Elvira was the mother of the protagonist of The Last Night at Tremore Beach, Alex, and the centerpiece of the narrative of the miniseries. Most of the time, she appeared via flashbacks, but despite not being physically present in the main plot of the show, she made her presence felt with the impact she had left on Alex’s psyche. The initial episodes of the miniseries offered audiences a glimpse of the dominating nature of Elvira as well as her ability to look into the future and predict stuff about Alex’s life. But we didn’t get a clear picture of Elvira until episode 5, which was entirely dedicated to the helicopter mom, and we finally learned about the horrors she had inflicted upon Alex and the lengths she went to script a great future for her son. The verdict is still out on the ultimate fate of Elvira because the concluding episodes just mucked up everything that we got to know about her. Anyway, let’s try to break down Elvira’s journey and see how much of it was true and how much it was simply a figment of Alex’s imagination.
Spoiler Alert
Elvira during Alex’s Childhood
Alex was losing grip of reality and was constantly confusing it with the visions of the future that he was seeing. Given how these powers, known as “the instinct,” were passed on to Alex by his mother, Elvira, he knew that he had to deal with his relationship with his mother in order to solve his mental health issues. So, he went to Dr. Kauffman, and she said that one of the only ways to get to the root of Alex’s problems would be by diving into his past with the help of hypnotherapy. This procedure allowed Alex to turn back the clocks to a time when he was still in Elvira’s womb and she was exposing her baby to music through her belly. Until the age of ten, Elvira trained him thoroughly, and that was how Alex got admission at the best music school in Oviedo. But as he grew a little older, he started to take an interest in other stuff, and Elvira’s heightened focus on piano training began to take a toll on Alex’s physical health as well as his grades. The principal of his school warned Elvira and Isaak (Alex’s father) that if things went on like that, then Alex’s future would be ruined. Isaak tried to reason with Elvira and requested that she go easy on Alex so that he could have a normal childhood, and he even locked up Alex’s piano. Elvira disagreed with the school and Isaak because, according to her visions, Alex was destined to become a great pianist, and she wanted to do everything that was needed to make sure Alex stayed on that path to greatness. This obviously led to arguments between the couple, which was something that the little kid couldn’t tolerate. And that was the first time that Alex sleepwalked (or acted out his visions) and played the piano like a maestro. While that phenomenon cemented Elvira’s plan to keep training Alex, it somehow worsened her visions as she seemingly kept predicting deaths. The doctors said that she had some form of schizophrenia and she needed immediate care. Isaak thought that a change of scenery would improve the situation, and when Alex hit the age of 18, they moved into the place that went on to become their final home.
Elvira Through Alex’s Teenage Years
Elvira inducted Alex into an orchestra so that he could keep pursuing her dream of making him a musician. Meanwhile, Elvira’s private lessons for Alex got harsher. This naturally caused the youngster to rebel against his mother, and he began listening to pop music and sneaking out at night to party with his friends. While returning from one such party, Alex met with an accident, and he was injured pretty badly. He made a full recovery, but Elvira, predictably enough, used that as an opportunity to tighten her grip on her son. He was banned from going to orchestras and parties, and he was forced to focus all his energy on music school. Elvira repeatedly told Alex that he had a bright future ahead of him and that he needed to do exactly what she wanted him to do. However, she probably didn’t predict Alex befriending Estrella at music school and subsequently falling in love with her. Things were so good with her that even Estrella’s father, Ramiro, welcomed Alex into his family with open arms. Isaak was seemingly aware of Alex and Estrella’s relationship, but for the most obvious reasons, this information was withheld from Elvira. It was during this time that Alex made his first original music composition to commemorate his love for Estrella, and even though Elvira appreciated Alex’s evolution as a musician, she failed to figure out that her son was in love. For some reason, this was when Elvira’s visions got worse; she seemingly talked about Alex’s time in Tremore, and she had to be sent away to a mental institution. When she came back home, her actions led to a great tragedy.
The inciting incident was the announcement that the students from Alex’s school had the opportunity to win the scholarship for the Royal British Conservatory in London. Since only one kid could attain the scholarship, Elvira doubled down on her training. Alex somehow knew that if he got the scholarship, he would have to break up with Estrella, but if Estrella got the scholarship, he could move to London with her and continue their romance. So, to vex his fascist mom and save his relationship with his girlfriend, Alex purposefully botched his scholarship exam. Estrella played brilliantly and got the scholarship. Elvira was shocked to learn why Alex had taken such a step and she was livid. She managed to learn from the judges that despite Alex’s self-sabotage, he had secured the second spot in the competition for the scholarship, and if Estrella didn’t accept the scholarship, it’d automatically go to Alex. Hence, in order to continue scripting a great future for her son, Elvira took matters into her own hands and, under the pretext of driving her son’s girlfriend to her home and bonding with her during this mini-road trip, she crashed Estrella’s car and killed her. She made it look like an accident. Nobody except Isaak figured out that Elvira had done something so devastating. And the school ended up giving the scholarship to Alex.
