Series / Elite (2018)

aka: Elite

Dying to fit in...^note From left to right, top to bottom: Rebeka, Samuel, Mencía, Omar, Ariadna, Patrick, Iván, Isadora, Cayetana and Phillipe.

Elite is a Spanish thriller teen drama, created by Darío Madrona and Carlos Montero. The show was released world-wide by Netflix in 2018.

The show has format in which it switches back and forth between a murder investigation where several characters are questioned by the police on the murder of one of them and the past, where the story of three students from a humble, recently destroyed school get to go to a famous private school, Las Encinas, where their coming causes great disturbance in the social order of the school. Samuel, a well meaning guy falls for the rebellious daughter of a rich family, Marina; Nadia, the youngest daughter of a humble Muslim family faces prejudice on school while Marina's older brother, Guzman, and his "girlfriend", Lucrecia, try to find a way to bring her down from her pedestal; Christian, a fun loving guy finds himself in an odd new relationship when a longtime couple, Carla and Polo, bring him in the middle of them physically and emotionally.

The show was renewed for a second season, which was released on September 6, 2019. This time, a student at Las Encinas goes missing, and the mystery follows the back and forth format. A third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh season have also been released, with a eighth, which will be the last, on the way.

Elite canonically takes place in the same universe as Blood & Water, with Iván and Fikile appearing in the fourth and seventh seasons of the former and latter respectively.

Not to be confused with the video game Elite.

Due to the nature of the show, all spoilers will be unmarked

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Tropes in this series:

• Abusive Parents: Quite a few examples.
  • Carla's parents are shown in season 3 to be absolute nightmares, especially her father. He firstly threatens to harm Samuel, whom he knows Carla loves, so that way she will comply with what he wants and not risk his shady business dealings being exposed. Then he essentially prostitutes her to her wealthy classmate Jeray, having her basically act as an accessory rather than an equal partner with her own mind, to save the family's bankrupt wineries. It is revealed in a later episode that her mother knew the entire time and agreed to this, encouraging Carla to maintain the relationship
  • Nadia and Omar's father has a temper and gets physically aggressive with Omar on more than one occasion. This is largely due to the Values Dissonance between his Muslim faith and Omar's homosexuality/Nadia's choice of Guzman as a partner. He starts to come around by the end of Season 3.
  • Polo's mothers are not physically abusive by any means, but they frequently belittle him and question his manhood on more than one occasion.
  • All three of Benjamin's children accuse him of emotional abuse at varying points.
  • Cruz Carvalho crosses this line in Season 5 with his seducing of Patrick and their hookup at the beginning of Season 6. In other aspects his parenting can best be described as "absent and neglectful" - while he loves his son Ivan he spends most of this season focused on partying and hedonistic pursuits.
  • His arc in Season 6, along with coming to terms with his attraction to men, and the fallout of his coming out publicly is focused quite a lot on his acceptance of his failures as a parent and attempts to build a better bond with his son. It's showing positive signs until his sudden murder.
• Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder:
  • With Carla and Nadia studying abroad, they break up with Samuel and Guzmán due to the long-distance. In season 4, they find themselves falling for Ari, their new principal Benjamín's daughter, and also competing for her affections, something that comes in the way of their friendship. While Guzmán dates Ari, she deep down truly loves Samuel and cheats on Guzmán numerous times, but he doesn't take it rather well when Ari admits to loving both boys. In the end, Guzmán is Put on a Bus and allows Ari to be with Samuel.
  • After Polo dies in season 3, Cayetana, who now is employed as the school's janitor in season 4, has her eyes on the charming French prince Phillipe, who reciprocates her feelings. However, she is horrified to find out about his dark past and breaks off things with him. In the short stories, she meets and falls for Felipe, before finally entering a relationship with him at the end of season 5.
  • Downplayed with Omar and Ander in Season 5. The only mention we get of their relationship is a reference to Ander being irritated with his over-texting by Omar along with screenshots showing Omar's waves of messages.
• The Ace: Nadia became quickly the best student of her class, surpassing even Lucrecia who stays this even after. To a lesser degree than both girls, Marina as well can count being the third best student but less emphasized than Nadia and Lucrecia.
• Actor Allusion: Kevin McHale's season 3 cameo had him play a character called Bill McKinley, when one of his most famous roles was as a William McKinley High student.
• Affectionate Nickname:
  • Samu for Samuel, originally used by Nano but spreads to the whole cast to the point of exclusively being referred to as such from Season 3 onwards.
  • Both Cayetana and Rebeca have their names shortened to Caye and Rebe at times from their friends.
  • Rebeca refers to Mencia as "Menci".

• Alas, Poor Villain:
  • Polo has been going through complicated stuff since the guilt of Marina's murder was starting to eat him alive, to the point of almost committing suicide by drowning, only to be rescued by Cayetana, the only person who stood by his side while everyone was trying to make his life impossible back at the school. By the third season finale, he was ready to turn himself in as a way to properly redeem himself, until...Lu ended up murdering him by accident. The group then decides to disguise Polo's death as a suicide, acknowledging that, even if what he did was wrong, Polo wasn't a murderer and wouldn't want Lu to be punished for a small mistake she made.
  • Benjamín, who despite accidentally causing Samuel's death, can apply to some extent. While he committed two crimes that went against his so-called moral code, corruption and manslaughter, some can feel sympathy for him as his children are forced to watch as he is taken away by police, with very saddened looks on their faces, and he doesn't even struggle to resist being arrested.
• Alliterative Family: The Muñoz family: Antonio (father), Azucena (mother) and Ander (son).
• All for Nothing: In Season 3, Samuel agreed on a deal the police offered him to have Rebeka's mother's illegal drug dealing business taken down in exchange for his brother Nano's being absolved of Marina's murder. However, the Inspector later revealed to Samuel that the whole proposal was a scam to locate Nano's whereabouts and arrest him once again. Samuel, of course, is understandably upset about this, let alone with his unfair expulsion from the school because of Polo, and blames her for not having done her job properly, even though she tells him that she was tricked as well.
• All Work vs. All Play: Played directly in the first episode with Nadia being "all work" and Christian being "all play". Nadia said her only goal is studying and prefers to stay with what she knows while Christian is a party lover and enjoys trying new things as his threesome storyline with Carla and Polo. Became downplayed due to Nadia's Character Development.
• Alpha Bitch: Lucrecia, for the most part, as she looks down on all the new students.
  • More accurately, Lucrecia is an Academic Alpha Bitch.
    • Ari takes over this role in Season 4.
• Ambiguously Bi:
  • Christian. He entered Polo and Carla's complicated threesome in an attempt to get with her, and actually mildly annoyed that Polo is in the package. He learns to accept Polo's presence with Carla and eventually even start reluctantly experimenting with Polo by kissing him and once having sex with him, but it's clear he is experimenting more than enjoying and it's not clear whether he likes men.
  • Rebeca is attracted to Carla, as well as Samu.
• And Starring:
  • Seasons 1-3: And Danna Paola.
  • Season 4: And Diego Martín / And Mina El Hammani (credited in episodes 1-4).
  • Seasons 4-6: And Diego Martín (in the case of season 6, only in the episode in which he is credited).
  • Season 7: Maribel Verdú and Leonardo Sbaraglia are credited as "Special Guest Appearance" while Anitta is credited as "Special Guest Star".
• Anyone Can Die: Marina, Polo, Armando, Samuel, Cruz and Raúl.
• Asshole Victim: To be fair, Marina did steal the watches from Carla's father and betrayed the people she cared about, so it's hard to feel bad for her when she dies.
  • In the fourth season finale, Armando is killed by Guzmán with a firework gun in retribution for sexually abusing Mencía and trying to kill Ari, so it's very hard to feel sorry for him.
• The Bad Guy Wins: Just to name a few who got away with their schemes.
  • At the end of Season 1, Carla successfully covers up Polo's murder of Marina by providing him with a fake alibi to give to the Inspector when he's interrogated and, thanks to Samuel, his brother Nano has to forcibly take the heat of the crime.
  • In Season 2, Polo effectively wins. He was initially arrested by police after Carla, out of guilt for Samuel's supposed death, confessed to their and Christian's roles in Marina's murder. However, because Polo told everything to Cayetana minutes before his arrest, she very willingly protects him by hiding the murder weapon inside her house, causing Polo to be released early on a lack of evidence, and the rest of his classmates, Samuel and Guzman included, are forced to grapple with this shocking occurrence.
  • To a lesser extent in Season 3, Teo still wins when he gets away with his past wrongdoings, including exploiting his own daughter without a shred of remorse in order to remain rich.
  • Subverted in Season 4, with Armando, who is killed by Guzman to protect Mencia and Ari.
  • In Season 5, Benjamín, in a way, wins by killing Samuel after he refused to hand over the SIM card that contained all of his and Armando's crimes. Despite this, he gets arrested by police for this.
  • And Season 6 brings this mix. Raúl not only manages to get back together with Sara and drive her away from Mencia, but after she accidentally runs Ivan over and leaves him hospitalized, he covers up her crime by putting Mencia, whom he has drugged earlier, in the driver's seat, leaving her traumatized with the thought of almost supposedly killing her brother's boyfriend. Because of this ordeal, Ari, to protect her family from legal trouble, turns to Benjamin for help, which also means that they have to testify on his behalf over his role in Samuel's murder since he can't help them while being locked away, even though Patrick and Mencia still refuse to talk to him. As a result, Benjamin is released from prison and he and his children move out of the country to start over somewhere else. However, this is subverted with Hugo, who is arrested along with Javier and Alex after Javier denounces their crime to the police, thus finally gaining Isadora the justice she needed.
• Batman Gambit: In the second season finale, we find out that Samuel going missing was actually a plan made by him and Guzman to force Carla into confessing that Polo killed Marina and she covered for him as Samuel figured that Carla developed genuine feelings for him during their fake relationship.
• Bear Hug: Nano gives one to Samuel—complete with picking him up and spinning him around— in the pilot episode when he gets out of prison. Unlike most others, Samuel is highly receptive towards it.
• The Beautiful Elite: Lampshaded by the English Teacher Martin in the pilot about the students of Las Encinas (a private school) who are "The Leaders of Tomorrow". Many of them are rich and wealthy socialites being present at important events.
• Because You Were Nice to Me:
  • Cayetana has this relationship with Polo as of the Season 2 Finale. He helped her and her mother at their lowest points, when everyone else had abandoned them. So she helps him to get away with his murder of Marina, by hiding the murder weapon from the police.
  • Yeray’s crush on Carla stems from her staunchly defending him on an Instagram post when he was being cyberbullied. In the Season Three finale, he also buys her family’s wineries and signs control over to her after she points out that he has nothing to prove to any of his old bullies and they break up.

