Elite
A mix of Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars, and Riverdale, Netflix’s Spanish drama Elite should probably be your next binge obsession. The problem is that most people haven’t heard of it yet. Over the course of 2018, the streaming network has worked to put more international programming in front of American audiences – see also the fantastic German mystery Dark for another series that almost made this list – and made it super accessible for them. They all come in dubbed versions for those who don’t like to read subtitles, but if it’s possible, stick with the original language broadcasts. There really is something to be said for the idea of nuance getting lost in translation.
The basic premise of Elite goes like this: Three working class kids snag scholarships to an elite (get it?!) Spanish high school, and they think they’ve got it made. But things don’t work like that. And once one of their classmates turns up dead, everyone comes under suspicion. So the show’s a murder mystery, as well as a soapy teen drama, complete with swoon-worthy relationships, backstabbing, and plenty of up-to-the moment plots. The stories tackle everything from teen pregnancy and HIV to drug use and multiple LGBT-centric issues. (There’s even a vaguely polyamorous couple!)
Plus, there’s the whole fact that someone’s dead, and no one knows who did it. (The actual person who’s dead isn’t even revealed for most of the first episode, and Elite deftly uses flash-forwards and flashbacks to fill in some of the gaps around what may or may not have happened.) Plus, the show dangles plenty of clues out there for at-home sleuths to put together, if that’s how you like to roll.
Elite season 1 is only eight episodes long, and the show has already been renewed for a second season.
What were your favorite shows from 2018?