Surely not your own Netflix he expected that ‘Elite’ would become one of his most popular series. In fact, both the third and fourth seasons are in the Top 10 of the most watched non-English speaking series on the platform, and no one would be surprised if the fifth achieved a similar milestone.
However, one thing is the popularity and another the level of the series, since the fourth season already showed certain symptoms of exhaustion, being the most irregular until then by far. I am very much afraid that this trend continues -and is increasing- in the fifthwhose premiere takes place this Friday, April 8, but of which I have already been able to see its first three episodes.
too recognizable
The main feeling left by the start of the fifth season of ‘Elite’ is one of stagnation, as if it were resisting to evolve for fear that the public will lose interest if a series of ingredients that were key to its success are not used.
We have a good example of this in that there is again a crime that serves as a common thread to raise interest in what is happening while playing with the suspense around what exactly has happened. On paper a great resource to engage the viewer, but here it seems more that it is because something like that is needed than for anything else.
One of the main problems is that the third season had a lot of culmination for the seriesor at least for its original protagonists, while since then there has been a strange cross between renewal and statism, all seasoned with a more casual tone when it comes to addressing its more sexual component.
I suspect the output of Darius Madrona, one of the creators of the series, may have had something in the long drift that ‘Elite’ is going through. On the one hand, it is noted that the arrival of James Cow has brought a greater commitment to hedonism, something that reaches its peak so far during the second episode of this fifth season.
It may even seem that here is a way of dealing with some need for youth liberation associated with the pandemic, but without the coronavirus having the slightest presence in the series. This is used to continue exploring the emotional relationships between the characters, both those already known and newcomers.
a new generation is needed
There the series shows two very different faces, making it clear that ‘Elite’ needs a real quick makeover rather than just keep stretching the gum, as it’s always been a go-for-all series from the start, but there comes a point where you run out.
Perhaps that is why the three new characters with a certain weight are more interesting, even if the use made of them is not particularly memorable -personally I would prefer the playful touch that it brings Andre Lamoglia-. But he is different and he does not have burdens behind him to deal with yes or yes, something that is noticeable here especially with Samuel (Itzan Escamilla), a character who had worked very well in the first three seasons but who has not stopped losing steam since then.
Nor get more serious than usual with the plot of Georgina Amorós and Pol Granch It suits the series too well, something that fits for what was raised in the fourth season, but not so much for the tone adopted by the series so far, and less with the one it has adopted since the fourth season. The hope remains that it can lead to something worthwhile, but for now it is not integrated satisfactorily.
All in all, see ‘Elite’ remains so easy to see like having a soda on a hot day, but at its best it was cool and one of your favorite flavours, while now it’s almost out of date -you may have put it in the fridge 15 minutes before but no more- and Without displeasing you, it would be one of the last flavors you would choose. In fact, it almost pays you more to pour yourself a glass of water fresh from the tap.
In short
The best years of ‘Elite’ are probably behind us. Hopefully the Netflix series bets on a deep renewal for its sixth season, for which a multitude of signings have already been confirmed, because until now it seems that they have resisted the fact that there is a new generation of students in Las Encinas, mixing old acquaintances with some new signings. The fifth season proves that the time has come for a new beginning.