• Belligerent Sexual Tension:
  • Christian and Lucrecia when he teases her and she mocks him, it's obvious mostly due to Christian's flirtatious nature.
  • Nadia and Guzman at first. With some sparks between them, they initially dislike each other as he tries to seduce her only to "put her in her place" and she blackmailed him for Samuel stays at Las Encinas. Though they learn to know each other falling quickly in Unresolved Sexual Tension.
  • Lucrecia and her half brother Valerio as well during season 2. They teasing each other a lot and making out at the same time.
  • Samuel and Carla in Season 2. They get close at first only to manipulate each other for their respective goals starting to make out. After developing true feelings to each other, they are in Unresolved Sexual Tension.
  • Samu and Ari in Season 4. As much as she tries to deny it, out of Samu and Guzman she truly loves Samu more.
  • Patrick and Ivan are the kings and possibly single best example of this in the show through the first half of Season 5. Rebe and Mencia also have their moments trying to rekindle their old flame.
  • All over Season 6. Ari and Nico, Patrick and Ivan, Isidora and Didac (although their's walks the line of Unresolved Sexual Tension until the end) being the best examples.

• Beta Couple:
  • Nano and Marina (season 1; until Marina's death).
  • Guzmán and Nadia (seasons 2, 3 & 4; broke up).
  • Omar and Ander (seasons 1, 2, 3 & 4; broke up).
  • Rebeka and Mencía (seasons 4 & 5; broke up).
  • Patrick and Iván (seasons 5 & 6; broke up).
  • Cayetana and Felipe (season 5; currently dating).
  • Isadora and Dídac (seasons 6 & 7; broke up).
  • Omar and Joel/Iván and Joel (season 7; broke up).

• Betty and Veronica:
  • Marina (Archie) zig-zags between older, troubled Nano (Veronica) and her sweet, supportive classmate Samuel (Betty)
  • Played with when it comes to Guzman (Archie), Lucrecia (Veronica) and Nadia (Betty). Lucrecia would - under ordinary circumstances - be considered the Veronica: rich, edgy, sexy. Nadia would usually be the Betty; a working-class girl of modest means, pretty but relatively conservative. However, Lucrecia has been a part of Guzman's life far longer than Nadia has, and their dynamic takes on a different role as a result, with Lucrecia arguably the Betty to Nadia's Veronica.
  • The Carla/Polo/Christian relationship has this in different dynamics, depending on who is the Archie. With Carla as the Archie, Christian is the Veronica to Polo’s Betty. With Christian as the Archie, Carla is the Veronica to Polo’s Betty. With Polo as the Archie, Christian is the Veronica to Carla’s Betty.
  • Carla/Samu/Rebeca: Samuel is Archie, rich girl Carla is Veronica and his female friend Rebeca is Betty.
  • Guzman unknowingly plays the Veronica to Valerio’s Betty for Lucrecia.
  • In Season 3 with the addition of Malick in Omar/Ander and Nadia/Guzman relationships, we have Omar as the Archie, his sick boyfriend Ander as the Betty and the new character Malick as the Veronica. But as Nadia's boyfriend, he's himself the Veronica (uses her) to Nadia's Archie and Guzman's Betty (want to help her anytime he can) and also the Archie to Nadia's Betty and her brother Omar's Veronica.
  • In season 4, Patrick plays the Veronica to both Ander and Omar at different moments through the series with each other being the Betty.
  • Ari/Samu/Guzman varies depending on the Archie.
    • For Samu as Archie, Ari is the Betty to Carla's Veronica.
    • For Guzmàn, Ari is the Veronica to Nadia's Betty.
    • Played with slightly with Ari as the Archie. On the surface, Guzmàn would be the Betty to Samuel's Veronica as they are both upper class kids from similar families. However, given Ari's Daddy's Girl tendencies, Benjamin's fondness for Samu and relative distaste of Guzmàn may lead to a role inversion.
  • Played with Philippe, Cayetana and Isadora in Season 5. Though Cayetana is the modest cleaning lady and Philippe's ex-girlfriend and Isadora a rich quite bitchy influencer popular on social medias, Isadora is definitely the Betty and Cayetana the Veronica. Isadora shows Undying Loyalty towards him helping him to restore his reputation even if it's means she'll lose some followers. In opposite, though Cayetana want help as well, she was more hesitant (due to his attempted rape on her) to the point to be unattainable like a typical Veronica.
  • As a Sibling Triangle as well, there is also in Season 5, Ari/Ivan/Patrick counts as well as Ivan is somewhat attracted by the two twins. Patrick is his Betty having at first an unrequited crush as Ivan states he's straight but he becomes his closest friend in school progressively. Ari is his Veronica being already with someone else, seemingly uninterested and insensitive to his flirtatious behavior. In the Season finale, he realizes he wants to be with Patrick.
  • In season 6, Nico is the Archie with Sonia as his Betty and Ari as his Veronica.

• Big Bad: Usually thus changes each season.
  • By the final episode of season 1, Carla takes this role. While she wasn't the one who killed Marina, she is the reason why she is dead, and goes to lengths to make sure that Polo is not punished and keeps Christian under her thumb at all times.
  • In Season 2, Polo for Guzman and Samu, when they find out he killed Marina. Carla once again since she is constantly trying to keep Samuel away from the truth through a sexual relationship, although she unwittingly ends up genuinely falling in love with him.
  • Begoña, one of Polo's mothers in Season 3, funding a scholarship to keep the students quiet about their son's crime and, to some extent, Teo, Carla's father, who is technically at fault for the events since he had threatened Carla into retracting her statement in fear of losing their wealth from his dirty dealings.
  • Armando in Season 4, for Mencia at first but eventually for the rest of the cast.
  • Benjamín in Season 5. He was desperately trying to cover up his shady business with Armando and destroy any evidence implicating him, getting into a scuffle with Samuel over a SIM card that contained everything, eventually leading to the young student's presumed death and Benjamín's arrest.
  • Hugo in Season 6 as the leader of the trio who raped Isidora, By the end, Sara's abusive boyfriend Raúl could also be a contender.

• Bilingual Bonus: When Nadia and her family (and Lucrecia, occasionally) speaks in Arabic.
  • Phillippe also occasionally speaks in French, both to his mother and Benjamin.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing:
  • Carla was by far the nicest member of the popular clique (after Ander) at the start of the show, but as Marina threatened her own family as well as Carla's, she takes a much more sombre approach to issues. She eventually takes over as the Big Bad of the show, becoming manipulative and controlling Christian and Polo to make sure that Nano gets arrested.
  • Arguably, Marina is this trope. She's initially sweet and kind in the first episode, but as her life spirals more and more out of control, she resorts to blackmailing Martin, organising a theft with Nano, etc.
  • Benjamín started off as a reasonable mentor to Samuel in Season 4, until he was revealed to have a shady business with Armando that he became Samuel's enemy, doing everything in his power to keep him in jail after the latter had falsely admitted to being Armando's killer to protect Guzmán, the real culprit, even to the point of almost killing him after they get into a fight over the incriminating evidence.

