‘Élite’ Season 3 Starts up Right Where the Drama Left off Last Season in Episode 1, “Carla” — Recap
If you took Gossip Girl, changed the setting to Spain, ramped up the drama, drugs, and partying by 50 percent and then rated it TV-MA, you’d get Élite. And that’s definitely not a bad thing. The Netflix original series started in 2018 and has captured audiences in the trials and tribulations at Las Encinas, the best and most exclusive college preparatory in the country.
After a major character death in Season 1 and the unraveling mystery and fight for justice in Season 2, Season 3 has a lot to live up to. And it doesn’t disappoint. In the first episode, it uses the momentum from Season 2 to show the aftermath of Polo’s arrest. MAJOR spoilers ahead for Élite Season 3, Episode 1 ahead.
Everyone knows what happened to Marina, but will Polo get what’s coming to him?
Last season, Carla confessed all the information she had on Polo. She knew he murdered Marina and guilt about the situation, and Samuel’s fake disappearance weighed on her. Polo’s arrested, and Samuel came out of hiding. However, in the last moments of Season 2, Polo is seen coming back to school.
Now, Season 3 opens up three months in the future with a scene of someone falling from the second floor in the nightclub they go to often. In typical Élite fashion, it starts the season off with a tragedy that the audience has to get to the bottom of, but only the finale reveals everything.
Rewind to when the bulk of this season takes place, and Polo is returning to school. All the main characters give him incredulous stares, filled with hatred. The only one happy to see him is Cayetana, who helped him hide the trophy that he killed Marina with and threw in the lake.
We see the immediate aftermath of Season 2, and it starts with Polo being refused a spot at Las Encinas because he’s out on bail. Nano starts a new life somewhere so that he can’t be taken back into custody if things with Polo go south. Samuel’s mother wants to follow suit, but Samuel’s determined to stay and make sure Marina has justice for her death. Not to mention, he has lingering feelings for Carla.
Speaking of lingering feelings, Rebe is her usual rebellious, fearless self on the outside. However, she’s definitely not over Samuel, despite his infatuation with Carla last season.
Carla was set on testifying against Polo, but her father has blackmail on her mother
Carla is very confident in her trial against Polo. If she goes through with it, her word has more power than his, and the prosecution would keep going. However, Carla’s father is furious and scared about what Carla’s confession can do because of the secret files he had on that watch Polo killed Marina for.
With a trial, more would unravel about that night, including all those files. Because of this, to ensure Carla doesn’t snitch, her father reveals that he wouldn’t be the one to go down. Her mother, who’s currently separating from him, is the one who signed all of the implicating papers. Carla has the power to end it for Polo, but in doing so, she’d also sign away her family’s wealth.
Right before Carla and Polo go in front of a judge, Samuel makes one final plea for Carla to do the right thing. He confesses his love for her and says that if she loses everything, she’ll still have him. “You’ll prove that you’re the woman I fell in love with,” he tells her.
Carla made her bed but refuses to lie in it, breaking Samuel’s heart
Already, this season has viewers yelling at their screens when Carla says she made it all up in front of the judge. Right when Polo was going to confess, no less. It’s a genuinely frustrating moment, but Carla feels like she really can’t go through with it, even though her mother said she supports her confession. Samuel is fuming, as he should, and Carla’s mom is visibly disappointed in her.
Ander and Omar’s relationship is still the most authentic and passionate relationship on the show, but they have some obstacles ahead. Last season, it was Ander’s embarrassment at Omar’s new, freeing personality when he’s finally able to openly be who he is. Now, it looks like Ander contracted some disease or sickness. It’s heartbreaking seeing Omar so invested in Ander when he’s hiding things.
There’s still more going on between Nadia and the new kid, Malick, with Guzmán watching from the wings. Plus, Lu and Valerio are dealing with their incestuous relationship and the fact that their father now knows they were in it together, equally.
Going back to the scene the episode opened with, you see more of it evolve throughout the episode, and Carla is, of course, majorly involved. And like you probably guessed, the man who fell was Polo, meaning he dies at the end of this season. As to who knifed him and what happened up until his death is unknown. And what did Carla do with the murder weapon? How did she know where it was? This season is going to be a doozy.
