Series / East Los High

Fili: Oh my God, Tiffany. I think you have an STI.

Tiffany: I don’t have an STI. I drive a Lexus.

East Los High is a Hulu original Teen Drama centered around dancing, sex education, and the lives of Latino teens and families in east Los Angeles. Totaling four seasons and one 83-minute long finale, ELH is so far the only all Latino cast that Hulu has done.

Collaborating with public health groups and organizations, ELH’s creators Carlos Portugal and Kathleen Bedoya provide health information that can help improve the audience’s own life choices, especially in the Latino community.

Season one primarily focuses on two cousins: Jessie (Janine Larina), a virgin whose main focus is school, and Maya (Alicia Sixtos), a runaway. They become entangled in a love triangle with Jacob (Gabriel Chavarria), the popular football player at East Los High.

Season two through the finale (“appropriately” labeled as Season five) the story expands to the lives of high school students and their school's dance team, The Bomb Squad.

East Los High provides examples of:

• Aborted Arc: After Season 1, the show changed drastically from focusing on sexual education with b-plots about dancing to the lives of certain Bomb Squad members and people outside of the dance team with sex, dancing, drugs, crime, with minor mentions of sexual education.
• Abortion Fallout Drama: Jessie was not sure on getting an abortion because she is Catholic and her mother would disapprove. Although she got pregnant by Christian, she pretended it was Jacob’s baby because they had sex a week after having unprotected sex with Christian. She finally decides to have an abortion when Tia Paulina reveals she had one at Jessie’s age.
  • Camila also decides to get an abortion right after she found out she was pregnant with Jesus's baby. When he found out, he got upset that he didn’t have a say in her decision.
• Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder: Jacob starts a relationship with Ceci when Maya moves away.
• Accent Depundent: This exchange between Maya, Don Pepe, and Hernan:
  Hernan: San Francisco, huh?
  Maya: Yeah, they got a lot of culinary schools up there.
  Don Pepe: Ooh...culo-nary. Isn't that like prison?
• Alcoholic Parent: Reina.
• Alliterative Name: Ceci Camayo, Christian Camacho, and Maya Martinez.
• "Awkward Silence" Entrance: Soli filming the Aguilar and Martinez family celebrating the marriage proposal of Jacob and Jessie. And then Maya walks in. She was about to leave until Soli made her stay. They continue the celebration and Maya leaves and cries.
• Alpha Bitch: Vanessa is one. Ceci was one too until she got pregnant.
• Ambiguously Bi: Camilia, who always hooked up with men, felt differently after hooking up with Joselyn.
• Amicable Exes: Eddie and Tiffany after Tiffany ends the relationship since she is taking a vow of celibacy and she can tell Eddie is into Gina.
• Am I Just a Toy to You??: Joselyn felt this way towards Camilia since she said that all the two of them were fooling around and “hooking up” but Joselyn had much stronger feelings.
• Artistic License – Education: Jacob and Ceci being paid educators while never getting a teaching degree in their field.
• At Least I Admit It: Tiffany says this to Diego about their relationship which they hid from Gina. Diego blamed Tiffany for exposing them and slut-shames her but she stands up for herself:
  Tiffany: You're the slut, asshole! What we did was wrong, but at least I can admit it!
• Attempted Rape: Pedro attacks Ceci in her apartment after finding out she went on a date with Jacob. He proceeds to get on top of her and asks if Jacob does it better than him and undoes his belt. When Jacob speaks to Ceci the next day, he said Pedro is looking at five to ten years for breaking and entering, violating his restraining order, and attempted rape.
• Be a Whore to Get Your Man: Jessie dressing up in a tight mini dress, teased hair, and lip gloss to a house party her boyfriend Jacob was going to be in to get his attention back after he started falling for Maya.
• Beach Kiss: Although it was in Eddie's dream, Eddie and Gina.
• Believing Their Own Lies: Jessie says this when she reveals to Jacob at the wedding that the baby isn’t his.
• Big Damn Kiss: The kiss between Ceci and Jacob after knowing each other for the first three seasons is such a big deal, the music changed and the camera spun around them.
• "Blackmail" Is Such an Ugly Word: Vanessa calling the “Jessie and Christian sex tape” a wedding present for Jessie and Jacob.
• Break His Heart to Save Him: Gender flipped. Jesus hired his baby mother to lie to Camila that he ran away to Mexico without her. He did this because he saw that Camila has a family and a future and he did not want her to ruin her life by running from the cops to live in Mexico with Jesus and Matteo, his son.
• The Bus Came Back: Soli comes back after being gone for two seasons and she appears as an employee for a banquet hall/hotel.
• But Liquor Is Quicker: Fili offers alcohol to Gina when she was second-guessing herself about losing her virginity to Diego.
• Cat Fight: Maya and Ceci fighting in the girl’s bathroom in season one.
  • Gina and Tiffany fighting because of the secret relationship Tiffany had with Diego while being her friend.
• Caught on Tape: Vanessa/Christian and Jessie/Christian.
• Chippendales Dancers: The bachelorette parties of Jessie and Ceci.
• Church Police: Father Rodolfo being integrated by the Church for being accused that he had raped a minor, which was Reina at 14, who gave birth to a child, which was Maya.
• Comically Missing the Point: Vanessa and Ceci have this exchange the day after Homecoming:
  Ceci: So, what happened?''
  Vanessa: That stupid sex tape just cost me my crown.
  Ceci: So you’re not the Winter Formal queen anymore?
  Vanessa: No.
  Ceci: Wait. So that means that I’m the new Winter Formal queen!
  Vanessa: What?
• Coming-Out Story: Joselyn got outed by Camilia about being a lesbian and at first she was heavily ridiculed at school and at home with her grandparents but then she is happy for being who she is.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: Pedro acts this way when Ceci is with Jacob. However it is no longer jealousy when Pedro starts to physically and emotionally abuse Ceci.
• Crime of Self-Defense: Reina killed Ramon as he was attacking her and almost raping Maya in the hotel room. Reina hears police sirens and she knew she was going to get arrested and didn’t want Maya to be around.
  Reina: I’m a stripper with a rap sheet!
• Crying After Sex: Jessie does this after coming home after having sex with Christian and cheating on Jacob.
• Dance-Off: Jessie didn’t have a partner to audition for the Bomb Squad and Vanessa, who is the co-captain of the Bomb Squad, volunteered to dance with her but instead became a dance battle.
  • Ceci gets pulled into one by Adrian, the coach for the West Side Hornets and the uncle of Isela, while they are in a live dance competition.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Camilia having been sexually abused by her father growing up.
• Dating Do-Si-Do: Jacob dated four female characters in the show (Vannessa, Jessie, Maya, and Ceci). Ceci dated four male characters in the show (Abe, Pedro, Jacob and Vincent). Diego/Gina while cheating with Tiffany. Eddie/Tiffany, Eddie/Gina

