A high-school drama that touches on many important themes - all from the students' point of view

The second season (2019) of the Netflix series Elite (created by Carlos Montero and Darío Madrona) picks up where Season 1 ended as a fine teen drama with many plot strands and many important elements: class conflict, murder and a coverup, corruption at the highest level of Spanish government and business, teenage romance, homosexual love, cross-cultural conflict, and I could go on. In essence, the plot concerns an "elite" private high school in Madrid that accepts several scholarship students, with inevitable fights and romances and other entanglements between the rich students and their new, street-savvy classmates. In the 2nd season we follow the investigation of the killing of a popular female student - particularly interesting in that we know who killed her and we watch that character simmer with guilt and remorse. There are many plot twists and subplots - one of the better being the attempts of a scholarship student to hide her background (her mother is a janitor in the school) and try to pass herself off as wealthy. There are so many plot elements - much like a telenova series - that it can be hard to keep everything straight as you watch, which also keeps you paying close attention to everything that happens (no doubt it will be easier to follow if you're fluent in Spanish). Most of all, what's impressive and unusual about this series, is that it's almost entirely from the POV of the students; there are a few parents with supporting roles - notably the devout Muslim storekeeper whose loyal and studious daughter is drawn into the party life -but the adults are always at the periphery and could almost be written off, or out, with impunity. Apparently, a Season 3 is on the way - good, though I thought the loose plot strands left danging at the end of Season 2 were thin at best.

Perhaps the best and most credible h.s. drama since FNL: Elite

The 8-part Netflix series Elite (2018) has gotten little attention so far - perhaps because it's in Spanish and easily confused w/ a Telanovela - but in my view it's a series well worth watching for a # of reasons: Excellent narrative line w/ many strands that intersect intelligently and surprisingly, fine acting by a young cast (all of the principals are student in an "elite" high school in, I think, Madrid), a mystery and a murder investigation revealed in the first scene and carried through till the conclusion but that never dominates the plot, which is really about the students and their complex inter-relations; a high-school drama that is both sympathetic and highly credible (the only comparable piece I can recall would be the great Friday Night Lights). Yes, maybe there's a touch of melodrama and yes it's a litle hard in the first few episodes to keep the many characters and their back stories straight and yes the cross-cultural crushes and relationships are not always totally believable - a fact that the characters recognize themselves and joke about, calling these cross-class relationship "Disney" - but there's a lot of veracity throughout and it will hold your interest and attention top to bottom. In brief, the story line is that 3 kids from an impoverished public h.s. win scholarships to attend the elite school and their doing so and their falling in love with kids already in the school creates waves of social pressure and reaction.Among issues touched upon include homosexuality, Muslim fundamentalism, political corruption, grade-grubbing, and more, all done without didacticism and as part of character development. All told, though Madrono and Montero have come up with a really good series w/ a lot of insight into many social issues - in all cultures today - and it seems definitely headed to a Season 2 (and who knows?, an English-language remake, that would probably ruin the whole thing?).