Elite season 3 episode 2 recap: Samuel and Guzmán

In episode 2 of Elite season 3, friendships are betrayed and new bonds are created, making everyone a suspect in this season’s murder.

Following the events of the opening episode of Elite season 3, Polo is off the hook but that doesn’t mean life is getting any easier for him at school. Can he worm his way back into his friends’ good books? His mothers definitely know how to endear themselves to the school—by sponsoring a lucrative scholarship to a top University.

Little do they know that this act of ‘generosity’ is only going to make their son’s life—and those of his classmates’—even more miserable.

Lu VS Nadia

The scholarship programme immediately catches Nadia’s eye—having lost a scholarship because of the video of her and Guzmán taken during season 2 of Elite, she really needs this. Nadia doesn’t want to take part in something that is in any way related to Polo but unfortunately, she doesn’t have much choice.

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But someone else is in a similar boat—Lucrecia. Her dad has cut her and Valerio off—but Lu still wants to follow her dreams. She applies for the programme as well, despite the school principal, Azucena (Elisabet Gelabert), imploring her to allow space for others who are less fortunate.

Emboldened by Azucena, Nadia decides to threaten Lu—withdraw from the programme or Nadia will let everyone know about Lu and Valerio.

She’s quite convincing, as well. Enough to force Lu into divulging her secret to Nadia—that she needs the scholarship now because she has no money.

Nadia is, as always, the better person in the situation. She was never going to tattle about Lu and Valerio—though Lu did share that video of Nadia with the entire school. Plus, Lu may still be able to convince her father to pay for her university in the future, while Nadia’s family will never be able to afford to send her to such a school.

Despite all this, Nadia decides that she and Lu will tackle this programme Hunger Games-style—may the odds be ever in their favour.

Rebeca to the Rescue

Rebeca seems to have made it her life’s mission to get in everyone’s business—even more so in this season of Elite. She’s still broken-hearted about Samuel choosing Carla over her—not that she ever told Samuel how she felt—but she tries to help him out during his time of need.

With Nano having settled abroad and living an anonymous, but peaceful, life, Samuel’s mother has decided to join him. Samuel would have gone as well, but Polo is still out and about, and he needs to clear Nano’s name.

But that’s left Samuel without a roommate and a lot of rent to pay. Rebeca has a plan to help—Valerio is sleeping in his car and living off of illicit drugs. He could sell his car to pay rent and move in with Samuel.

Unfortunately, Valerio is too proud for that—he would rather party it up with Rebeca’s mother, Sandra (Eva Llorach), in the hopes of scoring more drugs. Easier said than done—Sandra has made her kingdom with blood, sweat, and tears, as we had learned from Rebeca in the previous season of Elite. She notices Valerio stealing her goods and makes him pay for it—not with money. When Valerio is on his knees and grovelling, Sandra cuts him some slack and asks him to take a serious look at what he’s become. Valerio’s next stop is Samuel’s house.

But Rebeca has more work to do—Ander has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukaemia. He needs an intense form of chemo to get through and the side effects will be awful. Rebeca is there with him when he meets the doctor and the shock of learning how fleeting life can be makes her question what is happening in her own life.

Rebeca does manage to convince Ander to tell his mother and Omar. Azucena is concerned but hopeful—she has to be, she’s his mom. Omar is ready to fight for Ander, but he won’t have it. In tragic hero style, Ander asks Omar to leave him—he deserves to have fun and be with other people, not take care of his ill boyfriend, who he hasn’t even been with very long.

If Elite season 3 is proving anything, it is that Omar is indeed the world’s best boyfriend. Despite Ander throwing him out, Omar arrives at Ander’s first chemo session with music, a big smile, and some jokes.

Rebeca may be an uncouth mess but she knows how to help out when it’s needed.

Childhood Friends

Guzmán has gone through several arcs—from being the school bully to turning over a new leaf because of his interest in Nadia in season one of Elite, then as an investigator for his sister, Marina’s, murder, and friend to Samuel in season 2.

In this season of Elite, Guzmán is a bit lost—Polo is out in the world and there is no closure for Marina’s case. Guzmán can’t let it go—he misses his sister and his family deserve justice. But what if he was wrong about Polo, his childhood friend?

After everything that Samuel and Guzmán had been through together, this about-turn is surprising. But for Polo, it is a much-needed victory. Ever since he murdered Marina, he’s wanted his life back, and that means having Guzmán’s friendship back.

When Guzmán invites Polo home to play videogames—a term that is fast beginning to mean multiple things in this season of Elite—he jumps at the opportunity. Polo has no idea what he’s in for.

Guzmán drugs Polo and ties him up. He at least has the good sense to call Samuel for assistance before he does anything stupid. Then Guzmán puts on that video of Marina dancing that breaks him every time he watches it and he goes to town on Polo—Guzmán needs to know where the trophy is and he’ll do anything to find out.

Fortunately, Samuel is there to reign Guzmán in—as Polo points out, he killed Marina by accident, but Guzmán’s attack on Polo is pre-meditated. This is as good as a confession to Guzmán who absolutely loses it—he strangles Polo but is stopped Samuel, who sets Polo free with a warning that it’s their word against his.

One can’t blame Guzmán for his actions but this is a bit extreme—he really will end up killing someone at this rate.

But does that mean he is Polo’s killer at the graduation party? Guzmán makes it sound like the two of them had made up and were back to being friends. He even cries over Polo’s body.

Or perhaps it is Samuel, who takes up a knife and goes after Polo, before being stopped by Guzmán. We have to wait to find out.

Partners of Convenience

Nobody in this season of Elite is getting to be with who they want. Carla and Samuel could have gone back to each other, but Carla’s father won’t have it and he is not a man to cross.

So, Carla turns to the only decent option available—Yeray (Sergio Momo), who everyone thinks is a new student but was actually bullied out of school three years ago. He used to be a large boy and got teased—Carla, surprisingly, stood up for him. Not that she remembers him at all. Now that Yeray’s ‘hot’, Carla decides he will have to take Samuel’s place.

Samuel may be lost without Carla, but once Rebeca makes her feelings for him obvious, he realises that his future may lie with the more realistic Rebeca, and not Carla.

Meanwhile, despite Guzmán’s plea to Nadia that she is the only reason he can wake up in the morning, Nadia knows she can’t be with him. The video wasn’t his fault but he is inexorably tied to it and she can’t associate with him anymore. Malick (Leïti Sène), on the other hand, is a funny, irreverent, and safe choice—he’s the one Nadia turns to.

Polo is still with Cayetana but how much of that is because she knows his secret and holds the murder weapon over him? Even Polo doesn’t know.

At least Ander and Omar are still going strong—but with Ander meeting a fellow patient, could even that relationship be on the rocks?

Final Thoughts

The second episode of Elite season 3 went in a few wild directions. The show’s handling of Guzmán’s loss felt a bit lacking in season 2—he was all rage and vengeance, and while that gave him a macho vibe, it wasn’t very realistic. Seeing Guzmán breaking down in tears and acknowledging the hole that Marina’s death has left in him was powerful and sad, and it gave him so much more dimension.

Yeray seems like a sweet character but the former fat person is now ‘hot’ trope needed to die a few decades ago. It’s very annoying to see it crop up on this show considering the massive backlash Netflix faced with regards to Insatiable.

Next. The 6 best feel-good shows to stream on Hulu. dark

We are no closer to learning who killed Polo but that’s the point of Elite —unraveling a complicated, suspenseful plot one plucked thread at a time.

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