Olympo – Season 1 Episode 1 'This Is Not Olympics Level' Recap & Review

The Review Geek

3 hours ago

This Is Not Olympics Level
Episode 1 of Olympo season 1 starts with a girl working out. Her instructors remark that she is doing better than they expected. She is surpassing all her records and seems locked in. Elsewhere, two girls are also exercising together. After setting a new record, they start celebrating.
A man and a woman approach them and invite them to their High Performance Centre. It is a training centre where athletes do nothing but train. Zoe is not too excited about the offer, but Yaiza is jumping for joy. To celebrate, Zoe starts smoking a blunt. They promise it is the last smoke they will have. The scene cuts to an accident scene and Zoe yelling, 'Yaiza !'
Presently, we see Zoe's parents driving her to the HPC. She begs them not to leave her there, but they ignore her. They want her to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. While standing there, looking lost, Zoe meets Nuria. Nuria is friendly and offers to give Zoe a tour. Zoe worries if she will get enough training since a lot of the athletes there are good-looking.
All things considered, this looks like a dream training centre for most athletes. The centre has all the top-tier resources needed to train a star athlete. Nuria introduces Zoe to her best friend, Amaia. Amaia is the star of the artistic swimming team. Everyone excitedly welcomes Nuria back, and we learn she was out to treat a shoulder sprain.
As the tour continues, we are introduced to Christian, Amaia's boyfriend. Christian's brother is also a former Olympo star. Christian hopes to live up to his legacy. There is Roque; he is gay and friends with both Christian and Amaia. There seems to be tension between Jennifer and Zoe. It seems they know each other since Jenifer brings up Zoe's records.
Everyone seems shocked to know Zoe broke a record and might be heading to the Olympics. As they talk, people start rushing towards the windows.
It turns out a few people from Olympo are at the centre to give some athletes sponsorship. They will only pick three athletes, and everyone thinks that Amaia will be their top pick. Isabel, the director, welcomes the Olympo group, and there seems to be something going on between one of the Olympos and Nuria.
While the Olympo people settle in, Christian and Amaia sneak off to make out. As they get busy, Amaia's mom calls. She ignores the call, but her mom keeps calling back. In the end, she gives up and picks up the call. Her mom, a former failed athlete, advises Amaia to cut Nuria loose. She calls Nuria to lose weight and claims she is holding back Amaia. Amaia tries to defend Nuria, but her mom says the latter was on vacation. The call spoils the mood, and Nuria walks in on the couple. Amaia confronts her about the truth of where she has been for the last week.
Nuria refuses to tell her, and Amaia orders her to go to the physio. Amaia refuses to team up with Nuria and looks like a fool in front of the federation. Nuria tries to convince her she is ready, but Amaia doesn't let up. Later, the coach notices Nuria is missing and sends someone to get her. In the meantime, she has Fatima do the duet with Amaia.
Meanwhile, Zoe struggles to settle in and messes up during training. Her coach teams her up with Renata. Unfortunately, Renata refuses to acknowledge Zoe or even talk to her.
On the football team, Roque warms up with Charlie, who is homophobic. Christian nearly gets injured, and the coach gives him the bad news that he is cut from the programme. The coach, Javier, thinks his physique and strength are an issue. All these unfold in front of the Olympo federation team. Isabel sees Nuria hugging Hugo, one of the guys from Olympo. Nuria insinuates that Amaia might be onto them, and the guy questions if it is time to come clean.
Hugo later approaches Zoe after she falls while doing a high jump. Within a few minutes, everyone learns that Zoe is the first sponsorship pick. Amaia acts like she is okay, but goes to her room. Christian arrives to tell her about being cut from the team, but she jumps his bones. They end up having sex, and Amaia runs late for her training session. Unfortunately, Christian is unable to tell her that he is leaving.
Amaia returns to training, and the coach warns her that Nuria was not at the physio. The coach is ready to cut Nuria off the team if she doesn't up her game. They begin practising the duet, pairing Amaia with Peque. Peque loses her breath, and Amaia loses her patience with her. Peque storms off, and Amaia shortly follows her.
As Amaia tries to comfort Peque, a drug bottle falls and rolls to where she is standing. Amaia realises that Peque has been doping and confronts her. Peque begs her not to tell the coach. Against her better judgment, Amaia keeps Peque's secret, and they return to the training session.
On the other side of the centre, Roque secretly hooks up with a guy and takes an afterglow selfie. Roque suggests posting it on social media, but the guy refuses and leaves. Later, Roque vents to Christian, and the latter sneakily grabs Roque's phone and posts the picture. The conversation turns to Christian's dilemma and how he is yet to talk to Amaia about leaving the centre. He leaves the next day and hopes to talk to Amaia after training.
At the gym, Zoe tries to get some exercise while Renata continues to ignore her. Sebas and Charlie corner her and express their frustration with her getting the scholarship. Nuria helps Zoe out and tells her to be careful of the jealous people at the centre. Zoe can't understand why everyone is obsessed with winning and dislikes the centre. Nuria reveals that Amaia helped her a lot when she came to the centre.
Nuria urges Zoe to find her person at the centre. This triggers Zoe, and she packs her things and announces to Renata that she is leaving. She doesn't get far before Hugo finds her and brings up the ongoing court battle after the accident. He insists that Zoe is heading for the Olympics, and Olympo wants to help her. He advises her to sign the sponsorship contract quickly and return to the centre. He doesn't even give her time to read the contract. He simply assures her that there is nothing to worry about.
At the centre, Fatima talks to Nuria about the ongoing duet practice. Amaia is having everyone but Nuria try out for the duet. Zoe arrives to find Nuria getting into the water to challenge Amaia. However, Amaia is not pleased when Nuria pulls off the set. She demands that she do ten extra spins.
Of course, Amaia thinks Nuria can't do it. Nuria accepts the challenge and does ten flying leg spins. Sadly, she goes unconscious and starts dropping towards the swimming pool floor. Amaia and Zoe jump into the pool to save her.
The Episode Review
This sports drama barely manages to grab our attention from the first episode, and a lot is going on with each character. Roque is sleeping with a closeted guy, but that doesn't excuse what he and Christian did. By posting that picture, they undoubtedly outed the guy. This guy may be a piece of work, but there is never an excuse to out someone, especially after they told you they don't feel comfortable coming out of the closet.
We have Christian, who is preparing to leave the centre since he doesn't meet the qualifications. It is a pity that he won't be able to honour his brother's legacy. However, Christian is also worried about the future of his relationship with Amaia once he leaves.
Speaking of Amaia, she comes off as obsessed with winning in this episode. We don't know much about her background, but she seems to take Nuria's secret personally. From the opening scene, we know that Nuria was training and not on medical leave. Hugo might be behind this, and they are keeping the truth from Amaia. Unfortunately, Nuria had an accident, and her fate remains unclear. Of course, we can't help but wonder whether Amaia pushed her too hard or if there is something else at play here.
This episode also touched on doping and the pressure athletes have to perform well every time. Perhaps this is what Zoe finds overwhelming. Everyone is out to win, disregarding everything else. Zoe lost her fighting spirit after the accident with her friend. What happened to her friend, and why is Zoe facing a court charge? Hugo made her sign the contract too quickly, and it might bite her in the future. There is something off about Hugo.
Lastly, now that Zoe is at the centre, will she find her competitive spirit again?