• Bittersweet Ending: The third season post-Series Fauxnale. Polo finally takes responsibility for Marina's murder but gets accidentally killed by Lu before he can turn himself in. The group hides her involvement by accusing each other to disguise his death as a suicide. But in the process, Samuel, Guzmán and Rebeka get expelled and are forced to repeat the year, alongside Ander, who did not graduate because of his cancer, while Omar enrolls as a new student. Carla is free from her father's control and goes to study abroad, with Valerio taking over the wineries in her absence. Lu and Nadia go to New York with Malick thanks to Polo convincing his mothers to reinstate their Columbia scholarships, while Omar's father finally accepts and supports his son's sexual orientation. Polo is posthumously declared guilty of Marina's death, supported by his pre-death confession, while Nano gets exonerated, but refuses to return since he no longer trusts the authorities. On the other hand, Cayetana accepts her poor background and rejects a scholarship offer from Polo's mothers, deciding that is about time that she started earning things by herself, so she is employed as the school's janitor for a living.
  • Also the ending of Season 6, right down to the music at the very end.
  • Ivan takes the first steps out of his coma and his first word is "Patrick," however Patrick has ended his vigil by his bedside with a tearful goodbye voice note. Benjamin is released from prison and leaves town for a fresh start with his family, but only after Patrick and Mencia have to swallow their pride and testify in his favour at his trial. Mencia in turn never finds out that she wasn't driving the car that hit Ivan - it was Sara, who herself is forced back into the clutches of Raùl who know has a threat to hold over her head to keep her in his clutches and Mencia has yet another thing to feel guilt about. In the final scene Isadora and Didac get their kiss that gets almost immediately broken up by gunfire.
  • Season 7 ends on yet another sorrowful note. Joel is tempted by Iván's offer to join him on the South Africa exchange program he has applied for. However, at the last minute, Joel decides not to go after Dalmar tells him not to depend on a guy to turn his life around. Even though Joel is saddened, he knows it's for the best. On the other hand, Iván, having gone from losing his father and Patrick to getting run over and hospitalized by Sara (who is yet to own up to her actions), finds out that Carmen is his birth mother and Chloe is his half-sister, and cuts ties with them both because he knows Carmen only turned to him for his father's inheritance money. Eric tries to kill himself, thinking his family and Nico will better off without him, until his cousin manages to talk some sense into him. Emotional family reunion and stuff (aww). Isadora breaks up with Dídac for teaming up with the police to take her family down, but she still has her father arrested when he tries to dispose of Catalina, who is also arrested. However, her mother Roberta is still at large, while her and Dídac remain broken up (probably for good this time). Omar also breaks up with Joel so as to not burden him with his mental health problems and decides to both move in with his parents and resume his therapies. Sara is finally freed from Rául's abuse, as is Chloe when Carmen kills Raúl to protect her daughter and cover up the crime as a suicide. But in an unexpected twist, Dalmar has a video of Carmen as the killer! Let's see how this plays out in season 8.
• Blackmail:
  • Lu gets to become the teacher's favorite again by bribing him with a proposal of getting him the adopted child he wants, at the cost of her getting to the top of the class over Nadia. When Marina overhears this, she forces the teacher to keep quiet about her drugs by telling him that she'll tell on him.
  • Carla's father bribes Christan and his family for an all expenses paid surgery and physical therapy in Switzerland to ensure he keeps quiet about Carla's involvment in Marina's death.
  • Lucrecia tries to force Nadia to lose her scholarship or else she'll send her and Guzmán's sex tape to her parents and the entire school
    • This backfires when Nadia turns the tables on Lu, threatening to tell everybody about the "Valerio Thing" if Lucrecia sends the tape out. This is enough for her to back down.
  • Nadia tries in Season 3, but doesn't go through with it.
• Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: In Season 1, there is out of the rich teens: Carla (Blonde), Lucrecia (Brunette) and Marina (Redhead). Counting all female main characters in the same season , there is Nadia sharing the brunette position with Lu. In Seasons 2 and 3, Carla shares the blonde position with Cayetana. In Season 7, we have Isadora as the blonde, Sara as the brunette and Chloe as the readhead.
• Blue Blood: Carla's always referred to as "the marchioness" or "the marchioness's daughter", thanks to her mother, who's a marchioness.
• Brainy Brunette: Lucrecia and Nadia qualify, as the top 2 competitors for the trophy. Subverted when they get disqualified and redheaded Marina wins.
• Break Her Heart to Save Her: In season 4, Mencía does this to Rebeka to protect her from Armando, who had blackamiled her into staying with him or he would tell her family about her making money out of prostitution.
  • Carla to Samuel in season 3, due to her father threatening to hurt Samuel if she sees or talks to him.
• Brother–Sister Incest: Lucrecia and her older half brother Valerio had a sexual relationship in the past. When Valerio begins attending Las Encinas again, he wants to resume their relationship. Lucrecia doesn't, but she can't help but indulge him from time to time. Then it's revealed that she was the one who started their relationship in the first place.
• Camp Gay: Omar shows shades of this in Season 2 as he acts like a housewife since he lives at Ander's house.
• Cassandra Truth:
  • Nano and Guzman don't believe Samuel when he tells them that Polo is Marina's killer. At first. Lampshaded by Guzman in 2.08 after noticing Polo and Ander's strange behaviour.
  • In season 4, Ari tries to warn Cayetana about Phillipe. Cayetana doesn't believe her until he tries to take advantage of her.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Guzman despite being a jerkass, has the tendency of trying to help people who he cares about, mostly Ander, Polo, Nadia and of course Marina despite generally they don't ask his help showing his overprotective nature. Often lampshaded by Nadia as he wanting to play "the shining knight".
• Cliffhanger:
  • The first season. Marina is murdered by Polo, Carla forces him and a very reluctant Christian to cover up the crime, and Nano is framed and arrested for it. Samuel unsuccessfully tries to convince Christian to help him prove Nano's innocence. After he leaves, the camera pans down the river to reveal the hidden murder weapon.
  • The second season. Carla, whom Samuel and Guzmán tricked, confesses that Polo was Marina's killer. Polo is arrested by the police. However, Cayetana, having learned about Polo's deed beforehand, retrieves the murder weapon from its original spot and hides it in her house. As a result, Polo is released due to lack of evidence and unceremoniously returns to the school, much to the shock of his classmates.
  • The fourth season. Guzmán kills Armando after he tries to do the same to Ari, who is hospitalized but survives. When he tells Samuel and Rebeka, they lie to the police by claiming that Armando had gone missing and throw his corpse onto a lake near the local club. Guzmán then leaves Madrid with Ander. Phillipe sends a voice message to Elodie, one of his ex-girlfriends, owning up to his actions as a rapist.
  • The fifth season. After she was raped by three male classmates, Isadora reports the crime to the police, with Phillipe by her side. Benjamín is arrested for accidentally killing Samuel, whom he tried to silence about his crimes, leaving Ari, Mencía and Patrick on their own. Rebeka and Omar mourn Samuel and walk away from the Blancos' house. Iván arrives looking for Patrick and he comforts him.
  • The sixth season. Sara runs Iván over and her abusive boyfriend Raúl forces her to cover up the crime. Iván awakens from his coma. Ari, Patrick and Mencía leave the city with their father, who was pardoned for Samuel's murder, after thinking it was Mencía who caused Iván's accident. Isadora and Dídac enter a relationship and kiss, but this is interrupted when an unidentified assailant pulls out a gun and starts shooting.
  • The seventh season. Raúl is finally killed by Carmen before her daughter Chloe could repeat the traumatic cycle of abuse Sara had to endure from him. Iván leaves for a South African exchange program. Isadora has her father arrested, but lets her mother get off scot-free and decides against rekindling her relationship with Dídac. Carmen and Chloe cover up Raúl's death as a suicide. Dalmar is revealed to be the only witness, as he has a video of Carmen pushing him off, pondering on what to do next.
• Coming-Out Story: Ander is given one throughout the show.
• Conflicting Loyalty: In season 2, Polo confesses to Ander that he's Marina's killer. This puts Ander at a crossroads—does he cover for Polo and protect their friendship? Or does he let integrity win over and tell Guzman the truth? He chooses the former, which effectively ends his friendship with Guzman.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: Guzman and Marina's father, who's involved in a corporate fraud and responsible for San Esteban's collapse, and Carla's father, who does business with him.
• Dating Catwoman: A gender-inverted example with Marina, a 16-year-old good-natured Uptown Girl and Nano, a poor but very much older criminal wrongfully convicted of murder.
  • Samuel and Carla, initially started over her involvement in Marina's murder, but they later fall in love with each other for real.
  • Downplayed with Mencía, a rebellious teenager, and Rebeka, the daughter of a drug kingpin.
• Devoted to You: Carla gets this obsessive level of loyalty from Polo, Samuel, and Yeray. Polo, her boyfriend from the time they were twelve, is so dedicated to trying to win her back that he confronts Marina in an attempt to get the watches back for her and save Carla’s family’s secrets, only to end up murdering Marina in a fit of rage after she insists that Carla is just using him and despite hooking up with Ander and beginning a relationship with Cayetana and Valerio reaffirms shortly before his death that Carla was ultimately the love of his life. Samuel, despite initially only getting involved with Carla to investigate and expose who really murdered Marina, eventually falls in love with Carla for real, and is driven by this to beat Nano nearly to death when he corners her, and is willing to overlook Carla covering up for and lying about Polo for months, as well as taking back her accusation at court. Yeray has been in love with Carla for years because she made a comment defending him when he was being cyber-bullied over his weight, to the point that even saves her family’s winery business. Christian as well, at first, but eventually the guilt and anger over Carla manipulating him into staying quiet about Polo killing Marina whilst Nano rots in prison gets to him and he turns on her.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: In Season 3, Polo is stabbed in the chest with a broken bottle and falls from a floor above onto the ground. He dies after a tearful Guzman forgives him, holding him in his arms.
• Dirty Coward:
  • In Season 2, it's shown that Polo would rather have Nano, an innocent man rot in prison or possibly be executed for a crime he didn't commit than turn himself in to the police and confess the truth to Guzman.
  • In Season 5, Benjamín would have Samuel take the fall for Armando's murder to protect both his own reputation and family as he actually never intended to pay for Samuel's bail, although for him the amount was easily affordable.
• Double Standard: Played for Drama. In Season 3, when Azucena informs Rebeka that the board wants to have her expelled from the school because of her mother's crimes through her illegal drug business and instead makes her sign a paper to drop out "voluntarily", she angrily argues how unfair it is, because Guzmán, a rich kid as well, was allowed to stay when his father got arrested, even the fact that Polo gets to graduate without any punishment for murdering Marina. Most of her classmates come to her defense, telling Azucena that if she expels her, then she'll have to expel them altogether. Azucena and the board eventually relent and allow Rebeka to stay, on the condition that her tuition payments are on time, despite having no money at the time to afford it.
