An “Elite” high school mystery show

Ryan Yoo, Director of Design

Netflix released “Elite” on Oct. 5.

The show follows three working class friends, Samuel (Itzan Escamilla), Nadia (Mina El Hammani) and Christian (Miguel Herran), who are given scholarships to attend Las Encinas, after a mysterious accident that destroyed their old school. The school, Las Encinas, is an exclusive private school where many of the country’s elite send their children. The arrival of these three outsiders infuriates the other students, including school bully Guzman (Miguel Bernardeau), who believe that the three outsiders don’t belong in their world.

The first season begins with a character being murdered, revealed at the end of the first episode to be Marina (Maria Pedraza). Over the next seven episodes, the series explores the relationship between the three newcomers and the children of the elite and slowly reveals details into Marina’s death, eventually revealing who murdered Marina and why they murdered her in the last episode.

The series is reminiscent of other similar shows, such as “Gossip Girl” with its high society high school drama, and “How to Get Away with Murder” and its use of flashbacks and flash forwards. Like the HBO show, “Big Little Lies,”  “Elite” unravels the mystery slowly, building suspense and tension between the characters. This technique pays off, resulting in relatable characters and a bingeable show.

Like many shows today, “Elite” is unafraid of tackling social issues in its episodes. Not only does the series tackle the class conflict between the three newcomers and the children of the elite, the series also tackles issues like sexuality and religion.

Omar, Nadia’s brother, sells drugs in order to run away from his conservative parents and to live a more free life. In this process, he befriends Ander (Aron Piper), the son of the Las Encinas’ principal, Azucena. They quickly fall in love, and they have sex. Azucena accidentally stumbles in on the two, and accidentally outs Omar to his father. Omar’s father threatens him and bans him from seeing Ander again.

The highlight of the show is the chemistry between Nadia and Guzman. At first, Guzman connects her to being a part of an Islamic terrorist group and befriends Nadia in order to win a bet that he could take her virginity. Despite coming from different backgrounds, they slowly fall more and more in love. Nadia learns to see beyond the bad boy facade that Guzman puts on, while Guzman learns to see beyond her hijab and her religion. Their relationship is relatable and keeps you wanting more from the show

Netflix has renewed the series for a second season that is scheduled to be released in 2019. The new season will pick up from the end of the first season. Will Nadia and Guzman ever get back together? Will the truth about the murder ever be revealed? The only way to know is to watch it when it comes out.