At one point, it seemed like Elite was unstoppable.
The Spanish teen drama kicked off on Netflix in 2018 and became one of the streaming service’s most popular series.
As the years have passed, the cast has been refreshed consistently to keep the drama fresh and exciting.
The latest seasons have failed to live up to the hype of the initial three seasons, and now, it’s all ending.
On Wednesday morning, Netflix announced via social media that Elite Season 8 would bring the series to a close.
The news broke two days before the premiere of Elite Season 7, so those still hooked on the series still have plenty to look forward to.
The original cast included María Pedraza, Itzan Escamilla, Miguel Bernardeau, and Miguel Herrán.
Also on the original cast are Jaime Lorente, Álvaro Rico, Arón Piper, Mina El Hammani, Ester Expósito, Omar Ayuso, and Danna Paola.
The initial mystery focused on the murder of Marina, a student at Las Encinas School.
That initial season was very Big Little Lies-esque, with us seeing the characters interviewed by a police officer as they took us back to some pivotal moments.
It worked very well, and the next two seasons managed to keep up the pace.
Unfortunately, the series changed for good when most of the original cast departed after Elite Season 3.
The show attempted to keep things fresh by keeping select cast members and trying to force their characters into new storylines with new faces.
Sadly, none of the mysteries following the initial three were engaging or exciting.
The show became a shell of its former self but did start the process of righting some of those wrongs on Elite Season 6 when it embraced a plot that excluded all of the original cast members.
Elite Season 7, premiering on October 20, is bringing back Ayuso for some reason.
How will his character fit into this universe now? We’re not sure.
He will still try to accept Samuel’s demise at the end of Elite Season 5.
Despite several bumps in the road, they were great friends.
New cast members for Elite Season 7 include Mirela Balic, Gleb Abrosimov, Nadia Al Saidi, Fernando Líndez, Alejandro Albarracín, Iván Mendes, and Maribel Verdú.
They join Elite Season 6 cast members Valentina Zenere, Andre Lamoglia, Carmen Arrufat, Alex Pastrana, Alvaro de Juana, Ander Puig, Ana Bokesa, and Nadia Al Saida.
The promo promises lots of drama like its predecessors, but it’s hard to tell whether the mystery will be worth watching.
Those early seasons had stellar mysteries that kept us guessing what happened until the resolution.
It’s a shame the later seasons lost sight of that, but maybe this next season and the final one will manage to recapture some of that former glory.
It’d also be great if we got some cameos from some of the earlier cast members.
We already know that Mina will be back as Nadia for the final season, meaning there will be a reunion between Omar and his sister.
Nadia was last seen leaving Spain for New York City to attend university, and her relationship with Guzman imploded.
Maybe we’re in for a flash forward and a Las Encinas high school reunion. That’d be interesting, right?!
The penultimate season will likely give us plenty of intel about what to expect from the last episodes.
So, we’ll reserve judgment until we watch them.
What are your thoughts on the decision to cancel the show?
Hit the comments.
Stream all episodes on Netflix. That’s a lot of drama, and we’re sure you’ll enjoy the first three seasons way more than the rest.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on X.