Merlí. Sapere Aude picks up where its predecessor left off. The Spanish teen drama, created by Héctor Lozano, premiered on 5 December 2019 on Movistar+ and ran for two seasons and 16 episodes. Its last air date was 7 May 2021.
Pol Rubio Follows Merlí to University
The series belongs to Carlos Cuevas as Pol Rubio, who enters university to follow in the footsteps of his idolized high school professor, Merlí. Francesc Orella returns as Merlí Bergeron Calduch.
The show is a sequel and spin-off of Merlí, the series broadcast by Catalan channel TV3. Merlí. Sapere Aude itself premiered on Movistar+, and it was shot in Catalan and Spanish.
A New Cast Around an Old Obsession
Returning cast members from the previous series include David Solans as Bruno, Ana María Barbany as Carmina Calduch, Boris Ruiz as Alfonso, Assun Planas as Glòria and Orella.
The new characters include Pablo Capuz as Rai, Pol’s classmate, Azul Fernández as Minerva, María Pujalte as María Bolaño and Gloria Ramos. The cast list also names Claudia Vega as Oti, Pere Vallribera as Biel, Lesley Grant as Amy, Eva Martín as Sílvia Montoliu and Carmen Conesa as Vicky.
Two Seasons, One Long Gap
| Detail | Season 1 | Season 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Premiere | 5 December 2019 | 2 April 2021 |
| Episodes | — | 8 |
| Filming | — | August to November 2020 |
The second and final season, eight episodes, was filmed between August and November 2020, then premiered on 2 April 2021 on Movistar+. The series is also streamable on Netflix.
What the Campus Drama Gets Right
Merlí. Sapere Aude works because it trusts its premise. A wayward philosophy student chasing the guidance of an intriguing professor is a small idea, and the show keeps it small, letting the university setting carry the weight instead of inflating the stakes. The comedy and drama genres sit together here without either one swallowing the other.
The Merlí Question
The spin-off has an obvious problem: its most magnetic figure, Merlí himself, is the thing Pol is chasing, not the thing the camera holds. Orella’s return keeps that thread alive, but the series belongs to Cuevas, and it knows it.
The campus around Pol, including Rai and María Bolaño, gives the show a life of its own rather than leaning on the old series. That is this paper’s read, not a claim from the source.
Where It Lands
The two-season, 16-episode run is short. The four months between the end of filming and the April 2021 premiere is a real gap, and the source offers no accounting for it beyond the schedule.
What matters is that the ending arrives on purpose. Nothing here reads as a show padded to reach a third season.
This is a spin-off that understands what a spin-off owes its parent: continuity, not imitation. Merlí. Sapere Aude carries the name and then earns the right to it.
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