East Los High is a teen drama television series that revolves around the lives of a group of teens navigating their final years at a fictional high school in East LA. Created, written, and produced by Wise Entertainment, the series is Hulu's first and only series with an all Latino cast and crew and is predominantly filmed in East Los Angeles. The producers of the show work closely with numerous public health organizations to incorporate information within the storylines that encourage young Latinos to make healthy life choices.
On May 19, 2017, it was announced that East Los High would not be renewed for a fifth season. Hulu instead ordered an hour and half long series finale, which aired on December 1, 2017.
Contents
Series synopsis
Season 1
The series follows two teenage cousins, Jessie, a studious virgin, and Maya, a troubled runaway, who fall in love with Jacob, a popular football player. Maya and Jessie are forced to make real-life decisions as a result of this love triangle about social pressure, drugs, pregnancy, betrayal, and sex that will determine which of them will get the boy and have an impact on their lives for the rest of their lives. Ceci and Vanessa, two popular student and school bullies who make it their mission to intimidate any girls at East Los, but their choice in sexual partners cause them to face life-changing repercussions.
Season 2
When Ceci and Jacob return to East Los High School as coaches, the drama continues. A new generation of students navigate relationships in the hallways of East Los High, leading to a turn of events during the school year.
Season 3
The second semester of East Los High is in session, but the trouble continues to brew outside the halls of the inner city school as Camilla struggles with some inner demons as someone from her past returns to LA. Gina begins to grow closer with Eddie, a student with a difficult home life. While adding new members to "Bomb Squad," Ceci's troubles at home become more dangerous. Diego's betrayal continues to affect Tiffany. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity tests the depth of Maya and Jacob's love. Both unfamiliar and new people show up and become involved in the game.
Season 4
Summer has begun for East Los High. Competition on and off the dance floor increases as lies, secrets, betrayals, and sexting affect the students.
Season 5
10 months after the eventful summer, another school year has come to an end for Ceci and the remaining seniors of the bomb squad. However, it might be their last time together as life changing opportunities are presented to them that could have them not only leaving high school, but East Los altogether.
Cast and characters
Main
Vannessa Vasquez as Camila Barrios
Danielle Vega as Ceci Camayo
Alexandra Rodriguez as Gina Barrios
Gabriel Chavarria as Jacob Aguilar
Carlito Olivero as Eddie Ramirez
J. D. Pardo as Jesus
Cinthya Carmona as Brandie
Ade Chike Torbert as Caleb Summers
Byron Martinez as Luis
Ray Diaz as Nicolas Reyes
Janine Larina as Jessie Martinez (season 1)
Vivian Lamolli as Filiberta "Fili" Rodriguez
Rick Mancia as Diego Campos (season 2)
Gillbert Saldivar as Santi
Oskar Rodrigues as Omar
Alicia Sixtos as Maya Martinez (season 1; recurring season 2–4)
Tracy Perez as Vanessa De La Cruz (season 1; recurring season 2–4)
Andrea Sixtos as Jocelyn Reyes (season 2–3; recurring season 4)
Ashley Campuzano as Tiffany Ramos (season 3; recurring season 4)
Recurring
Ser Anzoategui as Daysi Cantu
Noemi Gonzalez as Soli Gomez
Hector David Jr. as Cristian Camacho
Monica Guzman as Lupe Martinez
Catalina Rodriguez as Paulina Martinez
Jossara Jinaro as Reina Martinez
Richard Azurdia as Ramon
Jeremy Chavarria as Zac Bustamante
Chachi Gonzales as Jasmine
Robert Paul Taylor as Remy
Catherine Lazo as Ms. Alvarez
Miguel Najara as José Reyes
Gabrielle Walsh as Sofia
Jes Meza as Lorena Barrios Aguilar
Ruben Garfias as Hernan Aguilar
Jorge Diaz as Paulie
Vivis Colombetti as Rosario Reyes
Guest stars
Catalina Sandino Moreno as Carmen
Christina Milian as Lillian
Prince Royce as Vincent
Stephen "tWitch" Boss as himself
Vázquez Sounds as themselves
Chuey Martinez as himself
John DeLuca as Jeremy
Episodes
Production
The first season of East Los High consisted of 24 episodes and was independently shot, produced, and edited before being picked up and licensed by Hulu. In January 2014, Hulu announced that the series had been renewed for a second season, set to premiere in the summer of 2014. One week after the premiere of the new season, East Los High was renewed for its third season. On December 15, 2015, the series was renewed for a fourth season, marking it as Hulu's longest running original series.
Reception
Audience viewership
According to Hulu, East Los High was one of the top ten television series on the streaming service during its premiere month, attracting one million unique visitors monthly to its Hulu Latino page since 2013.
Critical response
Aymar Jean Christian of IndieWire described East Los High as "one of Hulu's most popular original series," writing, "East Los High stands as one of the most recent and well-produced among dozens of original dramas created by and for diverse communities, from lesbians and gay men to blacks, Latinos and Asian Americans, and released online." Manuel Betancourt of Remezcla called East Los High a "beloved teen drama" series.
Kayla Cobb of Decider said, "Looking for a new high school drama to obsessively binge? This Hulu original is a good pick." Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media gave the show a grade of three out of five stars, and praised the depiction of positive messages and role models across the series, writing, "Edgy Latino teen soap raises timely issues in sensitive way."