Elite season 4 review: Why the highly-anticipated season fell short

With Elite returning for its highly-anticipated fourth season, fans were super excited to finally sink their teeth into all that Las Encinas goodness once more. We were certainly no exception to the excitement, binge-watching the entire season in one day.

However, if you’re someone who prefers to savor new episodes until a later time, you’re probably curious as to whether or not the newest season is worth watching — don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.

Our Elite season 4 review is down below!

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains major spoilers about Elite season 4. Proceed as you deem fit.

Is Elite season 4 any good?

Simply put, we were definitely robbed of a good season. There were tons of flaws seen throughout this season, but here are the main four that too hard to ignore.

First and foremost, the wants (the stakes) of each character were lacking.

An overall desire is absolutely necessary for every character. Not having a solid goal to accomplish leaves the character wandering through each episode, making decisions that ultimately have zero impact on his or her story. Unfortunately, a lack of desire can be seen in most of our OG characters throughout this season.

With the brief exception of Samuel and Omar at one point, our OGs didn’t really want anything other than to party or engage in a fleeting hookup. While this desire is valid in its own right, it isn’t merely strong enough to sustain audiences’ attention throughout eight episodes, especially after the characters already succeeded in getting with the guy or girl they wanted in the third or fourth episode.

The stakes simply weren’t high enough for fans to be truly invested in every character, often finding themselves fast-forwarding through the moments that simply dragged on. (Ahem, sex scenes.)

Secondly, the motives of each character were weak (in terms of the series insinuating that one of the main characters was responsible for Ari’s accident).

The beauty of the first season and third season of the Netflix original series was that everyone had some sort of connection to Marina and Polo’s fatal demise, respectively. Whether indirectly or directly, each person had a pretty solid motive for wanting to kill Marina and Polo.

The fourth season attempted to do the same, opening up the season with a lifeless Ari in a lake. Nevertheless, this season just couldn’t deliver the same whodunnit energy that the previous seasons embodied.

By the fifth episode, it was made pretty clear that the only people that could have been responsible for her accident were Guzmán and Samuel, which was pretty okay in terms of the story’s progression. However,  once it was revealed that neither of them was the culprit, it was sort of a letdown and, unfortunately, a waste of time.

Thirdly, couples that we waited three seasons to see together deciding to break up for no reason. 

Nadia and Guzmán’s relationship was always a little rocky, but at the base of this beautiful relationship was a profound love that brought two seemingly polar opposites together. Ending their relationship made sense, however, it didn’t really feel fair that we didn’t see these two really fight for their relationship the way they did in prior seasons.

Additionally, Omar and Ander’s breakup was extremely sad, but why allow these two to pine for each other for so long only for someone (Patrick) to come along and ruin everything? (We’ve already been there and done that in the previous season, too.)

To state it flatly, we deserved to have at least one endgame couple in this season.

Lastly, the new characters and their huge shoes to fill. 

Arguably the biggest elephant in the room was the absence of our solid main cast. Lucrecia, Carla, Polo and Nadia not being present in season 4 shouldn’t have been noticeable with so many new people introduced. Still, every minute we were reminded that Lu would’ve done or said it better or reminded that Polo truly carried the show on his back.

Make no mistake, the actors and actresses behind these new characters delivered great performances. The only problem is that the hollow writing of these new characters often got in the way of making sure that Phillipe, Ari, Patrick and Mencia stood out as their own unique characters.

Despite all that was said, the fourth season wasn’t completely hard to digest. Patrick’s hairpin trigger, Mencia’s scary encounters with men who were up to no good, and Cayetana’s wariness of her suspicious prince boyfriend were all solid plotlines that were very interesting to see playout.

Additionally, the tension-filled love triangle between Samu, Guzmán and Ari mirrored the season one throuple that was Carla, Polo and Christian. (Boy, what an intriguing mess that was. Takes us back.)

Even still, these brief (and also underdeveloped) moments simply couldn’t distract us from the issues that Elite season 4 consistently had. Hopefully, the slip-ups of this season won’t warrant a cancellation, and we’ll receive an Elite season 5 sometime soon. But if the series doesn’t manage to deliver high-quality stories that fans are begging for, we may risk the fifth season also being the final season.

Final rating: 7.3/10 (Extra points for that beautiful Samu and Rebe moment.)

What did you think of Elite season 4? Do you agree or disagree with some of the points made? Let us know in the comments below!