper class families send their children. There are a few scholarships handed out as well, as you will see in the series. Samuel and Nadia are two of the children that go to this school thanks to a scholarship. They have to prove themselves to the rest of the children before they even slightly fit in to their elite group.
From the first moment one of the seasons starts, you are thrown into interviews/an investigation where you only see short fragments of what could have happened. It's soon clear that a murder of one of the classmates took place at the high school and none of the kids is speaking up about what they know. The hidden truths, secrets that aren't uncovered for a long time, is taking a tole on these kids though, it's not nothing to know who committed a murder but keep this to yourself.
You will see throughout the series that one suspects the other, and vice versa. Friendships light up but are also torn apart quite often because who is speaking the truth? Who knows if one of their close friends is an actual killer and has a secret hidden so deep inside that this person can't be trusted anymore.
Every single season is keeping me on my toes about who the murderer/bad guy or girl is. The directors (and actors) did a fantastic job making everyone a suspect at some point, but also slowly move away your suspicion to the next person. I have binge watched season 1 and 2 in a short time, and was waiting for season 3 to arrive at the time. It still didn't disappoint, neither did season 4!
Throughout the show you will see some characters disappear and in season four a whole new family is added to the cast, which I think did an excellent job performing their roles.
Without adding any spoilers about the 4 seasons, the season 4 finale was clearly not the end of Elite!. An online search for Elite Season 5 questions revealed that season 5 will probably be aired spring/summer 2022.
The icing on the cake: Elite Short Stories
On top of the normal seasons, you will also find Elite Short Stories since June this year.
Elite: Short Stories
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.[40] The stories take place during the summer before the start of the new year in Las Encinas. In the four stories, different individual and joint plots of some of the most veteran students of Las Encinas and perhaps newer ones will be explored, revealing what they have been up to in the last summer before starting their new school year.Source
If you've watched the first three seasons of Elite, I'd recommend you to watch the short stories as well. They are nice to watch before you watch season 4.
Elite is my recent favorite show
That's why I chose to enter the contest with this TV Show, on one hand because it's recent, you can now still jump on the Elite train and binge 4 seasons on Netflix. And on the other hand, because I love how they aren't afraid to show the differences between lower/middle and upper class families, and the challenges that they have to face in their school years. One faces certain problems, while the other has totally (but not less worrisome) issues to deal with.
In the end, they also show that these classes can co-exist, they are purely divided at first by what they've known so far in life. Probably they haven't been exposed to the lower class families as close as they are now, and therefore they look down on the scholarship kids. They aren't easy to get rid of though, they are fighters and determined to earn their place at this school. I think it therefore contains social messages from which we can learn in our daily life as well making it a good entry for this contest.
I hope I convinced you to start watching Elite, if you already watched it, feel free to share your thoughts in a comment.