Review: ‘Elite’ Season 3

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

There’s so much to unpack when talking about Season 3 of Netflix’s hit Spanish series Elite that it took me a good solid 2 weeks to properly process everything in order write this review. Ultimately, season 3 left me extremely satisfied as Polo was finally brought to justice for killing Marina in season 1. I did have a few minor issues with the season, but it was nothing that would stop me from continuing to proclaim my love for this show.

With that being said, here are some of my thoughts on season 3: 

Who killed Polo?

This feels like the only appropriate topic to kick things off. Thanks to the trailer for season 3, we already knew that Polo would fall to his death this season (quite literally), but we didn’t know which of our favorite Las Encinas students would be the one to ultimately kill the murderer. 

I held my breath until we got our answer in the final episode. Although it would have been too obvious, I really believed that Samuel or Cayetana killed Polo, with my preference being the latter. But the writers delivered a surprising twist when it was revealed that Lu of all people killed him after she drunkenly confronted him in the bathroom. Although I was surprised that Lu killed him, I expected a little more fanfare from his actual death scene, especially given how much hatred was shown towards him over the last two seasons. 

While we’re on the topic of Polo, my opinion of him changed slightly by the end of the season. I hated Polo with a burning passion during the first two seasons. And while I still didn’t like Polo this time around, I found myself empathizing with him at a few different points this season, especially at the end of his life. I really loved the moment when he reassured Lu that he knew that she didn’t mean to kill him. He knew it was just an accident because it happened to him too; he didn’t want to kill Marina but he did, so if anyone understood her in that moment, it was him.

Guzmán and Nadia

First of all: WHERE WAS ALL THE GUZMÁN AND NADIA CONTENT? We got some truly great scenes this season (top moments post coming soon!) but I still feel robbed, especially compared to season 2. 

Aside from the fact that I wanted more of them, I am happy with Guzmán/Nadia stuff we got. Did it suck to see them apart basically all season? Absolutely. But it makes me truly happy knowing that these two are endgame. That ending scene showed that whether it takes one year, five years or 10 years, Nadia will come back for him so that they can build a life together and have the future they both deserve – together. Nadia doesn’t make promises she can’t keep, so the fact that she promised this to him says a lot. 

As far as their individual selves, I really appreciated Guzman’s character development this season, especially as it relates to the Polo situation. I loved hearing him tell Samuel that if he can’t put Polo behind bars then Polo doesn’t deserve the attention in his head. I thought that was a super mature way to handle the situation and learn to live with his grief regarding everything that went down in season 1. 

Also, I hate saying this cause I absolutely DESPISED his character but I think Malick was a necessary part of Nadia’s storyline this season, only for the fact that by being with him and going through all of the shit he put her through, she realized that there is a happy medium between the life you want to live and the one that everyone around you wants to live.

Samuel, Rebeca and Carla

Rebeca continued to be the MVP of this show. I hated that Samuel messed with her feelings but I LOVED seeing her turning the tables on him during the blackout party. 

I was never a big fan of Carla in the first two seasons, but she is another character that I came around to like – or at least have more respect for – by the end of season 3. She finally realized that she spent too much time doing what others, especially her family, expected her to do and didn’t need to manipulate people in order to maintain that expectation. I loved seeing her finally stand up to her dad in 3×07 and tell him that he has no power over her anymore. 

Samuel, individually, just continued to do nothing for me. I did like seeing him fight for Nano, but that was more about the fact that I love Nano and hate that he was forced to flee in season 2. 

As for Carmuel, I think I came around on them?!?! We barely saw any interaction between them, but I actually believed they cared about each other by the end of the season, which is not what I thought at the end of season 2. I do wish they had gotten at least a goodbye kiss. Hopefully there will be more of them in a possible season 4 (more on that later).

Ander and Omar

I truly love Ander and Omar, both as individuals and together, but their storyline this season was really frustrating and hard to watch sometimes. One thing that really annoys me as a TV viewer is when couples aren’t communicating. I get that these two are still just in high school and haven’t even been dating that long, but if they had just thought to be a little bit more open with their feelings, a lot of issues that came up in their relationship could have been avoided.

My biggest problem with their relationship though was the cheating storyline. And it wasn’t necessarily that Omar cheated on Ander because I think it did highlight the struggle he was having. I really took issue with WHO Omar cheated on Ander with. I get that the writers needed it to be someone that the audience was somewhat invested in in order to make it have an impact, but I’ve rewatched season 3 multiple times now and I just really have a hard time believing that Omar would do that to Nadia, his sister of all people.

Ultimately, I’m just glad they found their way back to each other. Omar’s speech to Ander in 3×08 truly brought tears to my eyes. But if they appear in a possible season 4, I’m going to want a lot less drama from these two. 

Cayetana and Valerio

There’s not much to say about Cayetana and Valerio. Cayetana was the worst character in season 2 and continued to be the worst character this season. I did love seeing Rebeca calling her out, saying that she was nothing without Polo, as well as Polo, who said that she was in love with the life he was going to give her, not him. 

I’m super confused regarding what they were doing with Valerio. They set up him up to be a love interest for Lu in season 2 (which I was not on board with AT ALL), briefly touched on it in the first two episodes of season 3, and then completely abandoned it to have him hook up (and fall in love?!?!?) with Polo and Cayetana. Now, he’s going to be doing PR/marketing for Carla’s winery which I guess is cool and all, but I can’t imagine he’ll be back for future seasons. 

Season 4?!?!?!

Although it has not officially been confirmed by Netflix, there have been rumors going around social media for quite sometime that Elite will be back for not just one but TWO more seasons. The way season 3 ends with Guzmán, Samuel, Rebeca, Ander and Omar (!!!) all preparing to repeat their senior year at Las Encinas sure makes it seem likely that this would be the focus of the seasons to come. 

On the one hand, I would be completely for this. I would LOVE another season to keep up with my favorites (especially if we got Nadia to pop in every now and then via FaceTime). However, on the other hand, I don’t know if I’d be down with another season that featured some original cast members and also included a brand new mystery. It would just feel over done and unrealistic (although I recognize that everything about Elite is unrealistic). And honestly, just how much murder and trauma can these kids endure in the span of 3 years? I wouldn’t mind another mystery if that’s the route the writers want to go, but it would just have to be with an all new cast. 

Other Thoughts

• This is absolutely nothing against Sergio Momo but Yeray was absolutely pointless and did nothing for me. Good riddance to him! 
• OMAR FINALLY MADE UP WITH HIS FAMILY. I CRIED ALL THE TEARS.
• The Samuel and Guzmán friendship was great, but the Lu and Nadia friendship was AMAZING. An unexpected yet beautiful pairing. I want a spinoff of them in New York ASAP.
• Speaking of Guzmán’s friendships, I was really glad to see him get back to being friends with Ander. Some of those scenes where he’s comforting Ander as he’s going through cancer brought me to tears. 
• We got no pool scenes between Nadia and Guzmán, despite pools being their thing. BLASPHEMOUS. 
• Kevin McHale as Bill McKinley…. I can’t even. This show has never really done guest appearances like that so it just felt super weird and out of place.
• I can’t take full credit for this as I saw it on Tumblr but the lyrics of the opening scene of episode 8 were SUPER prophetic as it relates to Guzmán’s feelings to Polo. “But I always regret the night I told you I would hate you ‘till forever.”

What did you think about Elite season 3? Let me know in the comments below.