I Left My Heart in Marinduque(not in San Francisco): Another Addicting TV Series: Spanish TV Series on Netflix

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Another Addicting TV Series: Spanish TV Series on Netflix

Last November, I posted in my blogs my discovery of Turkish TV dramas. This week I started binging on a Spanish TV series "ElitE"on Netflix. It has 3 Seasons and I just finished Season 2. It is comparable to another Teen TV drama "13 Reasons Why".https://marinduquemyislandparadise.blogspot.com/search?q=13+reasons+Why

I am addicted to this series and here's my reasons and summary from Wikipedia. Elite features Itzan Escamilla a look alike of Enrique Iglesias and his also famous Father Julio.

Itzan Escamilla playing Samuel-one of the leading actors in the Series and

Enrique Iglesias- son of Julio Iglesias Do you see the resemblances?
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrique_Iglesias)
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Young Julio Iglesias- Iglesias is recognized as the most commercially successful continental European singer in the world and one of the top record sellers in music history, having sold more than 100 million records worldwide in 14 languages. It is estimated that during his career he has performed in more than 5000 concerts, for over 60 million people in five continents. In April 2013, Iglesias was inducted into the Hall of Fame of Latin Composers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julio_Iglesias

Elite (Spanish: Élite; stylized as E L I T Ǝ) is a Spanish thriller teen drama streaming television series created for Netflix by Carlos Montero and Darío Madrona. The series is set in Las Encinas, a fictional elite secondary school and revolves around the relationships between three working-class teenage students enrolled at the school through a scholarship and their wealthy classmates.

The series features an ensemble cast including María Pedraza, Itzan Escamilla, Miguel Bernardeau, Miguel Herrán, Jaime Lorente, Álvaro Rico, Arón Piper, Mina El Hammani, Ester Expósito, Omar Ayuso, and Danna Paola. Jorge López, Claudia Salas, Georgina Amorós, Sergio Momo, Leïti Sène, Carla Díaz, Manu Ríos, Martina Cariddi, and Pol Granch joined the cast in later seasons. Many of the cast previously featured in other Netflix works produced or distributed in Spain and Latin America.

Elite explores concepts and themes associated with teen dramas, but also features more progressive issues and other sides to its clichés. These include many diverse sexual themes. Structurally, the series employs a flash-forward plot that involves a mystery element, with each season taking place in two timelines. The first season, consisting of eight episodes, was released on Netflix on 5 October 2018. It received positive reviews from critics and audiences, with many hailing the series as a "guilty pleasure", and praising its writing, acting and portrayal of mature themes. In October 2018, the series was renewed for a second season, which was released on 6 September 2019. A third season was ordered in August 2019 and was released on 13 March 2020. In January 2020, Netflix renewed the series for a fourth and fifth season. Here's Critical Response from Wikipedia.

Critical response

Critical response of *Elite*
Season	Rotten Tomatoes
1	100% (14 reviews)
2	91% (11 reviews)
3	100% (9 reviews)

Elite was met with critical acclaim. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has a 100% rating with 14 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Elite is highly digestible, technically strong trash TV for anyone with a guilty pleasure palate." Other reviewers also refer to the show as a guilty pleasure. Natalie Winkelman from The Daily

Beast gave the first season a positive review, saying that "with Euro-cool style and compelling characters, Elite is trashy, diverting fun." John Doyle from The Globe and Mail likewise complimented the first season in his review, adding that "Elite is no masterpiece but is one of those oddly satisfying, binge-worthy curiosities."

Taylor Antrim of Vogue also said that is worth a binge-watch and "goes down like a cold glass of verdejo". Antrim wrote that the series is an example of Netflix "airing global TV shows that slavishly borrow television tropes", saying that "If it were a CW show I'd hardly give it a second look. But a Spanish prep school is seductive terra incognita" in the positive review.

Writing for Variety, Caroline Framke also comments on the series' use of tropes. She notes that being introduced to the show as a combination of many other teen dramas, she was concerned that taking on so many tropes would make it "an overstuffed Frankenstein of a show", but that she was quickly proven wrong when watching it.

David Griffin of IGN also identifies the series in the same way. He gave the first season an 8.8/10, highlighting that it sets a "new standard for how a high school drama series should be done" and "may be the best high school drama on TV."

In a similar take, Lena Finkel of Femestella looked at how the series was different to many of its counterparts by how it tackled contentious issues. Finkel lists explicitly examples, including that when Elite has sex scenes, they are often about the woman's pleasure; that a character who believes abortion is murder is still pro-choice; that when a male character is come onto by a drunk girl that he likes, he sends her home; that it explores social and class differences when young people come out; that the gay male sex scene is sensual as well as explicit; and that it features characters including a young man unashamedly nervous to lose his virginity and a straight, white, wealthy, woman who is HIV-positive.

Also looking at how the series addresses diverse issues and modern society, Grazia Middle East wrote about the representation of Nadia. Writer Olivia Adams says that the show explores some of the more everyday struggles of racial discrimination towards Muslims by having Nadia be forced to remove her headscarf in school, something that has been considered at some real schools in Europe. She also notes how the home life of the Muslim family is explored, not just the teenagers' interrelations, giving a fuller view.

Kathryn VanArendonk of Vulture stated in a positive review of the series that though "Elite is not pushing new boundaries in television, it's not a self-serious reboot of an old property" and that "in spite of that — or more likely because of it! — its commitment to breakneck melodrama is undeniably enjoyable." Kemi Alemoru of Dazed recommends watching the show because it is "extra", relishing in showing the excessive world of the elite students with extravagant parties and the means to escalate small fights to high-expense drama, and also for its positive representation of topics.

Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya from Thrillist recommended the first season in their review of the series by stating that "Elite might be the only show that could give Riverdale a run for its money when it comes to excessive slow-motion shots."

Decider's Joel Keller also compares the show to Riverdale, saying that it is "trashy and scandalous, but no moreso than anything you might see coming from American producers" and the latest of the "dark high school dramas" that became popular; Keller recommends to stream it.

Popular response

On 17 January 2019, Netflix announced that the series (the first season) had been streamed by over 20 million accounts within its first month of release.

After Netflix posted an image of gay characters Omar and Ander to Instagram, it received homophobic comments. The streaming service responded to one with rainbow emojis.