Elite – Season 7 Episode 1 “Las Encinas” Recap & Review

Las Encinas

Episode 1 of Elite season 7 titled “Las Encinas” begins with Omar’s therapist, Mateo telling him to feel and overcome the pain, not run away from it. Turns out, Omar still has nightmares about Samuel’s death.

At Las Encinas, the parents want Didac to be expelled as he comes from a mafia family and the shooting at the end of Elite season 6 may be related to him. They feel unsafe and decide to vote on whether he can stay or not. Luis, the new school director tries to help but Didac is suspended till they get a vote.

Upset, Didac asks his brother, Pau about the shooting who tells him to stay out of it. But he does promise him that he won’t have to leave. At school, Nico wants to help Didac but Rocio is unsure. Meanwhile, the new student, Chloe’s sex tape is leaked and everyone is amused. Sonia tries to help and while Chloe appreciates the concern, she doesn’t care.

At home, Chloe’s mom, Carmen flirts with someone called Jose Luis. Jose scoffs at her roleplaying and she is annoyed but reins it in. 

Everyone throws a surprise party for Ivan who is finally discharged from the hospital. Sara is guilty while Raul tries to hint that Patrick who has left, may have crashed his car into Ivan. Ivan doesn’t believe and before Sara can confess, Raul controls her by hurting her hand. 

Alone, she says she cannot do it and he tells her they should confess but he will say he was driving. It feels like manipulation as he then calms her down when she feels guilty about him taking the blame.

At his new school, someone offers an internship at Las Encinas but Omar rudely rejects it. Meanwhile, Luis tries to guilt Nico’s parents, Maria and Alfonso into letting Didac stay as they are best friends and Didac treats Nico as an equal.

They later notice Maria’s nephew, Eric being arrested at a protest turned riot and bail him out. They invite Eric to stay over but Alfonso is not happy about Eric being an activist as he thinks it will derail Nico. Maria is adamant and Alfonso says she should think about the people who actually care about their son like Didac.

At Ivan’s, the kids try to lighten the mood by partying. Isa avoids Didac and Ivan comforts her and tells her not to feel sad about losing someone but to enjoy the time they have. Patrick leaves a goodbye message for Ivan saying it’s not goodbye forever but they will meet again soon and that he loves him.

After everyone’s left, Ivan cries over Patrick till the pizza delivery boy arrives. Ivan falls and the delivery boy, Joel helps him out. Feeling lonely, Ivan asks him to stay for dinner. 

Sara is getting ready to go to Isa’s when Raul stops her by locking the doors. He also blames her stubbornness for him bruising her hand. Sara feels miserable as they watch a movie together with Raul falling asleep.

At Isa’s club, Eric talks about his activism which bores Chloe. It ruins the mood and everyone splits up. Nico apologises to Sonia about Ari and she says she accepts him for who he is.

Chloe is dancing and Eric tries to comfort her about her leaked sex tape. She isn’t ashamed of the sex tape and even shows it to him. She makes out with him but he says he prefers getting to know the person. She doesn’t care and convinces him to sleep with her. While having sex, she surreptitiously takes a video of them.

Joel comforts Ivan who feels lonely and they kiss. However, Joel soon backs off and says he should not be doing this. Isa calls Didac to her suite and her mother, Roberta notices. Pau grabs her and says he wants to talk.

Isa and Didac have a heart-to-heart as they both feel miserable about him being voted out. But she doesn’t want to let him go and they make love. Midway, she disassociates and tells him to stop. He is worried about her and stays with her. Meanwhile, Nico tries to kiss Sonia but she says she wants to dance.

Ivan apologises to Joel for kissing him and they clear the air. Ivan asks if they can be friends and Joel happily agrees. Ivan also says he wants to use his inheritance to help him with his future.

At the club, Eric asks if they can have a real conversation but Chloe walks off. She watches the video with Eric and Sonia tells her to be careful. Chloe says she is the one who leaked the sex tape and walks off. At home, Carmen tells her to respect herself. Chloe says they don’t have anything and everyone takes advantage of them. So, they should just play the game which she learned from her own mother.

Later, Jose Luis and Carmen meet again. It is revealed that he is Cruz’s lawyer and she is asking for his pension which he refuses. She signed a contract with Cruz that she would stay away from her child if he gave her a pension. If Jose Luis doesn’t comply, then nothing is stopping her from seeing her son. It cuts to Ivan looking at his father, Cruz’s photo.

At home, Joel gets a package from Ivan – a scholarship at Las Encinas. Omar wakes up next to him in bed and is shocked to see the letter. He is upset which Joel doesn’t understand as Omar had pretended that he had studied in USA. Omar finally reveals everything and says Las Encinas hurt him and his loved ones. Joel says it is unfair to not give him a chance. Omar is scared but promises to support Joel. 

As Joel registers at the school, Ivan is happy to see him and takes him around. Omar shows up as well and accepts the internship to run an app for the school.

Maria and Roberta agree to let Didac stay to which Luis says it is a good decision. At the end of Elite Season 7 Episode 1, it cuts to Luis being shown as an undercover cop as he pins Didac’s photo to his investigation board.

The Episode Review

Elite Season 7 Episode 1 gets a strong start with a favourite character as we finally get Omar back. However, we dive directly into a new problem at Las Encinas which is a little convoluted. It doesn’t fully explain the shooting but sets the stage for Didac’s exit at the end of season 7 so we have ample time to say goodbye to him.

Meanwhile, all these new characters are taking a while to become memorable. Some are interesting like Luis and Carmen while some are hit-and-miss like Eric and Chloe. Also makes one wonder how they are related to the plot…and what is the plot? Can we go back to the usual Elite murder mystery format, please?