“Rebelde” Season 1 followed the journey of few aspiring high schoolers who came to Elite Way School, or EWS, to hone their skills as musicians. The series, being a cliche teenage drama, evidently explored the love-hate relationship and a cut-throat competition between these individuals to win a singing competition called “Battle Of The Bands” at the end of their first year. There were some intriguing cliffhangers at the end of Season 1, but the opening of “Rebelde” Season 2 quickly diluted the drama around those issues.
Esteban Torres, whose mother left him at a very young age, found that Argentinian business tycoon Marcelo Colucci was his birth father, and thus he was related to his classmate and Marcelo’s son, a spoiled brat named Luka. At the beginning of Season 2, both Luka and Esteban accept each other as brothers without any fuss. The second complicated love relationship was between Jana Cohen Gandia and Esteban, who had broken up in the previous season to concentrate on their art. In Season 2, Jana and Esteban yearn for each other, yet they hide their feelings and start seeing other people to make their ex jealous. The beginning of Season 2 also establishes that Maria “MJ” Jose and her new boyfriend, Sebastian “Seba” Langarica, won the “Battle Of The Bands,” as Jana and her band Rebelde were disqualified by Marcelo. In previous season, Maria had betrayed the trust of her friends and teamed up with Seba. Thus Season 2 further follows the repercussions of her actions, and her rivalry with Jane, who hates MJ for backstabbing the band. It explores her complicated relationship with Seba as MJ still has some feelings for rapper Guillermo “Dixon” Alvarez but struggles to choose between Dixon and Seba.
However, the most crucial conflict in Season 2 is created by a new music instructor of the Music Excellence Program (MEP) named Gustavo “Gus” Bauman, who, like a tyrant, makes the life of the students a living hell and tortures them through his toxic teaching methods. So without any further ado, let’s find out who Gustavo is and what he wanted from the students.
Who was Gustavo Bauman? What Did He Want?
Gustavo was a famous music producer, and everyone in the music industry wanted to work for him. However, for some reason, he stopped producing and became an organizer for the Trend-Z awards. His entire personality, set of beliefs, and teaching techniques reminded me of the ruthless Terence Fletcher from “Whiplash” (2019). However, Gus’ character didn’t have that much depth. As soon as he arrived at EWS, he told the students that there wouldn’t be any “Battle of the Bands” this year. Instead, he would judge the students based on their solo performance. He would launch the winner into superstardom with his new label, GB records, and this launch would take place at the Trend-Z awards at the end of their academic year.
Gus, apparently, wanted to push each student out of their comfort zone, but the methods he used were extremely ruthless. Through the new student, Oscar Cabarga Negrete, he turned drummer Andi Agosti into an addict, and she even collapsed due to drug overdose in the school at one instance. Later, it was revealed that Gus used the incident to convince the board of directors to fire the current EWS principal, Celina Ferrer, and make him in charge instead. As soon as Gus came into power, he revealed his true intentions. He wanted to turn EWS into a factory that would produce the best musicians in the country.
The arrival of Gus also sparked an argument among the students about what is more important for an artist. To make music or get fame, fans, and followers? Gus apparently believed that to become a successful musician, one needs to know how to get new fans and retain them through controversies or other tricks. However, Dixon believed that making music should be the sole purpose of a musician, and if he had a soul in his art, then fans or followers would eventually come along. At that point, Dixon and others raised their voice against Gus and started jamming in a secluded warehouse outside the school which was later called “The Under.” However, as soon as Gus learned about the rebellion, he gave one last warning to Dixon. Though none of the students were happy with Gus’ administration, they couldn’t rebel against him because their artistic future was in his hands as he held the supreme authority in EWS.
Who Won The Final Performance?
As Gus had already told the students that there wouldn’t be any “Battle Of The Bands,” thus for their academic year’s final performance, Gus organized a solo singing competition. Gus had earlier expelled Dixon from the MEP, but after his tragic accident, Dixon realized the narcissistic nature of his friends and thus wanted to prove to them that he was better than them. He asked Gus to let him perform in the final, and in case he lost the competition, he would transfer himself to some other music school in the country. Gus saw an opportunity to curb the rebel Dixon and thus quickly agreed. Gus had the full authority to declare the winner of the competition and he would never have made Dixon the winner.
During the final performance, Dixon performed one of the best rap musicals of his life, yet Gus announced Esteban as the winner because he knew that Esteban was a greedy musician who would follow his orders in order to attain success and stardom. Gus knew how to play with a musician’s greed for fame, and Esteban was an easy target for him.
What Did Luka Find Out About Gus?
Soon after the drug overdose incident with Andi, Luka blamed himself for giving her the pills. However, later he found that it was Oscar who gave the bottle to Andi. During Esteban’s birthday party, Luka came across his father’s tablet and went through his inbox, where he found an email that warned Marcelo not to hire Gus. The email was sent by Freddy’s mother, who belonged to a band called “Supernova.” Freddy died of a drug overdose, and evidently, Gus was his music producer. Luka could see the resemblance between Freddy’s and Andi’s cases and thus surmised that it was Gus who had been indirectly distributing pills to the students in order to push them off their limits.
During the final performance, Luka texted Gus and asked him to come to the cafeteria rooftop for a discussion. On the rooftop, Luka revealed to Gus that he knew all about what happened to Freddy and how he died. He was going through mental exhaustion just like the three other artists that Gus had worked with. However, Luka didn’t want to expose the culprit; instead, he wanted to use his secrets for his own greed. His father, Marcelo, was sending him to a military school in Texas, and Luka wanted a way out. He asked Gus to offer him a label contract, the same one he offered to Oscar, so that he didn’t have to look up to his father for his financial needs and could finally get away from his shadows. However, Gus wasn’t a person who was distributing contracts to every second person, and so to deal with Luka and his threats, he pushed him off the roof.