Alex Met Elvira At A Sanatorium
After completing his education at the Royal British Conservatory, Alex became a successful music composer. He married Paula and had two kids with her, Bea and Bruno. But he never got over the death of Estrella. So, to avoid getting overwhelmed by those emotions, he buried himself in his work and won several awards. Despite dedicating her entire life to shaping Alex’s future, Elvira wasn’t around to witness all this because Isaak had admitted her to a sanatorium to treat her illness. However, the impact of Elvira’s actions continued to haunt Alex because the immense volume of his work couldn’t suppress his pain of losing Estrella. This created a distance between him and his family. Alex’s visions worsened, and, one night, he ended up crushing his fingers with his piano, which was something that traumatized Paula and the kids. Paula fell in love with a guy named Niels and decided to move away from Alex, and she even took the kids with her. Alex became more and more erratic, and he eventually moved to Tremore to refocus on his work. That’s where he met Judy, and he felt that he had achieved some sense of peace in his life.
After being struck by lightning, Alex’s supernatural connection with his mom, as well as his powers, were reestablished, which caused him to spiral down and seek therapy. Alex came to the realization that he was heavily influenced by Elvira, and now he was passing down the trauma that was inflicted on him to Bruno. To break this cycle, Alex visited a catatonic Elvira in a sanatorium and officially broke all his ties with her. Even though Elvira hadn’t responded to any kind of stimulus for years, this visit from Alex apparently recharged her brain, and she realized that all the stuff that she had seen years ago had come to pass. Now, all these insinuations of Elvira’s powers and her influence on Alex’s life were sort of disregarded by the revelation that all the aforementioned scenes depicting the journey of Elvira, Alex, and Isaak were a part of Alex’s “vision,” which he was seeing after being struck by lightning. Yes, you read that right. In one fell swoop, The Last Night at Tremore Beach undermined the hour-long episode that it had dedicated to Elvira because, I guess, a plot twist is more important than character development. As a result of this plot twist, it’s impossible to determine how much of Alex’s backstory, his relationship with Elvira, and Elvira’s involvement in Estrella’s death were true and how much of it was a figment of Alex’s imagination.
Alex’s Final Vision of Elvira
Due to the revelation that the first seven episodes and 50 percent of the eighth episode was a vision that Alex was seeing after being struck by lightning, I have to speculate on the basis of the last 30-ish minutes of the show. In those concluding moments, Alex got in touch with Ramiro and told him that Elvira was the one who had killed Estrella in order to secure his scholarship at the Royal British Conservatory. A news report stated that there was an update on the unsolved case of Estrella’s death, but before it could confirm that Estrella had been convicted as Estrella’s murderer, the episode focused on Alex and Judy. Hence, we don’t get to know if the knowledge of Elvira’s involvement in Estrella’s death that Alex had gotten from his vision was factually true or not. Ramiro was presented as a potentially dangerous individual. Did he take Alex’s word at face value and killed Elvira to avenge his daughter? We’ll never know. To be honest, the very ending of the show where Alex smiled at an imaginary version of Elvira made me question if someone called Estrella even existed and if Elvira ever did any of the things that Alex accused her of doing in his vision.
You see, the finale of the miniseries hinted at the fact that Alex was never even struck by lightning. He was suffering from some kind of a musician’s block (the musical version of a writer’s block), and he probably cooked up a tragic backstory for himself to fuel his creativity and finish the score for the film Way Up. Alex probably painted Elvira as the villain of his story and the root of all the issues that he was suffering from to emulate the heartbreak he needed to make music. Maybe the real Elvira was a decent mom who had done everything in her power (nothing criminal, I suppose) to help Alex become a talented music composer. And that final smile that was exchanged between Alex and Elvira was, in all likelihood, a sign of the feeling of gratitude that Alex felt for Elvira for allowing him to desecrate her image for the sake of his art. Sure, you can accept the explanation provided by the show and think that Elvira had the ability to look into the future, and Alex had the same superpower too, and he used it to nab a criminal like Souza, mend his personal relationships, and reignite his passion for music. But I don’t think that’s the case, and the truth is that Alex gave himself a tragic backstory to inject some layers into the score for an apparently cliche film. What do you think? Was Elvira actually a monster, or did Alex portray her as one? Let us know in the comments.