• Downer Ending:
  • The last episode of season 5. Before Samuel can turn in the SIM card to the police, Benjamín attempts to bribe him into silence. When he refuses, Benjamín fights Samuel over the card, resulting in him cracking his head open into the pool. Patrick witnesses this and calls Ari and Mencía instead of helping his father hide the body. Then they all rush to the house, along with Rebeka and Omar, but it's already too late and Samuel dies from his injuries. Mencía calls the police on Benjamín and he is arrested, while Omar and Rebeka mourn their deceased friend and the two walk away from the scene.
  • The fourth episode of season 6 also ends on a sad note. Cruz's game is disrupted and cancelled due to the mixed reactions of his fans handling his coming out as gay, eventually leading to a violent riot and three highly homophobic former fans bashing and killing him. His dead body is found by Patrick and Iván.
• Dude, Not Funny!: While she's at an autocinema with Mencía and Rebe, Cayetana intentionally spills soda all over Isadora and calls her a clown after she made a joke about Cayetana's job as the school's cleaner.
• Dramatic Irony: So much with Nadia and Lu.
  • In Season 1, Lu dares Guzman to seduce Nadia and take a video of him taking her virginity after Nadia catches them screwing in the school showers. Guzman falls in love with Nadia instead.
    • And then in Season 2, when Nadia has sex with Guzman (in the school showers!) it ends up being recorded and Lu sends it to the whole school, so in the end, it happened anyway. (Although by now Guzman has very different feelings on this.)
  • In Season 2, Samu catches Lu and Valerio making out. When Nadia counter-blackmails Lu about 'the Valerio thing', Lu mistakenly assumes that Samu told Nadia, when in reality, it was Valerio himself.
• Driven by Envy: In Season 3, during the pool party, knowing Carla's drug addiction Rebeca takes advantage of Carla by selling her drugs. The drugs she sold made Carla collapse and fall unconscious into a pool. Rebeca later admits in a genuine apology it's by jealousy she made this.
• Driving Question:
  • Season 1: Who killed Marina?
  • Season 2: What happened to Samuel?
  • Season 3: Who killed Polo?
  • Season 4: Who attacked Ari?
  • Season 5: Who killed Samuel?
  • Season 6: Who ran over Ivan?
  • Season 7: In the finale. Who died by falling? Was it a suicide or a murder?
• Drugs Are Good vs. Drugs Are Bad: Played with. There's a lot of alcohol, pot and pills in this series. Heck, Omar is a drug dealer. However, Guzman's biological parents died of drug addiction, and he is almost militant about people using drugs (see: his intervention with Ander, and his confrontation with Marina). When Nadia accidentally gets high, she propositions Guzman... who recognises that she isn't herself. Guzman himself is shown using drugs and alcohol in season 2 while grieving for Marina.
• Dude Magnet: Carla, obviously. Well, there's her longtime boyfriend Polo, Christian, Samuel and Yeray. Even Ander and Omar (a gay couple) are not insensitive to her beauty.
• Even the Guys Want Him: Polo realised he was bi because of Guzman.
• Even the Girls Want Her: Rebe reluctantly admits to Ander that she finds Carla hot.
• Everyone Is a Suspect:
  • As the first season goes on, it's clear that Marina was getting under everyone's skin and screwed a lot of people over. In the last two episodes, to varying degrees, every main character had a reason to want her dead. From Guzman's anger issues and impulsive need to please his family, to Carla feeling betrayed that Marina used their friendship to steal from her father, to Nadia resenting her for reporting her brother Omar's illegal drug dealing sells.
  • In the second season, Samuel goes missing and he's presumed dead. Again, the characters are targeted as suspects as it is known that some of them had issues with Samuel due to the whole backlash of his brother Nano being wrongfully accused of murdering Marina. Even when he went missing, they questioned each other about whether or not they had anything to do with it. It turns out he's fine as he and Guzman, who now knew Nano was innocent, colluded with each other to guilt and trick Carla into confessing Polo was the one who killed her.
  • The third season focuses on Polo's murder. In all the episodes, each named after a character, depending on what's the name, is interrogated about the relationship they had with Polo since he returned to the school after being released on a lack of evidence, and they clearly had every reason to hate him a lot.
• Everyone Loves Blondes:
  • As a Dude Magnet Carla attracts several guys as the show continues.
  • Cayetana as well. She's caught attention of students (especially Lu and Valerio) during her first day at Las Encinas.
• Ensemble Cast: It's hard to point out who is the main character of the show, seeing as there are a variety of plot lines that get about the same amount of screen time.
  • In Season 1, it's easy to put Samuel as the main character, Marina arguably was it, but even then, there was a number of plots in which she wasn't involved and all major characters would get a lot of screentime anyway.
  • Even in Season 2, while Samuel definitely becomes the main focus, he still shares the screen with other characters.
  • In Season 3, one could argue it is Polo who has the spotlight.
• Expy:
  • It's implied in Season 4 Mencia is this for Marina. Guzman lampshaded in 4x06 about how Mencia remembers him her sister. Both are impulsive, rebellious, self-destructive, chaotic and at odds with the rest of their respective families showing a soft side more towards people outside of their home.
  • Ander is this to Bruno from Merlí as both are gay and the sons of a principal and a teacher respectively, and are initially ashamed of their sexual orientation until they fully embrace it. The only difference is that Bruno starts off as a Jerkass until a dose of Character Development kicks in while Ander is a Nice Guy.
• Fiery Redhead: Marina who is rebellious and self-destructive.
• Fake Guest Star:
  • Ainhoa Santamaría (Inspectora) is credited as a guest star despite actually appearing in all of the episodes of the first three seasons overseeing the cases of Marina, Samuel and Polo.
  • Elisabet Gelabert (Azucena) appears in every episode of season 3 despite being credited as a guest star. She also appears in all but one of the episodes of season 2.
  • Rubén Martínez (Teo) is credited as a guest star in season 3 despite being a prominent antagonist in the show's first Story Arc, and appearing in all of the episodes of such season.
  • Luz Cipriota (Roberta), despite being a guest star in season 7, appears in almost every episode actively attempting to sabotage Dídac and Isadora's relationship while trying to get away with the illegal business she runs alongside her husband, making her a Big Bad Duumvirate.
• Fire-Forged Friendship: Guzman and Samuel. Guzmàn dislikes Samu from the start due to his poor background and then his interest in his sister. Following Marina's death, Guzmàn's suspicions of Samu and Nano's involvement dials up his emotions to outright hatred of Samuel until he eventually realise that he is telling the truth, which leads them to hatch the plot that forms the basis of Season 2. This leads a friendship to develop between the two boys that endures despite Ari coming between them and leading them to blows at one point till the end of Season 4.
  • To a lesser extent, Guzman and Rebeka. While they never expressed any particular distaste for each other in earlier seasons, their short story appeared to create a genuine bond between them (and Caye). It isn't for nothing that the two people Guzman calls to help dispose of Armando's body are Samuel and Rebeka.
  • Rebeka and Cayetana also qualify. In Season 2 they had an immediate dislike for each other and Cayetana would usually take Lu's side against "Narco Barbie" Rebeka. However once the truth about Cayetana comes out, Rebeka finds it very entertaining and they start to become friends. By the end of Season 4 they are arguably each other's best friend in the remaining cast.
  • Arguably the entire cast by Season 3's end. Special shout-out to former frenemies Nadia and Lu, after Lu and Nadia help each other to score and share the academic scholarship to Columbia University.
• Foil:
  • Christian and Nadia. Both are new scholarship students in Las Encinas and are of modest family but they don't have the same way to move forward. Christian is more easy-going, sociable and conflictual while Nadia is more laid-back, lonely and calm . But both want to reach at the top (socially for Christian and academically for Nadia) in adition with a ambitious nature. They constrast on the social scale and the academic scale. On the social one, Christian is socially comfortable while Nadia is a kind of loner. But on the academic one, Nadia is the top of their class while Christian himself said he's very bad at school.
  • Nano and Guzman. Both have a Big Brother Instinct being fiercely protective of their respective sibling. They also fell in love with a girl of a opposite socioeconomic background (Marina for Nano and Nadia for Guzman) who at first they only wanted get close to for a selfish goal. Both are impulsive but if Nano is the foolish sibling (Samuel being the responsible one) , Guzman is the responsible one (Marina being the foolish one) . In fact, if Nano brings trouble in his family (literally), Guzman is the one who makes everything for resolve the family troubles (like his father's arrest).
  • Marina and Carla. Both are rich and somewhat conflicted with their wealthy status with Carla who doesn't enjoy her life already traced and Marina who doesn't stand her family's snobbish attitude especially her father's. Consequently they try to deviate of their respective path. Which conducted them to hang out with working-class guys (Samuel and Nano for Marina and Christian for Carla) being the Uptown Girl for them and as the middle one in their respective Love Triangle. The main contrast between them is Carla have an Undying Loyalty for her family while Marina is more prone to betray and leave them.
  • Rebeka and Cayetana. Both join in Season 2 as outsiders to the established crew and neither are from the upper class, however Nouveau Riche Rebeka is loud and extroverted in both her fashion sense and personality where as Cayetana is more understated in both respects. Rebeka's open, honest attitude and pride in herself and her background is also a contrast to Cayetana's Social Climber personality and scheming ways in this season.
  • Eric and Raúl. Both have serious anger issues that stem from a problem they have (Eric's drug addiction and Raúl's masculine toxicity), which makes them prone to outbursts towards the people they care about (Sara for Raúl and Nico for Eric). But while Eric is mostly a Jerk with a Heart of Gold who truly loves his family but doesn't know how to demonstrate it and acknowledges his problem, Raúl, on the other hand, is an irredemeable jerkass who doesn't actually own up to his actions and thinks his ways are the right ones.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling:
  • Guzman is the responsible sibling, being much more dedicated to his family than the rebellious Marina, who always finds ways to rage against her family.
  • Nadia is the responsible sibling for both Omar and her missing sister. Nadia is a girl dedicated to her grades and studies that never gets in trouble, while Omar is know for getting into trouble and their parents eventually find out he's been dealing drugs, their missing sister was a Hard-Drinking Party Girl that was a disappointment to her family. Eventually downplayed as Nadia also starts lying to her father, though to a much lesser degree than any of the others.
  • Samuel is far more responsible (and, arguably, intelligent) than his brother Nano, who can't seem to catch a break even when he's out of jail.
  • It sort of looks like Lu is the responsible sibling to Valerio's irresponsible sibling, but subverted and zigzagged often.