• Descent into Addiction: Camilia becomes addicted to pain medication after being shot. She uses the drug to numb not only the pain from the gun wound but from all the pain she has been through with her father.
  • Jacob is another example because he becomes an alcoholic when he starts stressing over Ceci and Maya but also his relationship with his father when he declines taking over the family business.
• Diegetic Soundtrack Usage: Ceci sings the theme song, “So What” by Sanchia, in the car while Jacob drives her home.
• Dirty Cop: Ramon pays Detective Delgado to find out where Maya is and she speaks to him when she reports her rape.
  • Miguel, Camilia’s CI officer, puts her in dangerous situations to get the information he needs and threatens to kill her if she doesn’t do what he says. When she gets arrested for a drug bust, she speaks with Detective Gomez who informs her that Miguel is being investigated by Internal Affairs for corruption, the disappearances of two C Is, and the murder of Amber.
• Disappeared Dad: Eddie’s father is never seen. The only thing known about his father is that he is Cuban.
• Domestic Abuse: Pedro with Ceci. He gaslights, yells, hits, and at one time raped her during the relationship. When she files for a permanent restraining order, he pretends to be “Alejandro” and woos Vanessa by somehow finding out that she is Ceci’s roommate. Vanessa reveals that Ceci is on a date with Jacob and that caused Pedro to steal Vanessa’s apartment keys while kissing her and drive to the apartment. He attacks Ceci and even attempted to rape her until she fought back and Jacob came inside and fought off Pedro until the police came.
• Don't Tell Mama: Maya selling drugs and not telling Jessie’s mom about it.
• Dropping the Bombshell: Jacob invites Jessie to talk at the park because he is planning to break up with her. But before the breakup could occur, Jessie reveals that she is pregnant.
• "Eureka!" Moment: Ceci watches the all-girl Bomb Squad dance with the boys in the pool party and Tiffany mentions how her dance team back in Yuma was co-ed and can compete in more competitions. Hearing that and seeing how the guys and girls dance together causes her to see the potential of a co-ed Bomb Squad and does it.
• Foreshadow: Nic saying that Remy is going to change his life…and he sure did.
• Former Friend of Alpha Bitch: Ceci to Vanessa. Ceci even considered her to be an enemy.
• Friends Turned Romantic Rivals: Ceci and Maya about Jacob. When May returns, she doesn’t like that as soon as she leaves, Ceci takes her chance with Jacob. The rivalry becomes worse when an intoxicated Jacob goes to Maya's house and sleeps with her while he was dating Ceci.
• Gangland Drive-By: As Maya and Sparky walk in a neighborhood, Sparky gets shot by a drive-by after lying about how much money he was giving to his boss from the cocaine Maya had.
• The Grovel: Vanessa does this to Jacob at the Bomb Squad party.
• Get a Room!: Hernan says an iteration of this to Maya and Jacob as they kiss in the taqueria.
• Good Girls Avoid Abortion: Lampshaded. Jessie says this to Tia Paulina on why she can’t get an abortion.
• Graduate from the Story: The seniors in the first season graduate in the season finale. And then the seniors in Season 4 graduate as well.
• Green-Eyed Epiphany: Maya when she sees Jacob and Jessie together.
• High-School Dance: Season 2, Episode 4 had this as the whole plot. From smuggling in alcohol to a possible first time to discovering a cheater.
• Hookers and Blow: Maya becomes a stripper and does cocaine and drinks heavily after she runs away from Jessie’s house.
• The Illegal: Eddie. He had no proof of citizenship to compete in the Yuma dance competition, which started his storyline s an undocumented immigrant become his plot throughout the rest of the series.
• Instant Birth: Just Add Labor!: Ceci’s water breaks and immediately starts having intense contractions. When Jessie and Soli lay her on the couch, Jessie looks between Ceci’s legs and exclaims she already see’s the baby’s head. Jessie calls 911 and gets instructions on how to deliver a baby. Screaming birth ensues and the baby is born!
• I Want Grandkids: Joselyn's grandfather exclaims this to her since he does not approve of her being gay.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Ceci refusing to get an abortion because she is Catholic but Vanessa reminds her that she isn’t a genuine Catholic:
  Vanessa: Wow. All the drugging, shoplifting and screwing around you do isn’t very Catholic either.
