Since it premiered in October 2018, ‘Elite’ has been one of the most watched Spanish series on streaming, reaching the top of the list. Netflix is so clear that it is a bombshell that the presentation of its sixth season has been accompanied by the announcement that there will be at least a seventh. In order to find out more news, we have met with its directors and with some of its actors who, being very careful not to spoilersThey have told us how they feel in this new stage of the series.
Álex Pastrana and Carmen Arrufat are some of the juiciest additions to the new course at the exclusive and turbulent Las Encinas institute, but there is much more. The sixth season is structured around the development of three essential plots. On the one hand, the toxic relationship between the characters of Arrufat and Pastrana, and on the other, homophobia in sports and the youthful perception of transsexuality.
As its creator, Carlos Montero, says, “it is very difficult to keep actors for so long because they want to do other things, they grow up and are no longer seen wearing uniforms”. This has allowed the writers of one of the most successful Spanish series to inside and outside our country to make a virtue of necessity, being able to open up new themes and plot lines that would be impossible in the hands of the most veteran characters.
a transgender character
A good example of this is the arrival of Ander Puig, who plays a young transgender man who will have to find his own place in high school. As Puig himself says “my character is fine, nothing is wrong with him, he is happy since his transition and he is happy with himself, I would say that he does not even remember that he is trans”. The problem is that some attitudes around him will end up undermining his security and generating new crises that he did not expect.
Elite had wanted to deal with this issue for a long time but, as the screenwriter Jaime Vaca and Carlos Montero himself say, it was essential to find the right actor and now they are convinced they have succeeded. Vaca says that they did not want to “tell the transformation process, that has already been told, here we wanted the later moment. Montero adds that they could “have created a progressive context where everyone welcomes Nico wonderfully”, that is the name of Ander’s character Puig, “but it wouldn’t be realistic or interesting.”
The actor, for his part, is proud that trans reality is given visibility in such successful fiction because although “this is not an accurate reflection of reality, it is about entertaining, it can show new references that for many young people they are important”. In his real life, Puig acknowledges that he has encountered a lot of misunderstanding due to a lack of knowledge of the trans reality and it is not surprising that Elite has launched with this topic because, as Jaime Vaca says, “in our DNA there is diversity.
The toxic influencer
An extreme world, full of beauty and broadcast in real time by phone with kids who, if they get hot, get on a helicopter to party. What does one of them have to have to be an influencer? We will find out by meeting Raúl and Sara, the characters played by Álex Pastrana and Carmen Arrufat. But, surely, it is not their leadership skills in the networks that surprise us, but the way in which Raúl treats Sara and how she tries to know how she should react.
Sara has been making concessions to toxic behavior that translates into unacceptable situations. Locating them and learning to vindicate herself will be essential for her who, as Arrufat says, will evolve towards sorority and learn to get rid of dodgy things that are not cool”. , and Jaime Vaca points out that there are many variants of toxic relationships.
Isadora will make people talk
The scene of the group rape of the fifth season generated a great controversy for the alleged laundering of an unacceptable crime. But the thing will not stop there. The different prisms of the main protagonists of that plot will come to the fore and, in one way or another, everyone in Las Encinas is called to take a position. After several days of ups and downs we found ourselves trapped in the strange dichotomy of determining whether or not that had been a rape. Isadora herself seemed to want to take us in that direction with her initial denial, but in the end she was clear about it and denounced it.
As Zenere says, from there “the problem is that, when you finally take the plunge, she’s left alone, no one seems to believe her and she has to live with those who did that to her, in the same place.” Her character is an expert in being and feeling alone, but this is different because, as Ana Bokesa, who plays Rocío, says, “they make her go through a double victimization. In any case, following Carmen Arrufat in that “The plots surprise you and can go where you don’t expect” we will have to wait to see what this tricky topic ends up in. Meanwhile, Isadora will not escape Didac’s judgment, who is very clear about his values and tries to make the others discern between what is good and what is bad.The problem is that in Las Encinas, as they have shown us on other occasions, nothing has to be what it seems.
Patrick Blanco does not know how to fall in love
We already knew this, but Manu Ríos reiterates it, who, playing Patrick’s character, tries to show us how the origin of our own misfortunes can come from our own inability to believe the good things that happen to us. This constant dilemma in Patrick is the reason for Iván’s bewilderment who, according to André Lamoglia, “is going to be very sad for the things that happen to him in this new season”.
Their relationship is a constant learning process in which mistakes are paid for with pain and huge outbursts of frustration. But their particular roller coaster also leads them to experience incredible sensations when they know how to go in the same direction. “The problem is that Patrick is out of place because he is not used to being loved back” explains Manu Ríos. André, for his part, is open and understanding, but his patience is already a rope with few intact strands and towards the middle of the season he could undergo a strong transformation.