  • Ari and Patrick (especially Ari) are the responsible siblings to the rebellious Mencía. The roles are inverted in the fifth season, with Mencía becoming the responsible to Ari and Patrick's foolish.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Christian says that he didn't like the "meat" of his, Polo and Carla's dinner together, which is an euphemism for Polo to be in their sex lives. Carla argues that he didn't even try the meat. Later in that episode, Christian kisses Polo. A few episodes later, they have sex.
  • Carla kisses Polo when he is being called in for questioning, whispering in his ear that the police suspect Guzman to be the killer. The final episode reveals that she was in on the murder that Polo committed, and was trying to warn him about it.
  • Lu angrily says to Samuel "You're dead, you son of a bitch", suspecting he was the one who told Nadia about her incestous relationship with Valerio. In the season 5 finale, Samuel sadly dies after he is accidentally injured by Benjamin, the school's new principal.
  • Raúl makes clear to Sara she's not going to the police to confess about her role in Iván's accident and even adds that he'd rather take the heat or kill himself if necessary than allowing Sara to "ruin" her life by going to jail. At the end of season 7, Raúl is killed by Carmen in retaliation for trying to harm her daughter Chloe and lies to the police that Raúl killed himself.
• Freudian Trio: The three transferred students can fit the trope at the beginning:
  • Christian is the Id as he's playful and hot-headed
  • Nadia is the Superego as she's level-headed and studious
  • Samuel is the Ego as he's hard-working but also has a hot-tempered side.
    • Ander, Guzman and Polo can fit the trope too : Ander (Superego) is laid-back, Guzman (Id) is impulsive and Polo (Ego) is the balance between them as he can be agree with Guzman's actions as he can be with Ander's personality.
    • In Season 4, the Blanco Commerford siblings are this: rebellious and unlabeled Mencia is The Id , Ari is The Superego as she's level-headed and family-oriented and Patrick is The Ego being hedonistic but having good sense. As Word of God said Mencia represents chaos while Ari embodies order and Patrick the middle path.
• The Friend Nobody Likes:
  • By the end of Season 1, Marina. Best shown when she goes on stage to accept her award and nobody in the main cast claps for her, apart from Samuel.
  • Polo in Season 3.
  • Ari in Season 6.
• Gayngst: Omar is terrified of coming out to his conservative father, and in an attempt to live free, he starts gathering money by selling drugs to leave and live by himself someday. He says that he lives in a prison already so he doesn't fear being arrested. The angry and hurt reaction of his father when he hears rumors about Omar being gay is enough to justify this.
• Good Girls Avoid Abortion: Nadia points Marina to an underground clinic where Muslim girls go, where she can get a safe abortion, not agreeing with it, but at least wanting Marina to be safe. Nano accompanies her. At the last minute, though, she backs out from getting the abortion and wants to keep the baby, running away with Nano to start a new life.
• Graceful Loser and Sore Loser: In season 3, both Samuel and Guzmán get expelled and not allowed to graduate until next year for their bullying of Polo. While Guzmán accepts this with dignity (despite Lu and his parents openly objecting this) and is ready to move on, Samuel, on the other hand, is very furious over the injustice and refuses to allow a murderer, whom he blames for ruining his life, get away with it, let alone when his chances to finally have his brother exonerated from the charges are destroyed. Also, Nadia and Lu, who publicy protest their expulsion, and their scholarships are cancelled as a result. Nadia is fine with it but Lu doesn't take this well, to the point of getting drunk and lashing out at Polo for ruining her life, even though she was cut off by her father in the first place, which was entirely Lu's own fault.
• Gratuitous English: Lucrecia in particular does this frequently to the point where it becomes an unofficial Running Gag. Subverted to an extent because it's almost always delivered with intended snark (or when she actually means the opposite of what she's saying) and the occasional use of English makes enough sense considering she is attending a bilingual school where English is spoken frequently.
• Green-Eyed Monster: There is few examples:
  • It's clear Lucrecia becomes jealous of Nadia because she took from her The Ace status in the class and also because her Love Interest Guzman falls in love with Nadia. Consequently she insults Nadia on the later's religion. Also with Valerio, glaring him with a jealous streak when he flirts with Rebeka, Cayetana or Nadia.
  • Polo too as he seems to feel like the third wheel in his threesome with Carla and Christian as the two seems prefer each other. That explain why he attacks Christian during the penultimate episode of season 1.
  • In Season 2, the new girl Rebeca who had a crush on Samuel, becomes jealous of his relationship with Carla and despises her.
  • Guzman in Season 4. His jealousy towards over Ari is a result of Took a Level in Jerkass and character regression as he acts again with Samuel exactly the same way like in Season 1. It's can be due to his Insecure Love Interest tendencies.
• Happily Adopted: Guzman... Or so it seems.
• Has a Type:
  • Polo and blonds like Carla, Cayetana and Guzmán.
  • Marina and boys from the other side of the socioeconomic spectrum: Pablo, Samu, Nano.
  • Samuel and the Uptown Girl archetype: Marina, Carla, and Ari. Subverted with Rebeka who's a Nouveau Riche Tomboy and even lampshaded his type of girls in Season 4 premiere.
  • Guzman and overachieving brunettes: Lucrecia, Nadia and Ari.
• Hate Sink:
  • Carla's father Teo is greatly loathed for leaving Christian injured while on his way to the police to report Polo, blackmailing his own daughter into stop hanging out with Samuel and forcing her to date Yeray against her own will to save the wineries from bankruptcy.
  • Begoña, one of Polo's mothers, in season 3 for the poor treatment of her son and being dismissive of his own wishes, especially when Samuel and Guzman bully him for Marina's death.
  • Armando entering an inappropriate sexual relationship with Mencia, forcing her to stop seeing Rebeka by using this secret against her to hurt her family and almost killing Ari when she finds out the truth.
  • Benjamín of all people for being a very bad parent to Ari, Mencia and Patrick after their mother's death, as well as for running Las Encinas with an iron fist. The fact that he killed Samuel at the end of season five only intensified the hate further. However, Benjamin ultimately getting away with it at the end of season six just leaves viewers with a sour taste on their mouths.
  • Hugo is possibly the most despicable character in the show's run. Is shown at various times being homophobic, transphobic, highly sexist and racist, as well as being a rapist.
  • Raúl is also despised for being abusive to his girlfriend Sara and accusing Mencia of "manipulating" her when it was the other way around, refusing to take responsibility for his own actions. What screams this trope for Raul is when he lets a traumatized Mencia take the fall for Ivan's accident caused by Sara.
  • The three homophobic guys got it very bad for mercilessly killing Iván's father Cruz after he came out as gay, which makes them stand out as the least redeemable characters of the show along with Teo, Benjamín, Armando, Hugo and Raúl.
• Headbutt of Love: A somber, familial version between Nano and Samuel happens during season two when Samuel is begging Nano not to go on the run after he has a huge fight with their mother and Guzman tries egging him into violating his bail.
• Hollywood Beauty Standards: Even by the standards of your typical teen melodrama everybody is ridiciously (and unusually) attractive, even Sam, Nadia, Christian and Nano who look like polished instagram-ready models despite their poor backgrounds making it questionable how they're able to keep the appearences up with a lack of disposable income.
• Homophobic Hate Crime: Tragically, Cruz was on the receiving end of this when three of his former male fans cornered him outside of his mansion while on his way to meet Iván and Patrick, brutally attacking him and leaving him to bleed out in the middle of the road.
• Hypocrite:
  • Carla calls her mom out when Christian says he wants to be famous but has no idea of what to do to get there and she says that it's a foolish mindset, pointing out that she did nothing to get the title of marquise.
  • In Season 2, Guzman 'Say No To Drugs' Nunier starts drinking and snorting cocaine while getting on to Polo and Nadia for doing the same.
  • Lampshaded by Lu several times throughout Season 2, almost as though she is proud of it.
  • Ander is quick to call Polo a coward for not telling Guzman the truth behind Marina's death when he himself is also hiding it.
  • Lu firmly insists to Valerio they should stop their incestous relationship, despite the fact that she keeps pining after him moments after she gets dumped by Guzman and gives everyone who wronged her a "The Reason You Suck" Speech at the fundraising party.
• Ice Queen: Omar actually calls Nadia this, when she tells him to just suck it up and pretend to not be gay for at least a few more years, saying that he can't shut off his emotions like her.
• I Just Want to Have Friends: Cayetana's motivation for lying about her working class origins. She just wants to feel accepetd by her fellow classmates, and feels like she needs to pretend to be rich to do so.
• I Love You Because I Can't Control You: Implied with Carla in regards to Samuel. She easily had two guys, Polo and Christian, wrapped around her finger in season 1. Samuel, however, refuses to play by her rules, so she lets him see Beneath the Mask. Although she denies she ever had real feelings for Samuel, it's clear to viewers based on her reaction to him supposedly going missing that she did develop them. This is why, despite the relationship taking pretty much everyone by surprise, fans have embraced the twisted pairing with open arms.
• Insistent Terminology: Lu and Valerio are half siblings, as they remind anyone who calls them sibling. The implication is that they push this argument because makes their incest "lesser."
• Internal Reveal:
  • The plot reveals to many characters that Marina is HIV positive little by little to several characters in Season 1.
  • The fact that Ander and Omar are gay is revealed to Samuel, Nadia and Guzman after the benefit party of Carla's mom.
• Interrupted Suicide: Polo throws himself into the school's pool to commit suicide via drowning, the very same spot where he murdered Marina, until he is rescued by Cayetana.
• Ironic Echo:
  • Lu threatens Nadia to tell her parents that she slept with Guzman by blackmailing her into failing her exams, finishing with her saying "Choices, darling. Have a nice day". In response, Nadia later throws these words to Lu's face by (unknowingly) using her incestous relationship with Valerio against her.
  • Carla indirectly accuses Polo of being attracted to Cayetana by asking him if he thinks he can fool her. Polo asks her the same question about Samuel after she denies having any feelings for him either.
  • When Ander objects Samuel and Guzmán's expulsions to his mother Azcuena, she tells him that he should put himself in her shoes to understand it better. Azucena also makes a similar complaint about her son dropping out of school because of his cancer, to which Ander answers that she should put herself in his shoes to understand.
• Irony: Nadia want to be independant and not to rely on men to rescue her with her problems. Ironically, her two only Love Interest (Guzman and Malick) are the type of guys willing to play the Knight in Shining Armor with her.
• It's All About Me: Lu is obviously threatened by Nadia's arrival at the school that she does whatever it takes to have her academic status protected.
• Jerkass Has a Point:
  • Nano was clearly in the wrong for threatening Rebeka about it, but he was 100% correct in not wanting Samuel to be involved in the drug business.
  • As unfair as Benjamín may seem to Rebeka, it's fairly reasonable to not want your already troubled child to be dating a drug lord's daughter.
  • Despite being a colossal jerkass to Samuel in season 4, Guzmán had very good reasons to be mad at him and Ari for secretly seeing each other behind his back and even tells Samuel that he doesn't know the true meaning of being a good friend.
