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GayCityNews.com | APRIL 21 - May 4, 2022
Arts & Entertainment
Season Five of “Elite”: New Twists to a Sexy Soap Opera
BY GARY M. KRAMER
The fi fth season of the naughty
Spanish Netfl ix series “Elite”
has the students at Las Encinas,
a private school in Madrid,
returning for another year. While
there is the matter of Armando’s (Andrés
Velencoso) death — the cliffhanger
from last season — that is being
investigated, most of the students are
more concerned with sex.
Omar (out gay Omar Ayuso) is missing
his boyfriend Ander and hooks up
with Patrick (Manu Ríos) for “sex and
a chat.” Patrick is having boyfriend
trouble too — because he is crushed
on Iván (André Lamoglia), a new student
who keeps teasing the perpetually
horny Patrick all the while insisting he
is straight. Their early scenes together
are full of homoerotic tension.
Iván has a hot dad Cruz (Carloto
Cotta, of “Diamantino” fame), a famous
soccer player, who has a sweet, if oddly
comic exchange with Patrick when he
catches his son’s friend masturbating.
It also foreshadows a storyline after
Patrick tells Iván they will always be
friends, not intimates.
“Elite” thrives on the characters
playing toxic games with one another.
Iván admits his bromance with Patrick
“soothes him,” but he arouses
more than Patrick’s interest when they
watch a porno together in their underwear
during a sleepover. Iván makes
a play for Ari (Carla Díaz), Patrick’s
sister. Ari, however, is romantically involved
with Samuel (Itzan Escamilla)
— even though they some issues.
The relationship between the show’s
queer females is not much better. Exgirlfriends
Rebeka (Claudia Salas) and
Mencía (Martina Cariddi) are not talking
at the start of the season, but both
secretly want to reunite. When Rebeka
begins seeing another student, it irritates
Mencía. The exes must negotiate
their relationship as situations arise, like
Armando’s death probe. Both Salas and
Cariddi do well expressing and repressing
their emotions for one another in the
season, but their storyline never excites.
“Elite” does wisely incorporate new
characters, like Ibiza empress Isadora
(Valentina Zenere). She is smitten with
Prince Phillipe von Triesenberg (Pol
Granch), who seeks forgiveness from
the working-class Cayetana (Georgina
Amorós), whom he raped the previous
season. Their love triangle plays out in
not unexpected ways.
“Elite” delights in pushing the envelope,
spinning these characters into
each other’s arms (and legs), and playing
with sexual fl uidity. There is a pretty
erotic gay sex scene in episode fi ve,
and the show also addresses serious
social issues ranging from drug addiction,
to rape, and of course, murder.
Yes, the series is a heightened, sexy
soap opera, and it is hard not to root
for the queer characters. But it is
memorable for featuring rich, beautiful
people behaving badly. This is why
this juicy series remains so addicting.
“ELITE” Season 5 | Now on Netfl ix
NETFLIX/MATIAS URIS
Patrick (Manu Rios) and Iván (André Lamoglia) in
episode fi ve of Elite.
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