Luka’s accident looked like a suicide attempt. He went into a coma and thus wasn’t able to expose Gus or tell the truth to the world. However, at the end of “Rebelde” Season 2, Luka finally woke up, but it was rather late, too late, I guess.
‘Rebelde’ Season 2: Ending Explained – Is Gus Dead?
Oscar was in love with Luka, and the news of his accident was extremely heartbreaking for him. He blamed himself for the tragedy, as he believed that he could have helped Luka to get away from Marcelo, but he didn’t, which is why Luka tried to kill himself. However, one night at the hospital, Gus arrived in Luka’s room to get rid of Luka’s cell phone, which had evidence against him. Oscar, who was sleeping there, saw Gus standing near Luka’s bed. Before he could destroy the evidence, Gus threw Luka’s cell phone in the dustbin, which was later found out by Oscar. He went through Luka’s chat thread with Gus and discovered he was the last person with whom Luka had met. He connected the dots and surmised that it was Gus who pushed Luka off the roof.
At EWS, Jane, Andi, MJ, and Dixon were certain too that it was Gus who gave the pills to Andi through Oscar, and thus sought Oscar’s testimony to expose Gus. Initially, Oscar refused to help them as Gus had offered him an opportunity of a lifetime and promised to sign a contract with him that would revive his career. However, when Oscar found out the truth about Luka’s accident, he released his video testimony, revealing Gus’ true identity. But it was a bit late. In order to gain Gus’ trust, Seba had already informed him that his classmates were conspiring against him, and thus he quickly released a video on his Twitter handle about the rumors circulating around his involvement in Freddy’s overdose incident. In short, Oscar’s words meant nothing after Gus posted a video of his own. And now, there was only one person who could expose Gus, and that was Esteban Torres.
Since the beginning of “Rebelde” Season 2, Esteban had been in denial. In the previous season, he didn’t have any real passion for music and just came to EWS to find out the truth about his mother. Season 2, too, depicted his carefree attitude without any definite goal or focus. However, he tried to convince himself that he wanted to win the competition to become a successful musician, and Gus exploited his weakness. He brought him to the Trend-Z awards but changed his surname from Torres to Colucci as it looked more marketable. Even at this point, Esteban knew the truth, but he refused to accept it. He knew that Dixon should have won the final competition, and he knew for sure that he was a Torres and not a Colucci, but he played along just to get Gus’ favor. However, when Oscar revealed to him that it was Gus who tried to kill Luka, Esteban had a change of heart and thus decided to do what’s right. When he arrived on stage, he didn’t perform; instead, he revealed to the world that Gus was a murderer.
Gus, on the other hand, tried to contain the chaos, but it was too late. He arrived backstage in the lobby and attacked Oscar for betraying him. At the same moment, Esteban arrived there and saved Oscar from Gus. Gus made nasty remarks on Esteban’s father that further enraged Esteban, and he lost control. He punched Gus hard in the face, and suddenly Gus slipped onto the staircase and rolled down. Oscar ran towards Gus and shockingly discovered that he was dead. He quickly ran away from the crime scene, and in the closing shot, we saw Esteban being taken away by the police while Luka opened his eyes in the hospital. So yes, Luka came out of an unconscious state, but will his testimony be able to save his brother, Esteban? Maybe not Luka, but there is one more Colucci who comes to Esteban’s rescue in the mid-credits scene.
‘Rebelde’ Season 2: Mid-Credits Scene Explained – What To Expect From Season 3?
The mid-credits scene took place sometime after the tragic night of the Trend-Z awards. Celina Ferrer has returned as the principal of EWS and is handing diploma certificates to the graduating students. Almost everyone is present at the graduation ceremony, including Esteban, Luka, and Oscar, which means the police released Esteban, or is it something else? Before coming to that, the mid-credits scene reveals that everything is back to normal in the lives of these teenagers. MJ and Dixon are together while Jane and Esteban share a pleasant moment, which suggests an upcoming patch-up between them. On the other hand, Luka plans an escape to New York with Oscar, the same promise they made to each other. And last but not least, Andi’s love interest, Emilia Alo, returns to school and is seen speaking with Celina, who will probably find some way to get a re-admission or an internship for Emilia so that she doesn’t have to go back to her home country as her VISA has expired.
The scene ends with police arresting Oscar Cabarga Negrete for the murder of Gustavo Bauman. Luka tries to help him, but the police take him away. As soon as Esteban finds out about Oscar’s arrest, he decides to go after the police and tell them the truth, but Marcelo Colucci stops him, saying Colucci always protects his own. So what does it mean?
It is depicted that after Gus’ accidental death, Marcelo used his influence to protect his son, Esteban, and bribed the police to arrest Oscar instead. At the time of the accident, Oscar was there too, but he wasn’t the one who punched or pushed Gus. Probably, in “Rebelde” Season 3, a police investigation or a court case will take place where Luka will try to protect his lover Oscar and prove his innocence, while on the other hand, Marcelo will do anything in his power to protect Esteban. The final decision, like always, will be in Esteban’s hand. He will have the choice to do the right thing and confess the truth. But before that, the pursuit to save Oscar may create a rift between Luka and Esteban, who are certainly going to play a prominent role in Season 3.
See More: ‘Rebelde’ Season 1: Ending, Explained – Who Won The Battle Of The Bands?