  • As rude as she was behaving towards her, Jess wasn't completely wrong in reminding Mencía that she is always playing the victim while screwing Rebeka over whether or not they're getting back together.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Guzman, despite his snobby and douchey ways, genuinely cares for his sister and his friends. Over time, he also goes through Character Development, since he's in love with Nadia, whom he initially gets close to embarrass her for catching him and Lucrecia making out in the school's restroom.
• Jigsaw Puzzle Plot: Each episode contains one very big piece of information that reveals what happened bit by bit: to Marina in Season 1, to Samu in Season 2 to Polo in Season 3 and Ari in Season 4.
• Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Polo and Carla might have been a little mean, but they were overall on the nice aspect of the rich kids. In the final two episodes of the show, Polo becomes essentially insane when Carla breaks up with him and kills Marina in an attempt to get together with her, while Carla herself resorts to all kinds of manipulations to get Marina to return the clock and when she dies, controls Christian and Polo to get Nano to be arrested for it.
  • Arguably Armando in Season 4. By the end, he is willing to beat up the sister of his underage girlfriend, who also happens to be the daughter of his business partner, just to try and keep it secret that he was paying for sex from a teenage girl.
• Knight Templar Big Brother:
  • Guzman is this towards Marina, to the point of beating her boyfriend almost to death after he (unwittingly) infected Marina with HIV.
  • Nano hints he's this in Season 2 when he says he'd be just as violent as Guzman if he thought anyone hurt Samuel.
• Lady and Knight:
  • In Season 1, Marina's Lady to Samuel's Knight. As the season advances Marina became a Fallen Princess with several persons who dislike her. But Samuel despite her betrayal (she cheated on him with his brother), stays concerned about her being the last person who try to help her before she was killed by Polo in the season finale.
  • Played straight in Season 2, there is Carla's Lady to Samuel's Knight. Carla is rich, princess-like and daughter of marchionness while Samuel is caring and protective with her to the point of beating his older brother for her proving his devotion to her.
  • Though it's mostly partial depite it's often lampshaded, Guzman's Knight to Nadia's Lady in an interesting way. Having a Chronic Hero Syndrome, Guzman always want help her and displays a chivalrous nature with her. But Nadia who doesn't fit the lady position not having a noble and rich status and even frequently denies this as she doesn't want to be in need of rescue.
• Late-Arrival Spoiler:
  • Guzmán and Ander were last seen in the finale of Season 4 leaving to travel the world and saying their goodbyes to their friends. A month later, Netflix officially confirmed that Miguel Bernardeau and Arón Piper were leaving the show after that season. In addition, the synopsis of the fifth season revealed that Samuel and Rebeka were struggling to maintain the lie about their involvement in Armando's murder, comitted by Guzmán.
  • Ari, Mencía and Patrick leave Madrid with their father Benjamín to start over and protect Mencía from legal trouble after she was supposedly found out to be the one who caused Iván's accident. The seventh season trailer confirms that Carla Díaz, Martina Cariddi, Manu Ríos and Diego Martín didn't return for this season. The voice message Patrick left to Iván can be heard at the beginning.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Ander looks directly into the camera, after having lied to the detective about what happened between Guzman and Pablo two years before the events of the series.
• Lovable Alpha Bitch: Carla is this being one of the richest girls of Las Encinas as the daughter of a marchionness. And in contrast to Alpha Bitch Lucrecia (the other girl of the popular clique) , she doesn't look down the new students staying at least neutral and aloof. But that doesn't mean she's not silver-tongued when she wants. Become subverted when she falls more in the Manipulative Bitch status.
• Love Dodecahedron: In the second season, things get messy—Valerio loves Lu, who's obsessed with Guzman, who's in love with Nadia. Cayetana loves Polo, who still (initially) loves Carla, who has this thing with Samu, who Rebeca is crushing on.
  • Exaggerated in Season 5. Let's see. Patrick lusts over Ivan a brazilian new student who's attracted by Ari whom he starts even an affair as she's with Samuel. But through the season, Ivan develops feelings for Patrick as well but the later, hurt by Ivan, started a fling with Ivan's father. Also during the No rules party, Ivan kissed Samuel and before Rebeka whom had a on-again off-again relationship with Mencia as the former also became shortly involved with another girl. Then there is Isadora involved in a complicated situation with Philippe, Cayetana and more later Felipe. Though she's interested by Philippe, she kissed Ivan (yes again) during a party in Ibiza.
• Love Interest vs. Lust Interest: Eric and Raúl are both attracted to Chloe, but the difference is that Eric doesn't care about Chloe's obviously attractive appearance and tries to connect with her, while Raúl only sees her as a sexual toy he can play with.
• Love Triangle:
  • In the first season:
    • Played with in regards to the polyamorous relationship between Carla, Christian and Polo. Polo eventually starts getting jealous of the fact that it seems that Christian is only interested in Carla in their relationship.
    • Guzman is in a relationship with Lu, but has to seduce Nadia in an attempt to make her keep quiet about them having sex in school. During the plot, however, he ends up falling for Nadia and realizing Lu is a bad influence, though she keeps chasing him while he chases Nadia.
    • Another one arises between Samuel, his brother Nano and Marina, as both brothers fall for her.
  • In Season 2, new girl Rebeca feels this way for Samu, but he's sleeping with Carla, who winds up developing genuine feelings for him.
  • Season 4 has Omar, Ander, and Patrick. And also Samuel (post-Carla) and Guzman (post-breakup with Nadia) at odds for Ari.
• Manipulative Bitch: Carla becomes this once she steps up as the Big Bad, being able to manipulate Christian into being silent.
  • Marina arguably becomes this in season 1 as she strings along Samuel while making plans to run away with Nano. In the season finale, she tells Samuel that she's leaving with Nano but also tells Nano that she's changed her mind about running away and wants to stay.
  • Polo also starts becoming like this in Season 2, specially in relation to Ander.
• Meaningful Name: Quite a few examples.
  • It can't be any coincidence that Lucrecia's name sounds very much like Lucrezia Borgia, famous beauty and scion of the infamous Borgias. The name Lucrezia also means “profit and wealth,” which fits Rich Bitch Lucrecia like a glove.
    • Even funnier when it's revealed in Season 2 that Lu had an incestuous relationship with Valerio. Rumours of incest plagued Lucrezia Borgia during her time.
  • Carla is the feminine form of the name Carl, which means “free man.” Very befitting the hedonistic Carla.
  • Nadia means “hope,” which fits the very ambitious and driven Nadia.
  • Marina means “of the sea,” which is eerie when one considers that the trophy used to murder her is currently at the bottom of the lake.
• Mock Millionaire: Cayetana, whose mother turns out to be a janitor.
• Mutual Envy: Between Rebeca and Carla over Samuel. Both actually admit to be jealous of each other in season 3 last episode.
• My Sister Is Off-Limits: Guzman is this with Marina, threatening Samuel to stay away from her in the pilot.
  • Nano has this reaction towards Rebeka's friendship with Samuel due to it causing him to get involved in the drug business. Despite her insistence that they're just friends and that she wouldn't let anything bad happen to him, Nano still attempts to strongarm her into firing Samuel and staying away from him.
  • Lucrecia is an inverted example of this trope with Valerio being the jealous type and for not reveal their Brother–Sister Incest status.
• Nice Mean And In Between: Especially in Season 1, Nice Guy Ander is nice , typical Jerkass Guzman is mean and Polo the harmless one turned killer is in-between.
  • Also since Season 1, without Marina there is as the original main female characters: Nadia (nice), Lu(mean) and Carla (in-between).
  • In Season 4, there is the three siblings specifically when it comes to the other students: Mencia the Black Sheep of the family is nice , Ari the typical Rich Bitch is mean and Patrick helpful but intrusive with the Omar/Ander couple is in-between.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: After her father Benjamín cut her from the family wealth due to her behaviour, Mencía angrily revealed to Ari that Guzmán was using her to convince Benjamín otherwise about placing an assessment test for Samuel and Omar, so Ari changed her mind and firmly told her father to stand his ground, although Samuel and Omar managed to pass anyway. Ironically, Mencía was the one who came up with the idea in the first place.
• Nouveau Riche:
  • Rebeca, whose mother got rich recently in drug business, or as she said it, she "won the lottery". She's also always seen wearing big gold jewelry.
  • Yeray. He was a Scholarship Student when he first got into Las Encinas and would later find success in a dating app, making himself a very wealthy Self-Made Man who's always seen driving in sports cars.
• Odd Friendship: Nadia and Valerio's friendship in season 2.
• Official Couple:
  • Guzmán and Lu are this to the school. That is until they officially broke up in season 2 after Guzmán slept with Nadia.
  • Canonically to season 1-3 fans, Samuel and Carla.
• Offscreen Karma: The three guys who killed Cruz were revealed to have been arrested.
• Open-Minded Parent: Ander's mom. Not only she accepts her son for being gay, but also supports his relationship with Omar, despite knowing about his drug dealing business that involves one of her students, considering her position as the principal of Las Encinas.
• Opposites Attract:
  • Guzman and Nadia. He's a Christian impulsive and arrogant socialite while she's an Islamic self-censored and humble outsider.
  • In Season 2, Samuel and Carla. They actually have no many similarities due to opposites social backgrounds except a feeling of loneliness during this season.
• Parental Substitute: Azucena for Omar, especially in the first two seasons when he was in the closet and eventually got kicked out of his family home.
  • Arguably Benjamin for Samuel in Season 4. He clearly sees something of himself in Samu as both grew up working class without fathers in their lives, and encourages Samu to join the debate team and to pursue his studies.
• Parents as People:
  • Nadia and Omar's father loves his children very much, but suffers on the culture shock of being out of Middle East. His controlling nature basically scares away his children, but it also comes from a place of genuine fear as their older sister lacked any kind of self-control and ended up leaving the family.
  • It's obvious how much Samuel and Nano's mother loves her children, but things come to a head in Season 2 when she and Nano get into a huge fight about him getting caught up in trouble right after she and Samuel worked to earn money to bail him out of jail. She tells him to leave, and he obliges her. She's later shown to be devastated by this.
  • Polo's mothers in Season 3. They both try to pull their weight, try to repair Polo's image after Carla's accusations and argue about it.
  • Benjamin in Season 4. For all his flaws as a headmaster, it's clear at his core that he's still struggling to get over the death of his wife and the mother of his children, and he is unable to communicate or relate with his youngest daughter in particular.
• Penny Among Diamonds: Samuel, Christian and Nadia are being commoners in Las Encinas (private school for rich teens). Less emphasied but Ander and more later Cayetana are this too. The former is at the school only due to his mother's status as the director and the latter due to her mother being the cleaning lady. [[Season 4 adds Omar in the list.]]
• Politically Incorrect Villain: Lucrecia, who seems to be always against Nadia's Muslim background, from criticizing her for wearing a hijab to calling her a "Taliban girl". Ironic, considering her parents are diplomats and Lu is said to have lived in Abu Dhabi for 2 years. Given that Lu is also consistently friendly towards Omar, it may be fair to assume her racism towards Nadia is more a matter of having her Academic Alpha Bitch status threatened and lashing out by any means possible.