• Karmic STD: When Vanessa reveals to Ceci that she contracted HIV, she blames Jacob because if Jacob didn’t break up with Vanessa, she would have never slept with Freddie and gotten HIV.
• Last Request: During Jessie’s mom's final wishes, she told Jacob to marry Jessie so that she doesn’t want Jessie to end up like her: a teen mom with a runaway father.
• Let's Wait a While: Gina did not want to have sex yet with Eddie since right after she lost her virginity to Diego, she found out that he was cheating on her with Tiffany. Eddie respects her decision.
• Love Triangle: Jessie/Jacob/Maya
• Malignant Plot Tumor: The start of season 2 showed a news segment on a missing teen by the name of Amber Garcia and she is mentioned a few times within the start of the season as a reminder to the teen girls to be careful. This small plot becomes bigger when it is revealed that the recording studio Nic gets an internship to is an undercover drug ring and Amber was a part of it and got murdered. The rest of the series's b-plot follows Camila as she joins the drug ring and becoming an informant.
• Marriage of Convenience: Jacob is forced by his father to marry Jessie got pregnant and it was believed he was the father.
• Missing Child: When ICE agents approach Isela's playdate's mother for her proof of citizenship, Isela runs away. After everyone went around the park looking for her, Vanessa finds her by a "magical tree" she told Isela about.
• Missing White Woman Syndrome: Joselyn spoke about this issue when she was interviewed on the news about Amber Gomez being missing:
  Joselyn: The police aren't doing enough to find her. If she was some West Side white girl, the entire LAPD was be mobilized. Every major news channel would be reporting it 24/7. But when a Latina or a black girl goes missing, nobody gives a damn.
• Nerds Are Virgins: Jessie and Soli.
• Next Thing They Knew: Vanessa going to Freddie, the host of Dance Five, and wanting to talk to him. Cut to them in the bathroom making out and proceeding to have unprotected sex.
• Past Experience Nightmare: Maya having trouble sleeping because she gets flashbacks of being raped by Ramon, her mom’s boyfriend.
• Phone Call from the Dead: Maya gets a phone call from Sparky but it turned out to be Ramon.
• The Place: Takes place in East Los Angeles, California in the school with the same name.
• Please, I Will Do Anything!: Tiffany talking to the bruja about taking any potion that will make Diego fall in love with her.
• Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: Season 3 Episode 7 “Scar Wars” and Season 4 Episode 1 “Orange is the New Brown”
• Post-Kiss Catatonia: Joselyn gets her first kiss from Camila, her best friend who she had a crush on for a few years. She is overwhelmed but then continues the kiss which leads them into having sex.
• Rape as Backstory: Maya was raped by her mother’s boyfriend, Ramon. When she revealed this to Tia Paulina, she didn’t mention it was Ramon. But when she told her mother, she said it was her boyfriend.
• Relationship Revolving Door: Lampshaded when Ceci talks about no longer wanting to be with Abe and Vanessa mentions this being the eighth time they’ve broken up.
• Relationship Sabotage: Vanessa tried to ruin Jacob and Jessie’s relationship because he thinks that Jessie wouldn’t sleep around with other men while in a relationship unlike Vanessa.
• The Reveal: When Camila is interrogated by detectives, she is shown pictures of her father and Nic murdered and that Jesus put out a hit for both of them. She wants to talk to a lawyer but the detectives wanted her to talk to their supervisor. Camilia says she doesn’t want to talk to anyone and the supervisor enters. It is Liliana, the record producer who was working in R&R Records.
• Rooftop Confrontation: Camila is being chased by Miguel in a warehouse where he planned to kill her and they end up on the rooftop.
• Samus Is a Girl: Jacob chased a dine-n-ditcher through an alley and when he finally caught up to them, it turned out to be Maya.
• Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: Jessie quitting Bomb Squad because she doesn’t feel respected by Christian.
  • Gina quitting Bomb Squad because she didn’t want to be around Tiffany after finding out she was sleeping with her boyfriend.
• Self-Harm: Camilia does this when Gina asks her too many questions about what her first time having sex was like. She does it again when her father comes back into their lives.
• Secret Relationship: Tiffany and Diego.
• Serial Romeo: Jacob to a T. Even Paulie points this out to him:
  Paulie: I don't blame you going back to her.
  Jacob: Wait, who said anything about going back to her?zz

