Elite season 3 episode 1 recap: Carla and her secrets

Season 3 of Elite starts with the downfall of a central character—in more ways than one. But as always, nothing is as it seems on this show.

Polo (Álvaro Rico) is back at school in season 3, episode one of Netflix’s Elite, and only one person is happy to see him there—Cayetana (Georgina Amorós). The rest of Polo’s classmates and closest friends would rather see him in jail.

And the school principal agrees—despite being out on bail, Polo is still under investigation for Marina’s murder, and school isn’t the appropriate place for him. His mothers may have a lot of sway in this town, but it doesn’t extend to the school.

But Polo isn’t the only one stirring up drama. The rest of the students are having problems of their own—some of which will change the course of their lives, especially with a host of international universities arriving at scout out the top talents.

Lu’s Ultimatum

Lucretia (Georgina Amorós) had had quite the uphill battle to rediscover herself in Elite season 2, and this new season isn’t any kinder to her.

Her half-brother—and romantic interest—Valerio (Jorge López) was supposed to be in Chile with his mother. But she refuses to have him back, leaving Valerio sleeping in a car and using the flight money his father gave him to get back to school.

Lu isn’t happy to see Valerio—primarily because the two of them still have very complicated and icky feelings for each other. And because Valerio revealed their gross relationship to their father.

But Valerio is just as displeased about the situation. Lu blamed their sordid affair entirely on him, painting herself as a victim of Valerio’s machinations. And their father bought it because he thinks of Lu as the perfect daughter.

If Valerio is to get back to a normal life, he needs Lu to tell their father the truth—she was as much an instigator as Valerio.

Which is exactly what she ends up doing when their father returns home early from a work trip and finds that Valerio is not in Chile. He’s disturbed by the truth but accepts that his children are adults now and can make their own decisions. So, he tells Lu that the moment she turns 18, he will stop providing for her—no food, no clothes, no home, and no university.

Valerio is used to living without these, but not Lu. And her hopes of attending a top university are practically dashed. Will her attempts to convince the visiting universities to provide a scholarship for her ‘desperate friend’ come to fruition?

New Boy at School

Nadia (Mina El Hammani) is still reeling from her friends’ betrayals in Elite season 2—the video of her and Guzmán (Miguel Bernardeau) is still fresh in everyone’s memory, and it’s going to haunt her.

More from Show Snob

Everything is making Nadia edgy—when a young man enters the family shop, she immediately suspects him of shoplifting, even though he is a fellow Muslim. The boy wasn’t doing anything untoward and is quite forgiving, but Nadia is shaken by her actions.

When the same boy turns up at school, Nadia is mortified. But Malick is very understanding, and the two of them strike up a friendship.

But that could easily be torpedoed after Nadia’s interview for a top university. Her grades are excellent, and she has extracurricular activities, along with her store experience, under her belt. But the university knows about the video and refuse to give her a scholarship. Do they not know the shocking things the students get up to in this school? Nadia is a saint compared to her classmates.

Nadia is obviously upset, but Malick tries to calm her down—he is still her friend. Nadia is amazed that Malick would want to be friends with a ‘bad Muslim’ like her, but Malick doesn’t believe that—everyone sins, after all.

Though Nadia clearly isn’t over Guzmán—who still hovers in her periphery, despite more pressing concerns regarding Polo—it’s great that she’s made a new friend.

Something’s Wrong with Ander

Ander (Arón Piper) still gets maudlin about the drama that Polo dragged him into in Elite season 2. He’s clearly suffering from some form of PTSD, and he’s upset at losing Guzmán’s friendship.

Fortunately, Ander has the world’s best boyfriend in Omar (Omar Ayuso), who knows exactly how to cheer him up. While they’re enjoying themselves, however, Omar finds a lump on Ander. They don’t know what it is, and Ander goes to the doctor to check it out.

When he gets the results back, he seems to fine—he even jokes around with Omar, insisting that there was nothing wrong with him.

But when Ander is being interviewed at the university fair, he is asked where he sees himself in 5-10 years. Ander can’t get out of there fast enough, and he breaks down completely once outside, weeping on his own like his heart is going to break.

Rebeca (Claudia Salas) witnesses it all but, for once, has the good sense not to say anything. She quietly observes Ander’s agony and leaves him alone.

Carla’s Confession

In Elite season 2, Samuel (Claudia Salas) had created an elaborate plan to get Carla (Ester Expósito) to confess the true identity of Marina’s murderer. By the end, with Guzmán’s help, Samuel had succeeded—Carla named Polo as the murderer, and he was sent off to juvenile detention.

With Polo out on bail, Carla must reiterate the confession to ensure he goes to prison and stays there. Samuel tries to persuade her to do the right thing—stick by her admission, but Carla is wavering.

Carla’s father doesn’t want Polo in jail—Polo knows too much about his shady dealings. Carla doesn’t care—her father has caused her enough trouble. But he’s willing to take her innocent mother down with him, and Carla can’t allow that.

Of course, if Ander were to corroborate Carla’s confession, that would make life easier. But Guzmán has distanced himself from Ander and can’t seem to motivate himself to sway Ander to speak up. Plus, Ander has other things to worry about right now.

At the confession hearing, Polo is almost completely ready to confess—that’s the only way this nightmare ends, especially since his girlfriend, Cayetana, has hidden the murder weapon. But before Polo can say anything, Carla recants her confession.

Polo is free, and he goes back to living his life—everybody hates him, of course, but at least he still has Cayetana. Or does she have him? With the trophy in her possession, she holds Polo’s freedom in her hands—but does Polo understand that?

There’s Been a Murder

But all this is in the past—in the present, things are looking quite different. On graduation day, with everyone enjoying the party at the club, glass shatters and a body falls to the ground. From the looks of it, Carla was close to the person who fell.

Inspectora (Ainhoa Santamaría) once again finds herself questioning the students, starting with Carla. But she doesn’t know what happened—the glass had a crack in it, and the victim may have fallen through. Carla would never do anything to the victim because she loved him—her former partner, Polo.

What Carla doesn’t tell the Inspectora is that shortly after Polo crashed and burned, she ran to the initial crime scene and grabbed the murder weapon—a broken bottle used to stab Polo before throwing him through the glass. Carla hid the murder weapon, but why? Did she kill Polo, or is she protecting the real murderer?

Final Thoughts

A strong start to Elite season 3. As fascinating as Polo is, his death comes as some relief—he has caused so much misery, and he deserves a terrible end. I do hope he gets a taste of his own medicine through Cayetana, though.

The Lu/ Valerio storyline continues to be super-ick, and I wish there were a way it could be resolved so the characters could move on. But I’m interested to see how Lu deals with the possibility of a life without privilege.

I hope that Ander’s diagnosis—whatever it is—doesn’t lead to a ‘bury your gays’ situation. Ander and Omar are the only healthy relationship on Elite and, at the moment, the only non-straight pairing. In 2020, we should be well past these frustrating tropes.

Next. What to watch this weekend: Elite and more. dark

The suspense and tension that make Elite such a riveting watch are more than clear in this opening episode. Viewers will be eagerly anticipating the slow-burn reveal of Polo’s murderer as the season wears on.

Home/Netflix