  • By the end of Season 3, this is all but moot as Lu and Nadia have become friends and Lu is clearly genuinely moved when Nadia's parents promise her she is always welcome in their home.
• Polyamory:
  • Carla and Polo have a dying relationship and decide to experiment with Christian to try to resuscitate it. They end up involving Christian in their relationship, leading to Carla dating both of them while Polo and Christian experiment with each other.
  • Polo seems to be a magnet for this; in Season 3, he gets into a brief relationship with both Cayetana and Valerio.
• Put on a Bus:
  • In the sixth episode of Season 1, the teacher Martín gets fired after his bribery deal with Lu, who gets punished with a two-month suspension, is exposed by Nadia.
  • Christian and Nano in Season 2. After getting involved in an arranged car crash, Christian gets shipped off to Switzerland by Carla's father to keep him quiet about Marina's murder, then Nano leaves for Morocco, although he was still unjustly charged with the crime and violated his parole.
  • Antonio, Ander's father, who has divorced Azucena, does not return after Season 2.
  • Pilar, Samuel's mother, leaves the show at the start of Season 3 to go be with Nano in Morocco, making Samuel the sole owner of his house.
  • Carla, Nadia, Lu, Malick and Yeray in Season 3 as all of them graduate from Las Encinas and separately travel abroad for college: Lu, Nadia and Malick to New York and Carla to London. Yeray's college isn't known as he was not seen during the finale.
  • Valerio as well at the end of Season 3. Although he was expelled from the school for drug dealing, he doesn't re-enroll to repeat the year with Samuel, Guzmán, Rebeka, Ander and Omar, instead deciding to take over Carla's family's wineries so she can study in London.
  • Azucena was unceremoniously sacked as principal of Las Encinas at the beginning of Season 4, however appears in a later episode to comfort Omar after he and Ander break up. She eventually leaves when Ander decides to go backpacking.
  • Ander and Guzmán in Season 4 as they leave to travel the world for a year.
  • Cayetana in Season 5 after being fired as the school's cleaner for sneaking into Benjamín's office and gets together with Felipe.
  • After witnessing Samuel's death at the end of Season 5, Rebeka and Omar are last seen mourning their friend and walking away from the Blancos' mansion. They both completed their senior year (off-screen), with Omar confirmed to be attending college at the beginning of Season 7. He does, however, return in said season when he's offered an internship at Las Encinas.
  • Bilal's last appearance was on the seventh episode of Season 6. He was nowhere to be seen in the climax and did not return to Season 7 either.
  • At the end of Season 6, when they think Mencía (and so does she) was the one who ran Iván over (when it was actually Sara and Raúl framed her), Ari is forced to testify on her father's behalf in order to help cover Mencía's tracks, resulting in him being declared not guilty of Samuel's death. Ari, Patrick, Mencía and Benjamín eventually leave Madrid to start a new life.
  • Iván leaves for South Africa after applying for a cultural exchange program in order to move on from Cruz's death and Patrick's departure.
  • Dídac and Rocío drop out of Las Encinas following the scandal between both of their families and Isadora's. Their actors Alvaro de Juana and Ana Bokesa have confirmed that Season 7 would be their last season.
• Promotion to Parent: Downplayed due to the fact that Samuel's mother is present, but with Nano being in prison, Samuel effectively becomes the second breadwinner of the family.
• Replacement Goldfish:
  • It’s implied that Cayetana fills this role for Polo, replacing both Carla and Christian who had abandoned Polo. Like Carla, Cayetana is a beautiful blonde woman who is surprisingly calculated and manipulative- and both Carla and Cayetana, at separate points, help Polo to cover up that he murdered Marina. Like Christian, Cayetana is an exuberant and charismatic Social Climber, with a strong interest in building an Instagram fame—Lucrecia even snidely remarks on the similarities between Christian and Cayetana.
  • In Season 3, Valerio fills this also for Polo in their threesome with Cayetana acting as the missing piece between Polo and Cayetana. That reflects Christian inside the Carla/Polo long relationship as a refresh. Both allow Polo to be comfortable with his bisexuality and Carla/Cayetana to explore more their sexuality. And they have similar personalities, both are wild cards: flirtatious, love parties and drugs and are not scholarly brilliant.
• The Reveal:
  • Polo killed Marina, in an attempt to get the watch back and with that get Carla back. Carla convinced him and a reluctant Christian to cover up the murder.
  • Samuel was never missing. He was hiding out at Guzman's grandparents' estate to force Carla into confessing the truth behind Marina's death.
  • When Lu accidentally kills Polo, and he hits his head on the glass, after trying to make it out, only for the glass to break and for him to fall. The group teams up to protect Lu by accusing each other and putting their fingerprints and Polo's on the broken bottleneck to make his death look like a suicide.
  • In season 4, Armando attacking Ari. Of course his prostituting of Mencia marks him from the start as a Big Bad. Samuel, Guzmán and Rebeka hide his dead body inside a lake. It is later found by Omar and the police in season 5, but Guzmán still gets off scot-free.
  • In season 5, Benjamín attacked Samuel over the SIM card, resulting in him slipping and cracking his head open into a pool. His death was confirmed at the beginning of season 6.
  • In season 6, Sara was driving the car that hit Ivan and put an unconscious Mencia in the driver's seat on her abusive boyfriend Raúl's insistence.
  • In season 7, the hidden dead body seen at the beginning of the finale is revealed to be Raúl's. He and Carmen were violently arguing over him abusing her daughter Chloe. In a fit of rage, Raúl attempted to push Carmen off a balcony, but he ended up being pushed off himself by Carmen to protect Chloe. When mother and daughter were interrogated by police, they lie claiming that Raúl comitted suicide.
• Rich Suitor, Poor Suitor: Rich diplomat's daughter Lucrecia and working-class Nadia for Guzman. Also Polo (rich suitor) and Christian (poor suitor) for Carla.
  • Guzman and Samuel for Ari in Season 4. Guzman doesn't hesitate to throw his weight around whenever Samu waits on them whenever he takes Ari to Club de Lago
• Series Fauxnale: Season 3 is set to properly close the arc of Marina's murder, with the redeemed Polo tragically dying in the process and most of the original main characters being naturally Put on a Bus after graduating from Las Encinas. The series was later renewed for a fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eight season (the latter being the final one), which featured new characters and storylines. Some of the original characters also appeared.
  • Itzan Escamilla, Miguel Bernardeau, Arón Piper, Omar Ayuso, Claudia Salas and Georgina Amorós, the remaining main cast members, reprised their roles in the fourth and fifth seasons. However, Miguel and Arón did not return for the fifth season. Itzan, Omar, Claudia and Georgina also did not return in the sixth season, leaving the show with none of its original cast members. Despite this, Omar returned in the seventh season, and Mina El Hammani in the eighth.
• Scholarship Student: Samuel, Nadia, and Christian are given scholarships by their old school's construction company (owned by Marina and Guzman's father) to attend the prestigious Las Encinas.
  • Cayetana joins them in Season 2.
  • Nadia and Lu battle it out for the scholarship to Columbia in Season 3.
  • Omar would later attend Las Encinas in season 4, but under the new principal, Omar and Samuel have to take tests to earn their scholarships.
• Ship Tease: Valerio gets a lot of this in Season 2, with Rebeca and Cayetana, and later in the season with Nadia, of all people!
• Shout-Out:
  • During Rebeca's Halloween party, Omar and Ander dress up as Dr. Frank-N-Furter and Rocky Horror, from The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
  • Lucrecia goes as Frida Kahlo
  • The Salvador Dali masks that turn up during the Halloween party is a fun shout out to Money Heist.
• Seven Deadly Sins: Some of the original characters have at least one/or two that characterizes them:
  • Lu (Envy & Pride) is an Academic Alpha Bitch who sees herself as queen of the school and superior to those of working-class background, especially Nadia, who she resents and envies both because she feels threatened by her abilities and her newfound attraction to her boyfriend Guzmán.
  • Cayetana (Greed) is a penniless student on a scholarship who, not only pretends to be wealthy in order to mix in with the elitist students, but she also scams people and steals from them, including their money.
  • Carla (Lust & Pride) is a manipulative seductress who uses men (mainly Christian and Samuel) to her advantage through sexual relationships and influence them into doing her bidding, while at the school she is a Lovable Alpha Bitch.
  • Christian and Valerio (Sloth) are both charismatic slackers who tend to party a lot and never take their education at the school seriously, and they couldn't care less about it.
  • Guzmán and Nano (Wrath) are fiercely overprotective big brothers with anger issues who will not hesitate to beat the crap out of anyone who lays a finger on their younger siblings and highly believe that their way is the right way.
  • Any main character (Carla and Valerio being more noticeable) who had a drug addiction (Gluttony) as it will provokes something dramatic typical of a Teen Drama.
• Sibling Triangle: Samuel is infatuated with Marina, who starts a relationship with him despite sleeping with and feeling a mutual desire for his older brother Nano.
  • In season 5, Patrick and Ari both fall for Ivan, and he returns the sentiment to each of them. But is clear Patrick sees him more than just a fuckbuddy. When Mencia learns that they both had sex with him, she is disappointed that she was the only one who didn't get to sleep with him at all, even asking if he's good in bed.
• Socially Awkward Hero: Samuel is this in opposite with the majority of the main cast. Despite he's not popular, he begins to take part at parties and events like his other classmates. Arguably, by the end of Season 3 he becomes The Leader in plotting the cover up of Polo's death.
• Spoiler:
  • In August 2019, a week before the second season was released, the creators confirmed that Miguel Herrán and Jaime Lorente would only be present in a handful of episodes of said season, due to their full commitment with Money Heist. While Christian only appeared in the first episode, Nano appeared in at least five episodes, with each being given a proper sendoff. Because of the aforementioned reason, Miguel and Jaime permanently left the show after that, but Jaime still had an uncredited vocal cameo in the Season 3 premiere.
  • In September 2022, it was confirmed that Pol Granch would not return as Phillipe in the sixth season. In November of the same year, a week before the release of that season, Pol had opened up about how the portrayal of his character had a negative effect on his reputation and that he wanted to focus mainly on his singing career, which was the reason why he chose to withdraw from the show.
  • In October 2022, along with the renewal of the show for season 7 and the new additions to the cast, Omar Ayuso was confirmed to be reprising the role of Omar in that season.
  • In July 2023, Mina El Hammani (Nadia) was announced to be returning for Season 8.
• Sudden Downer Ending: The last episode of season 6 ends with Iván surviving his car accident and Isadora, whose rapists are finally arrested, ready to give a relationship with Dídac a chance despite initially rejecting him due to past trauma. They kiss when a black car approaches the school with an unidentified assailant pulling out a gun and shooting at them.
• Straight Gay: Both Omar and Ander. Omar averts this in season 2.
  • In Season 3, Malick
• Teen Pregnancy: Marina is revealed to be pregnant with Nano's child.
  • Ari is pregnant with Ivan's child at the end of season 6, however she chooses to get an abortion.

• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • In Season 1, Guzman confirms he was adopted and that his biological parents are both dead due to drug overdoses which is partly why he is strongly opposed to drugs. This is never mentioned again, even when Guzman turns to drugs in Season 2 as a means of coping with his grief.
  • Christian swears to return and get revenge on Carla from his hospital bed in Season 2, which turn out to be his last words in the show. With Carla's arc ending as of Season 3, he will probably never get a chance to do so on screen.
  • Malick and Yeray in Season 3 are both new characters with interesting backstories who never get properly integrated into the main cast and essentially function as Satellite Love Interest's for Nadia/Omar and Carla respectively.
• Two Girls and a Guy: In season 2, there are Rebeka and Cayetana (who took Christian's place when he leaves) the girls and Valerio the guy.
  • Season 4 has twins Ari and Patrick and younger sister Mencia
• Two Guys and a Girl: As the new students, Samuel and Christian are the boys while Nadia's a girl.
• The Unfavorite: Valerio is this in contrast with her half-sister Lucrecia as she's a Daddy's Girl and him the Black Sheep of the family.
  • Mencia is this in Season 4 to Daddy's Girl Ari and Free Range Son Patrick, as their dad clearly considers her responsible for the death of his beloved wife.
  • By season 6, Patrick has taken over this role for the Blanco Commerford family.
• Uptown Girl:
  • Marina, for both Samuel and Nano.
  • Gender flipped with her brother, Guzman, for Nadia.
  • Carla for Christian, and then Samuel.
  • Ander is the male version, for Omar.
  • Ari in Season 4 for Samu.
  • Rocio in Season 6 for Bilal
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: As an extent of Will They or Won't They? trope few couples haves some of this but especially:
  • Nadia and Guzman in spades . There is a lot of sexual and romantic tension with repressed feelings. In the first season, after some BST in the beginning, Guzman develops feelings for her and despite she says they're only friends, she shown some attraction towards him. Sometimes, they stare each ocher's lips especially Guzman. As the story advances, the constant sexual tension had increased both loving each other deeply.But there is many obstacles between them as Lucrecia, Nadia's parents, the fact they don't have the same religion... Though after it's somewhat resolved in Season 3 finale.
  • Carla and Samuel as well. After they have developped feeling for each other despite trying to manipulate the other, they didn't get together as the situation becomes more complicated with Samue's disappearance. In Season 3 though they dating other persons (Rebeka and Yeray respectively) , they always had the other in their mind lampshaded by Rebeka and Carla in the last episode discussing the trope. Finally, they don't.
• Wham Shot:
  • In the very first episode, Samuel looking into the body bag to see who was the murder victim: Marina.
  • The very last shot of season one has the location of the murder weapon. The trophy is at the bottom of the lake.
  • Season 2, with Samuel's bike, and then his bloody blazer. And then again, when Samuel turns up alive.
  • Season 3, with Polo's body. Then when Cayetana ends up as a janitor in the final shot at Las Encinas.
• What Does She See in Him?:
  • The backbone of the sixth season subplot about Sara's relationship with Raúl. Not only the viewers, but also Mencía clearly can't understand why would Sara date someone like Raúl who mistreats, possesses and even beats her up. Despite being aware of his nature, Sara still blindly loves him no matter what he does to her and she behaves mostly ungrateful about it whenever someone tries to convince her to leave him.
  • In the seventh season, Carmen asks the same question about Chloe feeling attracted to Raúl when both have a heated confrontation at the roof of his apartment. Of course, Raúl comes up with the same excuses every violent men would give (that he "takes care of", "understands", and "protects" her). To which Carmen responds with a very much true "The Reason You Suck" Speech about his negative traits as an abuser.
• Will They or Won't They?:
  • Omar and Ander: They do, at the end of Season 1. Then they break up during Season 3 only for them to reunite in the finale. In Season 4 they break up for good, particularly due to Patrick's actions and both Ander and Guzmán being Put on a Bus during the finale.
  • Nadia and Guzman: They don't during Season 1, then they get together during Season 2 but break up before the Season 2 episode finale, and then eventually do in Season 3, only for them to break up for good at the beginning of Season 4 due to the long distance.
  • Valerio and Lu: They don't.
  • Carla and Polo: They don't.
  • Carla and Samu: They don't.
  • Ari and Samu: They do. Until Samuel's presumed death.
  • Rebe and Mencía: They don't.
• Worthy Opponent: At the end of Season 2, Carla concedes defeat after Samuel turns up alive and she confesses to the police about her and Polo's part in Marina's murder.

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