Paulie: Come on man, that's what you do! You can't be alone. Ever since I've known you, you've had a girl.
Jacob: That's bullshit.
Paulie: Man, just look at your pattern. Alright, you were with Maya. And before that Ceci. And before that Maya. And then Jessie, and then Vanessa, and before that my cousin Marcella. She wasn't cute!

• She Cleans Up Nicely: Maya has a huge makeover with Tia Paulina’s help and Jacob suddenly falls in love.

• Sound-Only Death: Nic is walking home and someone yells and whistles to get his attention and when he turns his head, a gunshot is heard and fades to black.
• Stood Up: While waiting at home, sitting by a candle-lit dinner, Vanessa gets a text from her date that he doesn’t want to be with someone who has HIV.
• Teeny Weenie: Santi meant to show the video he took of the guys getting racially profiled by the cops but instead show a video of him having sex with a girl. One of the guys makes a reference to his penis by putting his index finger and thumb very close together.
• Their First Time: A LOT of characters since they get into relationships and cheat on each other.
• This Is for Emphasis, Bitch!: Ceci does this after telling off Vanessa.
• Three-Way Sex: Fili gets the idea to have a threesome with Santi and Mandy because she wants to be with Santi. She regrets it after...
• Valentine's Day Vitriol: Gina believes Valentine’s Day is a day that was created by Hallmark for cheating boyfriends to buy their other girlfriends a gift.
• Vowof Celibacy: Jessie mentioning being in a “virgin club” with Soli:
  Jessie: Secret Virgin Club handshake? [crosses arms and makes a V-Shaped symbol on both hands with Soli]
• Walking Spoiler: Pedro. The audience learns about him in the final episode of the first season with an in-universe “Where Are They Now” interview with the camera. Ceci mentioned that Pedro helps her a lot with Isela and how he is a lot better than Abe. But a few episodes into Season 2, Pedro is revealed to be domestically abusing Ceci.
• Was It Really Worth It?: Vanessa finally showing Jacob the sex tape of Jessie and Christian on his wedding day, although it was after he found out Jessie cheated on him with Christian and was carrying his baby. But when Ceci confronts Vanessa about it, she tells her that she “doesn’t give up” when she wants to get back at someone. Ceci leaves and Vanessa looks defeated.
• Witness Protection: Nic had the chance to be in the program when he started to expose R&R Records for drug trafficking as part of his deal with the FBI and his charges. But he lost the opportunity when he snuck out the window in the hotel room to apologize to Camila after telling the police about her involvement.
• Wham Line: “I’m Pregnant.” From Jessie to Jacob. And then “I don’t think it’s yours” from Jessie to Jacob again but this time during their wedding.

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